Clifford Gibbs

I listened to this album a good number of times as I did not want to be unfair, however no matter how many times I listen to the album, for me, it does not get any better. Bloody hell…… at times the songs sound a bit like the Shadows!!! When I heard After Glow of Ragnarok I was encouraged as I really liked the song. I mean the main riff was really dark and gritty….. however unfortunately AOR was the high point of the album (IMO) …. The rest of the album was OK but just Ok I was gob smacked that he included Eternity has Failed on the Mandrake Project… it’s just a “Lift and Drop” from the same song on Book of Souls….. and to be honest IMO it was the weakest song on BOS and is no better on the Mandrake Project…. As you can guess I’m not a great fan of Bruce Dickinson’s song writing…… but he’s great when he writes in tandem with Adrian Smith. Sorry but this album does not hit the spot for me …. I have to say though it is better than Balls to Picasso …. But that is not saying much as I really don’t like BTP Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden are always strongest and best together.

I love Black Sabbath and always will but sometimes you have to be honest rather than just say the album is great just because Ozzy came back into the band … for this one record. There are some good moments on the record but overall the album, for me, did not live up to expectation. Additionally I was so disappointed that Bill Ward was not able to play on this album. He was a critical element to Black Sabbath and even though he was replaced by an accomplished drummer, this record will always have something missing.