BORN AGAIN

Ian Gillan was sitting in a chair and asking us "Did I really play with Black Sabbath ?". An absurd thought. Ian Gillan playing with Black Sabbath. It is like fire and water. Then again, it is difficult to ignore the evidence. This album is a pretty conclusive piece of evidence. Many people has been convicted for less evidence than this one.

Ian Gillan was a fish out of water in Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath itself was a fish out of water in that scene. They tried AOR and generic heavy metal without much success while their sacked ex vocalist Ozzy which they had left dead drunk/stoned and unable to take care of himself in a hotel room a few years previously had some huge successes on his own. Both artistic and commercially. Hard to stomach. Then they find a new vocalist which gives Black Sabbath a brief lift before he also runs of on his own and have huge artistic and commercial success on his own. That is while Black Sabbath is drifting like a wreck in an ocean.

And on climbs Ian Gillan. A vocalist with a massive reputation on his own and some trademark tracks on his own. That's why Black Sabbath was playing Smoke On The Water in their gigs.

Ian Gillan as a Black Sabbath vocalist was a train crash. This album is a train crash. It is a band trying to adopt Black Sabbath to Ian Gillan's vocals. With the notable exception of the decent title track, the material here is throw away generic heavy metal and which would not had been even B sides of the singles of any other top metal band at that time. The material is sometimes pretty heavy and sometimes AOR like pop metal (Digital Bitch). I most of all feel sorry for Tony Iommi when I listen to this album. He did not deserve having to put out this pile of horse manure. That is what this album is. Horse manure and an album best forgotten. Not even the art work and the gothic letters proclaiming Black Sabbath can save this album. An album who is only offering the two names Ian Gillan and Black Sabbath. What a shame.

1 star