It almost sounds like he is putting out the album because it is a job he has to do and nothing more. I do wonder how long it has been since he actually played any of the songs from The Eternal Idol.
This album has not aged very well. When the best things that stand out is instrumental song and a riff here and there, it doesn't deserve too much of my time. Maybe the reason why the man on the cover looks so despondent kneeling next to a titty is because said tit Sabbath has been milked dry. The songs are short and to the point and the song writing is terrific. As usual Iommy is the main star of the album.
His some of the heaviest riff work in years is displayed here. His leads are also superb and melodic at the same time. Tony Martin is a great vocalist and his vocals are great in the album. He has a great range and has a perfect voice for power metal.
He also displays great mid range in many songs especially the title track. His ability to bring emotion into every song is just awesome. Keys which play a small role in the album of adding the epic atmosphere, are played by Geoff Nicholls. The drum work is OK not that great. The production is nice heavy and superb and gives every instrument it's proper, required balance. The songs themselves are short and catchy.
The riff work is great. The atmosphere in both of these songs is just excellent. They carry a strange aura about them beaten only by Awaken the Guardian. Somewhere around 2nd minute, it breaks into an excellent epic acoustic part, which sounds cool. The title track is totally amazing and is the best song in the album. It is slow, crushing doom metal, a stark contrast to the light, epic nature of the rest of the album.
It destroys everything dark and wicked put out so far, by Sabbath. Martin makes use of his mid range here and man does it send a chill down your spine? Yes it does! The whole song does just that. The riff work by Iommy is nice, heavy and crushing. The ending is just apocalypse crushing, down everything in its path. Yet, they are catchy and enjoyable, having good pace, excellent riffs and again good vocal performance.
The riffs are, a bit less inspired compared to the others. Also it doesn't have a good pace nor good atmosphere, but still is quite a passable track, which just pales compared to the other tracks. Contrary to popular belief, this actually is one of the better albums put out by Sabbath. They would go on to achieve much better results with the indisputable Tyr with such style. But the songwriting and the ability to create an epic atmosphere is very high and it is that which makes this album so enjoyable.
So concluding, this is a fine album and is recommended to all without any hesitation. Originally intended to be fronted by the late Badlands vocalist Ray Gillen, this album is typically seen as being Sabbath's lowest point in terms of commercial success and reputation. It also marked a new direction in the reborn band's sound while still retaining a few older elements.
Musically, this album combines a mix of Sabbath's signature doom metal style with a newly discovered power metal influence that makes for an interesting listen. Songs like "The Shining" and "Ancient Warrior" combine upbeat riffs with a dark atmosphere, "Glory Ride" brings to mind Iron Maiden with its more uplifting tempos and dogfighting imagery, and the title track hearkens back to Black Sabbath's self-titled anthem with its intensely sinister guitar lines and foreboding build-up.
There is also a great deal of blues influence heard for the first time in the band since the days of "Volume 4" that is used to great effect on tracks such as "Hard Life to Love," "Born to Lose," and "Lost Forever.
Iommi is in his element as always and churns out plenty of great riffs and keyboardist Geoff Nicholls occasionally jumps in with some interesting atmospheric touches. In spite of Martin's obvious emulation of Gillen's Robert Plant-inspired wails, he manages to pull off a great vocal performance though it is fairly obvious that the material isn't always in his natural range While this is a very good album overall, it doesn't have too many songs that could be considered classics and often gets overlooked in favor of such albums as the more focused "Headless Cross" and "Tyr.
I'm something of a latecomer to Black Sabbath. This isn't to say that I rejected them, but rather I felt that perhaps early Sabbath were too much akin to Led Zeppelin - a band for which I have very little love - for my liking.
My thinking in this area has changed in recent years, owing mostly to my exposure to the later entries in the Sabbath category. As a rule I prefer those records which tend towards the more experimental end of the metal spectrum from this band; for example, I prefer Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage to their 'classic quadrilogy' of the eponymous debut, Paranoid , Master of Reality and Volume 4. Again, this isn't to say that I dislike those early entries, but rather that there is little in the music I can readily identify with.
Not so with this album. As I mentioned above, I wasn't reared on Sabbath, and so I don't have a particular dog in the fight between various line-ups and manifestations of this band. For what it's worth, however, I prefer Dio to Ozzy and Gillian, and Tony Martin to all of them, as heretical as that may be. And it is this album with Martin which marks one of the high-water points of Sabbath's career, a plateau mached only by the aforementioned progressive metal epics and the later Dehumanizer.
Things kick off in a big way with the mystic opening riff of "The Shining", and at once it's apparent that Iommi is continuing to refine the melodic techniques he began on Seventh Star.
Unlike that album, however, this record refuses to denigrate into pop-metal fare, and instead seems to synthesize the harmonic strains of the preceding record with the more standard doomish Sabbath material of years before.
This is most apparent in the incredibly riffy second cut, "Ancient Warrior", which possesses the same tonal qualities as the material from Mob Rules but with a far superior production. The blues influence made famous in the band's early days returns on "Hard Life To Love", and it is with this track that Martin proves himself every bit a match for Dio, transitioning from melodic wails to a soulful croon with ease.
The following track, "Born To Lose", is probably the fastest on the record, but nothing ever seems to go beyond a comfortable and fairly atmospheric mid-pace. This track also features one of the best vocal lines ever written by this band, and includes some excellent bluesy riffage that hearkens back to the earlier years of the band.
Lyrically, the band seem a bit more mature here than elsewhere, and this seems to be a trend that would continue throughout the Martin years until Forbidden. While there's still the typical quasi-Satanic lyrical themes, they're handled with a bit more panache here than in several of the previous releases, and Martin helps to carry them to a level which might otherwise not be achieved. The rest of the band is as on top of their game as ever, and Iommi seems to have gotten somewhat more comfortable in his role as de facto leader of the band.
One slight issue I had with the record was the drumming; Eric Singer has never been great, and occasionally it seems that he cannot keep the pace with Iommi. The rest of the album follows suit, and, while there's not a great deal of diversity here, that's not really what one expects from Black Sabbath. While this isn't the best album by this line-up - that would be the following record, Headless Cross , one of the finest examples of melodic doom metal ever recorded - it's nevertheless one of the best ever laid down by this band, and, fanboy purism aside, is almost better than most of the material they recorded with Ozzy.
It's unfortunate that this same line-up would go on to record the awful Forbidden , but that, as one says, is the way the Sabbath crumbled. Recommended, especially for fans of early power metal. However I would still consider Tony Martin one of this albums saving graces.
Not a bad song by any means but not really Black Sabbath. Thankfully after this album things really began to pick up with the arrival of Cozy Powell and Tony Martin being allowed to contribute more to song writing. Martin's addition bought some much needed stability to the band, but the rest of the lineup seemed to be in flux at the time. This album comes off as more of a Tony Iommi solo album than a true Sabbath album the liner notes list Iommi as "the player", with other members listed simply as "players" but there are some good songs here.
It's difficult to know who actually played on what track. So it's difficult to find any kind of band identity here, a problem which plagued Sabbath through the mid-eighties.
Musically, there are songs that hearkend to Sabbath's previous greatness. Another personal favorite is "Ancient Warrior," and closing title track reflects the dark mood found in earlier Sabbath works. And instrumental "Scarlet Pimpernel" is a fine piece of guitar work from Iommi. Other songs on the album fall somewhat short of the heaviness Sabbath is best known for. Perhaps Iommi was attempting to fit in with the mainstream metal of the mid-eighties. The only problem is the instable lineup, which as I've already said makes it difficult to find any kind of band identity.
That he had the courage to do it says much for his strength as a performer and person. This album sees Sabbath finding some solid musical ground after several years of "revolving door" lineups, and with Martin as vocalist the band would continue to gather strength through the eighties and into the nineties. Holy shit, this album took me by complete surprise. I used to believe that all Black Sabbath's post-Dio albums were complete failures, but this album has forever altered that viewpoint.
Eternal Idol mixes Sabbath's classic doom metal glory with a distinct 80's power metal sound, a combination that clearly is capable of producing the best in Black Sabbath's creative genius since Heaven and Hell. First of all, new vocalist Tony Martin is not just a capable singer and worthy addition to the band's lineup, he fucking rules. His voice is somewhat reminiscent of Dio at times, but with his own distinct tone.
His performance on "Ancient Warrior" is justification enough to purchase this album. The absolute greatest moments on The Eternal Idol are created in the harmony between Martin's vocal melody and Iommi's signature riffing, which has evolved and perfected further.
Whatever hair metal-like influences managed to corrupt the Seventh Star album are long gone; this album is pure Sabbath bliss from start to finish.
Not a single weak song. Even the bonus track has its merits. The synthesizer effects are also notable. All the synth work is very tasteful and adds immensely to the atmospheric quality of the album. The songs very in tempo and mood, so the application is quite different for each. It really adds some much appreciated variety. I'm not going to wax intellectual on the lyrical awesomeness and the instrumental creativity.
Rest assured, this album is quality, top shelf metal, even if it's a little different than what Sabbath usually does. Considering the relative shittiness of the albums immediately before this one, that's a damn good sort of different. Highly recommended. There is a fine line that exists between devotion and fetishization, but particularly in the polarizing eras and corresponding personalities that make up one of heavy metal's oldest and longest endured institutions, it is one that all but ceases to exist.
The clashing of swords between the Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio parties of the Black Sabbath legacy have become the stuff of legends, and occasionally a regiment from the Deep Sabbath days will come along to challenge the other two in the name of Ian Gillian. Relegated to the sidelines of this long enduring debate of which era is the true representation of Sabbath is the latter 80s and early to mid 90s stretch featuring vocalist Tony Martin, a little known quantity when compared against even the likes of Glenn Hughes, yet one that nevertheless deserves consideration.
The chaotic circumstances following the semi-solo project turned accidental Sabbath album Seventh Star owing completely to label pressure was fertile grounds for a sharp stylistic left-turn and an unknown voice leading the sonic charge, which is probably the best way to sum up exactly what The Eternal Idol is, a departure in just about every respect, save when compared to its immediate and aforementioned predecessor.
This is not an epic foray into the proto-power metal fringes of the NWOBHM like the Dio albums, nor does it conform to the doom and gloom with an occasional glimmer that was the Ozzy years, though occasional elements of both rear their heads.
This is essentially an iconic 80s heavy metal album that somehow manages to sidestep all of the negative stereotypes associated with the concurrent AOR-tinged exploits of Saxon, Twisted Sister and Tygers Of Pan Tang while still exhibiting most of the same production quirks; namely a massive and heavily reverb-laden drum and vocal mix accompanied by a slick guitar tone.
Truth be told, apart from Tony Iommi's choppy and meandering guitar solos and an occasional throwback riff here and there, it is a bit difficult to really identify this as the Sabbath sound if going by the precedents set prior to Though clearly possessed of a Dio-like mixture of soaring majesty and grit, Tony Martin's vocals lean a bit more on that sleazy 80s swagger that was all the rage on MTV in the mids, a direct product of his vocal lines being made to mimic melodic lines and inflections first committed to recording by Ray Gillen.
The only thing on here that really deviates from the mainline heavy metal format of the day is Bob Daisley's bass work, which is far fancier and involved than most and reminisces on how Geezer Butler gave the instrument far more time in the sun.
As with any successful stylistic pivot, be it extreme or slight, things are instigated on a pleasantly familiar note with the mid-paced groove and ultra-catchy anthem that is "The Shining". Per Iommi's own testimony, much of this song had been floating around in his unfinished repertoire since the Born Again days, and it definitely functions as a sort of stylistic bridge back to the mid-paced sway of the Dio era with a denser atmospheric backdrop befitting a lost track from the collaboration with Ian Gillian.
The blend of acoustic and distorted guitars over top a thick keyboard line out of longtime unofficial 5th member Geoff Nicholls is a masterful one, setting an atmospheric tone of splendor and mysticism that predicts the ongoing obsession with ghostly tales afflicting Axel Rudi Pell. This blend of atmospheric wonder, iconic riff work and driving melody is displayed in a similar fashion on the ode to war and tragedy "Glory Ride" and the haunting rocker "Nightmare", all of which reminisce greatly upon the era of Sabbath while still sounding mostly removed from the grittier character of the early 80s.
On the opposite side of the coin is the pure 80s rocking swagger of up beat numbers like "Lost Forever", "Born To Lose" and "Hard Life To Love", all of which play a bit better to Iommi's blues box soloing style and showcase a more happy-go-lucky side of the band despite the lyrics avoiding the cliches of sappy love and mindless partying.
In a sense, this album has a bizarre side to it that comes into greater focus when dealing with the rest of its material, which reveals an album that has one foot planted in early 80s metal and another in later 80s rock and a mutant third member that reaches into a darker and less expected place. Though not really an all out doom metal affair, "Ancient Warrior" has a sort of slow paced, Middle Eastern mystique to it that is a bit more befitting of the darker character of this album's successor The Headless Cross , not to mention one of the most memorable principle riffs to come out of Iommi's arsenal since he parted ways with Dio.
The charming instrumental offering "Scarlet Pimpernel" isn't really a dark affair, but it does take one back to the days of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath where the acoustic guitar work went beyond a stylistic device and became an orchestral force in itself, here adorned with a dense, almost theatrical keyboard backdrop to seal the deal.
The coup de grace of musical surprises, however, belongs to the closer number and title song "The Eternal Idol", which can be best described as an accidental throwback to the darkest fringes of Sabbath's early years with Ozzy, but translated into something far closer to the epic doom metal fatalism of Candlemass. The foil of Tony Martin's high soaring vocals with the bleak, oblivion-drenched atmosphere like something out of the second Hellraiser film is beyond brilliant, resulting in a song that is arguably among the most original things to ever emerge from Iommi's mausoleum of horrors.
To be fair, this is an album that could be more easily regarded as an Iommi solo album in much the same respect as Seventh Star , though The Eternal Idol is far closer to the dark and forbidding spirit of the Sabbath name and even the earlier eras of this outfit were not a uniform stylistic affair but an ongoing chemistry set of sounds that just so happened to land in consistent territory because of the lineup being such.
If nothing else, this album and every other masterpiece bearing the Sabbath name is a testament to Tony Iommi's genius as a songwriter, one that surpasses the commendable yet not terribly prolific efforts of Geezer Butler, and also one that avoided the almost comical campiness that dogged much of Ozzy's solo career following the death of Randy Rhodes. It goes without saying that the formative metallic exploits of Sabbath with Ozzy and Dio at the helm are to be venerated for what they have accomplished, but idolatry and the irrational devotion that it commands tends to rob the individual of experience, and this album, nay the entire Tony Martin era of Sabbath will go down in history as one of the most unjust victims of it.
Rewritten on February 20th, For once I actually agree with UltraBoris, while this is one of Sabbath's most "forgotten" albums, it is certainly one of their best, no matter how odd that may sound. Ok, it doesn't sound a bit like old Sabbath - but honestly, so fucking what? Judging from the song quality, musicianship, vocals and so on, this is top-notch. Sure, some of the lyrics in the hands of let's say Jon Bon Jovi or Joey Demaio would be a nightmare ie.
Glory ride , but here it doesn't matter thanks to heavy-as-fuck riffs and vocal lines that makes you go "whoah". In fact, I've always been a fan of Tony Martin ever since I got into Sabbath 9 years ago actually, Cross purposes was one of the first albums purchased, and then it was brand new. The problem with being a fan of his is that the albums he participates in doesn't really make him justice. Except this.
He's capable of some really high screaming, without taking it too far so to say. When I think about it, he's the perfect power metal singer. Anyhow, my point is that there is no such thing as bad tracks on here, no soft glam songs which many times destroy the Sabbath albums he does vocals for.
The only soft touch here is "Scarlet pimpernel", it's a nice little acoustic instrumental and serves as intro to the fast rocker "Lost forever", which makes me wanna grab my air-guitar and thrash the fuck around. This album's eliteness is because of a already named reason. It doesn't suffer from inconsistency like most other late r Sabbath albums, take Headless cross for example - it has like one great track, the rest sucks ass. But all songs here are more or less great. You got heaviness, little doses of speed here and there, awesome vocals..
Read the entire article at Black-Sabbath. Universal Music has set a November 1 U. This remastered deluxe expanded edition of the album adds the U. Although the album was originally recorded with unknown American singer Ray Gillen , by the time it came to the album release Tony Martin had joined the band and subsequently replaced all the vocal work for the final album. In For The Kill No Stranger To Love Turn To Stone Sphinx The Guardian Seventh Star Danger Zone Heart Like A Wheel Angry Heart In Memory Mob Rules In For The Kill No Stranger To Love Turn To Stone Sphinx The Guardian Seventh Star Danger Zone Heart Like A Wheel Angry Heart In Memory Mob Rules War Pigs Die Young Black Sabbath Neon Knights The Shining Ancient Warrior Hard Life To Love Glory Ride Born To Lose
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