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Maybe not their best effort, but if you can divorce yourself from the idea of it being a Sabbath record and just enjoy it for what it is there's some interesting stuff here. Probably their most atmospheric material to date. Ian Gillian is in no way trying to fill Ozzy's or Dio's shoes. I wish some of the vocals were a little more compressed. I prefer Gillian's work with Deep Purple, but his sining on Borm Again has grown on me. There are some signature Sabbath elements, but many of the arrangements experiment with a more washed out and thinner sound that is very moody and intriguing. Overall, it's still very heavy and dark. I have to commend the band for not repeating themselves. Worth a listen for an open mind.
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Black Sabbath had been pumping out classic metal albums for years with Ozzy, and they earned their place in music history as perhaps the best musical act of all time. Ozzy, though, had had enough and decided on a solo venture that would turn out to be very profitable. Sabbath hired Ronnie James Dio in his place and Dio helped Sabbath keep the machine going. Then after a few albums, Dio and Sabbath no longer saw things eye to eye, so they went on their ways without each other. Black Sabbath then needed to find a new singer to take the place of the departed frontman. Deep Purple was a rival band of Sabbath, so this pairing seems a bit unlikely, but the timing was right. Ian Gilliam had left Deep Purple earlier and had formed his own project, Gilliam. But Gilliam didn't take, so he quit the project to rejoin Deep Purple. Problem was, Deep Purple wasn't set to rejoin for their reunion for some time. Gilliam had some time on his hands, so he decided to do some work with rival band Black Sabbath. The result was surprising, it topped the charts at #4, the highest album charting in ten years for Sabbath. Even though this album had some success, Iam Gilliam left Sabbath to rejoin Deep Purple, and Sabbath would continually change their lineup except for the one constant, Tony Iommi. His pummelling guitar riffs are the only thing that can be counted on when you buy a Black Sabbath album. I believe Tony is the best rythem guitar player of all time (Malcolm Young a close second), and he shows why on all of his albums, including Born Again. Born Again starts off with Trashed, a song with heart pounding riffs similar to Symptom of the Universe. Zero The Hero's main riff is pretty much the same riff that Guns N' Roses plays during the verse of Paradise City. Born Again is a brutal slow drudgy anthem. Hot Line is a cool rocker that reminds of some cool 80's song that I can't quite put my finger on (someone may have ripped this song off, but I can't think of the song or band, maybe Dokken). There isn't a bad spot on the album. I know that bands only played ten songs per album back then (actually they play only nine, and one of the songs is only two minutes and another is less than a minute), but that's the only thing I can say that I don't like about this album. The length weighs in at a mere 41 minutes, so it's hard to say you get your money's worth on this album. Especially since this album is hard to find at a bargain price (whenever it's listed on Ebay, there are a bunch of bids on it, and it's not cheap). Casual fans probably won't get the bang for their buck on this one. Purists (if you want to call them purists, I mean how many bands keep the same lineup throughout?) won't like this, there's no Ozzy, although Butler and Ward are both present. But die hard fans of Sabbath definitely need this album in their collection. Iommi's pummeling riffs alone deserve our attention, and Ian Gilliam's vocals are outstanding on this album. He's given a free reign to unleash his vocals and he shows his great range. I don't recall him having as much freedom in Deep Purple. Maybe he did and I haven't listened closely enough, I don't know. But he wails on Born Again, so die hard Deep Purple fans might also enjoy this album. So if you can find this at a reasonable price, snatch it up. If not, I recommend being patient. I snatched it up at Half.com for around $15.00. It was well worth it for me, and die hard fans would agree.Read full review
Went to Born again concert brings fond memories a little strange Gillan being the singer but cd was worth having.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Most underrated Black Sabbath album of all time! "Zero the hero", " Disturbing the priest", Trashed, some of Tony Iommi' s best writing!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Most underrated Black Sabbath album of all time! "Zero the hero", " Disturbing the priest", Trashed, some of Tony Iommi' s best writing!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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