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ROCK AND ROLL! => Black Sabbath => All Other Eras => Topic started by: KiloDeltaCharlie on February 24, 2021, 09:37:42 AM
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It is no secret that this is my favourite Sabbath album outside of the Dio albums and the best of the Ozzy albums and I rank it No. 6 on the Sabbath listing. It's probably not a coincidence that Geezer stays on for this album but I suspect the lyrics are all Martin, but that's not to say he didn't offer suggestions.
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We start with I Witness. A nice uptempo but not super fast introduction to the album. It has a nice groovy riff, Martin is fine on this but I have no idea what the lyrics are about ;)! Far from the best song on the album but not bad at all, a good start.
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I love the opener, hits on all key points. I don't pay attention to the lyrics, but the singing sounds just fine. The riff and feel have a lot of Dehumanizer energy in them, which is a great thing. Iommi has a great solo and Geezer/Rondinelli lay down a strong rhythm groove. I don't hear any cheesy synths, so yeah! :rockon:
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Cross Purposes, wherein we see the return of The Cat. I actually like this release better than the previous several, overall. I Witness is a decent tune, and I would probably like it better (along with the rest of the album) if it wasn't Black Sabbath. That's just my problem :)
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if it wasn't Black Sabbath
The Dio-era lineup got branded "Heaven and Hell". What would the brand for the Martin-era lineups be? The Headless Idols? The Cross Cross?
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The Dio-era lineup got branded "Heaven and Hell". What would the brand for the Martin-era lineups be? The Headless Idols? The Cross Cross?
The Undulating Contract Fulfillers?
The Throw Away Band?
Seriously though, Sabbath's output up to Born Again set a high bar in my mind, and whereas the material after that is all good stuff in its own right, it has always been "lesser" when held up to that bar. To me, of course :)
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Cross Purposes definitely has some remnants of Dehumanizer on it with Tony’s tone and riffing. Seems Tony was still very much in that Dehumanizer mode when writing and recording this album which was very welcome by me at the time.
Also enjoy Martin’s grittier vocals and him showing more restraint with his delivery which was probably deliberate on his behalf with his voice issues staring to surface at the time. He was also really starting to better understand vocal melody with Tony’s playing and his lyrics were more real life subject matter which I also prefer.
“I Witness“ is good start to the album with a great groovy riff and loads of energy in the bass and drumming. My only nitpicks are that it does seem to take forever to get to the hook and that slow doomy breakdown riff right at the end could’ve really taken this song to another level had it went longer with Geezer & Bobby allowed to play of it.
Good strong opener though.
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Cross of Thorns comes next. I think this is a contender for the best track on the album and if it had been a couple of minutes longer it would have been a shoe in. A short epic with multi-facets to it, a gentle verse, heavy chorus, repeat, heavy mid-section and gentle finish. One of Martins best vocal performances and one of the reasons I think he's underrated.
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I hear the synths on Cross of Thorns, which makes me wonder if this track will go over to the cheesy side. It's restrained, overall, in the slow parts, which does help with its intensity and delivery, as it gives somewhere to go with the louder parts or if it wants to have a fast section. The chorus does get louder, but not faster, with a fluid bass part that we've been missing in other Martin-era works save Daisley's work on Eternal Idol. As it so happens, it does not take on a fast section, but I don't think it's the poorer for it. It's not a power ballad - it's a proper slow song with some good contrasts in terms of dynamics and playing.
But we're gonna need a fast song, next... :)
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Not much a fan of the next track “Cross of Thorns.” Leans back too much into 80’s Martin cheesy AOR fare. The keyboards don’t help either and are too high in the mix for my liking. Tony’s acoustic riff is a little monotonous and boring but I quite like the riff when he switches to his heavy tone. His solo is killer also. It would’ve been better if the song started with the slow acoustic part and then not revisited it until the very end. It’s not a terrible song or anything but it’s just too typical in his structure and delivery.
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Psychophobia*
A nice uptempo rocker, a good fast riff, a nice fast vocals from the Tony's. The lyrics may be a little controversial as they may refer to the departure of Dio "It's time to kiss the rainbow goodbye", The last two verse I particulalry like they have a fluid rhythm to them that I really like.
* I fancied playing with the fonts ;)
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A number of songs on Cross Purposes remind me of other bands. This one reminds me of Led Zeppelin in terms of how the song builds, develops, and flows. It also reminds me of St. Vitus Dance as a fast number that doesn't faff about very much at all.
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Psychophobia seems a little grunge influenced in the playing and his fairly heavy but the vocal melody and delivery sounds uninspired and let’s the song down.The whole songs sounds pretty unmemorable actually and the lack of a guitar solo which was a very grunge thing to do at the time doesn’t help. Nothing really gets me enthused about this song except Tony’s riffage is quite heavy. Maybe it would’ve worked better as an instrumental.
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Virtual Death
This is a strange one. I don't dislike it but it is probably the weakest song on the album IMO. A slow, dirge, where the music is minimalist but still quite heavy. It doesn't really excite me it is okay.
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Virtual Death... Sabbath in Chains? :)
I can certainly pass over this track, as I'm not really a fan of Alice in Chains.
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Immaculate Deception
This song takes an age to get going, the opening riff is uninspired and repetitive (very un-Iommi-like) the chorus is basically just the uptempo drumming! But then it gets going and I really enjoy the second half of the song, Martin sings it well and it has a nice solo, but this song is Rondinelli's with some great drumming.
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Instrumentally, it's like a demo guide track - not a lot to it outside of the basic stuff. And, yeah, Rondinelli comes alive in the chorus, which is just too short and we're back to the drone. I'm not happy with the dragging going on in the first part.
And I'm sorry, but "another great Iommi solo" really doesn't save the track when it returns to the dragging riff.
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Dying For Love
I like this song, yes it has a power ballad feel to it, yes the lyrics are a little "worthy", but it's got a nice gentle intro solo from Iommi, and Martin puts all his emotion into it. My slight gripe is it just ends too quickly.
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This has got too far ahead or me too far behind to bother caring. Maybe I’ll just put in my ratings at the end. I knew the Martin era would become a chore :-X
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This has got too far ahead or me too far behind to bother caring. Maybe I’ll just put in my ratings at the end. I knew the Martin era would become a chore :-X
And Forbidden is next...
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Dying For Love
I like this song, yes it has a power ballad feel to it, yes the lyrics are a little "worthy", but it's got a nice gentle intro solo from Iommi, and Martin puts all his emotion into it. My slight gripe is it just ends too quickly.
The opening is more bluesy than ballad, and I like that very much. The opening picks up where Over and Over left off. But after the opening, the power ballad string picking and synths of a power ballad start up. Gone is the bluesiness, which is a shame. But the vocals are very well done on this, so I'm not enduring some commercial dreck: I'm enjoying a good tune. The part at 3:30 puts a heavier touch on the piece and we keep that going, even as it reverts to the power ballad formula. Not a bad song at all.
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A "chore"... I dunno, kids today! 8)
Back To Eden
This is one of my favourites on the album, a mid tempo rocker, a nice riff (perhaps a little commercial), and an unusual little solo for Iommi. The lyrics are a little wierd "We are the Star Demons, reaching out, yeah!" for starters, but I like them. The only draw back really is the title is now associated with a certain knob stain we all know! ;)
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I love this track, my favorite from the album. Tony Iommi takes a page from Leslie West's playbook and scores big on this one. But that big, chunky, jaunty, Mountain-esque rock guitar on this track is great stuff.
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Back To Eden
The only draw back really is the title is now associated with a certain knob stain we all know! ;)
Yeah I use to like this song but it only reminds me of that deranged fake Christian shit stain toss pot now so don’t like it anymore.
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It's always a shame when a song loses its magic.
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And now for The Hand That Rocks the Cradle... This one gets a really heavy, catchy groove. Lyrics are edgy, not really what you want to be singing as you stroll past co-workers, but the tune does rock out pretty hard.
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The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
I love this song, it starts quietly, but that's just a ruse before the heavy section gets going. Nice guitar work throughout, a great solo. The vocals are what make this though, one of the best vocal performances by anyone standing by a Sabbath microphone!
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Cardinal Sin - After the child abuse song, how about one targeting clerical sex scandals in the Catholic Church? Another tune I don't sing as I walk the halls at work, but which does have a good rocking feel to it, taking repetitive trios like in Kashmir and Gates of Babylon, good references to borrow from. And then we get the fast part for the bridge intro that becomes a solo after the verse, keeps the speed and power going to the end. Good track, this one.
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Cardinal Sin
I think this was originally called Sin, Cardinal Sin but the printers messed up.
This starts slowly, and I'm not a fan of that section, but once it speeds up it comes alive. Not much else to say about this, except overall it's ok.
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Evil Eye - got a good stoner beat driving this one. This is a track that's grown on me over the years. Nice solo from Eddie Van Halen, too! The double-tracked guitar groove sounds something like "A National Acrobat", a fun little touch.
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Never heard the Japanese edition bonus track "What's the Use" until today. It's a very fast rocker, with Martin clearly doing a Ronnie James Dio impersonation... and Iommi doing a Ritchie Blackmore impersonation! :headbanger:
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Evil Eye
This is a solid song, it's not chasing the top spot on the album. Whether EVH had a hand in this is open to debate but the solo certainly seems not to be from Tony's repertoire!
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So on to the enevitable ranking ;)
1. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
2. Crown of Thorns
3. Back to Eden
4. Dying for Love
5. Psycophobia
6= I Witness
6= Evil Eye
8= Cardinal Sin
8= Virtual Death
8= Immaculate Deception
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For Evil Eye, I saw an interview snippet where Tony confirmed that it's EVH playing it, because it was too crazy a style for him to do.
And do check out that bonus track, it's a great one.
AND NOW WE MOVE ON TO FORBIDDEN
:mopey:
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I think Cross Purposes is probably the best of the Martin era although I’ve taken a strong liking to Forbidden in recent years. The only thing I’ll say, while Tony’s playing is superb with some really great riffage and solo’s and the songs overall are more in tune with Sabbaths Dio era with less cheese and AOR stylings from Martin, they’re just not all that memorable. There’s not many vocal hooks or catchy choruses to cling to or get that stuck in your head or even make you wanna singalong to. I do prefer Martins more laidback and gritty approach on this album but it does come at a cost. It gets a bit stale or tiresome listening or the way through in one hit. I would’ve loved to have heard Ronnie’s take on these songs. I think it would’ve elevated this album into Sabbath greatness.
Album Rating 6.5/10
Song Rankings
1. Virtual Death
2. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
3. Dying for Love
4. Back To Eden
5. Evil Eye
6. I Witness
7. Immaculate Deception
8. Cross of Thorns
8. Pschophobia
10. Cardinal Sin
No bad songs on it though...
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I agree that this had a lot of potential as a Dio album.
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Again I did not want to mess this up with my blabberings so I saved my comments to the end.
Cross Purposes has always been and will always be one of my favourite Sabbath albums.
It's the heaviest of grittiest of the Martin-era albums and it showcases Tony's lyrical abilities to the max I think...this features some of his best work.
Recently he stated on facebook when asked did Geezer contribute any lyrics to this album that he didn't want to.
Martin's vocals here are also absolutely suberb. He tuned down some of his higher register for this and it worked perfectly.
Iommi's guitar work here is also exceptional...and Geezer brings the added heaviness which grantedly was missing from the previous albums. Bobby Rondinelli was a perfect choice as he has the groove of Bill Ward and the heaviness of Cozy and Vinny...a perfect match for Sabbath. I wish they would have used him for 13 and tour as well...beats that horrid Clufetus any day any way.
Not a single bad track on this album...I think the only weaker ones are Immaculate Conception which lacks punch and the ballad Dying For Love. The rest all are pure gold. I Witness is THE best album opener since Turn Up The Night...and frankly is the last great album opener Sabbath ever did.
Virtual Death is a Sabbath epic of the highest caliber, and the opening riff of Evil Eye is just mind blowingly great. As far as the solo goes. Tony said in a recent interview that Eddie Van Halen played it once and recorded it on single take and Tony then had to copy it for the album, but couldn't so it doesn't sound quite the same as Eddie's version. Tony also thinks he might still have the tape of Eddie's original solo and is more than willing to share it if he finds it.
Also about lyrical meanings Psychophobia is about the Waco incident and cults..has nothing to do with Ronnie. :)
I'm sure Tony might come to explaining the lyrics for this one too if he carries on with that lyrical explanation thing he recently started on facebook.
Overall rating for this Sabbath masterpiece is:
* * * * ½