Martin-era Sabbath - Yes or no?

[J-Dubya 777]

Yep, the Martin era Sabbath disc are right up there with the Ozzy/Gillan/Dio eras for me. As Bryant mentioned, the Misha Calvin stuff is top notch, as well...

 

[labrekk]

Anyone a fan of Martin-era Black Sabbath? I'm not the biggest fan, myself (I prefer the Ozzy, Dio, and Ian Gillan eras), but I have to admit, Cross Purposes is a kickass album.

So anyone else here enjoy this era of Black Sabbath? Or is it a disappointment to most?

My fave Sabbath era is the Dio one, but my second fave is the Martin one. Albums like Headless Cross, Cross Purposes, The Eternal Idol and most of Tyr are great HM discs IMO. Forbidden was quite average though. It's a shame Tony Martin never got the recognition he deserved.

Check out his 2005 solo album Scream for more Sabbath-like stuff, with Sab's Geoff Nichols on keys in bonus.

 

[labrekk]

TYR is a masterpiece. Rest of his albums with BS are great, except for forbidden of course. (IMO the instrumental demos of Forbidden are better then the final album with vocals... so definitely a low point for Tony Martin). Lots of other good CDs featuring Tony on vox also... my favorite being Cage II. New Empire album is pretty good, despite pretty horrible lyrics.

You're right about The Cage II, excellent disc. GIUNTINI PROJECT-II and III are also excellent melodic HM albums with Martin on vox.

BTW, Tony sang on the mellow Empire disc Trading Souls and on the heavier and better The Raven Ride. But on the latest Empire album, Chasing Shadows, the singer is now Doogie White, who does a great job too.

 

[Assault_Attack]

Hell Yeah! The man can flat out sing. Eternal Idol is the 1st time I heard Tony sing & "The Shining" & "Born To Lose" Stood out to me at that time. I remember thinking where did Iommi find this guy he is great!

I wish they would have played more of the songs he sang on live.

I think I have every song Tony has released & 2 other favorites are Rondinelli "Our Cross, Our Sins" & Mollo/Martin - "The Cage"

 

[wdiv]

You're right about The Cage II, excellent disc. GIUNTINI PROJECT-II and III are also excellent melodic HM albums with Martin on vox.

BTW, Tony sang on the mellow Empire disc Trading Souls and on the heavier and better The Raven Ride. But on the latest Empire album, Chasing Shadows, the singer is now Doogie White, who does a great job too.

For the record, i was refering to Raven Ride. Wasn't aware that there was a more recent Empire record. I wish they'd have come up with better lyrics.... I just can't get past drivel like "I'm a carbon based lifeform..."

 

[wdiv]

I wish they would have played more of the songs he sang on live.

I'd argue that they did a fairly good job of mixing in Martin-era songs into the setlist while he was with the band. Definately a more interesting setlist then the Ozzy reunion era.

 

[Psychonaut]

The Ozzy era reunion I saw twice and I'm pretty sure it was the same setlist both times, which is pretty much the setlist from Speak of the Devil. A bit boring to me since I could have heard any of the tracks by turning on the radio...