Black Sabbath are making their final CD available to fans who attend their farewell tour ‘The End’.
The ‘Paranoid’ rockers made the decision to not release another studio album following ’13’ – which came out in 2013 – but have created an eight-track disc that features four unreleased songs from sessions for that LP which will only be sold at shows.
The tracklisting for the CD is made up of the unheard tunes; ‘Season of the Dead’, ‘Cry All Night’, ‘Take Me Home’ and ‘Isolated Man’, and live versions of ’13’ songs ‘God Is Dead?’, ‘Age of Reason’ and ‘End of the Beginning’ and ‘Under The Sun’ from 1972 LP ‘Vol. 4’.
During a conference call, bassist Geezer Butler revealed: "We went into the studio with 13 songs – which is why the album is called ’13’. We thought we’d put out an album of 13 songs, but when we were in the studio we wrote another three songs, which brought it up to 16 and then we left it to (producer) Rick Rubin to pick which songs would go on the album, and to give it some light and shade he picked the eight songs that we put on the ’13’ album. We put a few songs on deluxe versions of the album and then we had the four left over, and we decided to do a gig-only CD."
Ozzy has promised the band’s final tour will focus on Black Sabbath’s early hits, in particular their first five records from their 70s heyday.
He revealed: "We decided not to do so many new songs off ’13’ because people want to re-live the old classics that take them back down memory lane."
Geezer, 66, added: "It never gets tiring for me. ‘Paranoid’ never gets old. ‘Iron Man’ never gets old. You’d think after 40 years I’d be saying, ‘Oh, no, not ‘Iron Man’ again,’ but every time I play it it’s like the first time. "The response that we get from the audience always keeps them fresh, anyway."
And Ozzy, 67, is adamant when the band – also comprised of guitarist Tony Iommi – say it’s their last tour they mean it.
He insisted: "We’re not gonna get back together in three years when we all run out of cash or whatever. I have no intention of that. This is really the end."
Black Sabbath kick off ‘The End’ world tour in Omaha, Nebraska, on Wednesday (20.01.16).