10 Greatest Final Rock Albums Of The 2010s
4. 13 - Black Sabbath
Incredibly (and pleasantly), Black Sabbath's decision to retire was not affected by a death.
In 2013, Sabbath released their first studio album featuring Ozzy Osbourne since 1978, and their first album period since 1995. Not only was The Prince of Darkness back in the fold, but so was every other member of the band's classic roster... well, until drummer Bill Ward pulled out over a so-called "contractual dispute".
With Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk behind the kit instead, the Birmingham deathmongers channelled their peak and delivered eight songs that could have come straight out of the early 1970s.
Though some felt it was a little derivative of their previous work, 13 still proved popular amongst fans old and new, as songs like God is Dead? and End of the Beginning captured imaginations in a way Sabbath had failed to do for some time.
There were plans for a follow-up album a few years later, but this never happened for a variety of logistical reasons. In February 2017, the merchants of doom called it a day with one last gig in their home town, finally laying the Black Sabbath name to rest.