Favorite Sabbath Lineup!!

[SAT-I need more room!!]

Those are the main ones. To be honest, I only know the Ozzy stuff, other than Digital Bitch from the Gillian album.

So the original gets my vote!

I should have also put in "Other" because as I was reading in Goldmine yesterday, there were SEVERAL other singers and band members!

[Ken]

The original with Ozzy gets my vote.

[Pete70s]

All line-ups of Sabbath are good, it's too bad their 80's stuff gets criticized so badly.

Ozzy-Classic line-up. Ozzy had a stage presence that couldn't be replaced. Even though Tony Iommi was the focal point of the classic Sabbath, and Ozzy was kind of relegated to the side of the stage, he still managed to get noticed. I still like to think of Ozzy as the guy in the kimono and platform shoes on the cover of Sabotage, rather than the mess he is now... I plan on getting "The Black Box", maybe I'll put it on my Christmas list.

Dio-Changed the sound of the band. Gave them a new direction and breathed life into a dying horse. Made two studio albums and a live album between 80-82. "Heaven And Hell" has aged a LOT better than "Mob Rules". Reunited in 1991 and made perhaps the best Sabbath album EVER, "Dehumanizer". Ronnie had a good stage presence and great voice, but he had some big shoes to fill. Plus, he kind of got caught in the middle of the whole Ozzy/Sabbath feud that the press had a field day with at the time. (On Ozzy's first solo tour, he'd have a midget come on stage to serve him drinks, and he'd tell the audience to "Say Hi to Ronnie!")

Ian Gillan-Made one great album (Born Again) and toured. Too bad they didn't last. The last Sabbath line-up to gain any real credibility.

Glenn Hughes-Did a poorly recieved album in '86 called "Seventh Star", which contained a few really good songs. It was, however, a departure from the traditional Sabbath sound (It was supposed to be a Tony Iommi solo album) so critics and fans totally panned it. I, however, liked it very much. Poor Glenn only lasted a few dates on the tour, one of which was at the Worcester Centrum, where many disgruntled classmates of mine said "They sucked!"

Ray Gillen-A quick replacement was found in the powerful voice of Ray Gillen, who finished the Seventh Star tour and worked on the next Sabbath album. (I had a bootleg tape many years ago of a show on this tour. It got stolen out of my car..) Ray would leave the group before finishing the next album, though, and Iommi would erase all his vocal tracks. Ray would go on to release two albums with Badlands (with Jake E. Lee on guitar), before his death from AIDS in 1994..

Tony Martin-Re-Recoreded the Gillen vocals for the Eternal Idol album. Had several good songs, including "Hard Life To Love and "Born To Lose". Should have been better recieved than it was. Martin would do four more albums with the band, but I've never really heard any of them. I had the Headless Cross tape years ago, but it didn't do much for me.

All in all, I gave it to Ozzy..

[djdave]

Paranoid--a classic!

Other line-ups didn't quite match.

[Pete70s]

pete70s said:

All line-ups of Sabbath are good, it's too bad their 80's stuff gets criticized so badly.

Ozzy-Classic line-up. Ozzy had a stage presence that couldn't be replaced. Even though Tony Iommi was the focal point of the classic Sabbath, and Ozzy was kind of relegated to the side of the stage, he still managed to get noticed. I still like to think of Ozzy as the guy in the kimono and platform shoes on the cover of Sabotage, rather than the mess he is now... I plan on getting "The Black Box", maybe I'll put it on my Christmas list.

Dio-Changed the sound of the band. Gave them a new direction and breathed life into a dying horse. Made two studio albums and a live album between 80-82. "Heaven And Hell" has aged a LOT better than "Mob Rules". Reunited in 1991 and made perhaps the best Sabbath album EVER, "Dehumanizer". Ronnie had a good stage presence and great voice, but he had some big shoes to fill. Plus, he kind of got caught in the middle of the whole Ozzy/Sabbath feud that the press had a field day with at the time. (On Ozzy's first solo tour, he'd have a midget come on stage to serve him drinks, and he'd tell the audience to "Say Hi to Ronnie!")

Ian Gillan-Made one great album (Born Again) and toured. Too bad they didn't last. The last Sabbath line-up to gain any real credibility.

Glenn Hughes-Did a poorly recieved album in '86 called "Seventh Star", which contained a few really good songs. It was, however, a departure from the traditional Sabbath sound (It was supposed to be a Tony Iommi solo album) so critics and fans totally panned it. I, however, liked it very much. Poor Glenn only lasted a few dates on the tour, one of which was at the Worcester Centrum, where many disgruntled classmates of mine said "They sucked!"

Ray Gillen-A quick replacement was found in the powerful voice of Ray Gillen, who finished the Seventh Star tour and worked on the next Sabbath album. (I had a bootleg tape many years ago of a show on this tour. It got stolen out of my car..) Ray would leave the group before finishing the next album, though, and Iommi would erase all his vocal tracks. Ray would go on to release two albums with Badlands (with Jake E. Lee on guitar), before his death from AIDS in 1994..

Tony Martin-Re-Recoreded the Gillen vocals for the Eternal Idol album. Had several good songs, including "Hard Life To Love and "Born To Lose". Should have been better recieved than it was. Martin would do four more albums with the band, but I've never really heard any of them. I had the Headless Cross tape years ago, but it didn't do much for me.

All in all, I gave it to Ozzy..

Several Sabbath albums will be on my upcoming list of underrated albums, including the one currently in my avatar. None of the obvious ones will be, though (Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath), although they are ALL good.

I'm still working on the list, but I haven't had much time to do so, that's why it's taking so long.

As far as Metal bands go, Sabbath is probably my favorite. Here is my ranking of vocalists:

Ozzy
Ian Gillan
Ray Gillen
Glenn Hughes
Dio
Tony Martin

I should also mention David Walker and David Donato, neither of which were in the band long enough to record anything.

[Beatles4ever]

Has to be the original line up for me.