Tony Iommi Says Geezer Butler Didn’t Want to Make a Farewell Album

If you’re bummed that Black Sabbath won’t be making a farewell album to go along with their farewell tour, well, you can apparently blame Geezer Butler. Tony Iommi tells Q:

“I’ve got so many riffs. I wrote a whole load of stuff for another album and we met up in L.A. but the others… well, Geezer didn’t particularly want to do another album.”

This marks the first instance in history that any band that isn’t the Red Hot Chili Peppers has allowed a bassist who isn’t also their lead vocalist to have a say in the group’s affairs.

So what gives? Does Butler hate money or something?

Actually, I think he may be the thriftiest thinker in the band: an album is really an advertisement for a tour, and this tour don’t need no advertising. So whether the record was ultimately successful or not, it would be a waste of resources. Making their 2013 reunion album, 13, was a shrewd move, because the subsequent reunion tour was actually their third reunion tour… and the last one included all four original members of the band, whereas this one took place without the participation of Bill Ward. So having their first new album in a trillion years to help pique public interest made sense. Now that they have the “IT’S YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SEE US EVER!!!” angle? Why bother with a record?

But all hope is not lost for more new Sabbath music… it just may not be new new Sabbath music. Says Iommi:

“For the last LP, we did record sixteen songs [but only released eleven], so we may still put something out from that. We don’t know yet.”

And that doesn’t even take into account what will happen in the decades after these guys pass away — at that point, their heirs will be cashing in on any previously-unreleased audio these guys ever made, be it studio recordings, demos, or answering machine messages. So if you really feel like you absolutely must have more Sabbath, chances are, sooner or later your wish will come true.

[via The PRP]