User Profile

Most people divide Black Sabbath albums into two categories: classic and crap. In a way it is true. The first six Black Sabbath albums are very inspiring and amazing and I wanna go back to thoise albums. They were the Ozzy era peak but Techincal Ecstasy and Never Say Die were far from that. None of tracks of those two albums were scary. NONE! "It's Alright", "Gypsy", "Junior's Eyes" and especially the top of the pops song "Never Say Die" were just examples how far Sabbath was their original idea of making scary music: Those teenagers were dancing to the song! I like the song "Never Say Die" very much but it is not metal, it's joyful pop music. Ronnie James Dio came to rescue this band from the mud. The albums "Heaven And Hell" and "Mob Rules" were great but not as scary or good as those six first albums. Dio was a a great vocalist. Who was even greater? After acts like Ian Gillian (Born Again was good) and Glenn Hughes (Seventh Star was not good), Headledss Cross sounds very good. I know Tony Martin has got lots of critisism because of his poor albums. I agree that "TYR", "Eternal Idol", "Cross Purposes", "Fodbidden" were crap classification but "Headless Cross" was actually worth something. It is often underrated by Sabbath fans. In my opinion, if you made a Black Sabbath Best of Tony Martin era collection, you should put 8 songs - all of Headless Cross album track and nothing more. Tony Martin was a great vocalist. He was even better than Ozzy or Dio (in a way). He could sing both "War Pigs" and "Neon Knights" without giving me headache. Such a talented vocalist. He just got crappy songs on albums such as "TYR". Nobody can sing those songs in a way they would sound good. Ozzy hasn't even sung Dio era songs and we know because they would sound awful. Dio HAS SUNG Ozzy era songs and we know they sound awful. "Live Evil" is one of the worst live albums ever made. Even "Live at Last" sounds better althought it was recorded with an old phone apparantly...or with an old vegetable.

"Headless Cross" is maybe among the 10 best Black Sabbath albums ever made. The amazing title track and "When Death Calls" are the standout tracks. Every song has a very eerie sound and feeling. This was something Black Sabbath was all about! Tony Martin saved Black Sabbath! Without him Black Sabbath had never a comeback with Dio or Ozzy. There would not have been "Reunion" or "Heaven & Hell" or "13" and especially not "The End Tour". It's not the greatest Black Sabbath album you ever hear but it has not one bad song.