Oh, no. I wasn't finished. It's Headless Cross time, bitches.
Let's recall 1989: Rick Moranis shrunk the kids, the Exxon Valdez lost some oil and Tony Martin recorded his second album with Black Sabbath. Perhaps miraculously given that previous singers got pink slips almost as quickly as they contracted the clap, ol' T.Mart did not find his sorry ass fired after the Eternal Idol tour. Nay, he had a new lease in life, and the band's lineup was further appended by the presence of Cozy Powell on drums. Neil Murray would join on bass later for the tour, thus cementing the, uh, THIRD most-popular lineup in Sabbath history. (Bronze is metal.)
Headless Cross
Released in 1989
1.) "The Gates of Hell": A Geoff Nicholls keyboard intro, no doubt composed under the mistaken impression that it was in fact meant to be the theme for a Friday the 13th sequel.
2.) "Headless Cross": Lots of Beelzebub to go around here. "There's no escapin' from the power of Satan." T.Mart sounds more of an "oooh baby, give me all your love" (oops, that's Whitesnake) kind of guy, but darn it, he wants to croon about Old Nick.
3.) "Devil & Daughter": More devil.
4.) "When Death Calls": More Satan! Still a satisfying Dio-ish epic, complete with a Brian May guest appearance.
5.) "Kill in the Spirit World": Eh... it's all right. Martin sings like someone snapped his genitals with a bear trap.
6.) "Call of the Wild": This is from the audition tape to be Ozzy's band in the '80s. ... No, wait, I'm wrong, apparently this was Sabbath after all. Weird.
7.) "Black Moon": The "bluesy" one.
8.) "Nightwing": Very nice. Moody, well-paced album closer. I honestly can't be snarky here. Of course, the lyric "Oh I can feel his beating wings" is best not stewed over for long.
This actually resembles the work of a functioning band, as opposed to a recording of Iommi dragging around session musicians. Big, dark, heavy sound. Good continuity and flow. Easy to see why it's considered the best of the Martin records.
On the other hand, the lyrics are best ignored as much as possible — people gave Dio crap for cheesy lyrics, but he was fucking poetic in comparison to Martin's devil hooey.
Re: Black Sabbath reunites
21This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.