The solo career of Geezer Butler is comprehensively rounded up by Manipulations of the Mind, a fascinating four disc box set that includes all three studio albums and a bonus disc of alternative takes, demos and live cuts. A one disc companion set, The Very Best Of, is also being released that has seventeen tracks chosen by the man himself. Although all three albums were originally issued under different monikers (g//z/r, Geezer and GZR respectively) everything is now credited to simply Geezer Butler which makes good commercial sense.
Plastic Planet arrived in 1995 at a period when Geezer had quit Sabbath and had just recorded Ozzmosis with Ozzy. The album was very much straight out of the 90’s nu-metal playbook with vocals by Fear Factory’s Burton C. Bell. Drummer Deen Castronovo and guitarist Pedro Howse completed the line-up. It is perhaps not surprising that Geezer went down this route as the metal scene in this period was dominated by industrial riffing and abrasive, hardcore vocals. Unlike some of his contemporaries however it was reassuring that Geezer did not dispense with his trademark long hair and moustache. Sci-fi and dystopian themes dominate the lyrics albeit ‘Giving up the Ghost’ is a subtle dig at Iommi for continuing with Sabbath and ‘Detective 27’ a wonderful homage to Batman.
1997 saw the release of Black Science which continued in mostly the same direction, albeit with Bell replaced by Clark Brown. ‘Unspeakable Elvis’ was a nod to the King and the thumping ‘Trinity Road’ a tribute to Geezer’s first love, the mighty Aston Villa FC. The Sci-Fi themes are still very much in evidence on ‘Mysterons’ and ‘Among The Cybermen’ and overall the album has stood the test of time better than its predecessor with more variety and Brown proving to be a good fit.
After a few years on Sabbath duty, Geezer resurrected his solo career in 2005 with Ohmwork, the only line-up change being Chad Smith (not the RHCP one) replacing Castronovo on drums. The album showcases a fusion of different metal styles, opener ‘Misfit’ being old-school metal, ‘Prisoner 103’ a rap-metal fest and the seven minute ‘I Believe’ a doom inspired epic. The band also played some live shows around this time and disc four has several live numbers along with demos and different versions including ‘Area 51’, ‘Pardon My Depression’ and ‘The Invisible’.
Manipulations of the Mind evidences that Geezer was determined not to simply replicate the signature sound of Sabbath with his solo career and instead explored different styles of heavy metal. This expansive set offers a terrific way to get all of Geezer’s solo work in one hit and the accompanying compilation a handy introduction for the more casual listener.
‘Manipulations Of The Mind – The Complete Collection’ track-listing:
CD1 – PLASTIC PLANET
Catatonic Eclipse
Drive Boy, Shooting
Giving Up The Ghost
Plastic Planet
The Invisible
Séance Fiction
House Of Clouds
Detective 27
X13
Sci-Clone
Cycle Of Sixty
CD2 – BLACK SCIENCE
Man In A Suitcase
Box Of Six
Mysterons
Justified
Department S
Area Code 51
Has To Be
Number 5
Among The Cybermen
Unspeakable Elvis
Xodiak
Northern Wisdom
Trinity Road
CD3 – OHMWORK
Misfit
Pardon My Depression
Prisoner 103
I Believe
Aural Sects
Pseudocide
Pull The String
Alone
Dogs Of Whore
Don’t You Know
CD4 – BONUS
Pseudocide (No Intro)
Prisoner 103 (Demo)
The Invisible (Instrumental)
Area Code 51 (Demo)
Cycle Of Sixty (Radio Mix)
X13 (Radio Mix)
Northern Wisdom (Demo)
Beach Skeleton (Japanese Version)
Pardon My Depression (Alt Take)
Misfit (Rough Mix)
I Believe (Demo)
Four Feathers Fall (Demo)
Drive Boy, Shooting (Live)
Detective 27 (Live)
House Of Clouds (Live)
‘The Very Best Of Geezer Butler’ track-listing:
Drive Boy, Shooting
Man In A Suitcase
Misfit
The Invisible
Box Of Six
Pardon My Depression
House Of Cards
Mysterons
Aural Sects
Detective 27
Number 5
I Believe
Catatonic Eclipse
Among The Cybermen
Prisoner 103
Plastic Planet
Area Code 51
