Forbidden - Song by Song

[Zzzptm]

We start off with Illusion of Power...

I like the intro/outro bits, but the rest is very heavy-handed doom chords and Tony Martin sounding like he just listened to a Suicidal Tendencies album. Not a lot of fun on this and then we all get confused with Ice-T doing a rap in the middle of the song. Well, it's more of a spoken-word delivery by Ice-T, but either way, it's unusual for something like that on a Sabbath album. Unusual, however, is good only for the novelty value. Overall, the song lacks staying power and is not a strong opener.

[Jack the Stripper]

Yep this song is just all wrong for an opener. I don’t mind it otherwise. Ive never had a problem with Ice-T rapping on it. The drum sound is terrible on this album though. No wonder Cozy was unhappy during the making of it. Again I like Martins more laidback approach which was forced upon him with his voice issues but it doesn't help the albums somewhat damp and unlively sound.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I've just listened to this album all the way through for the first time in over a year. And while it's not a great album there are some good songs on here... and only a couple of embarrassments! Talking of which...


Illusion of Power. Look, it's not Changes bad but it really isn't very good. The rap is nothing of note, 15 seconds and it's gone, but it's also not one of Martin's best efforts either.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Next up we have Get A Grip. A mid-tempo rocker, which I quite like, I'm not a huge fan of the vocals on this one either, he does much better later on. It has a nice riff and a solid solo, it speeds up towards the end which works nicely.

[Zzzptm]

Get a Grip is a good tune, no question. I love the heavy in and the fast ending. The video for it is like a lost piece of 70s adult animation, not going to hold that against the music, lol... but the animation in the video is in the same style as the album cover.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Can't Get Close Enough follows... umm, I am not a fan of this song, the tune at the start is all wrong, and although the riff has a nice chugging feel to it once it gets going, the vocals carry on being the let down here... and then it returns to the tuneless dirge at the end!

It's not been a great start to the album, 2 or the 3 songs are among the worst in their catalogue... but it improves from here on.

[Zzzptm]

Here's where I disagree. I absolutely love Can't Get Close Enough, and I think Martin's vocal fits the tone of the song with the emotion he's able to convey. It's got a great middle and I find the intro/outro to be sufficiently haunting.

[Zzzptm]

Shaking Off the Chains - Martin's weak on the verses, but does better in the choruses. The modulation at 1:30 really makes for a compelling listen, and Murray/Powell really cook it with their parts. It goes back to slow at 3:15 for an Iommi solo that's kind of buried in everything else that's going on.

I like the song, mostly for the modulation in the middle.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Shaking off the Chains, I used to like it more than I do now, but I still like it. I'm not too bothered about Martin's vocals in the verses as I think it's meant as a contrast to the rest of the vocals. Some of the playing is really good, but I don't think the solo really exists and it fades at a point where I think a repeat of the chorus might have worked.

[Zzzptm]

I'm imagining Tony opening a letter and reading,

Dear Mr. Iommi,

As your dedicated fans, we feel it our duty to inform you that you could have done better with Forbidden. To wit, we hope you will accept the following modest proposals when you finally remaster the album...

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I Won't Cry For You follows. This is one of the best tracks on the album, it's got a great vocal performance from Tony. It's probably best described as a power ballad, but that's not always a bad thing.

[Zzzptm]

I Won't Cry for You is a tight and emotional song, but I don't think I really dug it as much back in the day as I'm starting to like it now. This revisiting is moving Forbidden up in my opinion of it. But I'm still left wanting for a real face-ripper of a song, something I could use for battle music in a game. I'd like at least one of those per Sabbath album, if you please, Mr. Iommi!

[Zzzptm]

We get what looks to be a mid-tempo rocker in "Guilty as Hell".


And that's it, really... I'm not getting any kind of rise or like or anything for the tune. I don't even recall hearing a guitar solo... just 3 and a half minutes dominated by the same tune, over and over and over and over. I guess that makes it pretty monotonous.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Guilty As Hell is not as good as it used to be. I still quite like it though. BTW is this the first song to have a proper swear word in it?

[Zzzptm]

Guilty As Hell is not as good as it used to be. I still quite like it though. BTW is this the first song to have a proper swear word in it?

I believe so, first one on a studio album in 25 years of recording. Thanks, Tony Martin.