Cross Purposes by Black Sabbath (CD, Feb-1994, IRS)

This album doesn't get nearly the credit it is due. With Tony Iommi on lead, great bass and percussion and the very under-rated Tony Martin doing a great job with the vocals you have a great and melodic hard rock cd. There isn't a bad song on this disk, I'd recommend that every Sabbath fan give it a try (some for the first time because of the disenfranchisement that happened in the early 80's after Dio left the band for the first time). It is a lot better than most people think, or know. Only downside is the price is still pretty steep, but if your like me and wanted a complete Sabbath collection you won't mind that either.

This was Sabbath's album after the Dio-fronted "Dehumanizer". Geezer Butler stayed in the band, so to me, this is just as much of a Sabbath album as "Mob Rules" or "Live Evil" were. The very able Tony Martin came back to front the band, and the line-up was rounded off with stalwart member Geoff Nichols on Keyboards and Bobby Rondinelli on drums. I think as a whole this is a very strong album, and so was the tour that followed. The timing of the album's release was unfortunate since Metal was being grossly overshadowed by Grunge and other styles of music, therefore this release tends to get overlooked. Eddie Van Halen was an uncredited songwriter (in the song Evil Eye, I think). You can't go wrong with such musical pedigree! The band's post-Dio material, must not be overlooked and such material deserves its own "Black Box"-like installment. This particular copy is an advance copy, so it's a cool collectible.

This album is extremely rare. I guess that's why it sells so well on here. Myself being a pure sabbath fan since I was 10 years old had to buy it the first day it came out. Alot of people abandoned sabbath after dio left for the 2nd time. But man did they miss out. Musically structured very similar to dehumanizer, Iommi shows once again why he is the godfather of metal. Cross of thorns is probably the best song. You would believe that these songs were actually structured for Dio but Tony Martin is just fine.