TONY IOMMI--THE WIZARD BEHIND THE OZ

“THE ULTIMATE SIN.” Ozzy Osbourne. Jet.

“SEVENTH STAR.” Black Sabbath. Warner Bros.

Sick of hearing about Ozzy Osbourne--that bat-biting, allegedly suicide-inducing heavy-metal singer? You’re probably no more tired of the way Oz keeps landing in the spotlight than his old Black Sabbath partner Tony Iommi.

Who’s Tony Iommi? Only the guy who invented the Wagnerian guitar structures that defined Sabbath’s highly influential sound, who co-wrote the music for the band with bassist Terry Butler, and who continues to carry on Sabbath long after Osbourne’s departure.

Iommi has been a relatively anonymous figure, but he’s out to change that with this 14th Sabbath LP. Butler left after the last album, and even though ex-Deep Purple singer Glenn Hughes has succeeded such Sab singers as Ronnie Dio and Ian Gillan, the album’s cover pictures only a sullen Iommi, and he even gets featured billing under the Sabbath banner. For the first time he’s written all the music and lyrics, and the record company has enclosed a sort of “Quotes From Chairman Tony” with the band’s press bio.

Forget it, Tony: You’ll never get the credit you deserve as long as the headline-grabbing Wizard of Controversy is around. And an average album like “Seventh Star” won’t help either. Iommi and company don’t seem to have their hearts in cuts like “Danger Zone” and “In for the Kill,” though they’re respectable efforts. Half the album is actually more melancholy blues than blistering metal, ranging from the passable “Heart Like a Wheel” to the repetitive, unconvincing sulk of “No Stranger to Love.” Great vocals might have brought these songs alive; Hughes is only dully efficient.

At least Iommi’s album is a little better than Ozzy’s release--doughy, lumpy fast food with no-nukes pretensions on three songs. Ozzy’s real “ultimate sin” is being a big, plodding bore. Oz is much more entertaining in interviews than on record, where his klutzy vocals and formula sound make you wonder at his ability to remain the guy people associate with metal’s most magnificent progenitor.