Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward have opened up to Rock Candy for the magazine’s latest expansive cover story marking 50 years since the release of the band’s seminal sixth studio album,‘Sabotage’, in 1975.

The three musicians recall the stresses and strains of going though litigation with their former manager, while at the same time trying to create new music that was designed to push the boundaries of what the Birmingham group had previously deemed possible.

“We were obviously immensely p*ssed off because we had hardly anything to show for five years of constantly touring, writing, and recording,” Butler explained to Rock Candy Mag editor Howard Johnson. “It was difficult dividing time between creating music and time spent in lawyers’ offices, with QCs, and in law courts. But with our backs against the wall I think some of the songs on ‘Sabotage’ were the angriest that we’d ever written.”

“It wasn’t easy, because as it turned out the court case happened smack bang in the middle of recording ‘Sabotage’,” says Iommi. “One minute you’d be worrying about whether a riff was right for a song, the next you’d be sat in court.”

Yet despite such immense outside stresses, Sabbath were absolutely determined to forge ahead on their musical journey.

“We were in an experimental phase at the time,” says Butler.“We’d introduced different instruments on the [previous] ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ album, and once again were looking for new directions. Synths were relatively new at that time, so we had a go at introducing them on some songs. It was fun playing around.”

With their backs against the wall, Sabbath dug deep to produce some of the most exciting rock music of the ’70s – or any other decade.

“‘Hole In The Sky’ and ‘Symptom Of The Universe’ are two of my all-time favourite Black Sabbath songs,” confirms Geezer. “I still love playing them, and they really come alive when we perform them live.”

“I was really, really happy with the writing,” says Bill Ward. “I think we were expanding, allowing ourselves to expand. We’d come a really long way from the song ‘Black Sabbath’, as great as that song is. I thought the richness of what we were doing on ‘Sabotage’ was brilliant.”

You can read the exclusive Black Sabbath ‘Sabotage’ story in issue 49 of Rock Candy Mag, together with in-depth stories and interviews with Billy Squier, Angel, Machine Head, Don Airey, L.A. Guns, Jethro Tull, and more. For more details visit www.rockcandymag.com.

ABOUT ROCK CANDY MAG
Rock Candy Mag is a 100-page, full-colour bi-monthly rock mag, created in the UK. It covers the sights, sounds and smells from the greatest era in hard rock music, the ’70s and ’80s. The brainchild of: respected UK rock journalists Derek Oliver, Howard Johnson and Malcolm Dome – all frontline writers for the legendary Kerrang! magazine in the golden era.

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The returning drumming legend with prog metal titans Dream Theater tells Rock Candy Magazine about his time away from the band and why it feels right to be back in the fold.

“It was a longing to come home, to be with family. The two Johns [Petrucci and Myung] and I started together when we were teenagers, and now here we are creeping up on 60. It goes way deeper than coming back to a band.”

The release of the band's sixteenth studio album, ‘Parasomnia’, finds the friends out on the road and taking their peerless brand of razor-sharp melodic metal to their expectant fans. The band had much success with previous drummer Mike Mangini behind the kit, but Mike Portnoy's reappearance has scratched an itch for many die-hard followers. Mike is very aware of the fans and feels the weight of trying to live up to expectations.

“We just have to write for ourselves and make ourselves happy. Dream Theater fans are so rabid, and so opinionated, and so passionate that there's no way we can please everybody... I really care about our fans. I've spent my whole career trying to model everything I do for them because I relate to them as much as anybody. The hardest thing for me is to keep an eye on that, but also look away from it and please ourselves first and foremost. There's a balance somewhere, though, and hopefully we're striking it.”

You can read our exclusive Mike Portnoy interview, as well as the interviews with all the members of Dream Theater in issue 48 of Rock Candy Magazine, together with in-depth stories and interviews with Ian Gillan, Steve Vai, Pantera and Anthrax's Charlie Benante,Teaze, TKO and more. For more details visit: www.rockcandymag.com

Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward talk exclusively to Rock Candy Mag for a 50th anniversary celebration of the ‘Sabotage’ album.

MIKE PORTNOY: "IT WAS LIKE SEEING YOUR WIFE WITH HER NEW HUSBAND."