C/D: Black Sabbath With Singers Other Than Ozzy and Dio

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I have a friend who swears by the Tony Martin years. I think he's being a metallic hipster contrarian, however I cannot deny the majesty that is the Ian Gillan-led Born Again.

Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Wednesday, 15 March 2006 23:26 (eighteen years ago) link

i had a vhs video of the headless cross tour....who was that...that..uh...tony dude?

it wasn't very good.

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 15 March 2006 23:33 (eighteen years ago) link

I had CROSS PURPOSES. Other than the title, I don't remember a damn thing about it.

Terrible Cold (Terrible Cold), Thursday, 16 March 2006 00:13 (eighteen years ago) link

I haven't heard Born Again in years, but overall huge DUD.

darin (darin), Thursday, 16 March 2006 00:40 (eighteen years ago) link

Born Again is actually a pretty solid record, definitely on par with the two Dio records. Ian Gillan can sing, and the tunes are still there.

kwame kilpatrick, Thursday, 16 March 2006 00:52 (eighteen years ago) link

I liked Born Again better than either of the Ronnie James Dio albums; but I've never been particularly impressed by Dio, whether on his own or alongside Blackmore/Iommi. (Never heard those Elf albums.) He's no King Diamond. Woulda done well in the Killer Dwarfs tho, if he'd learned to do handstands. (And developed a sense of humour.)

No idea who's sung for the post-Gillan editions, including the one I saw live about 10 years ago.

Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 20:33 (eighteen years ago) link

Seventh Star had Glenn Hughes on vocals,
The Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, Tyr, Forbidden were all Tony Martin, and in between the last two they did Dehumanizer with Ronnie Dio, if memory serves me correctly.

Lotta Continua (Damian), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 20:49 (eighteen years ago) link

true, Dio is no King Diamond, in that Ronald is much much much bettah…

veronica moser (veronica moser), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 20:50 (eighteen years ago) link

Born Again is half good - namely the first side. Better than all of the Dio material, "The Mob Rules" excluded.

The stripped-down Born Again demos that leaked a couple of years ago are great, killer version of "Zero the Hero".

Edward III (edward iii), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:02 (eighteen years ago) link

two years pass...

The Tony Martin albums are great, especially Eternal Idol. If you don't like it, you don't like metal.

Every 'era' of Sabbath ruled until they reunited with Ozzy "Britney Spears" Osbourne to severely blemish the legacy

If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:34 (fifteen years ago) link

The Tony Martin albums are great, especially Eternal Idol. If you don't like it, you don't like metal.

^^challenging opinion!! (really! not being sarcastic!)

M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:36 (fifteen years ago) link

"I haven't heard Born Again in years, but overall huge DUD."

Totally incorrect.

I agree with Matt, never heard much love for the Martin era. The one they did with Ice-T was terrible

Bill Magill, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:39 (fifteen years ago) link

Oh man, we won't even talk about Born Again. That's one of the best Sabbath albums, hands down. Better than the Dio albums, and I LOVE the Dio albums. I must have turned on a hundred people to that album.

Matt - go to Soulseek and download he title track from Eternal Idol and tell me what's not to like if you're a fan of metal. While you're there, download "Hard Life To Live" and "Glory Ride" from that same album.

If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:48 (fifteen years ago) link

will do!

M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:55 (fifteen years ago) link

Slayer totally jacked most of their South of Heaven / Seasons in The Abyss "ballads" from "The Eternal Idol"

If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:59 (fifteen years ago) link

i found the song eternal idol on youtube.

it was pretty good...i could kinda see the slayer thing.

maybe a bit ponderous for my taste (which is a sort of retarded thing to criticize sabbath for being it kinda comes w/the terrirory admittedly)

M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 20:09 (fifteen years ago) link

Hahahahaa, yeah, ponderous they have always been, my friend. I mean, the first thing we ever heard from them was "What is this that stands before me?"

If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 22 May 2008 20:11 (fifteen years ago) link

But that was insanely awesome, the Martin stuff really isn't.

Bill Magill, Thursday, 22 May 2008 20:35 (fifteen years ago) link

Well, it's apples and oranges. Saying the 80s Black Sabbath stuff doesn't hold a candle to classic Sabbath is a no brainer, but saying that ANYTHING in the genre holds a candle to classic Sabbath is equally wrong. That doesn't mean that Pentagram, St Vitus and The Obsessed aren't awesome, and it doesn't mean Tony Martin wasn't a great singer.

If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 22 May 2008 20:41 (fifteen years ago) link

eight years pass...

The Tony Martin albums are great, especially Eternal Idol. If you don't like it, you don't like metal.

*listens to both*

you fuckin' liar

Neanderthal, Wednesday, 31 August 2016 23:05 (seven years ago) link

Gillan's vocals on Born Again are so weird. Love that record though. Probably the last time Gillan was at or near 100%, no? That dudes voice has not held up through the years. Dio sounded great til the day he died, Glenn Hughes still sounds pretty good too.

it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Wednesday, 31 August 2016 23:44 (seven years ago) link

I hated Born Again for years and then this year it just clicked somehow.

Neanderthal, Wednesday, 31 August 2016 23:47 (seven years ago) link

Would have liked to known if Martin Birch had done Born Again if the record would have done better. The production on that one is pretty poor, but there is a few good tunes and riffs on it (Trashed, Zero the Hero).

Perhaps if it did well though the Deep Purple Perfect Strangers reunion might not have happened and that is one of the better come back albums I think in hard rock. It's as good as anything DP ever did.

earlnash, Wednesday, 31 August 2016 23:55 (seven years ago) link

I found some kind of fan re-mix of Born Again on youtube a while back that is definitely an improvement, it deserves more though. Where's Steven Wilson when you need him

Perfect Strangers is very good, but AS good as any Deep Purple? There is just something that happens I think when folks get into middle age, they try to rock n roll like they used to and it just doesn't come off. Ends up sounding a bit goofy. Sounds like a t-shirt tucked into jeans. Might not bother everyone but it puts me off a little

it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Thursday, 1 September 2016 03:05 (seven years ago) link

For a band picking up over a decade after their day in the sun, it's a shitload better than The Firm, put it that way.

earlnash, Thursday, 1 September 2016 04:01 (seven years ago) link

Maybe it's a bit of emotional maturity that they would even think about cunning linguists instead of just the fact they got laid. I was a teenager when that 'tape' came out and bought it at a Kmart with money earned from a paper route, so I would admit my lenses may be a bit fogged. When I listen to it and House of Blue Light, I do think they caught that 70s vibe pretty well in hindsight decades later. I dig Born Again kinda in the same way as I first heard it when I was like 13. I got that one on a music club tape too.

That's a weird era of rock and roll as you had all these guys really a bit beyond sell date still cranking it out and really the main stream (say the Police or Rush) was on a different wavelength let alone what happened with punk in my hole in the universe something you had to dig into the earth to find.

Steven Wilson remix of Born Again would be cool to hear.

earlnash, Thursday, 1 September 2016 04:10 (seven years ago) link

two years pass...

I understand that ozzy left and tony had to get that Dm7 chord out of his system and Dio is great, but they shouldn’t have called it Black Sabbath, because it wasn’t

calstars, Saturday, 17 November 2018 01:34 (five years ago) link


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