GZR

Third "solo" album from Geezer Butler. I have to say when I first received this album, I really didn't like it. The first track was pretty catchy out of the gate (Misfit), but the album really wasn't like the last one. This one had good music, but the vocals.. They really borderlined into "growl vocals" - something I never much cared for. Still, it was Geezer Butler, so I was determined to give it a fair shake, and not dismiss it early on like I think a lot of people will.

So I listened to it a few more times, and some more tracks stood out for me (Pseudocide, Dogs of Whore, Pull the String). I found that it grew on me. It is definitely out there on the edge of what I personally like in terms of agressive vocals, but I can definitely call it an album I like. I will be honest - it's probably a bit harder edged than most Sabbath fans will listen to, and as I said above, I feel a lot will dismiss it because of that. There's some good music here, if you give it a chance. Geezer does experiment with styles. In terms of his Black Sabbath heritage, I'd say the song "Alone" probably feels the most like an old Sabbath track. But most of the rest of the album is faster driving stuff than Sabbath normally does. And Aural Sects goes the farthest in terms of "growl vocals", but is also enjoyable. There's a little bit of "rap" in Prisoner 103, and "I Believe" is probably the most radio friendly of anything in here, although it's definitely NOT a radio song in terms of the kind of thing you normally hear there.

This feels more like Geezer's first album, Plastic Planet because that one was harder edged than Black Science was. I love both of those, and this feels like a more natural progression to PP than BS was. Once more, give it a chance. I think you'll like it.

Second solo album from Geezer Butler. This time it's marketed as "Geezer" instead of "G//Z/R". The vocalist is different, as Burton Bell was back with Fear Factory. It's basically more of the same from the first album (although not as hard edged vocally), which is a good thing, because I liked the first album. However, if you didn't like the first, you won't like this. A highlight for me is the song "Among the Cybermen", which is about Doctor Who (the TV show).

The first "solo album" by Black Sabbath bassist, Geezer Butler. It's not much like anything Sabbath has done - an interview at the time said this sounded a lot like Pantera. The vocalist here is Burton C. Bell - the guy from Fear Factory. This normally goes way beyond my tolerance for loud screaming stuff, but this works for me - most likely because it's Geezer Butler. Lyrics are top notch (for my tastes, anyway).