Born Again - Song By Song

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

First off, I have issues with this album, I have difficulties getting passed the muddy sound. I was so hoping the Deluxe Edition could have resolved that problem, but sadly not (lost tapes etc.). I live in hope that we will get a cleaned up version at some point, I'm sure I will like the album more if we do. Having said that there are some good songs on here.

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We start with Trashed. As is usually the case Sabbath have a really good opener on an album, perhps not Hole in the Sky/Neon Knights good but enjoyable none-the-less. It starts with a chunky riff, the rythm section is good. The lyrics are silly but that's in keeping with the subject matter. I don't like Ian's "screams" partticullrly (never have if I'm honest), but they're not over done here. A good start.

[Charger]

Ah we're going on with this...okay! I'm game.

I agree with KDC that the big problem with this album is the muddy sound. The songs are for most part great, but the sound is bad. It was a real shame that the masters were lost so that it never got the remix/remaster that it rightfully would have deserved.

Another weak link on the album is ofcourse Bill Ward who was totally out of it during the recording and it shows sadly on his drumming. I do wish Bev Bevan would have recorded the album too...


Anywho...

Trashed is a killer rocker and a great opener. I'd put it right up there Neon Knights and Turn Up The Night. The riff is great and Ian's shotgun style vocals are suberb. It's crazy how much lyrics he can fit into a 4 minute song! Also it tells a great true story! Which is another Ian thing.

Funnily this was the ONLY song that was never played live...but I can surely understand why...there is no way Ian could have been able to reproduce that live night after night....same thing that was with Turn Up The Night...

This is also Ian's and Tony's favourite song from the album, proven by the fact that they redid it on the Gillan's Inn album back in 2006. Granted that version was bit softer but it still rocked.

[Typhon]

Trashed is a fine opener for this album, and I always enjoy a good rocker.  I am not a fan of scream-singing, but on this tune Gillan does not over do it.  A good beginning.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

@Charger

I think there is a demand to do Born Again, but after that I doubt we would bother (I'd love to do the Martin albums but except for Eternal Idol (which Zs likes) I might be on my own!)

[Charger]

(I'd love to do the Martin albums but except for Eternal Idol (which Zs likes) I might be on my own!)

WE...WE'd be on our own.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

^^^
Cool... but we might skip Seventh Star

[Zzzptm]

I can be on board with skipping Seventh Star. I've already tried it recently, and I much prefer Glenn Hughes doing those tunes in his solo band than how they sound on the album which, like Born Again, has production issues. I'll also gladly work through the Martin albums, the gems are worth the coal.

***


TRASHED

I'm gonna play the original and the re-done version with Glover and Paice in place of Geezer and Bill.

Original version: I remember putting on my headphones for the first-ever listen and getting blown out by the brute force opener. Really heavy, aggressive, and Big Ian just belting everything out. This was the guy that sang "Highway Star", for sure. As a big Ian Gillan fan, I loved hearing him on a really heavy track like this.

And then Iommi's solo started... why was it so tinny? Great playing, but the sound was off on it... oh well, I really loved that bass sound... even though, on the second bridge, I was already thinking about the word "muddy". It's sad when a kid of 16 is disappointed with production values...

Who Cares version: great to have the production fixed... except, uh, someone put Gillan's voice through a filter. Gillan's also 30 years older, give or take a few, so he's not gonna scream like back in the day. It's also a victim of the loudness wars, which wasn't an issue with the original mud. BUT, Iommi's sound is totally fixed and his solo extended, which is a real treat.

This song is a Deep Purple song with Tony Iommi guesting on guitar and I like it better than the original muddy version.

[Jack the Stripper]

I have a like or loathe relationship with this album, depending on my mood. Sometimes I can listen to it and actually gain some enjoyment out of it and other times I listen to it(like yesterday) and think it’s wretched. A lot gets spoken about the horrible mix and eq levels but something that gets a bit overlooked is Iommi’s terrible guitar tone. It’s overly screechy to the point you can’t make out a lot of the definition in his notes ...Maybe the coke convinced him his tone sounded fucking awesome!


Anyhow onto the album opener “Trashed” After a lazy and  awkward start the song soon settles into its groove, the opening vocal melody is a bit bland but the 2nd section of the verse into the chorus has very catchy lines with Tony’s chugging guitar. The lyrics are quite dumb by Sabbaths previous standards, apparently about the drunken exploits of Gillan crashing Bills car around the recording studios grounds or some shit...umm ok.
Meanwhile, Bills heavy playing with Geezers thudding bass bring some real heaviness to the song and Tony’s solo is fiery with lots of hammer-ons and fast vibrato but the screechy tone makes it sound quite messy.

It’s a good fast rocker to open the album but nowhere near the level of Neon Knights” or “Turn Up The Night” that’s for sure, but the catchiness and heaviness of the song still makes it a winner.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I'll cover the next two tracks together: Stonehenge/Disturbing the Priest, as they pretty run into each other.

Stonehenge - I've never really known what to think about those short ambient tracks, they don't really do much for me, honestly I think they wouldn't be missed!

Disturbing the Priest - I've always 'quite' liked this but I also felt it was a bit disjointed. The quiet verse is pretty good, musically though it never really seems to get going and is bit a of a mess!

[Charger]

Stonehenge is a nice moody instrumental intro song...nothing much else can be said about that. Again I thought this song was done with keyboards but it was actually Geezer and Tony using some effects I think...

Disturbing The Priest is my absolute favorite song on the album. It's also the heaviest song on the album and actually one of the heaviest songs Sabbath has ever done.
The riff is an odd one but it works perfectly and the sudden tempo changes and overall mood are classic Sabbath.

Ian took the vocal melody from his own song Scarabus but that doesn't matter all that much as it's a great melody.

Again per Ian's style the lyrics tell a true story from the recording sessions....only doomyfied a bit. Lyrically also this the closest to "classic" Sabbath Ian got...his lyrics weren't exactly all about drugs devils and dragons...

This is a great track that doesn't lose much to any classic Sabbath material. And some of Ian's screams here are nearly out of this world.

[Charger]

I think the heaviest song rank would have to be The Dark/Zero The Hero.

Zero The Hero is fast metal song...not all that heavy/doomy.

[Typhon]

Stonehenge is an interesting little piece, but it doesn't seem to work as a good Lead-In to the nest song.

Disturbing The Priest is a good tune.  I must emphasize "good", but not "great".  Fortunately Gillan saves the screams for the end of the song, so I don't mind them.  I satisfying track overall.

[Charger]

^^^
Sadly I think you might be alone in that thought...although we did do Never Say Die and 7th Star is atleast better than that....

[Charger]

^^^
Sadly I think you might be alone in that thought...although we did do Never Say Die and 7th Star is atleast better than that....

No one here likes 7th Star?

Been my experience that very few people anywhere like Seventh Star...atleast not as a Sabbath album...which ofcourse techincally it isn't...or atleast shouldn't have been.

[Charger]

I understand people’s feelings because Tony was the only member, but then what about the Martin era, that’s it Sabbath either?

You're forgetting the Seventh Star was NEVER intented to be a Sabbath album...it was Tony's solo album but the record company forced the use of the Sabbath name...that's the thing.

The Tony Martin-era again was always Black Sabbath and never intented to be anything different...should it have been something different well that's a whole different matter and most people here have their views (that differ from mine) on that subject.