BLACK SABBATH - BORN AGAIN

Can it really be 33 years ago?! Seems like yesterday. Their most contentious release to date (possibly of all) actually stands up well after so much water and tequila has gone under many a bridge. The time was mixed and confusing. After two stunning studio elpees with Ronnie James Dio and a great if safe double live set, Black Sabbath were reduced to a duo. When Don Arden decided to push them to the top of the tree again, original drummer Bill Ward was once again healthy enough to return (on record at least) and the search was on for a new vocalist.

Allegedly David Coverdale (oh dear...) and then Samson vocalist Nicky Moore (a much better idea) were considered and approached, but a twelve hour drinking session with Ian Gillan secured the Deep Purple/IGB/Jesus Christ Superstar frontman his place at the mike stand. 

Recorded in May at Manor Studios in Oxfordshire it had a lot to live up to. Ozzy was on a roll as a solo artist, now solely under Sharon's wing, and was touring the US on the back of a double live set Speak Of The Devil, made up entirely of Black Sabbath songs. For me, he was already sounding generic and mechanical, sorely lacking the genuine musical spark of the late Randy Rhoads and resorting to type and hype. His next studio release Bark At The Moon would not see the light of day until the end of 1983. 

Dio had taken Vinnie Appice with him from the crumbling Black Sabbath line-up he acrimoniously left, adding former Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain and Viv Campbell, new young hotshot guitar shredder from NWOBHM band Sweet Savage. Their debut Holy Diver hit the racks at the end of May, lauded almost universally as a masterpiece, and heaped more pressure on Sabbath's shoulders.

So, what of Born Again? The production is flat, no acoustic or orchestration diversions or soundscapes to widen and embellish. The best tracks actually do sound great. Disturbing The Priest is suitably demonic, Zero The Hero struts along nicely, and the title track has a hint of the majesty of Lonely Is The Word, but sadly unpolished and lacking the sufficient swagger. The instrumental snippets, The Dark and in particular the much lauded Stonehenge (Also an intro tape when Supertzar wasn't used)) are fitting enough, but it's the rest that is too average, too perfunctory. Trashed is a fun opener, especially lyrically, but closing numbers are hurried and kinda forgetful. 

In 2011 the deluxe 2 disc edition went some way to redressing the balance. The original elpee and CD were by then hard to find, not much inclination it seems to keep it available in the back catalogue. The remixed sound helps a lot, even if it does highlight a strangely mushy and incoherent guitar sound for the majority of Tony's riff work. We also get one unreleased outtake The Fallen, a far more driven and intricate riff song that much of the elpee. The main flaw for me is despite the obvious effort and all that Gillan's voice just doesn't fit. Too screamy by half, and not enough majesty or assurance, darkness or intent. 

The artwork. A moot point for many. If you read artist dear ol' Krusher Joule's comments in the booklet for the deluxe edition or check out his website www.krusher.co.uk all will be revealed. Personally, I thought it was just right. Bonkers, too brash, OTT and cheesy. Perfect! Tony thought it hilarious, Gillan wanted to puke. Hey, it got noticed and remembered. Job done!

And so to tour. Don Arden moved on with World domination plans and got Black Sabbath on the road. Bill Ward bowed out for health reasons and old friend Bev Bevan jumped onto the vacated drum stool in time for their opening show in Drammen, Norway on August 18th. The set would feature almost the whole elpee plus solo's and half a dozen Ozzy era classics. Encore time was contentious, kicking off with a barely recognisable Smoke On The Water and Paranoid, complete with a Heaven And Hell coda.

I remember the Reading Festival sunday night set, on August 27th. The sound was poor and Gillan messed up most of the opening lyrics, due to not remembering them in the first place and not being able to see the large print sheet by his feet obscured by copious amounts of dry ice billowing around the stage as the band crunched into the set. Then there was the Stonehenge stage set, lampooned in Spinal Tap, that was so big it couldn't get into the NEC for the rehearsals and missed most of the shows save 3 smaller bits over the coming months.

Still, they managed over 70 shows with this lie-up, mostly in North America, right up until March 4th 1984 when Black Sabbath played their last show in Springfield, Mass. A full Heaven And Hell and later Neon Knights was added to the set, but they seemed as out of place as Smoke On The Water. We do have an Fm broadcast from Worcester, Mass on November 4th and an enterprising fan filmed the Montreal Forum show on October 21st from the balcony with watchable if lo fi results. 

I'm not sure if any of them saw this as a long term project or just a one off, but fate decreed it was just this brief collaboration. Geezer and Bev soon departed and Ian Gillan was cajoled back to Deep Purple for their Perfect Strangers reunion. It was a long time before Black Sabbath would emerge with any great intent or material again.