Customer Reviews

Eternal Idol

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As much as Sharon Osbourne has made her life quest to convince the world that post-Ozzy Sabbath was completely worthless and irrelevant, we real metalheads know better than to listen to that disgusting old hag's rants.
So, after putting out two absolute classics with Dio (Heaven and Hell and The Mob Rules) and a great, but somewhat flawed album with Gillan (Born Again), the band's Butler-Iommi composing team disintegrated, leaving Black Sabbath as little more than a Tony Iommi solo showcase in 1986's Seventh Star. After this ill-fated album, the once mighty Sabbath's fate up to 1992's Dehumanizer would be a struggle between commercial obscurity and artistic irrelevancy, despite crafting a masterpiece with The Eternal Idol and two decent follow ups.
Of the five ill-fated Tony Martin albums, this is undoubtedly the best. After the softer, hard rock oriented Seventh Star, the band feels rejuvenated and hell bent on recapturing their long lost heavy metal thunder.
Despite a hodgepodge of backing musicians and personel problems during the album's production, Tony Iommi's monumentally heavy riffing, coupled with Tony Martin's Dio-esque vocals on tracks like Hard Life to Love, Glory Ride, and Born to Lose manage to keep the music focused, hard and heavy. Geoff Nicholls, Sabbath's perpetually invisible fifth member, does an excellent job throghout with his eery, atmospheric keyboards, especially on The Eternal Idol and Ancient Warrior. That said, the absolute masterpiece on this album is The Shining, a monumental Sabbath stomper that deserves a place in the band's greatest songs pantheon.
Make no mistake. Tony Iommi is, was and will always be Black Sabbath's dark soul regardless on who's handling the vocals, and despite this being the band's most underrated opus, it still stands as an all-time heavy metal masterpiece and a monument to the left-handed riffmaster's musical vision.

I've reviewed this album under the regular listing for "Eternal Idol." However, the deluxe editions that Sanctuary is doing in the UK are great for all collectors of Sabbath and those who are looking for something different. This is a 3 1/2 to 4 star release, but the bonus CD makes it a 5.

Not only do you get the remastered, very underrated album, but you also get a second disc that has the recording with the original vocals laid down by Ray Gillen. Gillen died a few years later from AIDS. That, along with the fact that the release with his vocals has floated around in bootleg circles for years now, makes this a heralded release in many circles. People in the know never thought it would officially see the light of day.

The recording of "Eternal Idol" is legendary insofar as the turmoil surrounding the album. With two weeks to go before its release, Gillen left the band, and Tony Martin came in and recorded over his vocals. Subsequently, Martin would sing on four more Sabbath albums.

This release is only available as an import. Rhino has done a great job in their remastering of past Sabbath albums, but these releases won't come out in the US. This, along with "Seventh Star," are a must for any Sabbath/Iommi fan.

The new 2-disc Special Edition of the "The Eternal Idol" is a fascinating listening experience for anyone who is otherwise a fan of this album. First, the remastered CD of the original LP with Tony Martin on vocals has never sounded better. While not the best produced album, the remastering brings a richer and more musical sound than my original CD, that I purchased back in 1987. But the big revelation is the second disc, which includes demo verions of the originally conceived LP with Ray Gillen on vocals. Be warned that these are demos, and the mix is not polished. Nonetheless, the sound is more than adequate, and for the first time we can hear what "might have been" had Gillen not quit the band before the LP was complete, and before Tony Iommi decided to have the vocals redone my Martin.

So who is the better singer? I would say they are both very good, and about equal. But that is not the main issue in the comparison.

What's most intrigued to me is that Ray Gillen sounds less like the late, great Ronnie James Dio than did Tony Martin. Martin's voice has a slightly husky sound like Dio's, and Martin's phrasing is more Dio-like than Gillen's. Ray Gillen brought a somewhat more unique sound to his version of Black Sabbath.

Given that this album was a major commercial flop, as were all the Tony Martin Sabbath albums, it is interested to wonder if the more original vocal sound Gillen brought may have better connected with Sabbath fans that abandoned the band with this release. Personally I remember upon first listen thinking that Tony Martin sounded like a low rent version of Ronnie James Dio. I doubt I would have thought that if Gillen was singing, and I may have reacted to the LP a bit better back in 1987. It really wasn't until the past five years that I came to appreciate how good Tony Martin is, and that his 5 Sabbath LPs, while by no means great, are all very solid efforts, and very enjoyable.

This special edition is highly recommended for fans of the LP and worth the upgrade from your 1987 CD. For those unsure of Sabbath-the Tony Martin years, probably still worth a try if the steep price doesn't scare you off. That said, "Cross Purposes" is probably the best Martin-era Sabbath, and may be a better starting point for the uninitiated.

Some major drama concerning personnel did not deter the band from cranking out one of its best studio albums ever.

Tony Martin replaced Ray Gillen on lead vocals, with the lineup - no matter what the credits - being Tony Iommi (g), Bob Daisley (b), Eric Singer (d) and Geoff Nichols (k). The Shining is one of the best songs ever recorded by the band and the interplay between Martin and Iommi throughout the album is incredible. Hard Life to Love, Born to Lose and Glory Ride battle The Shining for top laurels. Nichols takes center stage on the title track and Ancient Warrior.

The album peaked at #168 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band disregarded a powerful storm of turmoil and delivered a thirteenth studio album that is in the mix to being number one in the impressive, vast discography.

The Eternal Idol (1987) is a gem of an album that hadn't garnered enough respect from its initial release until now. I'd like to think that that attitude is changing now. Sure, many of the Sabbath "purists" were turned off when Ozzy was fired, or don't like it when Geezer is not always in the lineup, but this album still holds its own. Yes, Tony Martin is no Ozzy, but he nevertheless does a stellar job. A lot of the songs are melodic, though hard-hitting. The album comes out swinging with THE SHINING, which is a good hard-rocker. The same can be said about ANCIENT WARRIOR, HARD LIFE TO LOVE and GLORY RIDE, the latter sounding a little like Triumph. There is some residual sound from their previous release, Seventh Star, released a year earlier, as the songs have a more commercial sound to them. Anyway, darkness starts to set in for the second half of the album, with NIGHTMARE, the acoustic instrumental, SCARLET PIMPERNEL, and the title track. The title track (ETERNAL IDOL) is easily the best song on the album, and depicts the signature doom-and-gloom Sabbath sound. This song alone is worth the price of the album. When listening to this album, I think of a band who went into the studio with an attitude of "We've got nothing to lose." This album isn't uptight, desperate or hastily done. This is one great effort by Black Sabbath. 9/10

When I first heard this album, which was this past week, I couldn't shake the thought that it was really good. So I listened to it again, thinking o.k., what can I say that's critical; maybe I was just in a good mood the first time. Alright, now on second listen I actually think it's a little better than at first. Why haven't I heard better things about this and other Sabbath releases from the 80's? Here's what the case is for me.

For way too long, I was loyal to the Ozzy-fronted Sabbath and refused to listen to anything else. Years later, after finally realizing that Ozzy was as much to blame for Sabbath's split as Iommi and the others, and after hearing the stellar Devil You Know album by Heaven and Hell(the band), I started listening to Heaven and Hell(the album), Mob Rules, and Dehumanizer. Naturally, I couldn't get enough, and enjoying those albums as I did, the curiosity for the less popular titles grew.

As for the Tony Martin era, I had heard Headless Cross before and thought it was good. I wasn't ready for The Eternal Idol, though. Every song has A-quality Iommi riffs and solos. There isn't one weak track on the whole thing. The main turn-off for old-school fans is probably that some songs have a bit of the 80's hair metal sound, but I'd say about 70% or more of the music would fit on Heaven and Hell or Mob Rules, and the same percentage of the vocals remind you more than a little of Dio. I think most fans of older Sabbath who give this a fair chance will find a lot to like. I'm into it a lot more than I expected to be. I'd almost give greatest-hits status to The Shining, Hard Life to Love, Nightmare, and Lost Forever, and the rest of the songs are not far behind.

This is one of the most slept on metal albums ever. 1986 and 1987 were bad, bad years for Tony Iommi. No Ozzy? No Dio? No Geezer? No Ian Gillan? No problem. No combination of bad luck and bad business decisions could keep Iommi from coming up with the best riffs in the business. This album will not appeal much to people who only like the Ozzy years, but it will knock the socks off Sabbath fans and metal enthusiasts of every other variety. Don't overlook this one, it's not just for completists.

In 1987 no one knew what was going on with Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi was determined to re-start the band regardless of the criticism he endured from everyone in the industry, including his former band mates. This album came out on the heels of Seventh Star; an album that was unfortunately given the Sabbath name with the additional language "featuring Tony Iommi." That was a bad move. Call it Sabbath or call it the Iommi Band, but don't qualify it. It took away from a very good record that featured Glenn Hughes on vocals.

Enter Ray Gillen. He recorded all of the tracks for Eternal Idol, then left to form Badlands. Enter Tony Martin; an unknown British vocalist who recorded over the Gillen tracks and subsequently remained with Sabbath and Iommi for four more studio LPs.

Song for song the album stands up not only to a lot of what was out at the time, but remains a hard hitting, well recorded, and relevant album. Bob Daisley contributed a great deal to the record and Eric Singer is a standout on drums. The sound is bold and big and Iommi's riffs are thunderous. No doubt it's more mainstream than previous albums, like Born Again, but if you take it in context with the time period you can really appreciate it, especially with the pressure of lineup changes and bad publicity that plagued the band at the time.

Look out for a remastered version of the album with a bonus disc of the original recording by Ray Gillen. It will be released at the end of October and available as an import here in the U.S.. Seventh Star will be given the same treatment, and word is that Born Again will be re-released in 2011.

This record is absolutely fantastic. Martin sounds a tad like dio but definitely has his own character. Songs like "Born to Lose" and "Hard Life To Love" would have been filler with dio but here they're classic. The bonus disc is ok, but to me Gillen sounds like Martin if he was recording with a head cold. All in all check this record out, don't judge it because it says sabbath on it.

It is so easy to get caught up in a particular era of Sabbath, and kind of 'ignore' the rest. A couple of years ago I found that the easiest way to enjoy them was to appreciate the variety of different people and talent and style the band has delivered over the span of their career. Some of the best music ever made came from that 1st 8 year period with Ozzy at the helm as vocalist; but a lot of great music came from the band on every album released after Ozzy left!

1987 was a very `difficult' year for Black Sabbath. Or, `Tony Sabbath', as critics were starting to call them. Right after starting into the "Seventh Star" tour, vocalist Glenn Hughes was fired, and Ray Gillen was brought in. Then they went into the studio to cut the new album, and Ray then split, leaving Tony Iommi no other option but to bring in Tony Martin and re-record the vocal tracks.

Well, what we have here is a very mixed result. In some way this is possibly the best Black Sabbath record yet, but in some it's the weakest. This has a lot of newer elements in it, and has a lot of Sabbath fans split down the middle about whether it should have been called Sabbath or not. Personally, I have went back and forth about it myself over the years, but always come to the same conclusion: I am SO glad that Iommi kept the Sabbath name going!! Plus it is so cool to listen to all the great singers that he worked with in the confines of the Sabbath 'family' over the years.

The songs on this are killer. Especially the title track, "The Shining", "Nightmare", "Ancient Warrior", and "Glory Ride". The acoustic "Scarlet Pimpernel" is amazing, and a great throwback to early Sabbath stuff like "Fluff" and "Laguna Sunrise". Sabbath always get stereotyped for being too 'hard'. I wish there would be a good compilation of all of their more lighter stuff released sometime. They are such a versatile group. The song "Scarlet Pimpernel" on this is simply divine. And songs like "Born To Lose" and "Lost Forever" rock faster and harder than anything they have ever recorded.

The problem isn't the material. The problem is in very weak production. Yes, this sounds too clean and crisp, and, well, not as dark and moody like Sabbath are known for. If you are looking for something with the malevolent dark crunching sound like "Mob Rules" and "Born Again", then you will more than likely be disappointed here. But, if you are looking for something fresh and new (and harkening back to things like "Technical Ecstasy" and "Vol. 4"), then you are gonna love this one! Martin is heavily compared to the likes of Ronnie James Dio. While I do hear shades of that, I hear more of a comparison to Don Dokken here on this record. Live, he sounds so much like Dio it's almost scary!! But yet he has his own unique voice and style.

If you like the Dio era outings, then you will more than likely like this one. It is a bit 'polished' though, but still delivers some of the finest music from that decade. The title track is like the sequel to their signature song, "Black Sabbath" in a lot of ways. The Tony Martin era is just as good if not better than any other era IMO, especially equal to that of the Ozzy era. Just 'different'.

As I mentioned, there are some tracks on this that are as classic as things like "War Pigs" up through "Heaven & Hell". The title track here is possibly my all-time favorite Sabbath track ever. The band on this are some excellent musicians as well. Tony kept drummer Eric Singer, but also had Bev Bevan do a bit of percussion work too. Bassist Bob Daisley was brought in to do work in the studio, but no plans to tour with them.

The tour this band put on was phenomenal! On the road, bassist Jo Burt and drummer Terry Chimes filled in for the MIA Daisley and Singer. Bottom line: This is a very highly recommended album from one of metal's best bands.

And the copy of this with Ray Gillen, like me, could probably make you want to shoot Iommi for erasing his vocal tracks! Gillen sounded like a young Robert Plant fused with a young Ronnie James Dio, yet had a unique style all his own. Plus the mix is so much better, more 'Sabbath' sounding than on the final 'cut' here. But over the past few years I have come to prefer the "official" Tony Martin version. It's sleek, hard-driving, mystical, and heavy!

I have followed Sabbath 'religiously', owning everything they ever released, buying them as they were released, from their 1970 self-titled debut with Ozzy to their last studio release with Tony Martin in 95. Sabbath were kind of hard for some to follow, especially during the 80's. But, to me, it was well worth sticking by them through all the turmoil. I've been listening to the bootleg live cd's I have from this tour, and I am almost in the mind to say this was possibly the best year they had in a very long time. It's really great to have all their live stuff, especially rare stuff from the 'Tony Sabbath' years. This album was super! It's a bit 'polished' compared to a lot of other stuff from this band, but compared to other music that was happening at the time, well, this is so much superior to any of it. Be sure to check this one out cause it is awesome!!
Thank you!! :>)

PS: And may I suggest downloading the disc to your computer and rearanging the songlist in this order:
1. Born To Lose
2. The Shining
3. Eternal Idol
4. Glory Ride
5. Lost Forever
6. Nightmare
7. Scarlet Pimpernel
8. Hard Life To Love
9. Black Moon (demo)*
10. Some Kind Of Woman (demo)*
I really wish the album would have been mixed in this order when it was released. It really makes it even more enjoyable! :>)