User Profile

Reijo Piippula

I love music. I try to review the albums as honest I can. There might be some humor but there is a place for that. These reviews are my opinions, not any mass of critics who have changed their opinion when the fans demanded it.

Reviews 1,273
Lists 67
Collection 0

Reijo Piippula's Album Reviews

One of the most underrated albums of all time is defintely Black Sabbath's "Born Again". I have heard that some people were actually disappointed with the sound of this album. Some Black Sabbath fans even refused to listen to it, maybe because of Ian Gillian was the vocalist on this album. It is actually the first and only time that he has been on Sabbath studio album. Of course it caused a massive negative reaction - that time Black Sabbath and Deep Purple were competing which band is the pioneer of heavy rock - and also Led Zeppelin was one of those three big ones but they were not actually there anymore because John Bonham had died. Well, you can say that the album artwork definitely was awful but tell me...how many times Sabbath has had good beautiful artwork? There are not many, it may be "Heaven And Hell" which is actually good. You know I listen to bands and artistsbecause of their music and not their artwork or looks.

This is not Ronnie James Dio -kind of Sabbath, I think it is near Ozzy era Sabbath. Well not so heavy, maybe but otherwise it's kind similar. Maybe some fans see red now while reading this but actually I am very serious about this case. It's not as good as the six first Sabbath albums but it's definitely better than "Technical Ecstasy" or "Never Say Die". Every time I listen to the opener "Trashed" I got into mood immediately. It's quite upbeat song, maybe not kind of Sabbath you are used to but it is still a very good Sabbath song. "Stonehenge" is an eerie instrumental, a good one too. "Disturbing the Priest" is one of the highlights too. "The Dark" is a short instrumental, maybe some kind of sound "world", almost like "FX" from "Vol 4". After that "Zero the Hero" starts. Well, it is a good song but not in my top 3 of this album, although often I see it on Sabbath collections.

The rest of the album is good too but maybe the best track of the album is the title track. Yes, "Born Again" is often forgotten, underrated song in Sabbath catalogue. It is the song in which Ian Gillian shows his skills, why he is a good rock/heavy vocalist. I think he gets very high. It is not as good as Deep Purple classic "Child in Time" (which by the way is my favorite song from "Deep Purple in Rock" but definitely is one rocking song with spooky sounds. "Keep It Warm" is a good closer and also underrated.

This album has over the years got more and more respect from fans and other musicians. It has surprisingly inspired many artists and bands although often disliked by critics. Well, it has three original memebers in line-up, that's actually one more than on "Mob Rules", so it more Sabbath than it.
Was this review helpful?