Born Again [Import, Original recording remastered]

Black Sabbath | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Castle Essential
• Copy Protected
• ASIN: B000005RFQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (188 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,251 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Trashed

2. Stonehenge

3. Disturbing the Priest

4. The Dark

5. Zero the Hero

6. Digital Bitch

7. Born Again

8. Hot Line

9. Keep It Warm

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered edition of this 1983 album from the British Rock legends with faithfully restored artwork. First released on Warner Brothers, Born Again was the band's sole album with vocalist Ian Gillan (Deep Purple). This reissue contains all nine original tracks, including 'Zero The Hero', 'Stonehenge', 'Disturbing The Priest' and 'Digital Bitch'. Essential. 2001. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jesus Christ and the Devil get together and rock it, September 22, 2006

By 

Micaloneus (the Cosmos) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Born Again (Audio CD)

This is one of the most enjoyable albums from Black Sabbath, Ozzy even says so! Just like another legendary U.K. band Deep Purple, they made a great album without Gillan and Blackmore called "Come Taste The Band," well Sabbath did the same, without Dio or Ozzy. But of all people, Deep Purple's Ian Gillan!!! The voice of Jesus Christ Superstar. A strange pairing, but it really does work. Born Again is much closer in spirit to the early 70's albums with Ozzy, and Gillan comes off sounding like a mad man, and a drugged up party animal leading Sabbath's original trio down a path of true hard rock high jinx. I find that I reach for this Sabbath album more than any other, not because I'm a Gillan fan, but because of it's inspired vibe, which gives the very best Sabbath albums a run for the money.

The only thing holding back the album from 5 stars is the muddy sound quality. Gillan blames bassist Geezer Butler for this. Story has it, Gillan heard the rough mixes (and still has them) and they sounded great, then Gezzer mixed the album with way too much bass. The remastering is actually pretty good, cleaning up some of the problem. Hopefully one day it will be re-mixed, or Mr. Gillan will release the earlier mixes.

Highlights: Trashed, Disturbing The Priest, Digital Bitch, Born Again & Keep It Warm

Born Again
~ Black Sabbath: 4 1/2 stars

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Born Again Indeed....Too Bad It Didn't Last, May 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Born Again (Audio CD)

This is what I consider to be Sabbath's last album. After this, there were so many lineup changes, the band basically deteriorated into a Tony Iommi solo project.

Don't believe all of the derogitory comments you hear about this album; it is a classic. It is a horrible shame that Ian Gillan didn't stick it out with Sabbath longer than this. His vocals fit in perfectly with Sabbath's style on this album, which is heavier than anything from any point in their history. Gillan's vocals on the sinister "Disturbing the Priest" is so menacing it would send the guys from Slayer running out of the room.

"Trashed" is another classic track. It is about a wreck Gillan had during the recording while driving under the influence. It may be politically incorrect, but it kicks harder than anything Sabbath has released since the early Ozzy days. "Zero The Hero" has a great riff which Guns n' Roses later used for "Paradise City," and "Hotline" is a great song that I wind up singing to myself days after I last listened to the album.

If you expect this album to sound like a cross between Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, don't worry about it. This album is all Sabbath, and Gillan turns in an awesom performance. If you like Sabbath at any stage of their career, whether it be with Ozzy, Dio, or Martin, get this album. It will not disappoint.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "I looked at the cover and puked!", October 9, 2004

By 

Darth Pariah (North America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Born Again (Audio CD)

So said Ian Gillan upon perusing this album cover, a bad cross between "The Exorcist", "Rosemary's Baby", and "It's Alive".

Well, Ian, I did too. I've heard that Tony Iommi allowed it because he found it hilarious.

Note: I haven't heard the remastered version. My review of this is based on my original German-made CD.

When Ronnie James Dio left the band, I was crushed. However, somehow, I predicted that they would get Ian Gillan. To my surprise, I was right!!!

This is not their best album. However, it is not worth the abuse ("Black Purple") that has been heaped on it over the years (mostly by people who won't accept anything past "Never Say Die" anyway).

I got this album during my senior year in high school (83-84). I had high expectations, since Sabbath are my favourite HM band and I have very high regard for Ian Gillan. Nobody shrieks like him! Plus, Bill Ward was back (albeit temporarily).

When I played it, I was struck by two things. First of all, I was surprised at how HEAVY it is - far heavier than the two previous studio albums. Riffmaster Tony Iommi certainly doesn't disappoint! I also noticed that, indeed, some of the songs (especially "Hot Line") could easily have come off a Deep Purple album or one of Gillan's solo albums (he was huge as a solo artist in Europe and Japan). Indeed, there was some controversy as he had broken Gillan up due to nodes on his vocal chords and then he shows up in Black Sabbath!

This is perhaps Sabbath's most controversial album after "Seventh Star" (which isn't a Sabbath album, really). Apparently Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler didn't want to call it a Sabbath album. Also, oddly enough, Ozzy praised the album at the time, calling it "the best thing I've heard from Sabbath since the original band broke up" (could be due to the fact that he and Gillan come from the same era of groundbreaking British metal and he and Dio hate one another's guts).

Gillan hated the production. He said "Geezer went a bit wally and it turned into a bass solo". Personally, I love the bass-heavy production - perfect for Sabbath. Tony Iommi has also slagged the album.

And the songs are really good, as Gillan has said, despite the way they were put together. He left the instrumentalists and producer Robin Black to construct the backing tracks while he camped out in a tent and wrote the lyrics while drinking Scotch and then added his vocals.

"Trashed" - A fast one, apparently about Gillan's misadventures with driving mini race cars while intoxicated.

"Stonehenge" - Weird Geoff Nicholls keyboard blurbs. Stonehenge would, however, play a major part in this chapter of the Sabbath saga.

"Disturbing The Priest" - GILLAN RIPS HIMSELF OFF! If any of you have heard the title track of the Ian Gillan Band album "Scarabus", the vocal and melody line are identical! It's got some good shrieking, though the pseudo-evil lyrics don't really fit Gillan, who is known more as an affable jokester.

"The Dark" - Tony Iommi playing flute through some really weird effects.

"Zero The Hero" - The album's finest moment, and one of Sabbath's finest moments. Truly heavy riff (which Guns 'n Roses would later "appropriate" for "Paradise City") and, in my opinion, Tony Iommi's finest-ever guitar solo. However, I haven't any idea what the lyrics are supposed to be about. Geezer's bass effects really punch here.

"Digital Bitch" - More solo-Gillan meets Sabbath. Lyrically atypical for Sabbath but a good song nonetheless.

"Born Again" - A truly creepy song. I have fond memories of listening to this on an early-spring night in 1984 while driving in the fog with two of my buds in my old Plymouth Volare.

"Hot Line" - The most Deep Purple-ish song on the album. The solo is even Blackmore-ish.

"Keep It Warm" - The album's weak moment. The song itself isn't bad, but lyrically is beyond the pale for Sabbath, unless one were to compare it to "She's Gone" or "Sabbra Cadabra".

The Gillan era, of course, did not last beyond this tour. Bill Ward slipped back into alcoholism and was replaced on tour by ex-ELO drummer Bev Bevan.

Gillan calls himself "the worst singer Sabbath ever had". That's a bit harsh, but I do have a bootleg live tape from this tour and he did not fit in onstage at all. On the old stuff he mostly flubbed the lyrics ("Heaven and Hell" was almost unintelligible) and Bevan was clearly uncomfortable with music this heavy. However, they did close the gigs with an energetic rendition of "Smoke On The Water" (which apparently incensed Ritchie Blackmore).

This tour will always be associated with the oversized Stonehenge stage props, which of course went on to inspire a big part of the film "This Is Spinal Tap".

After this album and tour, Sabbath truly went on hiatus for several years. Geezer left, Ward was back in hospital, Gillan rejoined Deep Purple and Tony Iommi was more noted for his relationship with Lita Ford than his musical output (rumours were also rife of a reunion of the original lineup after their appearance at Live Aid in 1985).

The album's not perfect, but it is good. Give it a listen with an open mind and I don't think you'll be disappointed.