25 Years of Cross Purposes!

[Charger]

I know I am a day late and a dollar short with this one but I did write something today about the 25th Anniversary of the Cross Purposes album.

If you want you can give it a read and after (or if you're a lazy bugger or just can't be bothered with my mumblings you can just right away) give your thoughts about the album.



Black Sabbath – Cross Purposes A 25th Anniversary look back

After the unfortunately short lived reunion with legendary singer Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Geoff Nicholls kept the Sabbath flame burning by joining forces with previous vocalist Tony Martin and drummer extraordinaire mr. Bobby Rondinelli and the result was one of Sabbath’s strongest releases in Cross Purposes.

Dehumanizer was the heaviest Sabbath album to date and Cross Purposes was a natural continuation, with some incredibly heavy songs but it also saw the return to a bit lighter side of Sabbath. But be it ultra heavy or bit rockier, the main driving force in Sabbath is always Tony Iommi’s incredible riffs and this album provides tons of them combined with Geezer’s rumbling bass.

The album kicks off with the thundering I Witness which is THE best opener since Neon Knights. Eventhough Computer God from Dehumanizer might be a better track but as an opener I Witness takes the cake any day. It’s fast, it’s in your face metal with some incredible lyric lines including the opening lines “Across the desert of the burning dark, a darkness which illuminates you!” now does that line scream Black Sabbath or what!? Not to mention one of my all time favourite lines “Pilgrims of Sabbocracy” Sabbocracy...what a great word.

Cross Of Thorns is a mellower, very dark song about a very dark topic that was very current at the time, about the situation in Northern Ireland with all of the tensions and bombings and insanity that was going on at the time. This is probably one of the most versatile and unique songs on the album. Starting (and ending) with a very soft acoustical guitar but having a monster heavy tone in the middle section. Another one of Sabbath’s short epics kind of in the vein of Falling Off The Edge Of The World.

Another fast rocker soon follows in Psychophobia which tells the tale of David Koresh and means Fear Of The Mind. Some people have even interpreted this song to be about Ronnie James Dio, which ofcourse it is NOT. One of Sabbath shortest songs with lyrical content, it’s just in your face metal track where Tony Martin just belts out those lyrics.

Virtual Death is the heaviest song on the album and it also has the biggest Geezer feel to it, which leads me to think this is one of his songs. The long bass intro and the heavy plodding riff has Geezer written all over it. Think Master Of Insanity from Dehumanizer only better. This too contains some amazing lyrics, like the chorus line “I’m sick and tired of losing, you find it so amusing”...One of those big Sabbath songs this one that is without a doubt one of their finest tracks.

Immaculate Deception is one of the slightly weaker points on the album but the absolutely incredible drum work by Bobby Rondinelli saves this otherwise somewhat mediocre song. Tony Martin’s vocal preformance is also top notch but musically this just isn’t hitting all of the marks that it could.

Sabbath has never shined away from writing slower, softer tracks and on Cross Purposes that track is Dying For Love...but this is no love song though...and not a proper ballad by any means. Instead it’s a touching, sad number about another current event going on in Europe at the time, the Yugoslavian war in which neighbours close as brothers and sisters turned on each other and they became children who were dying for love.
One of Sabbath’s finest softer tracks which also contains a heavier side and an incredibly touching solo work from Tony Iommi.

Then talk about those classic Sabbath riffs...in comes Back To Eden with an intro riff that makes you want to jam right off the bat. A very strong classic Sabbath rocker this one with great vocal delivery again from mr. Tony Martin.

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle is based on a movie of the same name and this again features a softer intro which leads into a very groovy riff. This song also features that classic Sabbath tempo change again in the middle...think of Die Young from Heaven And Hell. But the song isn’t quite rocking as hard as that one though. But still one of those good solid Sabbath tracks.

Cardinal Sin (or Sin, Cardinal Sin as the song was originally titled but by a misprint on the sleeve just called it Cardinal Sin which was then adopted as the proper title) is along with Immaculate Deception the weak point of Cross Purposes. This track features a very heavy presense of Geoff Nicholls’ keyboards which along with Tony Iommi’s slightly softer playing leaves this song sounding bit thin and at times almost commercial. It is kind of strange actually that this song was not released as a single. It would have been perfect. But for some reason IRS did not release ANY singles from this album.

Then comes the closing track which features one of Tony Iommi’s best EVER riffs...that’s right I said it...best ever riffs. Put that in your ears and smoke it! Evil Eye kicks off with nothing but that Tony Iommi riff. I could talk about the great lyrics with that line “I’ve got hell looking up, heaven looking down” or about Tony’s top notch vocal preformance, or about Geezer or Bobby or the out of the left field tempo change in the middle...or about Eddie Van Halen just showing up at the recording studio while the guys were doing this track and wanting to just do the solo on the spot...I could talk about all those things but in the end it all comes down to that riff, which is simply put: incredible.

Cross Purposes was released on January 31st 1994, 25 years ago. And honestly it hasn’t lost a beat. Eventhough some of the song topics might not be current anymore, the songs still are just as alive as they were back then. And considering that this album (which screams old school classic heavy doomy metal) came out in a time when classic metal was pretty much dead one cannot help but be amazed by the quality of work Black Sabbath laid down on this album. And also one has to consider the turbulent times the band was going through at the time as well with Geezer not sure if he wanted to be in the band or not and the quite obvious lack of interest from the record company to promote this album properly. Had the times been different this album could have been a huge success.

But here looking back at this 25 years later who knows it might have even just gotten better with time.
Dehumanizer was a forgotten gem for a long time...but with the Heaven & Hell reunion tours and the Dio Years compilation album it finally got the respect it rightfully deserved. Maybe the same will happen to Cross Purposes once the Deluxe Editions of the IRS albums finally come out this year...it bloody well should anyways as this is without a shadow of a doubt one of Sabbath’s finest and strongest albums.

* * * * *

[Tyr66]

Brilliant review, Charg' , full of interesting things, really.
My only point of disagreement is to qualify Immaculate Deception as the weak point of the album. Not at all , not at all .  This track is on the contrary a UFO in the conception in the world of Sabbath.
The title is literally split into 2 sides during the whole song except during chorus. a heavy face, Iommi -Rondinelli- Butler rocking powerfully, all superimposed on a much softer face composed of the calm and deep song of Martin wrapped in a ghostly atmosphere genially played by Geoff. This title thus built has always left me speechless.
Rondinelli does a gigantic job while Tony Martin demonstrates, if it still need to be told one more time , that he is a grand singer.
I have no idea if the lyrics have a hidden meaning or if just these words are just beautiful as they are.
A track like no other. Unique.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

A very good review as always, I would have Virtual Death and Cardinal Sin as the weak points but that's just me, I always have a different opinion to others!

Regarding the release date I was discussing it with Joe on his FB page last night. Because he's not sure it was released the 31st Jan and I'm inclined to agree with him. It didn't chart in the UK until 12th Feb suggesting it was released the previous Monday/Tuesday (7th/8th Feb) as at the time there would be the rush to buy it in the first week of release... so it might be you are a week early!!

[Charger]

Thanks guys!

Tyr I do know that a lot of people (and I did remember you being one of them) enjoy Immaculate Deception a lot but I just never really got into that song...and it most certainly isn't because of Tony's vocals which indeed are great on the track and like I said Bobby's drumming is insane at times...I think the biggest thing to me is Tony's playing actually...his riffing isn't quite heavy enough on this one...the drums are super heavy and to me it would need equally heavy guitar playing and it just isn't there.

And Kilo I remember you voting out Virtual Death in our Battle of Epics...what is it that irks you with that track? I've always found it to be extremely classic Sabbath...very doomy.

I tried to do some digging of my own but I've always seen January 31st as the release date... To me that would actually make sense as usually chart listings are given out the week AFTER the release. So if it charted on the 12th which was Saturday the following week that would make sense if it was released on Monday of the week before which would have been the 31st. I do not believe 5 days would be enough to get a chart positioning...especially on those proto-internet days...

But that's just my thinking...I obviously don't know as back then I was mostly listening to my own arm pit farts...

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I don't "hate" Virtual Death as such I just thinnk it's a weaker song on the album. I'm not a fan of "dreary" vocals I suppose.

[Scott]

Very well thought out, enjoyed reading it. Charger (and anyone else inclined), what are your thoughts on 'What's the Use?'.

[Zzzptm]

I consider this second to Eternal Idol for Martin-era offerings. Great album, but I'll not that "Back to Eden" actually borrows a lot from Leslie West's style. It's a song straight out of the Mountain playbook.

[Charger]

I don't "hate" Virtual Death as such I just thinnk it's a weaker song on the album. I'm not a fan of "dreary" vocals I suppose.

I can understand that I suppose. Tony's vocal delivery is bit Ozzy-like on that song actually...

Very well thought out, enjoyed reading it. Charger (and anyone else inclined), what are your thoughts on 'What's the Use?'.

Thanks. I honestly haven't listened to that track in years.  I have it on a bootleg called Rarities & B-Sides but I seemed to have misplaced it...I know it's somewhere in the collection but I just can't seem to find it among the 700+ recordings I have!

Gotta check it out on youtube and give a proper thought...but if memory serves me right I always thought of it as a a nice little rocker, but that Psychophobia is way better.

[Typhon]

Onlyftheawisestkofemenswillabebablebtoareadtthishmessage. 

[Tyr66]

Onlyftheawisestkofemenswillabebablebtoareadtthishmessage. 

pffff ... not again , please 

[Charger]

Yeah let's not do that...come on typhon buddy...you're better than that!

[Typhon]

Just having a little fun with da boyz. 

[AnnoMundi]

Charger I voted for all the Dio Sabbath live albums, but this album is right up there with them, great live album that I enjoy listening to this day.

Sorry I got mixed up with Cross Purposes Live,  Cross Purposes is also a great album.

[BOGBLAST]

Great post Charge about a GREAT album. With the additions of Geezer and Bobby they seemed to take the Martin era in a whole new direction, for the better. When I used to play this at work (in a factory) this black dude always loved Cross of Thorns. But he likes Kiss too so he was very cool.

I also have to disagree that Immaculate Deception is a weak song. Actually one of my favs. The way the song starts with that riff is f'n sick. I can't really think of anything like it, it's just so different.

You brought up a lot of good points Charge and I can't disagree. I've always believed this album was a monster. Saw them on this tour too, great stuff.