I have always enjoyed writing. Not only lyrics to my songs, before they came along, I wanted to be a writer. A lover of books, magazines, album credits, medicine boxes and shampoo labels while showering. So, I create my "soapbox", where I will be throwing my two cents from about a zillion different things. World happenings, friends & family, arts, trips, etc. But, mainly, I will be talking about MUSIC, my MUSE!!!
Having always been a voracious devour of albuns, cassetes, dvds, CDds, magazines, etc, one of my most treaured possessions is my music colelction. And I will be dusting, every now and then, some prized possesion from my shelf, bringing to your attention some work that may have touched me in a way. I will always be favouring some album that brings polemic, discussions, some underdog that has been attacked by many or an unknown soldier.
Black Sabbath has created metal. This is a topic for endless debate for many, but at least most agree that Iommi's riffs pretty much define the genre, they ARE heavy METAL.
20 years ago, my friend Guto came from the US bringing a bunch of great records along. Black Sabbath's "Eternal Idol" was one of them, hot off the presses. The cover had a statue of a couple sculped in bronze, based in a work of Rodin and the rest of the artwork could not get any blacker.
At this height of the band's history, Black Sabbath as a band had become, as we say in Brazil "a casa da Mãe Joana"... Sabbath was Iommi and whoever else would be around. It gets so true that on the video to "The Shining", they plucked a stranger on the street to play the bass! It was someone wo is unnamed and has never been on any Sabbath incarnation. The songwriting proccess was long, and basically the band who started it was the one who ended the "Sseventh Star" tour: the eternal 5th member Geoff Nochols, on the keyoboards, Dave Spitz (coming from White Lion and brother of Aanthrax's Dan Spitz) on the bass, the then-unknown Eric Singer, one of the busiest drummers in business these days, having played with virtually anyone, from Brian May to Kiss and the frontman Ray Gillen. Ray and his unforgettable voice, became well-known by his work with Badlands, before his premature death. He was very young and is my favorite vocalist EVER.
His voice was never heard on the final album. He split from the band and was replaced by Tony Martin, a British singer, who did such a great job on it that it made you forget he was replacing your favorite singer. Tony had a long stint with the Sabs that was the cause of noumerous debates over the years. The great thing is that there are bootlegs circulating with Ray's version of the albums, which are really, really amazing... and show that Martin basically just tried to reproduce Ray's work of art, unfortunately never present on an official Sabbath CD.
The album was produced by three different guys: Chris Tsangarides (who did "Painkiller" and "Pink Bubbles Go Ape"), Jeff Glixman (who produced Saxon) and Vic Rattlehead, oops, Coppersmith.
Let's detail the album then. "The Shining", which seems to have been around for some time before this final version, since it has been demoed since the David Donato days, is one of Sabbath's most amazing work, in MY opinion. Amazing riff, "Heaven and Hell"-like dynamics. Great singing and great riffs all over the album. The vocal harmonies in "Glory Ride" and great arrangements, "Ancient Warrior" and its great vibe... This is a heavy album, with only one moment of pause, for "Scarlet Pimpernel", an acoustic interlude.
It seems Bob Daisley has done all of the bass work and it shows, "The Shining" for example, has very clever bass lines, which are reminiscent of the "Blizzard of Ozz"-era stuff he has played. Bev Bevan has been credited as having played some stuff, but all of the drums were really played by Eric Singer, doing his great job as usual.
All of the album is fantastic, catchy and heavy, but "The Shining" is a real achievement in the holy catalogue of Sabbath. Many people dislike this CD, don't even think of it as a Sabbath album, but it gets me every time!
My advice is get the official version, BUT try finding Ray Gillen singing the thing. "The Ray Gillen Years" is a great bootleg, that also features a live show of the "Seventh Star" tour, where Ray was shining (no pun intended...).
Sorry for being a long piece on the album and see you next time,
Gus
