On October 17, 2000, guitarist Tony Iommi released his first solo album simply called "Iommi".
It's an album featuring an "All-Star" lineup of singers and musicians like: Ozzy Osbourne, Henry Rollins, Dave Grohl, Phil Anselmo, Bill Ward, Billy Idol, Billy Corgan, Brian May, Matt Cameron, Serj Tankian, Skin and more.
It took Tony Iommi almost 5 years to create the album. He began the writing process immediately after the release of "Black Sabbath's" "Forbidden" album in 1995, when the first recordings were made beginning of 1996.
It should be said that Iommi managed to adapt the style of each and every song on the album to the artist who was hosted on it, without losing the identity and signature sound so identified with him. Each of the ten songs on the album was written by Iommi in collaboration with the artist performing it.
During the work, additional songs were written that did not find their way to the album. For example, Iommi recorded three songs with singer Phil Anselmo, but only one of them - "Time is Mine" entered the album, while the song "Inversion of the Saviors" and another song were left out.
Also, two songs were written with Billy Idol and two with Billy Corgan, but again this time only one song from each singer entered the album.
In addition, Iommi recorded with Scooter Ward the frontman of the band "Cold" a song called "Something Wicked This Way Comes", which did not enter the album in the end.
The song "Who's Fooling Who" features a mini-reunion of "Black Sabbath" and is the first since 1978 to feature Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, and singer Ozzy Osbourne.
One of the interesting collaborations on this album is on the song "Goodbye Lament", which features Dave Grohl on vocals and drums and Brian May on guitar. A kind of combination of metal, industrial, and post-grunge.
Other songs worth noting are: "Black Oblivion" with Billy Corgan on vocals, guitar, and bass, "Patterns" with Serj Tankian on vocals, "Laughing Man (In the Devil Mask)" with Henry Rollins, and more.
Since the album cannot be found in the various streaming apps, we have made a playlist for you on Youtube