The Eternal Idol [Original recording remastered]

This has to be one of the greatest hard rock albums of the late 80s and its a travesty that it only got to number 66 for 1 week in the UK Album Chart back at the end of '87. At the time Sabbath were dismissed as a joke almost universally, and due primarily to the revolving door of personnel. The critics almost universally agreed at the time that this was NOT Sabbath, but they never bloody well listened to the music on the record!

However, from the Shining through Hard Life to Love and Nightmare right through to the title track, it's a terrific performance from the master himself Tony Iommi and Tony Martin who was one of the most under-rated vocalists of the era. If this album had anything other than Black Sabbath as the name on the cover, it might have soared! For me, only the title track sounds anything even vaguely like what Sabbath were doing in the 70s with Ozzy, but if the Dio era of Sabbath is your thing, then you really need to hear this. Hopefully in 2010, better late than never, this album will finally get the acknowledgement and credit it truely deserves.

The mid-to-late 1980's is an often overlooked era in Black Sabbath's long and chequered career, and in addition to 1989's Headless Cross, 1987's The Eternal Idol is probably the band's most underrated album.

Die-hards will disagree, of course, but once you get past the impression that no line-up without Ozzy Osbourne should be called Black Sabbath, you will soon discover that there was some pretty good stuff released under the Sabbath name even when Tony Iommi remained the sole original member of the group. Songs such as "The Shining," "Ancient Warrior" and "Eternal Idol" easily beat anything from the dismal Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die albums, and, frankly, most of the stuff on Sabotage.

Long-time Sabbath aficionados already know that prior to the release of The Eternal Idol, vocalist Ray Gillen abruptly left the group, having already nearly completed the album. This led to the hiring of Tony Martin, who re-did all the vocals with very short notice. Up until now, the original Ray Gillen versions have only existed in various bootleg formats, but now finally get an official release on this 2-disc deluxe edition, which features both versions of the album.

This release offers some solid evidence of both Gillen's and Martin's undeniable vocal abilities. Comparing the two singers' renditions of the same songs and listening to them back-to-back is great fun. Although the vocal melodies on the different versions of the songs are often very close to one another, both singers have their own style and bring their own flavour to the Sabbath sound.

In a way it's a shame that things didn't work out with Ray Gillen, but then again, Tony Martin did a great job and deserves to be on the album. With this re-release, everyone wins.

Fans of Dio-era Black Sabbath should have been excited to hear The Eternal Idol upon it's initial release. Instead, there was a general feeling of, "So what?" The rotating line-up certainly didn't help the impression that Sabbath was a sinking ship at that point. The fact that Tony Iommi was the only remaining original member also didn't help credibility much. And the Deep Sabbath sound of Seventh Star (in reality an Iommi solo album, but forced to put the Sabbath name on the cover by the record company) had turned some core Sabbath fans off.

But for those who actually bought The Eternal Idol and listened to it something surprising came out of the speakers - a great album.

Going back to the style that had resurrected Sabbath's career in 1980/81 Tony Iommi came up with some phenomenal riffs, and (then) singer Ray Gillen and legendary bass player/songwriter Bob Daisley came up with some strong vocal melodies and hooks to complete the package. While Gillen left the band prior to the album's completion, Iommi recruited yet another top notch singer in the form of Tony Martin, whose Dio meets Coverdale voice was a perfect fit for the album. Martin further polished up the vocal melodies and helped create an album that is, in fact, one of the highlights of the Sabbath catalog.

From the powerful opening cut of, "The Shining," to the dark, moody closer, "Eternal Idol," this album is a classic bit of Dio-esque Sabbath. "Hard Life to Love," has a somewhat similar riff to, "Mob Rules," while, "Born to Lose," features an aggressive bit of riffing from Iommi that wouldn't have been at all out of place on the Mob Rules album. "Lost Forever," is another standout track with it's great vocal melodies and, "Turn Up the Night," or, "Neon Knights," type riff. There isn't a weak track on the album, despite the turmoil and near chaos surrounding the band during the album's production.

This Deluxe Edition is something of a holy grail for fans of the album, though, not just because of the quality of the album, but because it also features the entire album with Ray Gillen's vocals on the 2nd disc. It's fascinating to contrast and compare the two versions and hear the differences in the vocal performances. Gillen's note choices are often interesting and even puzzling on occasion. Some of the notes he goes for sound like they should be a harmony note rather than the root note. Tony Martin would streamline these vocal parts and hit the root notes for vocals that blend with the songs a little better. Both singers, however, give great performances, and I would imagine that had Gillen stuck around that his vocals would have been cleaned up and ended up a little closer to what Martin did.

It's also interesting to hear some of drummer Eric Singer's playing restored on these rough mixes. Several fills were deleted altogether from the final mix, and one song, "Lost Forever," even features double-bass drumming that was buried so much in the final mix that it's hard to hear the kick drums (and they may have even removed a beat or two from each bar in the final mix so that it was no longer a double-bass drum part - it's damned hard to hear with the kick drums so low in that final mix). This stuff is just fascinating to listen to as it gives great insight into the progress of the album and how it developed.

Bottom line? The Eternal Idol is easily the most underrated album in the Sabbath catalog, and many fans feel it's one of their best. And with good reason.