Black Sabbath – Eternal Idol
Black Sabbath's thirteenth studio album, "Eternal Idol", follows "Seventh Star" to get the deluxe treatment.
Originally released on 1987, "Eternal Idol" came in the midst of a particularly unstable period in Sabbath's line-up; most notably vocalist Ray Gillen departed after recording a version of Eternal Idol prompting the band to re-record the album with new singer Tony Martin. Fortunately, this 2 disc reissue features both the previously released Eternal Idol album and the previously unreleased Gillen sessions. For some strange reason the record company only saw fit to send a promo copy of the Martin fronted Eternal Idol so a comparison between the two versions isn't possible.
Musically "Eternal Idol" has a harder sound than its predecessor "Seventh Star" but, whilst new member Tony Martin has an undeniably powerful voice, his vocals (and the album in general) are somewhat generic and on several occasions he almost strays into Whitesnake's David Coverdale territory.
There are one or two tracks on here that hark back to the Sabbath of old: 'Nightmare' wouldn't have sounded out of place on the Dio-fronted "Heaven and Hell" album, whilst the eerie title track 'Eternal Idol' is reminiscent of 'Electric Funeral' or 'Black Sabbath' (minus the tempo change at the end), but on the whole this is a slightly anonymous sounding album that, in part due to Tony Martin's glam sounding bombast, lacks the individuality needed to set it apart from other bands of that era. The Shining is a strong opening track, and the album features some serviceable hard rock tunes and nice riffing from Iommi, but the pervading odour of 80s' cheese is never too far away.