Black Sabbath - "The Eternal Idol" (LP Review)

Yesterday I was texting with Scott about "Family Favorites", a bonus EP of covers from Entombed and the subject eventually turned to different versions of Black Sabbath, where we both agreed that "Vol. 4" is probably our favorite LP, and both Ozzy Sabbath and Dio Sabbath are great, but we treat them like separate bands and don't compare between them.  I even stated that I'm a big fan of Gillan Sabbath (Scott may have agreed on that, it's not clear), but certainly "Born Again" should be enjoyed separately and not compared with the Ozzy or Dio.  Although we did not discuss it last night, I've stated before that I even kind of liked "Seventh Star", mostly because I appreciate Glenn Hughes's bluesy vocals. 

This discussion made me recall that my interest in Black Sabbath came to an abrupt end with 1987's "The Eternal Idol".  I still have the vinyl packed away somewhere, one of the last vinyl LPs I ever bought new.  If I remember correctly, I bought it in my freshman year of college and I'm pretty sure I haven't listened to it since.  Clearly I didn't like it, but I couldn't quite remember why.

I've since read that Tony Martin-led era of Black Sabbath (of which "The Eternal Idol" was the first LP) has developed a cult following.  Had I missed something?  My interest in metal was waning in college, so perhaps I did not give it a fair listen?

With that in mind, today I re-listened to the LP (via YouTube -- I did not dig up my vinyl) for the first time in ~30 years, and the verdict is... it's awful.  Tony Martin is not a good singer, he's not even interestingly bad: he's just bland, generic, and would be right at home at your local bar in a Queensryche cover band.  There are spots where Tony Iommi's playing still shines through, but the vocals (and the simplistic lyrics) sometimes make it difficult to even locate, much less enjoy, Iommi.

The next LP in the Tony Martin era, "Headless Cross", receives a lot of praise but I'm in no hurry to listen to it.  In 2010, the demo version of this LP with Ray Gillen singing was released, and after a few spot checks Ray might be a bit better than Tony Martin, but not enough to matter.  Neither Gillen nor Martin bring an interesting vocal interpretation like Ozzy, Dio, Gillan, or even Hughes.  The most interesting part of the LP is the cover, with a live model reenactment of Rodin's sculpture "The Eternal Idol" (for which the models were both hospitalized because the bronze paint was toxic; further expanding the suffering caused by this LP).

Standout songs: "Scarlet Pimpernel" (it's an instrumental)

Songs that appear: "The Eternal Idol" (this would be vastly better as an instrumental)

Skip 'em songs: the rest (full LP playlist).

Final score: 3/10.  Maybe I'll revisit it again in another 30 years.

Rainbow - "Since You Been Gone" (the song remains the same)

While researching my "Frida" post last month, I learned that "Since You've Been Gone" was also written by Russ Ballard.  Like most people, I first heard this song from Rainbow, from their 1979 LP "Down to Earth".  I recall the video from MTV but I'm not sure if the local radio ever played it.

MTV used to play a handful of Rainbow videos in the early days, but I became a big Rainbow fan after I learned about Ronnie James Dio and started working my way backwards through his discography.  "Down to Earth" was the first Rainbow LP post-RJD, and although I haven't listened to it in forever, I recall it was similar to many of the post-RJD LPs: ok, but not great.  But as I watched this video for the first time in a long time, I was reminded that this lineup of Rainbow was great: obviously guitarist Ritchie Blackmore is the center piece of the band, but it also has Cozy Powell (Jeff Beck Group, later Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, and many others) on drums, Roger Glover (Deep Purple) on bass, and journeyman keyboardist Don Airey (later Ozzy, Deep Purple, and others).  Even vocalist Graham Bonnet, in his single LP with Rainbow, is pretty good even though he's no Ronnie James Dio.

So with a lineup that strong, other than a handful of good singles, why aren't the post-RJD LPs more memorable?  RJD consistently brought a fantasy, D&D feel (e.g., "Kill the King", "Man on the Silver Mountain"), and earlier Deep Purple often had an epic, sci-fi mysticism (e.g., "Child in Time", "The Mule").  Starting with "Down to Earth" and continuing through the 80s, Rainbow scored some radio-friendly hits, but the LPs themselves don't have a unifying theme and are not special.

Putting that aside, "Since You've Been Gone" has strong hooks and a crunchy guitar riff -- it's hard to believe this was not a bigger hit, as well as a karaoke favorite.  Don't take my word for it, take the word of guitar gods Ritchie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Chris Impellitteri, and Brain May.

Russ Ballard - "Since You've Been Gone"
Rainbow - "Since You've Been Gone"

Alcatrazz (ft. Graham Bonnet & Yngwie Malmsteen) - "Since You've Been Gone" (from "Live Sentence")

Impellitteri - "Since You've Been Gone"

The Brian May Band - "Since You've Been Gone" (from "Live at the Brixton Academy")

Rush - "Subdivisions" (forgotten song)

Neil Peart, legendary drummer of Rush, died last week.  I can't begin to convey the status that he enjoyed with other musicians, but a quick scan of the condolences from his peers will make it clear how how highly esteemed he was.  Rolling Stone listed him as #4 in the best drummer of all time.

I was a pretty big Rush fan growing up, eventually collecting a sizable portion of their discography.  As established in the book "Ready Player One", when I was in college most of the computer science students I knew were Rush fans, their precision and virtuosity  being a natural metaphor for programming.

I wasn't sure which song to pick to mark his passing.  With few exceptions, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson wrote the music and Neil wrote the lyrics, and thus all my favorite Rush songs reflect Neil, making a choice difficult.  My favorite Rush song is probably "Limelight", but a close second is "Subdivisions" from their 1982 LP "Signals".  Whereas "Limelight" reflects Neil's estrangement to the life of an adult rock star ("One must put up barriers / To keep oneself intact), "Subdivisions" is that same alienated introvert in middle and high school ("Nowhere is the dreamer / Or the misfit so alone").

The deciding factor in choosing this song is it's the only one that features a background vocal for Neil.  His is the voice saying "subdivisions" in the chorus, even though it's Alex lip synching it in the video.

We've known for a while that Rush was semi-retiring, but knowing that they've officially come to an end is disappointing.  Rush, especially "Permanent Waves" / "Moving Pictures" / "Signals" era-Rush, was the soundtrack for the suburban Gen Xers and it's sad to see that come to a close.

Rush - "Subdivisions"