Black Sabbath: The Martin Years

Vicious Robbie

Vicious Robbie

Faithful Neon Dreamer
Mar 9, 2005
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San Pablo de Heredia, Costa Rica
www.metalicos.com
Hey guys!

I was talking to Wyvern the other night as we went out for some drinks about the Martin years and have been listening to those albums a lot lately. With the exception being "Forbidden" I have to admit that this is the period that I enjoy most from Sabbath. I also feel that this period is criminally underrated and I believe that Tony Iommi was at his creative best. Not only that but that lineup had nothing to envy from previous Sabbath incarnations. Cozy Powell is the best drummer they ever had IMO and Tony Martin had a fantastic voice.:Smokin:

What's your take? Which is your favorite album from that period? Favorite tunes? Talk it up :D

"Nightwing has stirred, and taken to flight
The silence is over, he's shattered the night
Life ain't for giving and forgiving ain't free
No soul will rest while the hunted run free

So tell every creature of the night
The kill is around the bend
listen my friend
Nightwing flies agaaaaaaaain!! :devil:"
 
They are good records, just as you say. It's all subjective of course, but I'm not as inclined as you to think of them as the best of years, but, yes, there's some great stuff there.

They help make a solid case that regardless of who he has worked with, Tony Iommi has been primarily responsible for some of the most consistently good music in a single career. I can't really think of anyone else who has been so great for such a long period. It's true that all of the Sabbath stuff has merit, and he is the single unwavering factor in all of that.
 
Tony Martin, from a technical standpoint, was probably the best vocalist Sabbath ever had, if we're talking pure range, tone, etc. (although Gillian, Hughes and Dio are all incredible singers too)

I'm not terribly versed with the Tony Martin era but I did enjoy the Headless Cross album (and that song is among my favorite from Sab.)
 
Indeed we have love for Martin era being "Forbidden" the album that should never has been recorded ever
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and "The Eternal Idol" a transition record in which Tony yet didn't show his full potential. On the other hand "Headless Cross", "Tyr" and "Cross Purposes" are damn fine metal albums and amongst the best stuff Sabbath ever recorded and severely underrated as people always quote Ozzy and Ronnie, but never Ian or Tony.

@ Robbie: 'Nightwing' slays! :headbang:
 
TYR is one of my favorite Sabbath albums period. Criminally underrated album (1 star by Rolling Stone & allmusic.com!... WTF!)
 
I also like the Tony Martin era a lot, save for the very average Forbidden, which has only a handful of good songs, and where Martin himself is not at his best. The Martin-era and the Dio-era are the only Sabbath stuff I still play, with also Born Again getting the occasional listen. I don't play the Ozzy stuff anymore...Headless Cross, Cross Purposes and The Eternal Idol are excellent, and I also like most of Tyr.

For the fans of Martin-Sabbath, please check these albums out, if you haven't already. Tony is excellent on all of them and they're all very good to excellent traditional HM stuff.

GIUNTINI PROJECT-II (1999)
GIUNTINI PROJECT-III (2006)
MOLLO/MARTIN-The Cage 2 (2002)
EMPIRE-The Raven Ride (2006)
TONY MARTIN-Scream (2005)

Can't wait to hear new stuff by Tony Martin!
 
Loved the Martin era and wished it continued past Forbidden. The first Mollo*Martin Cage is just an amazing record.

My favourite non-Sab Martin tune is Que Es La Vida.
 
Great voice! I think I have everything he has released, Even the Forcefield cd. Interesting Graham Bonnet replaced Tony & did 2 cd's with Forcefield.

I was watching a dvd last week with my brother,Sabbath in San Jose 94"
We were up front near Iommi,we are in a few shots. My brother caught a couple of picks, Good eyes!

I don't think Tony ever had a chance to become a household name in the Rock' world. They were never going to have a hit song, Music had changed by the time he hit the band. Yeah! There was still metal but MTV & radio were more about happy Metal,i.e. Bon Jovi, Poison & all the other hair bands. Tony was never in the news,Maybe if he was arrested a few times
like Ozzy, lol.

Great singer & I'm still a big fan & look forward to whatever band he sings with.
 
Big fan of the first three albums, Headless Cross being my favorite. Cross Purposes is a bit bland (much like Dehumanizer) and I've never heard Forbidden. Too bad Tony never really pursued a serious solo career afterwards. I figure he's pretty much lost his voice now because I've seen some terrible videos of him lip-syncing Headless Cross tracks on stage a few years back.

It's about time those albums got reissued btw, Eternal Idol is the only one available now.
 
tsorl said:
I figure he's pretty much lost his voice now because I've seen some terrible videos of him lip-syncing Headless Cross tracks on stage a few years back.
Click to expand...

Within the past 5 years he's released a fairly solid solo album, which he toured behind, and was lead singer on Empire and Giuntini project albums. So he hasn't lost his voice!


The Cage II album is fabulous! That cd was on repeat in my car for weeks when it was first released. Great hard rockin' album. I wish he'd team up with Mollo again.
 
I think some label should release all the non-Ozzy, non-Dio Black Sabbath albums remastered in a box-set and bill it under "Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi' and put all these great albums together...call the box set "Black Purgatory"...Born Again, The Seventh Star, Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, TYR, Cross Purposes & Forbidden...then toss in the DVD of Cross Purposes Live...

All the Martin-era albums are going for high prices on Amazon and places like that...
 
Pelata said:
All the Martin-era albums are going for high prices on Amazon and places like that...
Click to expand...

I didn't believe it, but you're right! It's kinda shocking, since I remember seeing those CDs in the discount bins (undeservedly, of course) for years.
 
I love Tony Martin era :headbang:. Because of my age the first Sabbath album I heard and bought was "headless cross" and besides "Heaven and hell" is my favourite record from the band ("Nightwing", "Blackmoon" and "Headless cross" songs are masterpieces)

I prefer Dio and Martin´s albums to Ozzy´s. I recognize first Sabbath records are epitomes in heavy metal music but Dio and Martin are far better singers than the Madman and that´s why I prefer both eras.

"Tyr" is amazing too and "Cross purposes" and "Eternal idol" got excellent tunes (by the way, "Virtual death" from "Cross purposes" is totally influenced by Alice In Chains "Dirt" and "Facelift", curious). Maybe "Forbidden" is average but overall Martin albums are fantastic.
 
Pelata said:
Funny you mention Black Sabbath being influenced by Alice In Chains...I've always said the opposite. When I heard 'Dirt' for the first time I heard Sabbath-isms all over it...
Click to expand...

Yeah, that´s obviuos. Alice In Chains and Soundgarden were totally influenced by Sabbath. However, in that song you can listen it clearly. It´s a curiosity.
 
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