BLABBERMOUTH.NET
BLACK SABBATH bassist
Geezer Butler has announced a new career-spanning release,
"Manipulations Of The Mind - The Complete Collection".
The four-CD box set, which is due on July 30 via
BMG, will include his three solo albums —
"Plastic Planet",
"Black Science" and
"Ohmwork" — plus a bonus disc of "rare material," described as a treasure trove of unreleased demos, studio outtakes, single edits and three live tracks captured at the Majestic Theatre, Detroit, Michigan in February 1996, alongside the song
"Beach Skeleton", only previously heard on the Japanese edition of
"Black Science". An additional standalone collection,
"The Very Best Of Geezer Butler", will be made available on the same day. It cherry-picks seventeen choice cuts from the box set by
Geezer himself.
1995 saw the release of
Geezer's first solo album,
"Plastic Planet", followed in 1997 by
"Black Science", with
"Ohmwork" completing the trilogy in 2005. All three albums are now being made available for the first time ever on vinyl, with both CD and LP using newly updated cover artwork and all will be available via
BMG on October 30.
"Plastic Planet" was originally released under the name
G/Z/R and featured
Burton C. Bell of Californian industrial/groove metal pioneers
FEAR FACTORY on vocals and is considered a classic of '90s metal. The album perfectly melded
Geezer's roots in doomy blues rock to the industrial influenced metal sound that was a key element in pushing the genre forward in the nineties.
Alongside
Bell for this recording was a long-time collaborator of
Geezer's,
Peter Howse (nicknamed "
Pedro" by
Butler, from a character in the TV show
"Four Feather Falls").
Howse was a founding member of the
GEEZER BUTLER BAND in 1985, and has written and played in all versions of
GZR/
GEEZER. Drums were handled by
Deen Castronovo, providing the pounding rhythms that propel the heavy grooves and mechanical metallic edge on
"Plastic Planet". Lyrically,
Butler channelled technological, sci-fi and dystopian subjects mixed with the social issues tackled on
"Drive Boy, Shooting" and
"The Invisible", themes that perfectly matched the then futuristic sounds within.
Returning in 1997 with
"Black Science" and originally released this time under the name
GEEZER, this album saw
Butler once again working with drummer
Deen Castronovo and guitarist
Pedro Howse, and like
"Plastic Planet", was produced by
Butler and
Paul Northfield (
RUSH,
ALICE COOPER,
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES,
DREAM THEATER).
Bell was unable to provide vocals this time due to commitments with
FEAR FACTORY, but his industrial boots were more than adequality filled by the then completely unknown
Clark Brown who stepped up to the plate and delivered an impressively powerful vocal performance over the album's high-energy and heavy power grooves.
It wouldn't be until 2005 that
Geezer would get the chance to continue his solo explorations, having returned to
SABBATH for the 1997 edition of
Ozzfest, remaining in the band ever since, but in 2005 he released
"Ohmwork", this time under the name
GZR. Once again, the recording was undertaken with
Clark Brown on vocals and
Pedro Howse on guitar, the difference this time being that drum duties were handled by
Chad E. Smith (the veteran St. Louis drummer, not the
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS percussionist of the same name).
With
"Ohmwork", gone were the industrial metal influences of the previous decade, but
Butler still steadfastly refused to hark back to the past and kept everything contemporary, drawing on influences, as a keen follower of music, on everything that was happening in rock at the time. From the pedal to the metal of
"Aural Sects" to the epic, neo-psychedelia of
"I Believe",
"Ohmwork" was a fitting finale to
Geezer's solo album trilogy.
Speaking about
"Plastic Planet",
Geezer said: "I was listening to
FEAR FACTORY at the time and liked what
Burton was doing – heavy vocals but with melodic choruses when required. So, I asked him if he'd be interested in singing on the album, and he agreed. Importantly, he was great to work with, and had a similar sense of humour to
Pedro and me. And didn't sound anything like
Ozzy [
Osbourne] or
Ronnie [
James]
Dio, which was important to me."
Of the record's follow-up,
"Black Science",
Geezer said: "I wasn't looking for plaudits. I doubt that many people got any of the lyrical references, and as before, it was just music I enjoyed making. Again, it was a great fun time, writing about personal things, and doing music I loved making with
Pedro and
Clark in a relaxed atmosphere, without any pressure. Much fun was had."
"Manipulations Of The Mind - The Complete Collection" track listing:
CD1 – "Plastic Planet"
01.
Catatonic Eclipse
02.
Drive Boy, Shooting
03.
Giving Up The Ghost
04.
Plastic Planet
05.
The Invisible
06.
Séance Fiction
07.
House Of Clouds
08.
Detective 27
09.
X13
10.
Sci-Clone
11.
Cycle Of Sixty
CD2 - "Black Science"
01.
Man In A Suitcase
02.
Box Of Six
03.
Mysterons
04.
Justified
05.
Department S
06.
Area Code 51
07.
Has To Be
08.
Number 5
09.
Among The Cybermen
10.
Unspeakable Elvis
11.
Xodiak
12.
Northern Wisdom
13.
Trinity Road
CD3 - "Ohmwork"
01.
Misfit
02.
Pardon My Depression
03.
Prisoner 103
04.
I Believe
05.
Aural Sects
06.
Pseudocide
07.
Pull The String
08.
Alone
09.
Dogs Of Whore
10.
Don't You Know
CD4 - Bonus
01.
Pseudocide (No Intro)
02.
Prisoner 103 (Demo)
03.
The Invisible (Instrumental)
04.
Area Code 51 (Demo)
05.
Cycle Of Sixty (Radio Mix)
06.
X13 (Radio Mix)
07.
Northern Wisdom (Demo)
08.
Beach Skeleton (Japanese Version)
09.
Pardon My Depression (Alt Take)
10.
Misfit (Rough Mix)
11.
I Believe (Demo)
12.
Four Feathers Fall (Demo)
13.
Drive Boy, Shooting (Live)
14.
Detective 27 (Live)
15.
House Of Clouds (Live)
"The Very Best Of Geezer Butler" track listing:
01.
Drive Boy, Shooting
02.
Man In A Suitcase
03.
Misfit
04.
The Invisible
05.
Box Of Six
06.
Pardon My Depression
07.
House Of Cards
08.
Mysterons
09.
Aural Sects
10.
Detective 27
11.
Number 5
12.
I Believe
13.
Catatonic Eclipse
14.
Among The Cybermen
15.
Prisoner 103
16.
Plastic Planet
17.
Area Code 51
