Back in 2001, Black Sabbath hit the studio with Rick Rubin, but the project was not to be. So what happened with the failed album? Well, Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has opened up about it and, basically, they just didn’t like the music.
In December, Butler sat down for a conversation with his wife and manager, Gloria Butler, on her Gabbing With Girlfriends podcast. During their conversation, the song “Scary Dreams” came up. The tune was one that Black Sabbath performed at Ozzfest in 2001 after reuniting with Ozzy Osbourne.
The track led many fans to wonder if other music was on the horizon. Technically, it was, but ultimately, the band was unhappy with what they had crafted, so they scrapped it all. “Yeah, I think we had about eight [new] songs written,” Butler recalled. “We did them in Monmouth, down in Wales. And we had at least six [tracks] completed, and I think a couple more in the works.”
Black Sabbath’s “Scary Dreams” technically remains an unreleased song
Understandably, Black Sabbath working on new music with Ozzy was something that caught Rick Rubin’s attention. The uber-producer reached out to the band and invited them to his house. When they met with him, they played some of the songs they’d been working on. This, Butler says, was the moment they realized that they were not feeling it.
“As we were playing them, I was thinking, ‘What a load of crap,’” Butler laughingly confessed. “I just didn’t like them at all. I just completely went off them.” He noted that playing the songs for an outsider was a catalyst for the band to realize they were subpar. “I just went, ‘Nah, after all these years to come out with this, I don’t think it’s right.’ So we knocked it on the head,” Butler said.
Black Sabbath’s 1978 album, ‘Never Say Die!’, was the last studio album with the band’s original line-up
Metal Injection pointed out that Butler previously discussed “Scary Dreams” in a 2023 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. “Well, if you haven’t heard [the songs], then they’re not good enough to go on the record,” he said candidly. “I mean, ‘Scary Dreams’—it wasn’t great.”
Butler went on to admit that the songs were not great because the band was just trying too hard. “That was when we were trying to throw an album together,” he shared. “It just wasn’t working. It just felt really forced.”
Black Sabbath would eventually go back into the studio and crank out their final album, 13. The 2013 record reunited Butler, Ozzy, and guitarist Tony Iommi. Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward opted not to participate due to contract disagreements.
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