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| Forbidden era photo issued by label and agent for press and media, 1995. Later used for budget compilation. |
After being out of print for nearly two decades, Black Sabbaths albums with Tony Martin will finally be reissue and in a boxed set. There was red tape for management and the solicitors to sort out, which held up the release the past few years, but these long overdue remasters will finally be available on 17 May from BMG. The Eternal Idol from 1987 may not be included as that was the last release from the old contract with Warner Bros in the US and Canada and Vertigo/Phonogram for international (the band would return to those labels at different points [Dio reunion on Reprise, final Ozzy one in 2013] with reunited other lineups). Glenn Hughes (who also recorded two non-Sabbath albums with Tony Iommi, which Seventh Star was supposed to be until the label forced a compromise) and the late Ray Gillen (later in Badlands) went to Phenomena, as had Martin once (we've done Ian Gillan), while ELOs Bev Bevan, who was part of the Born Again tour, had a cameo on Idol, thus he and Martin are the only non-original former members from the Birmingham, West Midlands area (even if Beven never was used in full capacity in Sabbath compared to most other past members).
This upcoming release however will likely focus on albums originally from Miles Copelands IRS Records, which no longer exists (although technically part of Universal, having been distributed by A&M, MCA and EMI/Capitol), yet Iommi is said to own the masters now, yet it took a long time to get this done, since it can take more of a wait to get them back than it did to put them out in the first place, as this comes up with other people too (story for another day). I managed to get copies of the studio albums more than once at doable prices, but oftentimes, they can be expensive like other rare albums (you know how it is). I'd like the LPs, as well as Cross Purposes Live, which may be the scarcest of the lot. There could even be unreleased material from the vaults to boot not even on bootlegs, but nothing newly recorded like with the Dio compilation that came out when he was still alive, which warranted the spinoff because only the Ozzy-led group can be Sabbath proper going forward, and that's over for good now, between health and interpersonal issues, but we won't cover any of that today.
Since EMIs sale over a decade ago, it was confusing to tell whether Warner or Universal had the rights to the catalogue. Dehumanizer, the last Dio album with the Sabbath name, was on IRS outside North America and never got deleted, and it appears Universal have that. As for the Martin period, both that and the brief return of the Mob Rules lineup had to compete with the hair bands then grunge if not Britpop, just as the founding members had to contend with punk and new wave in the mid-to-late '70s on top of their first lineup change (with onetime Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac member Dave Walker, then Ronnie James Dio in 1979 after Ozzy Osbourne left a second time).
I wouldn't count on The Sabbath Stones collection being in there either since that has tracks from every recorded vocalist but Osbourne (Gillen never appeared on an official original release, while Walker made it to Auntie). The Martin era has built a cult following of its own and will finally see the light of day once again since he said that he can't earn anything from it until it's back in the shops once more.
UPDATE: Anno Domini: 1989-1995 will be released 31 May 2024 by Rhino in the US and Canada and BMG/Virgin elsewhere (this new deal possibly to keep this period in the same boat as the rest of the catalogue before it). Eternal Idol was already reissued, Dehumanizer obviously doesn't belong and is also spoken for, and Cross Purposes Live will have to wait for another day. The IRS name was retired by founder Miles Copeland and Universal. Forbidden will have a new remix by Iommi.
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