I bought IOMMIFrom the Dark on CD from the greatest indie record shop on the planet, aka Omega Music, in Dayton, Ohio. From the Dark truly is a mandatory Metal purchase for every metalhead alive! Tony Iommi and vocalist Jorn Lande were destined to unite in such a prolific way! Tony Iommi has created monstrous and momentous riffs that have hit me with waves of metal awe! Oh, the darkened atmospheric experience!
CD packaging is a digipak tri-fold
Jorn Lande is simply one of the greatest Metal vocalists of all time, IMO. Becky Baldwin on bass is a Metal treasure that I never saw coming! Kudos to Karl Brazil on drums, keeping that Metal wall of thunder tearing into my cranium with every listen of this astounding album! Oh, the darkened atmospheric experience!
Above: CD back cover with track-listAbove: right panel back coverAbove: patch I received for free from Omega Music for purchasing CD on release day!
I bought this CD single of Black Sabbaths’ “Paranoid” with the B side of “Iron Man” back around 2007. If I remember correctly, I found this little metal gem at Best Buy. The CD tray slides out from the cardboard jacket.
I can’t find the actual release date for this CD single, yet it was released to promote Black Box: The Complete Black Sabbath 1970-1978; which was released back on April 27, 2004, via Warner Bros./Rhino.
Black Sabbaths’ Paranoid studio album was originally released in Europe on Sept. 18, 1970 and includes both “Paranoid” and “Iron Man”.
Black Sabbath: Tony Iommi (guitar), Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums)
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my Black Sabbath CD single! Stay safe out there and Metal be thy name. – Stone
Some years ago, my Best Metal Buddy Scott Coverdale gifted me this fabulous Black Sabbath Born Again tour book. I thank him to this day!
The Black Sabbath Born Again World Tour began on August 7, 1983 and ended on March 4, 1984. The new lead vocalist for this Black Sabbath era was Ian Gillan of Deep Purple fame. Ian Gillan sang on the 1983 Born Again album as well. Of course, TonyIommi and Geezer Butler are on this tour. Geoff Nichols played keyboards on this tour.
Above: back cover
The one other band lineup change for this tour was the addition of Bev Bevan as drummer; famous for his tenure with Electric Light Orchestra. However, Bill Ward was the drummer on the Born Again album.
Above: inside back cover
Back in 1983, I was a junior in high school and very much a fan of both the Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio eras of Black Sabbath. I did not have the opportunity to see Black Sabbath on this tour and I would’ve loved to. Can’t see them all; yet it still sucks to miss that tour. Born Again has always been a favorite metal album of mine my entire life. I believe it’s a classic.
Above: tour credits page
I just really dig the dark and sinister vibes from the songs and it’s heavy as hell! My top 3 songs from Born Again are “Trashed,” Disturbing The Priest” and “Zero The Hero.” Yes, I’ve loved the album artwork since I first saw it. It’s f’n Metal, after all.
I didn’t show band photos from this tour book due to any potential copyright issues. Thank you for checking out my tour book and visiting! Stay safe and Metal be thy name. – Stone
I picked up this 8-track cartridge of Black Sabbath ‘Paranoid’ (top photo) for 25 cents at a thrift store a week or so ago. The tape is intact. I love this band and embrace the nostalgia of such an old-time music medium. The ‘Paranoid’ album was released back in 1970. Dig it, my brothers and sisters. 👊🏻
On July 30, 2001 – BLACKSABBATH performed at Ozzfest at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan. The set list below:
N.I.B.
Snowblind
Scary Dreams
War Pigs
Iron Man
Into the Void
The Wizard
Black Sabbath
Paranoid
Children of the Grave
On July 30, 2005 – BLACKSABBATH performed at Ozzfest at Tweeter Center in Chicago, Illinois. Set list below:
N.I.B. After Forever War Pigs Dirty Women Fairies Wear Boots Symptom Of The Universe / Sweet Leaf / Electric Funeral Iron Man Sabbath Bloody Sabbath / Paranoid Encore: Children Of The Grave Outro: Changes
On July 18, 1971 – BLACKSABBATH performed at Beggar’sBanquet festival at Borough Of York Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Other bands playing at this same festival that day were: HumblePie, ThreeDogNight, TheGreaseBand.
On July 18, 1999 – BLACKSABBATH performed at Ozzfest at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, USA. The set list below:
On July 13, 1985 – BLACKSABBATH reunited to perform at LiveAid at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Just over 89,000 people were in attendance at JFK Stadium, that day. Live Aid was broadcasted live worldwide, on both radio and television.
On July 12, 2004 – BLACKSABBATH performed at Ozzfest at the Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The set list below:
War Pigs
N.I.B.
Fairies Wear Boots
Into the Void
Sweet Leaf
Black Sabbath
Snowblind
Iron Man
Children of the Grave
Paranoid
On July 12, 2016 – BLACKSABBATH perform at Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow, Russia. This was during TheEnd tour. This would be the last time BLACK SABBATH would perform in Moscow, Russia. The set list below:
On July 8, 1970 – BLACKSABBATH performed at the Marquee Club on Wardour Street in London, England. The day of the week was Wednesday. The opening band was Harry The Horse.
Back on February 19th, 1948, Tony Iommi was born. Tony Iommi turns a young 64 today. Guitar Legend. Founding member of Black Sabbath. Metal Legend. What more can be said about what Tony Iommi has accomplished for the evolution of Heavy Metal? One more thing can be said, however:
BLACK SABBATH – On February 8, 1994, Black Sabbath released their seventeenth studio album – Cross Purposes via I.R.S. Records. Of course this is not the original lineup of Black Sabbath heard on this album, with the exceptions of Tony Iommi (guitar) and Geezer Butler (bass). Nor is the late and legendary Ronnie James Dio present here. Tony Martin (vocals), Bobby Rondinelli (drums) and Geoff Nicholls (keyboards) join up with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, to make what I consider a formidable Black Sabbath lineup, that created some intense and memorable Heavy Metal with Cross Purposes.
It never bothered me in the least, each time Black Sabbath changed it’s band lineup around. The constant Metal presence of Tony Iommi, with his signature tones and riffs roaring from his Gibson guitar, has given every Black Sabbath album one of it’s mighty trademark sounds regardless of lineup changes. Am I wrong to feel this way? Of course not, it’s my personal Metal opinion. I’m a lifetime Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler fan, so when this album was released I was thrilled to hear them and their new songs. For sake of Metal argument, I’m a fan of every musician and vocalist that Black Sabbath has ever had. I’m guilty of being a fan of the entire Black Sabbath musical tree… Metal be thy name.
Adopting the band name of Heaven & Hell back in 2007 never swayed me to love the music of Black Sabbath anymore than I already do. Legalities over a band’s trademark name like Black Sabbath certainly surrounded around money, more than it did anything else… that’s understandable and completely logical. So, if one can get past the fact that Black Sabbath was an interchangeable band from 1983 through 1995, (counting the classic Ronnie James Dio aka Heaven & Hell lineup with 1992’s Dehumanizer in the mix), then one can focus on the music and appreciate what Tony Iommi and his Black Sabbath band(s) have truly accomplished with Heavy Metal.
Check out below, the black & white promo music video for Black Sabbath – The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, which was released back in 1994:
Cross Purposes was released in 1994, a time when the Grunge explosion was beginning to lose some steam. It seems (at times) that the 90’s decade gets a bum rap on Heavy Metal releases, only I beg to differ. Heavy Metal was alive and well during the 90’s, only it was not covered by the mainstream or held the arena and stadium limelight compared to those colorful 80’s. Truth be told, it’s like that now, only Heavy Metal is considered “the comeback kid” by some, where I consider this genre’s perseverance to be the result of it’s loyal fan base, along with relentless and exceptionally talented bands that never say die. Cross Purposes was an album that surprised me then, with it’s completeness resulting in being a quality album and it still entertains me now with it’s Old School heaviness.
Cross Purposes has that Sabbath doom vibe sprinkled all over the top of the songs, with the main incubus to this dark sound being Tony Iommi himself. Yes, Geezer Butler is evident in his playing on this album. That Geezer Butler was on this album alongside Tony Iommi, makes a world of difference in capturing that Sabbath vibe. Tony Martin (along with Ray Gillen) may very well be the most unsung lead vocalists from any of the Black Sabbath lineups. I really admire Tony Martin’s vocals, they are of the Classic or Old School era that fits right into what Ian Gillan and Glenn Hughes have done with this same band. (Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio are the two untouchables who’ve fronted Black Sabbath, in my Metal opinion). This is herculean company to be in, Tony Martin can look back and realize he was part of a family line of not just talented vocalists for Black Sabbath, they all are immeasurably historic to Rock Music itself.
Geoff Nicholls always has added that impending and dark atmosphere for Black Sabbath with his keyboards. It’s no different on Cross Purposes, with atmosphere playing a key role in making this album spill over with once again… that Sabbath vibe. Tony Iommi was and forever will be the “Riff King” to my ears, Cross Purposes is potently stocked with his patented riffs. Cross Of Thorns is the song I’ll point out as my favorite on this album, with all of it’s Sabbath glory exploding from it’s dark sound and slow to mid-paced tempo. I can confidently say there isn’t a song on Cross Purposes that is fast forward material. Cross Purposes is an album worth checking out and getting familiar with if you already haven’t. Sure, this album is not the greatest Black Sabbath album ever recorded, still it is a legitimate offering of Heavy Metal, played by an excellent group of musicians, from a decade that supposedly squashed our beloved genre.
HEAVEN & HELL – Back in 1982, an elite group of musicians known as Black Sabbath released a double live, molasses heavy album titled: Live Evil. In 1982 those two vinyl disks were like gold, to a then sixteen year old who knew a whole lot about nothing. Going on three decades later, that Live Evil album still is gold to this same dude, who knows a little about something. Fast forward to 2007, the legendary lineup of Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Vinny Appice (drums) returned to public view known as Heaven & Hell, with their Live From RadioCity Music Hall double live album, released on Rhino Records. This legendary foursome was back… albeit a name change. Taking on the name of one of the most prolific Heavy Metal albums ever to be recorded, Heaven & Hell was now this bands identity.
Yes, Bill Ward was the amazing drummer on that phenomenal Heaven And Hell album from 1980, a legend without discussion. However, Vinny Appice is one quarter of Heaven & Hell and always will be. I won’t dare compare the Live Evil album of ’82 to this newly released Heaven & Hell: NeonNights, 30 Years Of Heaven & Hell, Live In Europe, (released November 16, 2010, on Armoury Records for Niji Productions). There is nothing to gain by comparing this band to itself, some three decades prior. I am not the same person I was three decades ago… the past is a memory and the future is today.
This historic Heaven & Hell concert was recorded at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany, back in 2009. Yes, the late and ultra-legendary Ronnie James Dio does sound older on this newly released live album, only his vocals still gives me the same euphoric chills now as he did so many years ago. While listening to Neon Nights-Live In Europe, I realize I’m listening to a man who was a fighter, a man who was not going to back down to any illness that may invade his body. I think of my father, who is currently battling cancer, I think of his strength and will to live as well. I could only hope and pray that I can be as strong and courageous as these two amazing men.
It is the human factor that comes across so strong and vividly on this new Heaven & Hell album, I’m listening to a band that was with me all those years when I was lost and now listening to a band when I was found. The images and memories just come alive for me, as I keenly listen to this Heaven & Hell album… memories of seeing DIO on the Dream Evil tour of 1987, remembering holding, listening to and staring at my Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll album, while being introduced to real Rock ‘N’ Roll at an age where it was most important. I reflect on that first time I heard the opening riff from Tony Iommi, clearing the path for Voodoo and how it made me a believer in what Heavy Metal does for my soul.
No, this is not going to be a standardized album review of this new live Heaven & Hell album. I can’t find it appropriate in my heart or soul to give one. Instead, this album is a celebration of what these four men, these musicians, have given to me and an untold number of other fans for three decades plus… their music speaks louder to me now than it did in 1982. I’ve found my new piece of gold that I’m holding, listening to and staring at in 2010, the only difference now it being a CD, the one constant is… it’s Heaven & Hell.
* To donate to the Ronnie James Dio “Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund” and find out more about current DIO albums and merchandise, just click on the link below:
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