The Eternal Idol (1987)
1.
The Shining - A lovely, mystifying guitar intro tiptoes down the hall and piques your interest, as its haunting melody drifts through the air. Following it down the corridors, you open the door and are immediately washed away by the sound of Tony Iommi laying down a killer Black Sabbath riff. Fuck yes. Already I'm hooked. Geoff Nicholls gets a chance to shine in the verse, where his keyboard conjures up the air of a pirate dancing a jig on the high seas. Newcomer Tony Martin steps out of the shadows and takes command. He's a bit like a tenderfoot, but already I'm vibing with him a lot more than I did Gillan and Hughes. He's got a nice soulful approach to singing, although he's a bit too clean on this track. The "Rise up!" in the chorus doesn't have the power I'd like it to, but this is understandable because he was doing vocal lines created for a different singer. That chorus is otherwise great though! The bridge really sees Martin shine and he puts a ton of weight into this emotionally charged piece. This song is a rediscovery for Iommi and his gang of hired hands, finally a return to Black Fucking Sabbath after a couple unstable previous records. Excellent song.
9/10
2.
Ancient Warrior - The keyboard intro tricks you into thinking that Sabbath are going to pull a
Power Windows or a
Somewhere in Time, but when the rest of the band kick in we are back to Sabbath Fucking Sabbath. The sSs is in full effect and I can't help but move along to this beat. The chorus is really subdued but super epic, and it takes a few listens for it to click because you almost expect a bigger hook to follow. Great Eastern-tinted solo. Just a killer, stomping Sabbath cut that perfectly follows up the majesty of the opener.
9/10
3.
Hard Life to Love - A really rockin' riff cranks up our motorcar and now we're speeding along the highways of life at 66mph! The verse is big and anthemic, with the drumming switching between held beats for the vocals and full-throttle for the riff. A lot of bands would've held back from utilizing this until the hook, but Sabbath are cooking and when the chorus itself does come it builds on the melodies already seen in the verse. Somehow they manage to blow their load early and make you want to return all throughout the song. Martin really digs into some soul on this one. Great track that feels like it would've been a killer single.
8/10
4.
Glory Ride - Another hard-driving riff, but then we get really cool, subdued verses with an emotional-tint, which feeds into the narrative of tragic warriors. Tony Martin gets to show off more of his abilities here. The hooks here don't really pop the way I'd like them to, but I like replacing the second chorus with a bridge. Cool wah solo from Iommi. It also tickles me that Sabbath name drop Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Symphony X songs in the second verse (although the latter two weren't yet released lol). Feels like the kind of battle anthem they wrote to go toe-to-toe with the younger generation of metal bands. It's pretty good.
7/10
5.
Born to Lose - Another pumping riff, another banger. This one is kinda in line with "Hard Life to Love" and at first feels like it could be one of the album's more forgettable tracks. But man, the more I listen to this one the more I like it. Eric Singer's drumming feels more energetic here than on
Seventh Star (even if he still ain't the greatest thing ever). The "uh-uhhh" vocals feel like they should be annoying but I'm actually really okay with them. Martin sounds like he's having fun. I love how the acoustic guitars sparkle in the background of the descending run of "You think I'm chasing shadows in the dark..." This is the moment that makes the song for me. Tight little package, great stuff.
8/10
6.
Nightmare - A hauntingly beautiful keyboard intro that feels like it belongs on a horror film soundtrack rises up and tantalizes you before disappearing again. I guess for once Iommi didn't feel the need to make this a separate track? Kinda wish they built something out of that but luckily the rest of the song is pretty good. It starts out as a stomper - with a pretty lush chorus that reminds me of Symphony X's "Through the Looking Glass" - but they turn up the gas halfway through into a full-on rocker. I like it, but not as much as some of the other songs here.
7/10
7.
Scarlet Pimpernel - Beautiful acoustic piece, genuinely one of Iommi's best interlude tracks.
9/10
8.
Lost Forever - On first listen this song was a highlight for me, but it's slipped down to probably being my least favorite track now. That said, there are a few things that elevate it above a track like, say, "Walk Away" from
Heaven and Hell. First off - the energy is off the charts. If this doesn't at least get your blood pumping then you're doing something wrong. Second, Iommi's solo in here is incredible, I love it so much. One of his all-time best. The song does get held back by the weak production, the guitar sound is dogshit on that intro. I also think Martin would have really crushed this if he'd had more time with the band before recording the album. But this is still a good metallic scorcher altogether.
7/10
9.
Eternal Idol - The closing title track might be the darkest, evilest, heaviest thing Sabbath have done to date. It modulates between two moods - creeping ominous clean guitar and trudging doomy distortion. I mean this is the kind of heavy I expect from Slayer, not Sabbath. It's super interesting. It's not one of the album's best though, I'm not sold on Martin's performance of the verse (kinda reminds me of a mix of Ripper Owens and off-brand Alice in Chains) and it doesn't really reach any awesome peaks, but this is still a good song just for the atmosphere and heaviness alone.
7/10
OVERALL
After a complete failure of an album and a decidedly non-Sabbathy follow-up,
The Eternal Idol finally feels like a Black Sabbath record again. Iommi and the crew are writing good songs that are a lot of fun and honestly I think this is one of the band's most consistent releases. This is the first record where I haven't rated anything below a 7. There's not really any filler to be seen. It doesn't have any transcending masterpieces but every song here is good, if not great.
Tony Martin's first performance with the band is solid. I like the soulful textures of his voice but I'm hoping for a little more fire, a little more passion on the next project. Honestly everyone besides Iommi feels like they're a hired gun rather than a band member, largely owing to how messy the band's lineup has become at this stage. But these performances are so much better than on the previous two albums, even Eric Singer sounds like he's stepped up.
Weak production but I dig this record more and more with each listen. A good introduction to the Tony Martin era of Black Sabbath, let's see what else they can do, eh?
Total:
78%*
*Average of score with vs. without "Scarlet Pimpernel", which is a bit short to weight the score fully.
