Born Again: A Critical Look

[Zzzptm]

Here's an album that offered up a potential blockbuster: Ian Gillan teaming up with the instrumentalists in Black Sabbath for a promising heavy metal outing. What we got was... well... we certainly got our metal in "Trashed" and "Zero the Hero", but there seemed to be a sizable portion of cheese served along with the metal.

Lyrically, it seemed to be torn between wanting to do "Highway Star" one minute and "Megalomania" the next. Not really conducive for a good flow from one song to the next. Songs about "Lady Evil" and "Country Girl", I could tolerate. But "Digital Bitch"? I can't help but think of Spinal Tap's proposed album cover for Smell the Glove whenever I hear that track.

Overall, I think everyone was trying too hard. It was like Gillan had something to prove to Blackmore and Geezer had something to prove to Dio and the mix was unfocused and unevenly applied.