BLACK SABBATH

For the artwork alone, this album could deserve a 10 out of 10. For me it's the most fitting and eerie cover ever done, perfectly capturing the feel and atmosphere of the music. Ominous music if that still needs to be said.

This album kicked off heavy metal for real. Iron Butterfly, Cream, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and many others had done huge pioneering work in the years before, but still, something was missing in their hard rock. Despite all the screams and howls, and even with the aggressive playing and huge power chords, it all lacked one defining ingredient: Satan!

Here the horned root of all evil is not only present in the lyrics but also conjured up by the music. The way how to invoke Lucifer is as simple as it is effective: 1. wear the cross upside down, 2. use words such as Satan, evil, doom or devil at least once in every track, and 3. use the tritone as extensively as possible. Simply put, the tritone is a dissonant interval that sounds evil. They already knew it in the middle-ages. It was nicknamed 'Diabolus in Musica' and it was generally avoided till the late romanticists got their hands on it and used it to create darker and more menacing music. The title track is the perfect example of it.

By going in such occult directions, Sabbath openly distanced themselves from the prevailing hippie culture and guess what? It was an instant success and it reshaped the history of rock, or at least a huge part of the rock culture. Every track on this album surges with power and pours out sinister atmosphere. In fact, even the indulgent guitar solo in the lengthy Warning can't spoil the larger than life feel of the album. This is the defining album of heavy metal and probably one of the best in that category ever. Essential to every discography.

On this Cross album (even after 15 years I still can't tell the titles apart when referring to the Sabbath-with-Martin albums), the sound has been stripped of most of its overblown 80's resonating production values. Unfortunately Sabbath was again stripped of Dio as well, after that much maligned but still excellent Dehumanizer comeback album with him.

But I always liked the Tony Martin period. That is to say I like many songs from it. If you read my review of the other Cross album, I'm sure you figured out that subtle distinction yourself.

Cross#2 is another offering that has plenty of classic moments but is too uneven and inconsistent again to be called excellent. Let me just list the songs that really work for me and that I'm sure they will not deviate much from what everybody else has: I Witness, Cross of Thorns, Virtual Death, Dying for Your Love and the beautiful verses of Immaculate Deception (not so much the awkward tempo change).

That's about half of the album so 3 stars will have to do. Not essential or excellent, even though I believe every serious Sabbath fan should have at least one Martin album in his Sabbath section. This Cross is a decent candidate for that.

Well this was a disappointment. The Martin-formula was completely depleted by then. Sabbath even sounded directionless and rather pathetic in their attempt to win some street credibility back by bringing in Ice-T and by applying production values that were probably meant to sound rough and contemporary but that come off flat and dry. Or is that due to the uninspired performance here? Hard to say what is to blame most.

This still has a few sparse moments that are listenable: Can't get close enough, I won't cry for you (damn those cheesy titles alone...) and Kiss of Death. So I will keep the one star verdict in the closet as that is reserved for albums that can't get one single note in the right place. Still it's rather 2 black holes then 2 stars.

I've always liked the Sabbath period with Tony Martin. The music had a big and heavy epic feel, splendid melodies and admit it, an excellent singer. In the high octave range of metal vocalists, he rules easily.

There is little to remind us this is still Black Sabbath though, a heavy take on Rainbow is more what it sounds like. Especially with Cozy Powell's ever commanding drum sound and Tony Martin's emotive and heavily Dio-influenced voice. Ok, he doesn't have the words 'Rainbow' and 'Evil' and 'Fire' in every track and he goes clearly a tad higher and cleaner, but apart from that, Dio all over.

One of the aspects I used to like about this period is the heavy revulsion it provoked with the legions of Sabbath newbies of the early 90's. "That!? Sabbath!?". I always though that reaction to be extremely amusing. Yes I know, strange humour.

Anyway, much of this stuff is over the edge of unbearable hair metal goofiness. Tracks like Kill In The Spirit World and Call of the Wild are ill-advised to say the least. But at other moments this album rules with its straightforward and direct (not to say overstated) emotional appeal. Headless Cross, Black Moon and Nightwing are massive power metal anthems. A style of music I don't like at all normally, way too derivative and undemanding. But once in a while, it's good to hear some of the songs that started it off.

Neon Knights and Children of the sea botha are two great songs from future "Heven And Hell"album. This is one of the very first BS record with new vocalist - Ronnie James Dio - and with big changes in direction.

Muddy Ozzy-time blues based hard rock is gone, you have first evidences of very melodic heavy metal with very heavy sound incl. excellent Dio vocal.

At the time of release this single was really important as teaser for long waited "Heaven And Hell"album. Now in fact is interesting for collectors only (B-side contains live version of Children Of The Sea). If you have yet "Heaven And Hell"album, in fact it is no reason to purchase this single.

But if you never heard "Heaven And Hell" and have possibility to listen "Neon Knights"- do it! I am sure you will purchase full album later!

Perhaps the most solid Sabbath effort featuring vocalist Tony Martin, and perhaps their best album of the decade. Cross Purposes offers a wide range of compositions, from the speedy intro 'I Witness' to the doom that is 'Virtual Death' through to the ballads such as 'Dying for Love'. The return of Geezer Butler is welcomed yet the departure of Dio is probably the main reason why this album goes relatively unnoticed. The songs are masterful and this has to be seen as one of the band's finest albums. It's great to listen to, every track is a delight, it contains catchy choruses, more classic Iommi riffs and is overall an explosive effort. It's not as heavy as Dehumanizer and there's non of the intense reverb and synth layering that featured on the late 80s releases and 90s TYR. It's once again another underrated gem from the Tony Marin era of Black Sabbath; here he is singing at his best and this can be seen as one of the greatest Sabbath albums. Top tracks: 'I Witness', 'Virtual Death' and 'Evil Eye'.

Headless Cross is by far one of Sabbath's greatest albums and is criminally underrated. The album should be seen as more of a 'Hair Metal' effort from the band, who's musical style at the time had been drastically evolving since 1986s 'Seventh Star'. The musical content is virtually floorless; masterful and addictive riffs, awe-inspiring vocals and epic choruses make what is all-in-all a great metal album. The lyrics are cheesy, but there's no denying the sheer power of the title track; a simple yet confident and powerful riff (think Paranoid) sets the scene to this dark and explosive record. Tony Martin is by this time setting himself up as one of Sabbath's finest vocalists (there have been many) and Tony Iommi shows that he still has the gift of producing amazing riffs. Many people put this album down, and they do it wrongly, and it's fair to say that this 'Satanic Hair Metal' may not be everyone's cup of tea (it's surtainly not prog), but if you're into the music of this time (bands such as Dokken, Magnum) or even just Metal and melodic rock, this album is for you. Stand-out tracks: 'Headless Cross', 'When Death Calls', 'Devil & Daughter.

This is where the prog elements in Vol.4 gained strength and turned Sabbath into the first progressive metal band ever. If you really wants to know my opinions on this album, read my review of "Sabotage" and replace the album name with "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". An incredible album, and one of the very few I consider worth 100%. So since I already said the most basic things about Sabbath in my review for Sabotage, lets just jump to the songs themselves.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the opener, is a riff-monster. You will also notice how different Ozzy sounds. His vocals are processed, and they sound great. A National Acrobat is my number three Sabbath song, with its amazing riffs and more riffs. Track three, Fluff, is a beautiful acoustic song. Fourth song, Sabbra Cadabra, has keyboards-god Rick Wakeman on pianos, lots of riffs and a great performance by Ozzy. Killing Yourself To Live has the usual, plus some great lyrics. Who Are You has Rick Wakeman again, this time on synthetisers. Basically, the whole song is a weird keyboard with Ozzy singing. Unusual, but great. An acquired taste.

Looking For Today is the catchiest and most accessible song here, what I found to be delightfully ironic, seeing how it is a critic of pop artists. And even though it is pretty mainstream, it has great riffs by Iommi and an amazing performance by Ozzy.

To end the album, comes Spiral Architect, the most progressive song here. Acoustic guitars, heavy riffs, many changes, odd lyrics, and the sound of an audience clapping at the end. Strange, but genious.

So overall, this is a must-have. Sorry for my bad english.

100/100.

Amazing. That's the best word to describe this album. I'm a HUGE fan of Sabbath, and I love ALL their albums, but "Sabotage" and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" are beyond words. I usually have trouble defining which one I love the most, but "Sabotage" wins most of the time because of Megalomania.

The whole album is pretty different from what they used to be in the beginning (just like SBS). More complex, somewhat darker and heavier and much better. I love how Geezer's bass is audible, but not too loud. Bill Ward has always been an amazing drummer, and here it is no exception. Ozzy was, in the 70's, an amazing (although not talented at all) singer, and this album was the performance of his life. And of course, the riff-god himself, Tony Iommi.

The album opens with the awesome rocker Hole In The Sky, with a strong performance by Ozzy. It ends suddenly and gives place to Don't Start (Too Late), a beautiful and well played acoustic interlude, not long enough to become annoying. Then, the second best Iommi riff ever (with the first being Black Sabbath), Symptom Of The Universe. The whole band is top- notch, and the acoustic part at the end is beautiful.

The best song here is, no doubt, Megalomania. Lots of riffs and changes, with Ozzy giving his ultimate performance. Completely insane.

Next comes The Thrill Of It All, an upbeat rocker with many changes and riffs and great vocals, like everything else here. Next track, Supertzar, is the most different song Sabbath would record until The Illusion Of Power. It is basically a metal opera. Great.

Am I Going Insane is just as weird. A pretty mainstream, unusual song. But Sabbath can do no wrong, so this song still rules. And to the end this masterpiece, the second best song here, The Writ. Its the most aggressive performance Ozzy ever gave, it is extremely heavy at the beginning, and later on there are, again, many changes, with Ozzy sounding emotional at the sound of beautiful acoustic guitars. Not only this is the second best song here, its the second best Black Sabbath song, with A National Acrobat being third.

Overall, this album is godly and must be listened by everyone, no exceptions.

100/100.

Black Sabbath was unfortunately one of the bands I shoved to the side when I first discovered prog rock, and I say unfortunately because Black Sabbath has made great rock records throughout the early to mid 70's. I put them in a higher tier than say Led Zeppelin (too much over hype) and Deep Purple (came into that band too late) because I familiarised myself with Sabbath first and found them to be more musically fulfilling than I expected.

So after over a year long ''Sabbathical'' (couldn't resist) from the band, SABOTAGE made its way into my collection. Through the PAST LIVES thingy, I was already familiar with three of the first four tracks (''Don't Start'' is a little acoustic fart that Iommi does commonly); surprisingly, ''Symptom of the Universe'' and ''Megalomania'' are superior here, particularly the latter, a song I consider to be the first prog-type epic I ever listened to. I guess the studio allowed for more space to over-elaborate, but ''Hole in the Sky'' suffers from slack production and a slushy tempo, the latter problem being avoided mysteriously on PAST LIVES.

Almost as much as their previous album (SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH), this album dives deep into prog and progressive territories. Of the said tracks, ''Megalomania'' fits a prog epic description quite well and ''Symptom of the Universe'' paved the way for headbangers everywhere giving a precursor of a sound akin to bands like Metallica. ''Supertzar'' is as odd as the title; over three minutes of moaning choirs over epic guitar lines, does it get any better than that? Maybe with the overlooked rock indulgences of ''Thrill of it All'' and ''The Writ''.

This might be dubbed ''detailed metal'' as in the metal is as heavy as ever, yet the compositions here sound meticulously crafted to make an artistic statement. The only goof I could find is ''Am I Going Insane'' as it's chorus gets redundantly inane after too long. Still, I feel that this album could easily trounce much of the hard rock at the time and just maybe could compete with prog rock groups...maybe not quite...

Last words: ''Supertzar'' also contains of what I believe is an odd time signature, a rare occurence for Sabbath.