Customer Reviews

The Sabbath Stones

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

 

 

What more can be said about Sabbath? This is a collection of material from the Tony Martin years, some of the most underrated material Sabbath ever did. If you are under budget restaints and can't purchase Idol/Cross/Tyr/Purposes/Forbidden then this disc will get you a good idea of what the original discs are about. Don't sell Tony Martin short he is quite probably one of the best singers of Sabbath material out there. I've seen many shows and have many live discs with Martin on vocals and he does a fantastic job with not only his material, but Ozzy,Dio, and Hughes material as well - he's no prima donna, he sings it all and does it very well.

The Sabbath Stones is an awesome collection of Sabbath songs with singer Tony Martin, though TV Crimes is sung by Ronnie James Dio. I've always have enjoyed Martin's expressive singing style. The music is heavy as you would expect from Sabbath yet the Martin era does come across in a different way. The CD is very long. Just a bit over 80 minutes. "Loser Gets It All" is an outtake found only on the Japanese version of "Forbidden". My only complaint is the four songs from "Tyr" ("The Sabbath Stones", "The Battle Of Tyr", Odin's Court", and "Valhalla") could easily have been edited as one long piece. Instead when listening to them on random play they sound rather strangely edited. However, on the CD "Tyr" the same thing can be said. I highly recommend this Black Sabbath collection. I listen to mine quite often.

if you have both box sets(dio/ozzy)you need this . this is basically a best of of all the other incarnations of sabbath. there is one song from the dio fronted dehumanier cd though.

Yes, there was life for Sabbath after Ozzy...but it focused on the nuclear bomb that was lodged in Dio's throat. No other combo of music and lyrics has ever been as crystallized and as strong--I venture to say, even greater than the latter part of Dio's Rainbow days. IMO there are 3 greatest definitive early metal albums--Black Sabbath, Rainbow Rising, and Heaven and Hell. Do we see a pattern here. For me Dio is *the* iconic singer, from his graceful hand movements to his from-the-balls delivery. Dudes, if I could sing, I'd want to sound like Dio. 'Nuff said. This album only gets 4 stars cause it's not all about Dio.

This compilation album is a very entertaining journey through Sabbaths' post Ozzzy/Dio years. The Ozzy albums were great, but really Tony Martin was a much more subtle and sophisticated singer that Ozzy or even Dio. Tracks like 'The Shining' and 'Devil and Daughter' boast strong heavy rock grooves with good melodic songwriting, soaring vocals and entertaining, mystical lyrical subjects. Alot of Sabbath fans won't even look at this post- Ozzy stuff, but that is just pig-headed ignorance- this is good rock music. There are also tracks from the Ian Gillan/ Glen Hughes eras and the second Dio reunion which are good as well, but for me the real gold is the Tony Martin stuff- he is just an exceptional vocalist. If you can look beyond all the controversy of 'is it true Sabbath or not' and just hear the music, you will find a lot to enjoy from these years.

This compilation of songs covers the best Sabbath era IMO. Tony Martin is much better singer than Ozzy and the songs are better written than Sabbath's early material. The sound is different than the early years also. Sabbath moved from a kind of "classic doom metal" sound to the classic heavy metal sound of the 80's, much in the vein of Iron maiden or Judas Prest. So if you like those bands or classic heavy metal, don't miss this compilation which features great singers (all way much better than Ozzy in my view) such as Tony Martin, Ronnie James Dio, Glenn Hughes and Ian Gillan.

Sixteen track compilation of the Black Sabbath / Tony Martin era (1986-95). Okay, they had their time, so move on. Tunes that I will likely always appreciate include "headless Cross", the awesome "Valhalla" and the rocking "Kiss Of Death". Keep in mind that 'The Sabbath Stones' were released 'strictly' to complete Tony Iommi's record contract. As for myself, I'm sort of 'relieved' that Sabbath had surpassed their time period with Martin. Pretty much for the completists / die-hards.