“Wouldn’t work with me again”: The producer Tony Iommi was disappointed working with
Though many producers approach projects in distinctive ways, most musicians prefer them to adopt a delicate balance between possessing the relevant know-how and allowing space for creativity and collaboration to thrive. After all, fostering a stringent environment isn’t always the best for everybody and can often lead to frustration. Tony Iommi understands the characteristics of a good producer more than most.
Whenever musicians enter the recording studio—regardless of the stage of creativity they are at—a good producer usually enables a handful of defining qualities. Firstly, it’s important for them to be open, but not too open, that the environment becomes too pliant. Secondly, knowledge is key, as is emotionality—and when producers master these qualities, musicians feel both at ease and free to explore their own ideas in a more collaborative setting.
However, while some are far more disciplined and strict than others, some rely heavily on intuition and not much else. A good application of instinct can transition a good record into a great one, but too much can leave everything feeling a little too fluid, without much of a supportive container to keep everything flowing and in check. Unfortunately, this imbalance occurred for Black Sabbath while working with Rick Rubin on 13.
Granted, many musicians have come forward about their dislike for Rubin’s approach, mainly because he utilises instinct and feeling in place of technical or theoretical know-how. That’s not to say that Rubin isn’t a great producer—he is—but his approach doesn’t suit everybody, especially those in need of a little more authoritative guidance. During 13, however, Iommi didn’t appreciate how Rubin wanted to regress Sabbath’s sound, taking them back to the first album.
Iommi wasn’t the only one who found this approach jarring. Geezer Butler and Ozzy Osbourne also found it difficult to click with the producer, with Butler struggling to appreciate his off-kilter remarks (like telling them to forget they were a heavy metal band), and Osbourne disliking his repeated requests to keep singing the same vocal, over and over. “He lost it, that’s the way it was,” Butler said of Osbourne’s reaction.
While Iommi wasn’t sure about his decision to significantly change their sound and direction, he felt similar to Osbourne about the different sounds and licks he urged him to play. According to Butler, Iommi once responded angrily to Rubin and “wasn’t happy with some of the stuff he was trying to make him play.” But their response was entirely reactive, as they had decided to work with the producer because of his immense reputation. As Butler said, “If you’ve got Rick Rubin involved, then it must be good, kind of thing.”
Perhaps the producer also picked up on their clash of interests because Butler also once reflected on the process, saying, “He certainly wouldn’t work with me ever again. Or Tony. Tony was incredibly disappointed with him. In fact, Tony took some of the master tapes and redid them.”
Still, they struggled to overlook their differences, clearly needing a more understanding director who knew and appreciated Sabbath’s trajectory up to that point. Instead of revisiting their old sound—which, granted, became the sole reason for their lasting legacy—they desired to explore new territories, understanding that the risk of failure was just a part of the deal. Rubin might be the answer to others’ prayers in that respect, but with Sabbath, it wasn’t meant to be.
