Iron Man Mon voyage au paradis et en enfer avec Black Sabbath

I read three Black Sabbath books one after the other. Why? To get what I hoped was a balanced overview of the events surrounding the band. These were:1. [b: Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe 22545456 Black Sabbath Symptom of the Universe Mick Wall https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1404618512s/22545456.jpg 27094274] by Mick Wall2. [b: I Am Ozzy 6952423 I Am Ozzy Ozzy Osbourne https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437442875s/6952423.jpg 7187129] by Ozzy Osbourne3. Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath by Tony IommiPerhaps the two quotes that sum up all three books are these, which are both from I Am Ozzy:“I remember saying to Tony [Iommi], ‘Did you hear how heavy that Led Zeppelin album sounded?'Without missing a beat, he replied, ‘We'll be heavier.'”And:“‘The world doesn't revolve around Tony [Iommi],' he said. ‘There'll be other guitarists.'He was a good guy, my old man. But this time he was wrong. There were no other guitarists.Not like Tony.”Tony and Ozzy's books are more reminiscences or memoirs as opposed to in-depth autobiographies. Both books only scratch the surface and I think this is where some people felt let down by them (more on this subject later). In fact, I felt that Tony's book was more or less as comprehensive as Ozzy's but both were less detailed than Micks (if this makes sense?)In Tony's book it's clear he writes like he plays the guitar. In brief, hard-hitting passages. This means that there are 90 short chapters in the book. All were very readable and written in a coherent and often funny way. There were lots of laugh out loud moments about his drug fuelled antics and many pranks.Tony starts by describing his poverty stricken childhood. He then moves onto decribe the early days of the band, working through each album in turn. The tours, drugs, Satanism claims, groupies, line-up changes, bad management, parties, fights, heartbreaks and personal problems all follow.As I said earlier it's interesting to read multiple versions of similar events; how does Tony's version compare with Ozzys recollections? Then factor in the details researched by Mick Wall. Wile they're similar I got the impression that Ozzy felt somewhat intimidated by Tony. Tony was the driving force behind the group. He acknowledges he didn't like confrontations and this resulted in communication problems with band members and management. He assumed the role of reluctant leader. At time he made the tough decisions which nobody else wanted to take, just to meet the commitments that the group had taken on.The were some revelations too. For example, Tony insists that he managed to project himself onto an astral plane a number of times. Plus he has seen various ghosts over the years. Of course, this has nothing to do with his massive consumption of drugs over a thirty year span, I'm sure?!But perhaps the biggest revelation concerned the following Tony reveals that that at one point Michael Bolton was considered as a singer for Sabbath! Definitely a shock.I've read that some reviews of this book which say that this was a terrible autobiography. It's repetitive: record, tour, party, drugs, personal issues, etc. Also, that it's not written with a lot of feeling, or emotion. But what did people expect? That's what a band does and that's who Tony is. Sure, you don't get any great philosophical or psychological insights into “who is Tony” or what makes him tick. Nor do you learn how to write hit songs or get an in depth run down of the guitar and equipment set-up he uses. It seems that Tony is nothing but workman like when it comes to making music and getting on with life. There are no great big “ah-ha” moments where you think, that's an amazing revelation which I can apply to my own life. Tony isn't a role model and you wouldn't want him as a neighbour. But saying this he doesn't come off as being an unlikable man, he is polite about most people, even people he dislikes. You get the impression he is just someone who loves music and wants to play the guitar.So in summary, even if you only have a passing interest in Black Sabbath I can recommend Tony's book. Love them or hate them, he created one of the most important bands ever and invented a whole new musical genre: heavy metal. His personal willpower and strength of character to succeed against all odds is inspiring in a way, as is his lack of pretentiousness. He has massive inner strength and I do hope this helps him to with his current health issues. Highly recommended.

Decent, but not amazing. Much of the book read like a timeline and seemed a little impersonal, which is understandable enough. I'm sure Iommi didn't want to focus much on drama.

After the original line-up fell apart, it went like this: X joined. Y joined. We wrote __ album and toured. Then X left so we got H. We wrote __ album then toured. X came back so we unfortunately got rid of H, though there were no hard feelings. And it went on and on...

Despite that, there were some interesting stories about behind the scenes stuff that I still enjoyed.