The 1996 writing collaboration between Tony Iommi (BLACK SABBATH) and Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH) will finally be officially released via Sanctuary Records on September 28, 2004. The album, The 1996 DEP Sessions, which is being released under the banner, “Iommi With Glenn Hughes,” features eight songs recorded by these two legends. Songtitles include: “Gone,” “From Another World,” “Don’t You Tell Me,” “Don’t Drag The River,” “Fine,” “Time Is The Healer,” “I’m Not The Same Man” and “It Falls Through Me.”

The story of how this project came together began when Iommi was working on a solo album and had asked Hughes to collaborate with him as a singer and songwriter. They worked on demos and recording for most of them commenced at DEP Studios in Birmingham, England. DEP is a renowned facility owned by the British reggae band, UB40. Among those joining in were joined by keyboardists Don Airey (RAINBOW, OZZY OSBOURNE, DEEP PURPLE) and Geoff Nicholls (who played on many BLACK SABBATH albums in the 1980’s as well as Seventh Star).

No mixing was done at the time and Iommi and Hughes pursued other projects. They still kept in touch personally and occasionally brought up the subject of finishing and releasing those songs recorded in 1996. Unfortunately, a poor-quality bootleg CD made from an incomplete cassette surfaced.

Earlier this year, Iommi reviewed the tapes at his home studio with the idea of completing them and releasing the songs so that fans could enjoy this music in finished form. New drum tracks were recorded by Jimmy Copley, who played on Iommi’s all-star-laden 2000 solo album, Iommi. Original engineer Mike Exeter and Iommi mixed the 1996 tracks and stripped them down to the basics to help add to the clean, raw feel.