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Album Details

• Artist: Black Sabbath
• Album: Born Again
• Label: Castle Music
• Year of Release: 1983
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2005-08-08

On the heels of two decent records with Ronnie James Dio (which produced at least one classic: the title track to Mob Rules), and just ahead of a murky period where Toni Iommi cranked out a series of "Sabbath" records with a revolving door of singers, came this under-appreciated gem. In fact, it is probably the best Sabbath record outside of the first four with Ozzy.
On this record, the star and, as it turned out, brief guest star, is Ian Gillan. The Deep Purple lead vocalist adds a power and a confidence to the music that they didn't even have in the glory days. His trademark gutsy and sweet tone raises the level of inspiration on "Zero The Hero" and "Trashed", and saves tracks like "Digital Bitch" from becoming self-parody. While Iommi and Geezer Butler would spend the next fifteen years or so mailing it in, here they sound like they are rising to the challenge that Gillan set for them. Tony Iommi's playing in particular is raw and energized. Unfortunately, the 1984 tour in support of this record is also an embarrassing footnote in rock history: Sabbath toured with a stage show that featured a huge replica of Stonehenge, the same year that Spinal Tap came out. As Jerry Lee Lewis once said, if God made anything better He kept it to Himself.

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