Post by Pete70s on Oct 25, 2010 23:01:03 GMT -5
I've been meaning to do one of these for a long time, but, as many of you know, I have a new girlfriend, and I'm almost NEVER home anymore! Tonight is actually the first night I've been home in almost two weeks, but I can't complain.. 
Well, I've been planning a Black Sabbath ACR for some time. They are one of my favorite bands and I've been a huge fan since high school. They're mostly known for their first few albums with Ozzy, but their entire catalog is a treasure trove of great overlooked album cuts (some of which you'd never expect from the architects of heavy metal!).
So, here we go:
"After Forever" (Master Of Reality, 1971)
An almost Beatle-like bass line drives this great rocker, which actually has PRO-Christian lyrics (So much for Black Sabbath being "satanic"). Well, except maybe for the GREAT line "Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope?"
"Killing Yourself To Live" (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, 1974)
To me, this is as "Classic Sabbath" as it gets!
"It's Alright" (Technical Ecstacy, 1976)
"Technical Ecstacy" was easily the weakest album with Ozzy. Songs like "She's Gone" and "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" are among the worst in their catalog. However, there are a couple of real gems there, particularly this Beatle-esque ballad, sung by drummer Bill Ward (I had this cassette in high school, which had no liner notes, so for years I thought it was Ozzy singing with a cold!). Apparently, Axl Rose liked this song, too, as Guns N' Roses used to play this song live in the early 90's.
"Air Dance" (Never Say Die, 1978)
It seems af if NOBODY can say ANYTHING good about the "Never Say Die" album (Even Tony Iommi disowns it!). I, on the other hand, LOVE the album! "Junior's Eyes", "A Hard Road", "Over To You", "Shock Wave", ALL great tracks!! "Air Dance" is unlike ANYTHING the band has recorded before or since. It starts with this crunchy riff, and then goes into this lush, misty, jazz-like vibe for the verses. Then kicks into double-time and ends with a synthesizer riff. It almost sounds dated by 1978 standards, may have sounded better in '71. To my ears, a BRILLIANT piece of music. To everyone else's ears, completely out of place on a Black Sabbath record. But, so what? Listen for yourself:
"The Sign Of The Southern Cross" (Mob Rules, 1981)
After Ozzy left in '79, Ronnie James Dio joined in 1980 and breathed new life into the band. Unfortunately, it would be the last time they'd have any significant success commercially, but not the last time they'd make great music! "Heaven & Hell" was a solid album all the way through. "Mob Rules", on the other hand, hasn't aged with me as well. A couple of songs on it make me cringe to hear them today. Possibly the best song here, "The Sign Of The Southern Cross" is the albums epic.
"Hot Line" (Born Again, 1983)
After Dio left in early '83, Ian Gillan of Deep Purple was recruited for an album and tour. "Born Again" went top 40 on the album chart, but left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths. The bargain-bin copy I bought in October of '85 spent a LOT of time on my turntable that winter, and although at the time I looked at "Hot Line" as filler, nowadays I like the track a lot!
"Angry Heart/In Memory..." (Seventh Star, 1986)
It must have REALLY sucked to be Tony Iommi at this point in time. EVERY singer that left Black Sabbath would go on to greater success, while Sabbath had pretty much ended by 1985. Still, Tony kept pressing on. A reunion of the original line-up with Ozzy at Live-Aid fueled rumors of a full-scale reunion, but that was not to be. Iommi formed a new band (featuring former Deep Purple/Trapeze member Glenn Hughes on vocals) and recorded a solo album called "Seventh Star", but the label refused to release it under anything but the Black Sabbath name. In a compromise, The album was billed as by "Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi", which turned out to be career suicide. The tour with Hughes lasted five dates before he was replaced by singer Ray Gillen. "Angry Heart" is an 80's rocker that sounds like something out of a "Rocky" movie, "In Memory..." is a ballad Tony wrote after his father's death. Together they close the album.
"Hard Life To Love" (The Eternal idol" 1987)
Ray Gillen (No relation to Ian GILLAN) was hand picked by Tony Iommi to be "The New Voice Of Sabbath", the singer that he believed would make Sabbath relevant again. The album was almost finished when Gillen left the band unexpectadly left to form Blue Murder (and later Badlands before tragically dying of AIDS in 1993). Tony quickly recruited singer Tony Martin, who would re-record Ray's vocals for the album (and would go on to record four more albums with Sabbath, the second longest tenure for a singer after Ozzy). "Hard Life To Love" is a completely overlooked gem. As a special treat, I'm linking the clip to Ray Gillen's original version, which I feel is FAR superior!
"The Battle Of Tyr/Odin's Court/Valhalla" (Tyr, 1990)
A three part epic that fills much of side 2 of "Tyr" (pronounced "Teer"). Much of the subject matter on this album dealt with Norse mythology.
"The Battle Of Tyr" is just a short intro, "Odin's Court" is an accoustic "Stairway To Heaven"-like piece. "Valhalla" is the crown jewel, possibly the best song on the album.
"Computer God" (Dehumanizer, 1992)
In 1991, hell froze over. Ronnie James Dio put his solo career on hold to rejoin Black Sabbath (after years of trashing them in the press). The resulting album "Dehumanizer" was the bands most inspired work in years. While the reunion was short-lived, the album remains among their best work. The opening track, "Computer God", Is quite possibly the heaviest song they ever recorded.
After Dio left yet again, the Tony Martin line-up would resume, to little success. After two dismal albums, "Cross Purposes" and "Forbidden", the original Sabbath line-up would reunite, and the name "Black Sabbath" would ONLY be used for that line-up from then on.
So there you go. Please post comments and opinions!!
Well, I've been planning a Black Sabbath ACR for some time. They are one of my favorite bands and I've been a huge fan since high school. They're mostly known for their first few albums with Ozzy, but their entire catalog is a treasure trove of great overlooked album cuts (some of which you'd never expect from the architects of heavy metal!).
So, here we go:
"After Forever" (Master Of Reality, 1971)
An almost Beatle-like bass line drives this great rocker, which actually has PRO-Christian lyrics (So much for Black Sabbath being "satanic"). Well, except maybe for the GREAT line "Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope?"
"Killing Yourself To Live" (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, 1974)
To me, this is as "Classic Sabbath" as it gets!
"It's Alright" (Technical Ecstacy, 1976)
"Technical Ecstacy" was easily the weakest album with Ozzy. Songs like "She's Gone" and "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" are among the worst in their catalog. However, there are a couple of real gems there, particularly this Beatle-esque ballad, sung by drummer Bill Ward (I had this cassette in high school, which had no liner notes, so for years I thought it was Ozzy singing with a cold!). Apparently, Axl Rose liked this song, too, as Guns N' Roses used to play this song live in the early 90's.
"Air Dance" (Never Say Die, 1978)
It seems af if NOBODY can say ANYTHING good about the "Never Say Die" album (Even Tony Iommi disowns it!). I, on the other hand, LOVE the album! "Junior's Eyes", "A Hard Road", "Over To You", "Shock Wave", ALL great tracks!! "Air Dance" is unlike ANYTHING the band has recorded before or since. It starts with this crunchy riff, and then goes into this lush, misty, jazz-like vibe for the verses. Then kicks into double-time and ends with a synthesizer riff. It almost sounds dated by 1978 standards, may have sounded better in '71. To my ears, a BRILLIANT piece of music. To everyone else's ears, completely out of place on a Black Sabbath record. But, so what? Listen for yourself:
"The Sign Of The Southern Cross" (Mob Rules, 1981)
After Ozzy left in '79, Ronnie James Dio joined in 1980 and breathed new life into the band. Unfortunately, it would be the last time they'd have any significant success commercially, but not the last time they'd make great music! "Heaven & Hell" was a solid album all the way through. "Mob Rules", on the other hand, hasn't aged with me as well. A couple of songs on it make me cringe to hear them today. Possibly the best song here, "The Sign Of The Southern Cross" is the albums epic.
"Hot Line" (Born Again, 1983)
After Dio left in early '83, Ian Gillan of Deep Purple was recruited for an album and tour. "Born Again" went top 40 on the album chart, but left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths. The bargain-bin copy I bought in October of '85 spent a LOT of time on my turntable that winter, and although at the time I looked at "Hot Line" as filler, nowadays I like the track a lot!
"Angry Heart/In Memory..." (Seventh Star, 1986)
It must have REALLY sucked to be Tony Iommi at this point in time. EVERY singer that left Black Sabbath would go on to greater success, while Sabbath had pretty much ended by 1985. Still, Tony kept pressing on. A reunion of the original line-up with Ozzy at Live-Aid fueled rumors of a full-scale reunion, but that was not to be. Iommi formed a new band (featuring former Deep Purple/Trapeze member Glenn Hughes on vocals) and recorded a solo album called "Seventh Star", but the label refused to release it under anything but the Black Sabbath name. In a compromise, The album was billed as by "Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi", which turned out to be career suicide. The tour with Hughes lasted five dates before he was replaced by singer Ray Gillen. "Angry Heart" is an 80's rocker that sounds like something out of a "Rocky" movie, "In Memory..." is a ballad Tony wrote after his father's death. Together they close the album.
"Hard Life To Love" (The Eternal idol" 1987)
Ray Gillen (No relation to Ian GILLAN) was hand picked by Tony Iommi to be "The New Voice Of Sabbath", the singer that he believed would make Sabbath relevant again. The album was almost finished when Gillen left the band unexpectadly left to form Blue Murder (and later Badlands before tragically dying of AIDS in 1993). Tony quickly recruited singer Tony Martin, who would re-record Ray's vocals for the album (and would go on to record four more albums with Sabbath, the second longest tenure for a singer after Ozzy). "Hard Life To Love" is a completely overlooked gem. As a special treat, I'm linking the clip to Ray Gillen's original version, which I feel is FAR superior!
"The Battle Of Tyr/Odin's Court/Valhalla" (Tyr, 1990)
A three part epic that fills much of side 2 of "Tyr" (pronounced "Teer"). Much of the subject matter on this album dealt with Norse mythology.
"The Battle Of Tyr" is just a short intro, "Odin's Court" is an accoustic "Stairway To Heaven"-like piece. "Valhalla" is the crown jewel, possibly the best song on the album.
"Computer God" (Dehumanizer, 1992)
In 1991, hell froze over. Ronnie James Dio put his solo career on hold to rejoin Black Sabbath (after years of trashing them in the press). The resulting album "Dehumanizer" was the bands most inspired work in years. While the reunion was short-lived, the album remains among their best work. The opening track, "Computer God", Is quite possibly the heaviest song they ever recorded.
After Dio left yet again, the Tony Martin line-up would resume, to little success. After two dismal albums, "Cross Purposes" and "Forbidden", the original Sabbath line-up would reunite, and the name "Black Sabbath" would ONLY be used for that line-up from then on.
So there you go. Please post comments and opinions!!
