Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine once said that Never Say Die was his favourite Black Sabbath album. Dave's pretty nutty, and Never Say Die! is arguably the weakest of the seminal Black Sabbath output (with Ozzy, that is), but that's not to say this album is without merit.
I remember hearing the title track on an Ozzy's Speak of the Devil live album. My high school bud, Sam, had sold it to me for $5, and I just remember thinking, "this doesn't sound like Sabbath at all." Apart from the compelling chorus, the rest of the track sounds like an upbeat Thin Lizzy song, most particularly "the Boys are Back in Town," which never did much for me. So I bought almost all the other Sabbath albums but this, leaving my other friend, Max, to buy every single goddamn Sabbath album. I asked him about this one, and he said it wasn't too good. I stayed away. Let sleeping dogs lie, right?
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