Plastic Planet<\/i>, the first and most forgettable of Geezer Butler\u2019s solo albums, was released in 1995 shortly after the bassist\u2019s departure from Black Sabbath. Having reunited with guitarist Tony Iommi for two albums, Butler eventually left to work on a side project, claiming that his creative input was being stifled. Eager to record a true follow-up to the heavy, sci-fi themed Dehumanizer<\/i>, Butler recruited drummer Dean Castronovo (Journey), vocalist Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory) and little-known guitarist Pedro Howse to record his solo debut. <\/p>\n
\u201cCatatonic Eclipse\u201d kicks things off on a promising note, with a minute of ominous, brooding keyboards, crunchy riffs, and some rattling cymbal hits. The vocals, however, are a rude awakening: the lyrics incredibly trite and dated (\u201cDownload me, kill me… No time in space… All ethics fade \/ In this silicon state\u201d), and Bell\u2019s growling, guttural style is quite an acquired taste. The tight drumming makes one raise an eyebrow at times, but otherwise it\u2019s a mediocre, mid-tempo opener lacking anything resembling melody or leads to add interest. <\/p>\n
\u201cDrive Boy, Shooting\u201d is likely the catchiest song on the album, with a good chugging guitar riff and cynical lyrics. The brutal vocals lend themselves to the song quite well, and Castronovo holds a tight beat throughout. The muddy production though, is a bit distracting — shouldn\u2019t you be able to hear the bass on a Geezer Butler solo album? <\/p>\n
The next couple tracks are the best that Plastic Planet <\/i>has to offer. \u201cGiving Up The Ghost\u201d — rumored to be a stab at Tony Iommi and his unwillingness to give up the Black Sabbath name — has Bell switching up between clean-throated verses and angry choruses, with Castronovo\u2019s double-bass drumming pummeling away at machine-gun rapidity. Geezer\u2019s playing is a bit more audible on this track, and if it weren\u2019t for such hokey lyrics as \u201cYou… are… desperately… seeking… Satan!\u201d it might even be catchy. \u201cPlastic Planet\u201d meanwhile, will repel any listeners with a fondness for melodic vocals, but if you can get your ears around them the music is top-notch. Castronovo\u2019s runs are jaw-dropping premium heavy metal drumming, while the riffing has a sense of groove to it that is sorely lacking on most of the album. Even the chorus is rather catchy. <\/p>\n
Sadly, Plastic Planet <\/i>takes a turn for the worse after this precarious midpoint of sorts. You\u2019ll listen and cringe as Bell gives his best shot at early-90s style rapping, while Geezer and the band plod on in the background on \u201cThe Invisible.\u201d You\u2019ll shake your head in dismay at Butler\u2019s inability to write an eerie number along the lines of\u00a0 \u201cBlack Sabbath\u201d without Tony Iommi, as Pedro Howse turns in a plodding, fuzzy riff devoid of imagination on \u201cSeance Fiction.\u201d Most listeners will have grown frustrated and hit the stop button before \u201cCycle of 60,\u201d a timid acoustic ballad, closes the album. The majority of the songs are forgettable, noisy efforts buoyed only by Castronovo\u2019s impressive drumming. <\/p>\n
Plastic Planet <\/i>is a disappointment in every sense of the word. In spite of having a top-notch drummer and a vocalist from one of the biggest metal groups to come out of the 1990s, Geezer Butler failed miserably in trying to produce a modern metal album. At its best moment, the band sounds like a second-rate Pantera, minus the attitude and guitar solos. And even then, that\u2019s being generous. <\/p>\n
I paid $1.15 for my copy of Plastic Planet<\/i> after finding it in a reject bin at a used CD store. After listening to it, I found myself wishing that I\u2019d spent the money on a chocolate bar instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":29023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8062],"rating":[5616],"class_list":["post-40536","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-gzr","rating-rating-d"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40536"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}