News Segment

IOMMI/HUGHES RELEASING ‘THE 1996 DEP SESSIONS’:

September 8, 2004

Tony Iommi And Glenn Hughes Releasing ‘The 1996 DEP Sessions’ OnSanctuary Records On September 28, 2004

First Authorized Release Of This Music From The Legendary BlackSabbath And Deep Purple Veterans

When monumental musical talents collide, the result is magic. TonyIommi and Glenn Hughes offer proof in the form of the album ‘The 1996DEP Sessions’ set for release by Sanctuary Records on September 28,2004. The album is being released under the banner Iommi With GlennHughes.

‘The 1996 DEP Sessions’ features eight electrifying songs recorded bythese two legends. Iommi is the lead guitarist in Black Sabbath, thegroundbreaking originators of pure heavy metal; he has led everylineup of the band. Iommi is one of the most influential and widelyrecognized guitarists in the history of rock music. Hughes was a member of Trapeze before achieving worldwide superstardom as the co-lead vocalist and bass guitarist in Deep Purple in the mid-1970s. Hehas enjoyed a prolific and diverse solo career.

The two friends had worked together a decade before on 1986’s ‘SeventhStar’ album, which the record company at the time credited to BlackSabbath Featuring Tony Iommi for marketing purposes. The underrated ‘Seventh Star’ certainly had its highlights, but it featured a then-contemporary 1980s sound. ‘The 1996 DEP Sessions’ has a much grittier,forceful, timeless sound.

The eight tracks on ‘The 1996 DEP Sessions’ are: “Gone,” “From AnotherWorld,” “Don’t You Tell Me,” “Don’t Drag The River,” “Fine,” “Time IsThe Healer,” “I’m Not The Same Man” and “It Falls Through Me.”

The story of how this project came together began when Iommi wasworking on a solo album and he asked Hughes to collaborate with him asa singer and songwriter. They worked on demos and recording for mostof them commenced at DEP Studios in Birmingham, England. DEP is arenowned facility owned by the British reggae band UB40. Among thosejoining in were joined by keyboardists Don Airey (a respected veteranwho has played with Rainbow and Ozzy Osbourne and is currently amember of Deep Purple) and Geoff Nicholls (who played on many BlackSabbath albums in the 1980s as well as ‘Seventh Star’).

No mixing was done at the time and Iommi and Hughes pursued otherprojects. They still kept in touch personally and occasionally broughtup the subject of finishing and releasing those songs recorded in1996. Unfortunately, a poor-quality bootleg CD made from an incompletecassette surfaced.

Earlier this year, Iommi reviewed the tapes at his home studio withthe idea of completing them and releasing the songs so that fans couldenjoy this music in finished form. New drum tracks were recorded byJimmy Copley, who played on Iommi’s acclaimed, all-star-laden 2000solo album ‘Iommi.’ Original engineer Mike Exeter and Iommi mixed the1996 tracks and stripped them down to the basics to help add to theclean, raw feel.

These songs have percolated and ripened over eight years. Nowcollected as ‘The 1996 DEP Sessions,’ they are taking their rightfulplace among the finest, most exciting work Iommi and Hughes have everdone.

Courtesy of Sanctuary Records