Tony Iommi has revealed he’s back in the studio, creating a new version of Black Sabbath’s most infamous album.
Ask any Black Sabbath fan what their favourite album is, and it could be a rather divisive question. Some would say their self-titled debut is best, while others might claim that Paranoid was the band’s peak. Others (such as myself) would contend that Master Of Reality was their peak, while others still might offer up Sabbath Bloody Sabbath as their best.
However, ask any Black Sabbath fan their worst album, and it’s a less controversial question. While some might call 1983’s Ian Gillan-featuring Born Again their low point, most would attach that title to 1995’s Forbidden.
Released as the band’s 18th studio album, Forbidden was so poorly received by critics, with one publication simply calling it “the band’s worst album”. Featuring vocals from Tony Martin and a guest appearance by Ice-T, it would be the last Black Sabbath album before 2013’s 13, and eventually led to a reunion of the band’s original lineup in 1997.
Now, Tony Iommi has revealed he’s giving the record another shot.
Check out Tony Iommi’s Facebook video:
https://www.facebook.com/tonyiomm/videos/1473005929499577/
Back in 2015, Tony Iommi took to Facebook to express his fondness for Forbidden, but noted he was “never happy with the overall sound”, before expressing a desire to remix the album. Now, in a new social media post, Iommi has revealed a brand new version of the record will be released in 2019.
Recording a Facebook video over the weekend, Iommi wished his followers a merry holiday season before revealing his current activities.
“Next year there will be the Forbidden album coming out, which we’re remixing at the moment, Mike Exeter and myself,” Iommi explained. “And that’s been interesting to pull that apart and at least try and get some better sounds on it. As it should be.”
“I know Cozy [Powell] was never happy with his drum sound, and none of us were really happy with the sound on that album. So, hopefully, now it will be sounding better.”
Check out Black Sabbath’s ‘Get A Grip’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSHOq_bhMwI
In an interview with Metal Jacket Magazine in 2017, then-vocalist Tony Martin explained he would like to re-record material from his time with Black Sabbath, singling out Forbidden as an example.
“Especially Forbidden – oooohhhh… I hate that,” Martin explained. “It was the end of my time with Black Sabbath, so it’s so… When I listen to it now, I think how I could make it better. So if he gives me the chance, I would love to do that again. Yeah, the possibility is definitely there.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Tony Martin admitted that the record wasn’t exactly indicitave of the band’s sound, with their Ice-T collaboration giving it something of a rap-rock sound.
“I told (Iommi) that. It was me, Cozy Powell and Geoff Nicholls, I think, who is also not with us now,” Martin stated. “We were saying that ‘this is not Black Sabbath.’ And I understand what they were trying to do, the Run-D.M.C. thing, but no, it didn’t work. It didn’t work.”
“I have demos from the rehearsals, and it sounded really cool – really hard, and some of the songs are really kicking it. So I would love to re-record that. And if I got the chance, I’d actually like to re-write some of the lyrics, because my head wasn’t there in the album. But if I get the chance, we’ll have a go.”
At this stage there’s no word as to when we’ll hear the remixed version of Forbidden, though with its 24th anniversary coming in June, there’s every chance it could happen around the mid-year mark.
Check out Black Sabbath’s ‘The Illusion Of Power’:
