Dehumanizer [CD]

To me, this is one of the best Dio era albums.Yes, it has been slated by many sabbath fans for various reasons but the quality of the music speaks for itself.
We all know that during the recording of this albums all wasn't well between Ronnie and cozy.This caused alot of friction within the band but hey presto, cozy breaks his pelvis and Vinny appice is brought in and then the chemistry of mark II or III? kicks in.
every song is heavy (even by Sabbath standards!) with some of Dio's best vocals ever . This isn't Heaven&Hell style suff more of a ninety's take on thst era.
I think the songs really hold up even 12 years down the line. Tony's guitar sound on this album is really happening and we certainly haven't heard him sound as angry for along time! please buy this album!!

1992's Dehumanizer was Black Sabbath's sixteenth full-length studio album. It is sort of an anomaly in their career, in as much as that it was their third album with Ronnie James Dio on vocals, who had previously sang on the band's tenth and eleventh albums Heaven And Hell and Mob Rules but left the band to start a successful solo career, to be replaced firstly by Deep Purple's Ian Gillian for one album and then by Deep Purple's Glen Hughes for one album.

After the band lost Hughes they then recruited Ray Gillen before finally ending up with Tony Martin who, excluding this album which interrupts the five studio album and almost ten year streak, sang on every Black Sabbath studio album afterwards.

As if interrupting the Tony Martin streak didn't already make it feel a little odd, it is also a little odd in that it both is and isn't the band's final album with Ronnie James Dio on vocals because they did actually reform with him again briefly over a decade and a half later to put out three new songs on a greatest hits package and then once more with a different name (Heaven And Hell) and put out another album.

The album was produced by Reinhold Mack, who is notable for his work with Queen, ELO and Deep Purple. The production job of the album however is a source of complaint among many fans and critics, who argue that the record is too muddy sounding.

The general public and critical consensus surrounding the album was that it was the weakest of the three Black Sabbath albums with Dio, but people can differ on whether that's because this one is actually bad or because the other ones just happen to be even better.

How you feel about this subject will just come down to personal preference at the end of the day and you really have to try it for yourself to find out where you stand. The only thing I would say is that the album is a little dense and definitely a grower so if you really want the best out of it you should probably put in at least five or six serious listens before really making a judgment.

Musically, the album is very heavy, dark and doom orientated, primarily slow paced and mostly based around longer tracks; if any speed builds up its usually just for the guitar solo or the ending (with a few exceptions of course).

Fans of the album would argue that the songs are substantial, and critics of it would argue that the songs are overlong with too much repetition. Its not like the album is devoid of variety though, sometimes there are soft arpeggiated sections and there are a few tasteful touches of background keys, but to be fair it is mostly all about big riffs and Dio's vocals.

The tracks are quite powerful, brimming with teasing potential energy, that feels intense because the song feels like it is holding back something and threatening to explode at any moment. It can be frustrating to a lot of listeners that the songs basically overuse this teasing mechanic and rarely actually do explode as promised, but again depending on your viewpoint maybe that just makes it more intense.

If you are satisfied hearing some big Iommi riffs, a few guitar solos and Dio's inimitable vocals, then you can't really miss out on this album. It may not rewrite history and replace Paranoid and their debut in every critic's poll and top-100 list, nor should it be expected to, but it is another set of songs to be enjoyed in the form you already enjoy.

Stand out tracks include the musically-atypical single `TV Crime' which is a lot faster than the rest of the album, as well as the very heavy `Letters From The Earth' and the grand `I.'

Overall; There are certainly a lot of reasons to give this album a listen; if you are a Sabbath fan, if you are a Dio fan, if you enjoyed Heaven And Hell`s album and if you just plain like big doomy riffs and slow songs. I speculate that the album suits metal fans more so than the original rock fans, and that if you enjoy Stoner or Doom metal you'd be more accepting of the album's production and direction.

All in all, if you have the time, money and patience for it and suspect you'd be inclined to enjoy it then you should give this album a shot. At the very worst you'll get one or two new enjoyable tracks for your collection, and if you're lucky then maybe you will find something that you really connect with.

After 10 years apart the mk III Sabbath line up (or perhaps mk IV, if were counting the Dave Walker weekend of the late 70's). However with Ronnie, Geezer and Vinnie back, certain former Sabbath members (namely Cozy Powell and Neil Murray) felt betrayed a this sudden change after the hard work they put in on the Tyr album and Headless Cross tour. But if this was a ploy on Iommi's part to boost Sabbaths profile it certainly worked as instead of having to cancel dates due to poor ticket sales, they band found themselves playing massive venues around the world.

After 10 years apart the sound has certainly changed, making 'Dehumanizer' the heaviest Sabbath album with Dio and the bands heaviest since 'Born Again'. The songs on display here and generally of a very high quality with only 'Sins of the Father' letting the side down (it's strangely reminiscent of the 'Never Say Die' track 'Hard Road'). Lyrically Dio is mainly eschewing the fantasy lyrics of old and is now singing about Computers and such, which must have been ground breaking back in 1992! Iommi of course provides memorable riffs and solos throughout. Geezer and Vinnie prove themselves once again to be the second best Sabbath rhythm section (no one did ever match Geezer and Bill in my opinion). The production on this album although a improvement on some of Sabbath's 80's work is slightly lacking as it lacks the subtly of some of the early Dio albums, perhaps the album would of benefited from Martin Birch's touch, but judging by his dire job on Iron Maidens 'Fear of the Dark' perhaps not.

Stand out tracks on this consistent and heavy album include 'Computer God', 'After All', 'TV Crimes', 'I' and 'Too Late'. The latter of which being of particular note as it has a more old school feel to it and lyrics about the 'magic one' always bring a smile to my face. So in conclusion don't miss out on this one, it's much better than it's unexplainably bad reputation in some quarters of the press.