“There's no pressure. It's been fun putting it together, and that's what it's all about”: Tony Iommi says his long-awaited solo album is coming along nicely – but he’s in no rush to finish it
The Black Sabbath legend says his new solo record “might use some orchestration”, and he's enjoying taking his time with its creation
(Image credit: Will Ireland/Classic Rock Magazine/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
During his annual New Year message back in January, riff godfather Tony Iommi teased fans about a “really good” solo album that he's been cooking up in the studio – and now he's offered an update on its progress.
The good news is it's coming along nicely, and “might use some orchestration”. The not-so-good-news is there isn't a timeline for its release.
In an interview with Full Metal Jackie, the Black Sabbath legend says he's written “a lot of stuff” for the album, which would be his first solo record since 2005's Fused, and his first new music since featuring on Ozzy’s latest album, Patient Number 9, in 2022.
“I am writing stuff now for my own album,” he says. “That’s exciting. And there’s no pressure. I just do stuff when I feel like it, because, obviously, I’ve got a life to live and I like to do all the different stuff.
(Image credit: Future)
“But I’ve really enjoyed doing this stuff, as I did with Ozzy when I’d done a couple of tracks for his last album. And I’m quite open [to] all that now. Whatever comes, and I like it, I do it.
“I’ve got a lot of stuff [written],” Iommi adds of the upcoming album. “But now we’re actually getting around to sort of putting it together, myself and the engineer. So it’s been good fun.
“As I say, there’s no pressure. I can just do it – I don’t have to do it by next week. And because of everything else [that has] been lurking around, I have to take my time in doing things.
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“But it’s been fun, and that’s what it’s all about, really. And I’m looking forward to actually doing it and an album coming out.”
Last month, Iommi remembered the time he co-wrote a Black Sabbath song with Eddie Van Halen, although the band was not able to credit the guitar legend for his contributions.
A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.
