Headless Cross [Import] [Original recording remastered]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Reissue of Sabbath's 14th studio album from 1989, their first for the now-defunct I.R.S. label. The line-up on the record is Tony Iommi, Cozy Powell, Tony Martin and Geoff Nicholls and Laurence Cottle. All eight tracks have been digitally remastered & it also features new sleeve notes, plus the original cover art. 1999 release.

Tracks:

The Gates Of Hell
Headless Cross
Devil & Daughter
When Death Calls
Kill In The Spirit World
Call Of The Wild
Black Moon
Nightwing

Customer Reviews:

SIN OZZY, SIN DIO Y SIN BUTLER, PERO UNO DE LOS MEJORES.......2007-04-22

Sinceramente y sin rodeos creo que este es un álbum que ha sido ninguneado por muchos pero para mi está en el Top 5 de Black Sabbath: 1)Master of Reality; 2)Heaven And Hell; 3)Vol.4; 4)Headless Cross; 5)Paranoid.
Tal vez parezca aventurado pero para mi el colocarlo 4 en el Top 5 de Black Sabbath es comparable al ¿por qué Hugo Sánchez no está considerado dentro de los 5 mejores jugadores de fútbol soccer de todos los tiempos junto con Maradona y Pelé? porque sencillamente es mexicano y no argentino, brasileño o alemán; así mismo ¿porque Headless Cross de Tony Martin, Lawrence Cottle y Cozy Powel no está considerado dentro de los 5 mejores LPs de Black Sabbath junto con Master of Reality y Heaven And Hell? tan sencillo como que el vocalista no es Ozzy ni Dio ni en el bajo está Geezer.
Como se ha comentado, musicalmente es de lo mejor que el Sabbath lanzó y para mi los riffs de Paranoid, Children of the Grave, Heaven and Hell, Neon Knights y Devil And Daughter son los mejores no solo en el repertorio de Black Sabbath sino en la historia del rock (y perdón a los fans de Metallica, Guns And Roses y otros).
Desde el comienzo con The Gates of Hell se puede respirar la calidad de todo el disco y por supuesto que no defrauda, al seguir con Headless Cross se reafirma y con la obra maestra de Devil And Daughter es inevitable caer a los pies de este disco, lo anterior sin mencionar la excelsa colaboración de Brian May en When Death Calls y las excelentes pausas y efectos en Kill in The Spirit World y Nightwing.
Líricamente es también muy bueno y no le pide nada a los de las eras de Ozzy y Dio, solo que nuevamente es minimizado porque aquí las letras son en su mayoría de Tony Martin y no de Dio/Iommi/Butler o de Ousborne/Iommi/Butler/Ward.
En conclusión: Headless Cross es el mejor álbum de Black Sabbath en la era de Tony Martin y en cuarto mejor de todas las eras, llámese Ozzy, Dio o Gillan.
Que viva Black Sabbath y que viva el Rock!!!!!!!!!!!

More Great Material From The Post-Ozzy Era.......2007-01-25

Before I review this album, there are two things I need to get off my chest: first, this is not a "Satanic" album by any stretch of the imagination. Just because the words "Satan," "Devil" and "Hell" are present in the lyrics does not make a song "Satanic" anymore than the words "God," "Jesus" or "Lord" makes a song "Christian." These songs are simply about classic good vs evil, from the perspective of "good." Second, stop saying this is not really Black Sabbath since Tony Iommi is the only original member present; look folks, that fact is Iommi has owned this band from day one. In addition, there are plenty of examples of high-profile bands that currently exist with only one original member (Megadeth, anyone?).

Now, with that said, this is probably my favorite album of the "Martin period." Musically, Headless Cross is a very unusual yet interesting mix of 80s-style, mainstream metal with a dark, gothic thematic content. Tony Martin's voice may ultimately have been a bit too sweet and polished for Black Sabbath, yet he is undoubtedly the most technically impressive singer the band has ever worked with. My only beef with the album is the mix, in which I feel Martin's voice is way too loud and Iommi's guitar is often too low. That is unfortunate, because Headless Cross features some of the most impressvie guitar work I've ever heard from Mr. Iommi.

If you are a Black Sabbath fan that enjoys or is at least open to experiencing 80s/90s period, I highly recommend Headless Cross. On the other hand, if you are the type that believes Ozzy is the be all, end all of Black Sabbath, then, well....no comment.

Metal Magic.......2007-01-10

This is getting almost impossible to find. The BEST Black Sabbath recording EVER! Buy 2 so when you wear the first one out you will still have a primo one left. This IS for serious metal fans and headbangers.

Decent Tony Martin Era Release.......2006-10-15

For many the only two eras of Black Sabbath that count are the years with either Ozzy or Dio at the helm. Personally I also liked a lot of the material that was produced with Tony Martin leading the band as well. "Headless Cross" was the second album to feature Martin on vocals with the only remaining original member being Tony Iommi. Drummer extraordinaire Cozy Powell is also along for the ride on this one. The music on this album is for the most part quite strong, with Martin's Dio like vocals and Iommi's patented guitar technique leading the way. Powell and bass player Lawrence Cottle emote a dark and foreboding rhythm section, and long time Sabbath keyboard collaborator Geoff Nicholls is up front more than usual on this one This lyrics get pretty dark here with Lucifer / the Devil / Satan being mentioned in just about every song. It almost comes across as if they were writing some of this stuff for shock values sake in order to possibly garner some controversy. Some of these lyrics could be a definite turn off for more religious oriented people. The title track managed to get some radio / MTV airplay (I remember seeing the video a couple of times on head bangers ball back in the day) and served as a bit of a comeback for the band following the lackluster sales of the previous two albums. Along with the title track highlights for me include "Devil and Daughter", "Kill In the Spirit World" and the album closer "Nightwing". I don't think that this is the best Tony Martin era release, but it is a solid album.

One of the greatest with Martin........2006-04-16

Ok, first of all we can't make a comparation between the "Ozzy era" and the other singers periods because the music and mentality of both are not the same, they are like two different bands.
If we want to compare this album to any other, it would be the TYR album, because both are very similar in many aspects, and have Tony Martin as singer.
HEADLESS CROSS is good, but TYR is a lot better in music and lirics, These are the best two best albums with Martin. FORBIDDEN and CROSS PURPOSES suck!!!!!!!!!

Average customer rating:

This is a really, really great album.
Fantasy Horror at its Best
Happy Halloween!!
One of Sabbath's Best, though a "forgotten" album
Five stars for the music ONLY.

Headless Cross
Black Sabbath
Manufacturer: EMI Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

TYR
The Eternal Idol
Dehumanizer
Cross Purposes
Cross Purposes

ASIN: B00001ZT6Z
Release Date: 1998-10-27

Tracks:

The Gates Of Hell
Headless Cross
Devil And Daughter
When Death Calls
Kill In The Spirit World
Call Of The Wild
Black Moon
Nightwing

Album Description

Reissue of Sabbath's 14th studio album from 1989, their first for the now-defunct I.R.S. label. The line-up on the record is Tony Iommi, Cozy Powell, Tony Martin and Geoff Nicholls and Laurence Cottle. All eight tracks have been digitally remastered & it also features new sleeve notes, plus the original cover art. 1999 release.

Album Details

Black Sabbath's 1989 Album -- the Singer Tony Martin's Short-Lived Era. Digitally Remastered and Reissued in 1996. Includes Original Art, Liner Notes and Track Sequence. Features the Bone-Crushing Tracks "Headless Cross", "Devil and Daughter", "When Death Calls" and Six More. Essay by Hugh Gilmour.

Customer Reviews:

This is a really, really great album........2007-06-04

I got into Black Sabbath back in the mid-80's, when I would find albums like "Born Again", "Paranoid", and "Mob Rules" in the bargain tape bin at Gemco, so I really got to hear a great sampling of music from ALL eras of Black Sabbath. And let me tell ya, I loved it all. Then "Seventh Star" came out and it was a radically new direction, but I loved it just the same. After that, I sort of forgot about Black Sabbath for a while.

Flash foreward to 1989, I saw a copy of "Headless Cross" and thought, "Wow, this looks really interesting, I wonder what it sounds like?". So I picked it up, and it quickly became one of my favorite albums of all time and remains so till this day. The songs were all so unbelievably great. They sounded so fresh and well crafted, and they still sound just as fresh today. With this album, Black Sabbath returned to their roots, lyrically.. there are songs about the Devil, about Kills in the spirit world, about Death Calling.. all sung to what I can only describe as very UPBEAT heavy metal, and the results are this landmark CD. From beginning to end, this CD is nothing short of BRILLIANT. Tony Iommi, and everyone else in the band were at thier peak when they made this record. It sounds like it was a hell of a lot of fun to make as it is to listen to. If you buy only ONE Tony Martin era Sabbath CD, this is it.

Fantasy Horror at its Best.......2007-04-15

Black Sabbath always pushed the limits of lyrics and the Blues. The Blues are about "DOOING THE DEVIL'S DUE", and Old Europe is full of Terror and Mystery, with Tony Iommi always having his powerful JD Guitar being played to great and classic Blues rifts, which dance to lyrics that are about such things. Remember that the band named itself after a film that was about "VAMPIRES".
On a few reviews they say that the album is superb but ignored. They are so right. Tony and the late mighty master of the Drum who was Cozy Powell wrote with singer and lyricist Tony Martin, some of the darkest and most high pitched music that they were to ever write in thier careers, of which it is said that this was the most frightining album that they ever wrote, in dealing with the Occult and other such Terror.
My favorite songs are Kill In the Spirit World and Call of The Wild, with Kill In the Spirit World being a song that makes me think about the old Mystery films, put in Clash of the Titans if one could say, while Call of The Wild for me has always been a Bond Song rejected. The sound is too remining of the Bond Theme, and as for the other songs one will have to hear them for themselves, but they are amazing.

Happy Halloween!!.......2006-09-22

I am a HUGE Black Sabbath fan, but I have absolutely no use for this album and the three that came after it. My main problem is vocalist Tony Martin. Martin did a respectable enough job on The Eternal Idol, but he was singing somebody else's vocal melodies and singing them the exact way they sang 'em (Ray Gillen), and was also singing somebody else's lyrics (Bob Daisley, Geoff Nichols, Ray Gillen, etc...). On Headless Cross, Martin wrote all the lyrics, which dealt with such EVIL things like the devil, and monsters, and HEADLESS CROSSES!! Sabbath spent at least half of their Ozzy years trying to shake off that evil, Satanic image, so I was saddened to seem them revert back to it even more on this album. I really think Sabbath should have broken up after Born Again, and in a way, they did, for this was essentially the Tony Iommi Band...or the Tony Iommi and Martin band.

Getting back to Tony Martin, my main problem with him is his singing voice, which sounds a bit too much like Ronnie James Dio, and/or Bruce Dickinson and Don Dokken. The guy had no personality of his own...what personality he did have was borrowed from other singers. Say what you will about the other Sabbath singers like Ozzy, Dio and Gillan, at least they were unique. And...Tony Martin just could not write good catchy vocal melodies. I just do not like this guy as a singer. And...if I don't like the singer, it is tough for me to like the song...especially if it is not an instrumental!!

Musically, this is very heavy, with more keyboards than usual on a Sabbath album, but they don't smother the guitars, and give the album a Goth metal (and maybe a slight pop and commercial) feel, while the lyrics give it a Satanic metal feel. Cozy Powell's drums are loud in the mix. The musicians sound competent enough...that is not a problem. The problem is (are?) the songs, which (other than maybe, JUST MAYBE, a catchy guitar riff every once in a black moon)are quite forgettable, with one mindless riff after another from Iommi and, other than the refrain for 'When Death Calls', absolutely no memorable vocal melodies. This album does not make for a very enjoyable listen. I put this CD on in the background this morning while having breakfast (Ah, breakfast with Black Sabbath!) and barely any of it jumped out and stuck with me. Perhaps I wouldn't be so harsh if this band didn't call themselves Black Sabbath....but they DID call themselves Black Sabbath! And this album really pales when compared to practically any Sabbath album before it.

Yes, the cover and the album title and the song titles (' The Gates of Hell ', 'Devil & Daughter', 'Kill in the Spirit World', just to name a few) are all very spooky, but in a cartoonish way, and if I really want to be scared, I'll just look at the picture of Alice Cooper on the front of his Special Forces album!!

You can avoid this one, shoppers and shoplifters!

One of Sabbath's Best, though a "forgotten" album.......2006-09-15

When you ask someone to name off the best Sabbath albums, they usually respond with Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Vol. 4, or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Every once in a while some one will mention Heaven and Hell from the Dio era but very, I mean very rarely does anyone mention an album from the Post-ozzy era. This is a shame as Sabbath recorded a lot of good material after Ozzy but for some reason they all seem to be erased from people's memory.

One of these seemingly forgotten albums is Headless Cross. I don't only consider Headless Cross just to be one of the best post-Ozzy Sabbath albums, but one of the best Sabbath albums altogether.

One reason die-hard Sabbath fans tend to forget this era of Sabbath albums as they don't sound exactly like Sabbath of old. For one reason, as with Headless Cross, it has a very 80's ring to it. I personally found this sound to much of my liking. Though it may not sound exactly like the material present on, oh let's say Paranoid, it is still very Sabbathy.

The vocalist on this album is Tony Martin, and this is his is his second album with the band. Tony Martin has to be one of the most underrated vocalists in the metal genre. I mean this guy has a set of pipes on him that just blows the vocal talents of Ozzy away. I might be going too far to say that Martin might even be a better singer than Dio (!?!). His vocals are dang near perfect and they fit the music like a glove. Tony Iommi is also amazing on this release like usual.

The album opens up with a moody intro entitled The Gates of Hell that goes right into the first song Headless Cross. This is a pretty epic song for Sabbath and it features really interesting lyrics penned by Martin. That's another thing about this album that is great as the lyrics are really interesting. Like Sabbath vocalist's of the past, the man on vox usually pens most of the lyrics and Martin is a genius when it comes to dark, interesting words to accompany Iommi's monster riffs and solo's.

Devil & Daughter is up next and again it is one of the highlights of the album. Faster paced than the first song and every bit as good. There are a lot of keyboards present in this song but Sabbath uses the keyboards perfectly, as with the rest of the album. The keyboards are not overbearing and they are subtle enough not to corrupt the music.

The next song When Death Calls is what I would consider the albums weakest track but really the only one I would put next to "filler". It's just not up to par with the other great songs on the release. Thankfully the song after called A Death in the Spirit World brings the album back up. This is just a terrific song with great rhythm and a sing along chorus. Call of the Wild is up next. It's not as "bad" as When Death Calls but it doesn't rank along with the albums best tracks. Decent, but the song after is one of the best. Black Moon would serve as the albums one and only single and it was a good choice. The lyrics are a little more silly than the rest of the tracks, but its a great song none-the-less. It's fast paced and has a sing-along- chorus. "I see a black moon rising, and its calling out my name!" The album finally finishes on a nice note with Nightwing.

Overall I found this to be a terrific album. We got a great vocalist, interesting lyrics, top guitar riffs and solo's, a dark/brooding atmosphere, and a cool 80's sound that only Sabbath could produce. If you are a non-fickle Sabbath fan that is willing to listen to material in the Post-Ozzy era, then pick up Headless Cross as it is one of the band's best. If you find it to your liking, then I also recommend the band's next release TYR.

Five stars for the music ONLY........2005-12-01

Muscially speaking, this album is the strongest recording Black Sabbath released after the Ozzy/Dio eras (and better than some of those albums, too). Tony Iommi is the master of those dark, pummeling, sludgey guitar riffs. Headless Cross is, musically, arguably the best example of that guitar sound that is a trademark of the Sabbath sound. The keyboards are more prominent here than on other Black Sabbath discs but that's not a bad thing - in this case, I thought the keyboards really enhanced the music on this.

The album begins with the haunting keyboards that is a prelude to the heavy, slow-paced title track. Devil and Daughter is another GREAT, upbeat riff that is perfectly complimented with the keyboard work of Geoff Nicholls (why was that musician rarely tabbed as an official member of Sabbath?). When Death Calls starts off slowly with the emphasis on atmosphereic keyboards and a simple guitar melody and BOOM! - another heavy riff and operatic Martin vocals - finishes out as another upbeat track though not quite the way Devil and Daughter does. Most of the other tracks have good riffs and that dark, heavy guitar sound that are some of Iommi's best musical efforts.

Tony Martin is a great singer. Black Sabbath does not begin and end with Ozzy or Dio on vocals. Iommi is the heart and soul of Black Sabbath. Laurence Cottle's bass work is excellent on Headless Cross, and he sounds very similar in style to Geezer Butler. Cozy Powell is one of the greatest drummers of all time, and his contributions here in terms of production and drumming really helped Black Sabbath regain some status they had lost as the band had really become a Tony Iommi solo project with the guitarist as the sole original member.

My high rating for this album of for the music ONLY. Occultish lyrics have been another Sabbath trademark, and I would personally prefer to have had the band record this fine piece of music without Satan and his cronies getting a namecheck on almost every song. But musically, the instrumentation on this is great.

Average customer rating:

SIN OZZY, SIN DIO Y SIN BUTLER, PERO UNO DE LOS MEJORES
More Great Material From The Post-Ozzy Era
Metal Magic
Decent Tony Martin Era Release
One of the greatest with Martin.

Headless Cross
Black Sabbath
Manufacturer: Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

British Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

TYR
The Eternal Idol
Cross Purposes
Dehumanizer
Cross Purposes

ASIN: B000007NZ5
Release Date: 1990-08-24

Tracks:

Gates of Hell
Headless Cross
Devil and Daughter
When Death Calls
Kill in the Spirit World
Call of the Wild
Black Moon
Nightwing

Customer Reviews:

SIN OZZY, SIN DIO Y SIN BUTLER, PERO UNO DE LOS MEJORES.......2007-04-22

More Great Material From The Post-Ozzy Era.......2007-01-25

Metal Magic.......2007-01-10

Decent Tony Martin Era Release.......2006-10-15

One of the greatest with Martin........2006-04-16

Average customer rating:

The Eternal Idol / Headless Cross
Black Sabbath
Manufacturer: CD Maximum
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

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General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000JPI2BK

Product Description

2 albums on 1CD -16 trx total: "THE ETERNAL IDOL" - 9 trx & "HEADLESS CROSS" - 7 trx.

Average customer rating:

Headless Cross
Black Sabbath
Manufacturer: Msi Music Corp
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0000DEM7H
Release Date: 2002-07-16

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