Livewire: How did you approach the writing and recording on "Forbidden"?

Tony Iommi: We just plugged in and off we went. It was all done really quickly. We were in the studio for ten days and recorded it in eight days. And we left a couple of the other days for other dribs and drabs.

Livewire: How did you first hook up with Ernie C?

Tony Iommi: I met him at a hotel and we were talking about the music. They're big fans of Sabbath. Then when it came up to naming a producer for the album, somebody suggested, 'What about Ernie C? He's really interested in doing it'. The more we thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea to try it. We were originally going to just work with him on four or five tracks.

Livewire: What made you decide to use him for the whole thing?

Tony Iommi: He worked well as far as motivating us for writing the new album. And he's enthusiastic about it and all. And, of course, while using him, we managed not to get self-indulgent. We barely ever are really satisfied. But it sort of stopped us from overdoing things and taking more time than necessary.

Livewire: Was it unusual being produced by an actual fan?

Tony Iommi: It was a little strange because normally, I'd talk to them and pick them. Anybody who worked on the album, engineers or producers, I'd decide on after a lot of interviewing. It was one of the few times we went with a sort of a shot in the dark, but it worked really well.

Livewire: Back when you did the first Sabbath albums, that was the standard approach to just go in and record in a few days, wasn't it?

Tony Iommi: Well, yeah the first album we had a producer that we brought in who was relatively new at the business. And we didn't know, so it didn't make a difference to us as far as we were concerned. He was a producer and he knew more than we did, so the record company picked him and we were confident that he knew what he was doing. Then in those days we didn't know what we were doing, so we just went in and played. We didn't know any different. We didn't think it took any longer than a day to make an album. This was probably the fastest album we've done next to "Black Sabbath" and "Paranoid". This would be the third fastest album we've ever done.

Livewire: I noticed the vocal approach was different than on the last couple of albums you collaborated on.

Tony Martin: Yeah, you know what, I just wanted to match the rawness that the guys had captured with the music. If I'd tried to lay a lot of harmonies, it wouldn't have worked. And I approached the lyrics in a very different way this time, where I didn't actually write anything down on paper. It all sort of came out from heart and soul. We set up a microphone and sang. So what you're hearing is very much how I sang it. The first time the lyrics were actually written on paper was on the album cover. Then I had to listen to the tapes to find out what the words were.

Livewire: That's a really different approach!

Tony Martin: Oh yeah! Tell me about it. (Laughs.) See the thing is we knew before we went in that we were going to go back to basics. That meant really setting up and playing. And to do that I didn't want to sit and write everything out. The method, to get something spontaneous to go with the music, which was also spontaneous, was to just sing. So that's what I did. Basically we just set up a microphone with no lyric sheets.

Livewire: Had you listened to Body Count much?

Tony Iommi: I would say I listened to them a lot, no. I only listened to them when it was mentioned about them doing it. I wasn't that familiar with them. But, yeah, there's some good stuff on it.

Livewire: In the last five years, the band's been very influential. There's a lot a Sabbath sounding bands out there.

Tony Iommi: Yeah, there is a lot. It's been good and it's certainly a great honour to know that.

Livewire: It's amazing to me how much you can write an album full of classic riffs so easily.

Tony Iommi: It's amazing to me as well. It just happens particularly now. Everything seems to have worked well and fallen into place. In the past, I've done riffs where it's just gone past everybody. They might think, 'Oh, that's a good riff', but nobody else has taken a notice even way back with Ozzy. I've done some riffs that I thought were good and nobody's sort of picked up on it. I think a lot of stuff in the past has gone down the drain because nobody's picked up on it.

And in the past, I'd sort of know before Ozzy sang something, what he was going to sing. I'd know what sort of way a melody was going to go 'cause of the way he'd approach it and Ronnie, too. But with Tony we can play... you're not stuck in a band having to play one particular thing.

Livewire: So you're enjoying this lineup more than any of the others?

Tony Iommi: All of us are really enjoying it. We can't wait to get out on tour. It's great to have that feeling. You're on top before you start. If you go out with the attitude of 'Oh, I don't want to go out', then it could be a problem. And we have had that in the past, somebody doesn't want to do this, somebody doesn't want to do that. If you can just go out with the attitude of really enjoyhing it and making the best show, it's great.

Livewire: Around the time of the 'Nativity in Black' tribute album, I spoke with Geezer Butler, and he had already decided to leave Sabbath once again. Did you just get to the point where everybody stopped getting along?

Tony Iommi: Well, it doesn't sound like _he_ was according to his interviews (laughs). Although I didn't get that same feeling. There was obviously some kind of barrier there that obviously split us up, and it's a lot freer now. Everybody now, we're all looking forward to getting out because nobody's saying 'I don't want to do it' or 'I don't want to play there' or 'I don't want to travel like that'.

Livewire: Were you going to go back and do this lineup anyway, even if the whole Sabbath reunion had happened?

Tony Iommi: Yes. The idea of doing that was just a... originally, it was just a handful of gigs, just short-term. And it just got complicated as it went on.

Livewire: Was it disappointing to you that it didn't happen?

Tony Iommi: It just took so much effort. What was more disappointing was, I felt sorry for Bill Ward, it really stopped him. He was doing a project and put it on the shelf, and he waited around for months thinking it was all going to work. And that was a sad thing because Bill didn't deserve that treatment. We did a show with him before the split was decided. We took him out for three shows in Brazil to play and he thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bit strange for us because we had just come off from a really tight tour and then did three shows with Bill, which you have to get yourself used to. It was good for him to be able to get out and play because he hadn't done a gig with us in thirteen years.

Livewire: It seems that you're really content about doing this lineup.

Tony Iommi: We hadn't had really big problems popping up like it was in the past. We don't have to deal with people over silly things. Everybody's getting on these days and that's the great part even before you start.

Tony Martin: What can you say? When you get into a studio and record a whole album in less than two weeks, you just sit up and play and it works. And then you play the songs afterwards, and it still works. There's no arguments. We're just great friends.

Tony Iommi: And half the time, Cozy [Powell] was like, "Let's go on to another track". When we didn't rush through everything, we'd play it, and sit, and have a chat. We could have done it a lot quicker but we did it as it happened and there was no struggle.

Tony Martin: But then, we've worked together for a while.

Livewire: So you've been the guy who's always wanted to go out and tour in the past with Sabbath?

Tony Iommi: Well, I've always believed in what we do. I was the one who used to sit there all night in the studio and everybody would go home and go on holiday, and I'd be left there. I was the one who always went through all of the divorces because of it (laughs). So it's just the way it's been, and it's always been the biggest part of my life, from day one.