Various: Great Lefty: Tribute To Tony Iommi

Hero worship from little-known musicians and one ex-Sabbath singer.

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On the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity In Black, released in 1994, and its companion piece II from 2000, there were genuine big hitters: Pantera, Slayer, Bruce Dickinson, even Ozzy himself. Such star power is entirely absent on Great Lefty, a 20-track double album of Sabbath covers, named in homage to the guitarist who pretty much invented heavy metal.

Here, the biggest name is Tony ‘The Cat’ Martin, the voice of Sabbath during the band’s leanest years. The highlight is a monumental version of You Won’t Change Me, a largely forgotten track from 1976 album Technical Ecstasy, performed by doom metal cult hero Victor Griffin, formerly of Pentagram.

But this project, while lovingly made, is so low-end that it features actual Sabbath tribute bands, including the brilliantly named Children Of The Gravy, from Wales, rattling gamely through Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Such things translate better in pub gigs, for obvious reasons.

Classic Rock 214: New albums M-Z

Paul Elliott
Paul Elliott

Freelance writer for Classic Rock since 2005, Paul Elliott has worked for leading music titles since 1985, including Sounds, Kerrang!, MOJO and Q. He is the author of several books including the first biography of Guns N’ Roses and the autobiography of bodyguard-to-the-stars Danny Francis. He has written liner notes for classic album reissues by artists such as Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy and Kiss, and currently works as content editor for Total Guitar. He lives in Bath - of which David Coverdale recently said: “How very Roman of you!”