Martin-era Sabbath - Yes or no?

The Butt

The Butt

The Admiral
Sep 10, 2007
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The void.
Anyone a fan of Martin-era Black Sabbath? I'm not the biggest fan, myself (I prefer the Ozzy, Dio, and Ian Gillan eras), but I have to admit, Cross Purposes is a kickass album.

So anyone else here enjoy this era of Black Sabbath? Or is it a disappointment to most?
 
It is a great era sadly marked by two 180 degrees happenings: "Dehumanizer" and "Forbidden".
The first as much as a wonderful, astounding album was for historical reasons a cut into the Martin era (that had three great albums by then: "The Eternal Idol", "Headless Cross" and Tyr") and therefore I believe cut down the thrust thae band had so far. The second it was a terrible swan song as "Forbidden" is a crappy, uninspired album that should have been recorded by Ozzy with Busta Rhymes for which I care :puke:

Tony Martin is an excellent singer and he left a mark undoubtedly not only in Black Sabbath history but in rock/metal history.

NP: Sentenced - 'Lower The Flags'
 
I guess I'm the complete opposite then when it comes to the Martin albums then. I, for the life of me, can't bear to listen to either Headless Cross or Tyr (Except for maybe the song Anno Mundi), mainly due to the fact that those two albums overdo synth and reverb the same way a Thai hooker overdoes makeup.

But on the other hand, I love Cross Purposes, and I like the three tracks I've heard off of Forbidden (Get a Grip, Illusion of Power, and the title track), in spite of the poor production. I don't even mind the little pseudo-rap on Illusion; sounds pretty cool.
 
I love Martin! He is my fav when it comes to Sabbath singers... I love Ronnie and all, but for some reason I like Martin better! Cross Purposes just seeps under your skin
 
Definitely YES.

Tyr is an amazing heavy metal album, I still have it in my mind as the best Black Sabbath album. Headless Cross and Eternal Idol are very good too. I have not listened yet to Forbidden, but I am sure that it's not as bad or average as the majority of the fans believe.
 
TYR is a masterpiece. Rest of his albums with BS are great, except for forbidden of course. (IMO the instrumental demos of Forbidden are better then the final album with vocals... so definitely a low point for Tony Martin). Lots of other good CDs featuring Tony on vox also... my favorite being Cage II. New Empire album is pretty good, despite pretty horrible lyrics.
 
cross purposes and headless cross are classics, tyr and eternal idol are great. the rest is crap
 
Tony Martin is one of the more underrated vocalists out there. Cross Purposes, Headless Cross and Tyr are all excellent. I also really like the Misha Calvin Evolution I with him singing on it. It may be his best vocal work though it is closer to maybe Whitesnake than Sabbath.
The Martin era Sabbath ballads Nightwing and Dying for Love are probably in my top 20 metal ballads of all time. Even the great Ronnie Dio can't touch Tony on the slow stuff. Sabbath still sounded like a 70's band with Dio singing from the instrument, especially guitar tone and production stand point. The Martin era ushered in a change of style and sound and kept Sabbath fresh.



Bryant
 
Pabla said:
I love Martin! He is my fav when it comes to Sabbath singers... I love Ronnie and all, but for some reason I like Martin better! Cross Purposes just seeps under your skin
Click to expand...

I share the same admiration as you, the Eternal Idol is my favorite
probably the only weak one IMO is Forbidden
 
Tony Martin era? YES!!
My favorite is Tyr, which is also one of the best in the entire Sabbath catalog IMO. Eternal Idol, Headless and Cross purposes being worthy albums as well. The last one, Forbidden was my least favorite, probably because of the puzzling inclusion of Ice-T (WTF??) on vocals on the title track.
 
Here's another resounding yes for Tony´Martin!

Let me just say 'Cross of Thorns'!!!
So beautiful, so powerful and dynamic.
I simply can't help but sing along!
I don't think I can even begin to make you understand how much I love this song.

I, on the other hand, would not say that 'Cross Purposes' is a spectacularly good album.
Mostly because of the number of songs I don't enjoy listening to.
 
Sadly, I mostly ignore the Martin-era Sabbath albums. I have them on cassette (and no cassette player anymore) and have yet to replace them on cd or download.

The question is, "why haven't I been motivated to replace my cassettes"?. Mostly because back in the 90s Sabbath albums were very hit and miss with me. They had some great songs here and there, but no great albums IMO.

And I'm an album guy...
 
Eternal Idol is my favorite but I have to be honest. I've never heard a song off of Cross purposes or Forbidden. I can't keep up with everything out there but thanks to this board CP is now moved up on the list of cds to get.
 
Mxgonzo said:
Eternal Idol is my favorite but I have to be honest. I've never heard a song off of Cross purposes or Forbidden. I can't keep up with everything out there but thanks to this board CP is now moved up on the list of cds to get.
Click to expand...

Probably along with "Headless Cross" CP is among the best albums of Martin era, highly recommended. After all Geezer was on bass so was "more" Sabbath than the other Martin albums ;)

NP: Road To Ruin - 'For Your Soul'
 
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