Tony Iommi unravels the enduring legacy of Black Sabbath in Australian Guitar #140, out now!

(Image credit: Future)

When the Coronavirus pandemic started wreaking its havoc on the world and it became abundantly clear we’d all be spending a lot more time inside in 2020, we asked ourselves a question: how can we make Australian Guitar the biggest and best, most jam-packed magazine of fretboard fandom on the market? 

Because after all, more spare time not only means more time to play the guitar, but more time to learn new techniques, more time to find your next favourite bands and obsess over the ones you already love, and more time to up your knowledge on the world’s greatest instrument and its history. 

So with each new issue of AG we’ve put together in 2020, we’ve aimed to go bigger and bolder – if you’ve been reading our plug posts for all of them thus far, you’re probably tired of us constantly bragging about how “this is the biggest issue of Australian Guitar yet!” But we just keep managing to one-up ourselves! We can’t help it! And we did it again with issue #140!

The big story this time around is a world-exclusive, one-on-one chat with the godfather of heavy metal himself, Tony Iommi. We talk about the chaotic origins of Black Sabbath, how they made a masterpiece in 1970’s Paranoid, and what lies around the corner for one of the world’s most revered guitarists. 

In addition, we’ve got another 23 interviews with world-class players to showcase – from stadium-stuffing legends like Nickelback, Corey Taylor and Deftones, to up-and-coming trailblazers like Cry Club, Tired Lion and Beabadoobee, and everyone in-between; we talk about the pop-influenced future of rock ’n’ roll with Nothing But Thieves, the value of catharsis with Fantastic Negrito, how dire times can breed inspiration with Seether, and why it’s okay to embrace high-fidelity sounds with Something For Kate

That’s all just scratching the surface of what you’ll find within the pages of Australian Guitar #140, of course.

We’ve also packed this issue full of special features, like our ranking of the 25 best acoustic rock songs of all time, an epic Telecaster shootout, a guide to mastering the iconic tones of Jimi Hendrix, and a tribute to the man, the myth and the legend himself, Eddie Van Halen

And for those keen to give their hands a workout, we’ve squeezed in the full tablature for Queen’s timeless “Now I’m Here”, five in-depth technique lessons, and a hands-on DIY guide for those keen to give their Strat a bit of extra oomph. If you’d rather just buy some new gear, though, don’t sweat it – we’ve got you covered with over 20 reviews of the latest and greatest guitars and equipment on the market.

Exclusive interviews in this issue:

  • Deftones
  • Corey Taylor
  • Misha Mansoor
  • Nickelback
  • Something For Kate
  • Biffy Clyro
  • Sevendust
  • Seether
  • Nothing But Thieves
  • The Lemon Twigs
  • Beabadoobee
  • Fantastic Negrito
  • Josh Teskey & Ash Grunwald
  • Tired Lion
  • Alain Johannes (Producer Profile)
  • The Front Bottoms
  • PVRIS
  • iDKHow
  • Cry Club
  • Danny Miller of Lewis Del Mar (Spotlight)
  • Hendrik Wipprecht of A. Swayze & The Ghosts (Spotlight)
  • Courtney Marie Andrews (Spotlight)
  • David Potter of Stand Atlantic (Spotlight)

All the hottest gear reviews:

  • Vox SDC-1 Mini Electric + Giulietta 3PS + Giulietta 3D
  • JVB TMT 500 3-in-1 Metro Tuner + TMC 511 Clip-On Tuner/Metronome TMC 515 Mini Clip-on Tuner + JCT 615 Multi-Function Capo
  • Danelectro Back Talk Reverse Delay Pedal
  • Danelectro 3699 Fuzz Pedal
  • Fender Reflecting Pool Delay/Reverb Pedal
  • Fender Compugilist Pedal
  • Fender Pour Over Envelope Filter Pedal
  • Fender The Traper Dual Fuzz Pedal
  • Fender CD-60S All-Mahogany Acoustic
  • Fender Jim Root Jazzmaster V4
  • Fender '64 Custom Princeton Reverb Amp
  • Orange Crush Acoustic 30 Twin Channel Amp
  • Epiphone SG Special P-90
  • Ibanez Premium SR2405W Bass
  • Aguilar DB925 Bass Preamp
  • Zoom B3n Multi-Effects Processor
  • Cort Gold-OC6 Acoustic
  • Gretsch G5410T Electromtic "Rat Rod"
  • Strymon Compadre Dual Voice Compressor And Boost Pedal
  • Boss Waza-Air Over-Ear Amp-Phones

Subscribe to the print edition of Australian Guitar, and you'll enjoy each new issue on the day its published, delivered to your door. Check out Techmags for full details, including how to get 12 issues delivered to your door for under a hundred bucks. 

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