Black Sabbath

There's no "especially" in Sabbath. It's an all-or-nothing affair. You should know it all before you pick a favourite.
 
I met a lot of people who only like the Ozzy, or only like the Dio period. The Tony Martin era seems to be a bit underrated, simply because not many people talk about it. "The Headless Cross" album is so excellent, that I find it way more important than most Ozzy's stuff. I guess the Tony Martin period is even my favourite period.

Perun gave a good advice, to check ALL albums because it's worth to give it a chance.
 
Like me!  I like most of Sabbath's stuff, but the Dio albums have always been my favourite.  This is just...amazing.  I love Sabbath with Dio.  Love it.
 
Headless Cross has to be one of the most underrated albums in heavy metal history. It perfectly concludes the 80's for Sabbath -a string of really excellent albums, most of the time- and really has everything someone could ask for- including a guitar solo by Brian May! Of course, it doesn't manage to beat Heaven And Hell for me, but it's no shame losing against the best.

That is, however, not to say that any of the post-1989 albums are bad. I really enjoy Dehumanizer and Forbidden. As for Cross Purposes and Tyr, I just haven't gotten into them that much yet... so many albums to deal with.

And this is also not to say that the pre-Dio era -i.e. the Ozzy era- is not worth listening to. The first six albums are undisputed classics, from start to finish. The sound is, of course, much more raw than on the 80's offerings, but they all play as if they were possessed. As for Ozzy, when listening to him you really do believe at times that he is/was the Prince of Darkness.

I'd only say Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die! are albums you can safely ignore. All other Sabbath albums -including the much disputed Born Again- are essential listening for anyone who wants to be taken seriously as a metalhead.  -_-
 
Tyr contains Anno Mundi! Further this album has hardly weaker tracks. Great stuff! Where the three Dio albums have one or two (or imo in Dehumanizer's case even more) less good songs on it, Headless Cross and Tyr haven't. Also let's not forget The Eternol Idol album which is quite atmospheric and dark.

Anyone in for some lists (or later when the albums are known better?)

Here goes:

Favourite album with Ozzy:
Volume 4

Favourite album with Dio:
Heaven And Hell

Favourite album with Martin:
Headless Cross

Ten favourite tracks with Ozzy (not in particular order):
-Black Sabbath
-Megalomania
-Wheels Of Confusion
-Under The Sun
-Snowblind
-Lord Of This World
-Children Of The Grave
-Into The Void
-Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
-Dirty Women

Ten favourite tracks with Dio (not in particular order):
-Neon Knights
-Children Of The Sea
-Heaven And Hell
-Lonely Is The Word
-Die Young
-The Sign of the Southern Cross
-The Mob Rules
-Falling Off the Edge of the World
-Computer God
-I

Ten favourite tracks with Martin (not in particular order):
-The Shining
-Ancient Warrior
-Glory Ride
-The Headless Cross
-Nightwing
-Anno Mundi
-Jerusalem
-Cross of Thorns
-The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
-Forbidden

From the Seventh Star album with Glenn Hughes I particularly like the title track and Danger Zone!
 
My favourite would probably be Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, although the Dio and Tony Martin era stuff is also very good.  I'd love to see how the new album turns out.
By the way, has anybody here heard the Black Sabbath show from 91 (I think) where Rob Halford sang for them? I thought his voice didn't really suit the band too well, but it would have been amazing to see that kind of pairing live  :eek:
 
Alright, I'll try.

Favourite album with Ozzy:
Vol. 4

Favourite album with Dio:
Heaven And Hell

Favourite album with Martin:
Headless Cross

Ten favourite tracks with Ozzy (no order):
Children Of The Grave
NIB
Evil Woman
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Wheels Of Confusion
Fairies Wear Boots
Snowblind
Black Sabbath
Iron Man
St Vitus Dance

Ten favourite tracks with Dio (no order):
Children Of The Sea
Lonely Is The World
Heaven And Hell
Die Young
Neon Knights
The Mob Rules
Falling Off The Edge Of The World
Sign Of The Southern Cross
I
TV Crimes

Ten favourite tracks with Martin (no order):
When Death Calls
Rusty Angels
Headless Cross
The Eternal Idol
Nightmare
Cross Of Thorns
Black Moon
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
Glory Ride
Born To Lose

---I admit I haven't listened to the Martin albums in a while, so that list is subject to change soon, I am sure---

I'd like to stress though, that I also really, really love Seventh Star, and I think Born Again is a real grower as well. The combo Sabbath-Gillan isn't nearly as erotic as it sounds at first when you listen to the album, but many people really haven't given this album a fair chance.

EDIT: I just noticed that Forostar's albums and mine are identical. For once, we have the same taste!  :bigsmile:
 
Perun said:
EDIT: I just noticed that Forostar's albums and mine are identical. For once, we have the same taste!  :bigsmile:

Well indeed! :)

By the way the title track of The Eternal Idol could also have been in my top 10! Evil track!
Do you know the demo tracks of that album on mp3 with the "in between" singer, called Ray Gillan? And Seventh Star gigs with him on vocals? Excellent singer!
 
Of all the Sabbath CD's I have, not one has Gillan, Hughes or Martin on vocals. I've never really had the enthusiasm for them to even think about giving them a whirl - and I have no real explanation. Although it has to be said, I do remember listening to a Sabbath show (at Reading, I believe) with Gillan and the show was really something (they even played Smoke on the Water) - despite this, I never properly listened to Born Again - I do have an MP3 sourced copy of this, but it just sits there on my HDD unplayed.

It must be said, of all the stuff they have done and that I have heard, they may never surpass Heaven & Hell.

There is a funny story about Gillan and how he joined Sabbath. The story goes (and this was told by Gillan), Iommi and Gillan met up for a drink and got themselves quite drunk. Gillan was woken up the next day by a call from his manager having a bit of a go at him.

"Next time you make a major career move, do you mind consulting me first!"
"What have I done", said Gillan
"You've joined Black Sabbath as their new vocalists."

If you've heard that one before - :p
 
Raven said:
My first thought on seeing this thread was, 'The hell?  When did I start that?' :p

Quit the booze! :p

It must be said, of all the stuff they have done and that I have heard, they may never surpass Heaven & Hell.

True. But as I said, it's no shame to lose against the best. ;)
 
Albie said:
It must be said, of all the stuff they have done and that I have heard, they may never surpass Heaven & Hell.

Well, as you guys might have noticed, I disagree. I had trouble to even mention 10(!) favourite tracks from the Dio period. Simply because he only did three albums, of which Dehumanizer was the biggest flop Sabbath ever made. Heaven And Hell & The Mob Rules have nice moments but come on: Lady Evil, Voodoo, Walk Away, Country Girl and even Wishing Well are simple and dull rockers. Born Again also contains such moments.

I'd pick Headless Cross over Heaven And Hell, anytime. Sabbath did FIVE albums with Tony Martin (that's more than Gillan and Dio together!), so it's hard to let them all pass, esp. "Headless Cross", "Tyr" & "The Eternal Idol", when Martin could still hit high notes. Those albums had excellent reviews when they came out, especially HC and Tyr.
 
DIO Calls Fan That Shot 'I Hope VIVIAN Dies' Video 'Lowly Vermin', Apologizes To DEF LEPPARD - Nov. 1, 2007 

Komodo Rock recently conducted an interview with legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio (DIO, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW, HEAVEN AND HELL). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Komodo Rock: So with it having gone gold there has been talk of maybe a new studio album from HEAVEN AND HELL next year. Is that something that could happen?

Dio: Yes, we have decided to do that. When it would be, I couldn't tell you. This is the last part of the tour after about 9 months on the road. It's time for us to take a little breather. When the time is right we will get together and start writing for the next album, but as far as the release date goes it will probably be later next year.

Komodo Rock: Does that mean that you won't be going back to the solo DIO stuff for a while then?

Dio: I will. I plan on doing some touring around March or April. Sometime like that. I want to keep a hand in on that one. I love this band that I play with as well, and it's another career, another career with a lot of great music as well. You will see that a lot in the shows that we do play. When people ask if we are going to be doing any DIO material. That's always a nice compliment. But of course we don't. It would be wrong to do that. It's nice to know though that people don't forget and it's something that they want to hear again so much like we are doing with SABBATH now those songs live forever and they become kinda classics of their own. There is always that path to go down and I will.

Komodo Rock: With touring with DIO, the band, and recording another album next year does that mean there is unlikely to be another HEAVEN AND HELL tour next year?

Dio: I don't know if there will be one next year. It depends on how long it takes us to do what we do. When you do an album you have to tour with it. When it is I don't know but I'm sure we will.

Komodo Rock: So it will be a tour when the album is ready?

Dio: Yeah. When we have that all finished and we can take our time and do a proper job of it then touring will certainly be in the offing.

Komodo Rock: Taking time and getting things just right is obviously important to you?

Dio: Oh, yeah. We are always on top of that anyway. We refuse to play badly in concert and we refuse to put out a bad album as well. What we write will be what makes us happy, and usually what makes us happy is what people want to hear from us. I don't know how much time we will need. Sometimes you can take too much time. You can just wallow around and all of this should be perfect and that should be perfect. You have to have the ability to know when naturalness has to take over because everything isn't perfect, because if it's too perfect then that is what it sounds like. It has no heart. It has no soul. So we know very well how long it will take us and how long it should take us to do it. We are not going to go for the perfectionist, but we do have enough time certainly to give ourselves some choices.

Komodo Rock: You've had press recently regarding Vivian Campbell [referring to a video tape (see below) that surfaced of Ronnie telling a fan that he hoped Vivian "fucking dies" and calling Vivian's current group DEF LEPPARD "a fucking rock band for you to fucking have diarrhea with."]. Is that something that you are quite passionate about?

Dio: No, I'm not passionate about it. I think that the lowly vermin that captured that on his cell phone at a moment when you are saying something that perhaps you would never say to the press, or something that you didn't really mean that much, but you know, sometimes situations dictate what you say. And once again that was something that was completely off the record. Apparently I said something bad about the band as well, about DEF LEPPARD, and once again all of things that were said were said in the heat of the moment. No reference to them at all, and I would like to apologize to those guys. I like them. It wasn't fair to them, but as far as Vivian goes, all I can say is check out the source, and then see what that source has been saying and sometimes you reply. Most of the time I have been taking the high road on all of it and I have not said anything on it. I have praised Vivian so much and I think that he deserves praise for as great as he played, but you know that was just a retort to the things that he had said about me first, and once again in an unguarded moment, I feel that I was very unfair, but I said what I said. But I am not passionate about hating him, no. I have better things to do with my life than to think about revenge or being a horrible person. Of course I don't want him to die! What I said was, once again a heat of the moment thing. Those things cannot be explained unless you speak to the source which is me, I guess, like you are doing. So no, I have no passion about that whatsoever.

Read the entire interview at Komodo Rock.
http://www.komodorock.com/interviews/in ... 711012460/
 
Don't want to be annoying but doesn't this belong in this topic (which had over 60,000 views already)?

More important:
Thanks for the link mate, I am going to play it right now!
 
I haven't heard a lot from the Martin era...but what i've heard, i liked. However, i immediately noticed one thing. For instance, songs like Cross Of Thorns, Headless Cross and Anno Mundi all have mid pace, bass/guitar riffs tightly synchronized with bass drum kicks, and pure synth pad background playing roots. I like all three of them, but if most of the other Martin era stuff follows the same guidelines, getting whole albums would be quite dull.

I've only heard Martin tracks that appeared on Best Of Black Sabbath, volume 2, and Anno Mundi via Forostar's link in another topic.
 
Well, you noticed good because it is the case with some songs. But nonetheless, listen to the whole Headless Cross album, especially Devil & Daughter and Black Moon. Other cool Martin songs are The Shining, Jerusalem, Evil Eye...
 
Back
Top