"Technology's more important to us in the writing process. It's so much easier now to use Pro Tools."

Great...

I am I imagining things, or does Iommi look fitter and healthier than he has in a long time? It's either that or I'm reading too much into a different hairstyle and a hat.

Yeah, I cringed at that part too, not to mention all the images from the studio and the "Death Magnetic sessions" vibe it conveyed. I'm not sure how much of it is Rubin's fault, if any, but there's definitely a massive contradiction there. "Imagine it's 1970 again, and you're doing your second album" does not go well at all with "here's Pro Tools, and me in my shorts goofing around as you guys record your parts one at a time instead of live and with a sense of urgency as you did 40 years ago".

Did anyone even for a nanosecond think it would?

Forget the whole "Imagine it's 1970 again, and you're doing your second album!" vibe. Surely he should have said "Imagine it's 1976 and you're doing a PROPER follow up to Sabotage!"

I just want to know if Ozzy will sing at all differently for this album.

But I understand your sentiment and I agree with it. In an ideal world, these guys would have loaded some basic gear, flown to an old remote studio somewhere in the world and given themselves 2 weeks to create music and record an album, without messing around for perfection. Just raw performances of songs created virtually on the spot.

Exactly. No amount of wanking with "technology" or "modern science" is going to get them any closer to sounding like Sabbath once more, let alone early Sabbath.

On a side note, it just hit me: the working title may actually just be '13 as in "2013".

Some teasers of new material in this video. The lyrics/tempo of the track at 0:33 sounds very sing-along and catchy.

Oh, for fuck's sake, Riffs. Vinnie Appice played on fuckin' Mob Rules, whereas Brad Wilk is drummer in Rage Against the Machine... nuff said. And apparently, Iommi programmed all the parts on The Devil You Know, which explains the sub par drum performance.

I'm not sure what you are trying to say, but I suppose you are comparing credentials?

I realize Appice has been part of classic heavy metal albums and is familiar with the guys. However, past credentials can only get you so far. Appice has never been that good and the last time he was remotely average was in the 80s. This guy has sucked for over two decades.

Doesn't matter anyway. I'm satisfied that in a few small snippets, Wilk is already showing to be an improvement over Appice. I would have preferred someone else but I'll take the upgrade, even if RAtM sucks ass.

Those shots of Rubin dicking around in the control room are really cringeworthy. Could he have at least combed his hair before he did interviews? I know it's a minor thing, but it looks like he just woke up there.

Well, then it's even better that RAtM doesn't suck ass, huh...

I realize Appice has been part of classic heavy metal albums and is familiar with the guys. However, past credentials can only get you so far. Appice has never been that good and the last time he was remotely average was in the 80s. This guy has sucked for over two decades.

Whats the song at 1:25?

Riffs, man, are you for real? I'm not sure what material you heard with Appice's actual drumming during the past two decades. The latest studio thing I have heard with him actually drumming was 'Angry Machines' in 1996, and although I don't like the music itself, his drumming was still great (not quite flashy or technical, but instantly recognizable and with a great feel). As ANA pointed out, Appice is hardly responsible for the drumming on TDYK (this was either some programming as ANA says, or Iommi and Butler just fed Appice specific drum parts to play in a specific way, AC/DC style; I heard it both ways). As far as I'm concerned, Vinnie Appice is the best drummer Dio ever worked with, and the list includes Cozy Powell and Bill Ward. "Remotely average" (what does that even mean) in the 80s? Try strictly awesome and spectacularly emotional instead. And again, I'm not aware of recent albums actually featuring him, but live he was more than in fine shape fairly recently.