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(hennemusic) Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has revealed that he will remix the band's 1995 album, "Forbidden", for its upcoming 20th anniversary reissue. "Forbidden" also represents Sabbath's last album before three-quarters of the original group reunited for 2013's "13."
"I really like the album but I was never happy with the overall sound," says Iommi, "so I'm going to re-mix it before it comes out again. Can't say when, too much going on right now."

Issued in June of 1995, the group's 18th studio album was the final Sabbath project to feature Tony Martin on vocals alongside Iommi and a lineup that featured bassist Neil Murray, keyboardist Geoff Nichols and drummer Cozy Powell.


To say I am thrilled about this is an understatement.

While Forbidden is the weakest of the Tony Martin-era albums, it has many killer songs and riffs.

The main issue was the ultra-dry mix and bland production by Ernie C. I hope this also means the rest of the I.R.S. albums will follow.

I expect this will not actually happen this year, but who knows?

The Martin era is among my faves of the Sabbath catalog and I listen to those albums each and every year with Headless Cross being my favorite.

Forbidden could also include the demos which have leaked out as well as the awesome rare cut "Loser Gets It All". There are also a few really good radio and soundboard shows from that tour which I saw in Philly with Motorhead opening in the summer of '95.

Anyway, I hope this indeed happens.

The Black Sabbath album that was crying out for a remix.

Actually, I've never heard it.

But it seems to be almost universally reviled by Sabbath fans.

The mix is bone dry Chris.

Of course, that was in back in the mid-90's but still...

As for the fans, if you go to http://www.black-sabbath.com there's a pretty sizable amount of fans who dig the album and then there is the faction that thinks it is Sabbath's nadir.

It really is good though, and "Kiss of Death" ranks up there with anything they've done.

But even the fans like me who like the album admit the mix stinks. Not unlistenable, but lame.

Agree Pete, the Tony Martin years are really overlooked. I have them all and really enjoy them. I be in for this when its gets released.

Rick A.

Forbidden is a terrible album. I agree there were plenty of excellent albums recorded with Tony Martin but this one isn't one of them. The first half of the album is nearly a complete waste with the exception of "Get a Grip." Second half is better but IMO still pretty average stuff for Sabbath.

The Ice-T thing was a complete joke. At this point Iommi had his head so far up Ozzy's ass that he lost all comprehension of what it was to put out a good Sabbath album. He ruined a good thing with Ronnie James Dio and ended up crapping all over Tony Martin and Cozy Powell with this album.

Ice T is on it for 30 seconds and talks-he doesn't rap. Not a big deal.

I like the album and most of the songs. No way I will say it's terrible but I understand when fans do.

But like I said, it's the weakest of the Martin albums.

But Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, Tyr and Cross Purposes were all excellent albums.

Look, this isn't an argument!

I didn't know any of the Tony Martin albums until I discussed the Sabbath catalog at my blog three years ago. In my post that included Forbidden, I wrote "I doubt I’ll be revisiting this album much in the future, but I’m glad I gave it some attention now to see how the Tony Martin era came to a close. He still had a powerful voice, but the effortless high notes from earlier albums seemed to be out of reach by this point. I can’t see anyone but Sabbath loyalists really enjoying this record."

For me it was definitely the weakest album of that era, which was disappointing because I really liked a couple of the previous records. I doubt a remix/remaster will do anything to improve the mostly lackluster material.

If anyone is interested in reading my full comments on this album, here's a link to that post:
https://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/20 ... onclusion/

???

I interviewed Neil Murray many years ago for a magazine I was writing for and we talked about this album.

He told me the whole thing was very rushed and the band had no say in the final mix and he disliked the experience and thought Ernie C was not a good choice to produce.

I saw the tour and it was obvious that Martin's voice was strained even though the concert was excellent.

He had started to have some problems on the Cross Purposes tour (that tour is still one of the best Sabbath shows and set lists ever) and he hadn't had time to recover.

I think lackluster describes Forbidden far better than terrible.

But I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it because I do even though I know many do not. I do have allies on the Sabbath forums though and apparently Tony Iommi too!

I have read or heard that Forbidden was just a contractual obligation thing that Iommi wanted to get out of the way so the reunion with Ozzy could happen.

It was the final album for I.R.S. but the band was still very much together and toured until the end of the year.

The Ozzy didn't happen until 2 years later so I'm not sure how accurate that is but I wouldn't doubt it.

The first attempt with Ozzy in 1992-93 did fail and led to Martin coming back.

Of course, Dio quit prior to the last 2 shows of the Dehumanizer tour in November 1992 refusing to play as "guest" at Ozzy's final 2 live gigs.

Rob Halford sang at those shows and there was some talk of Rob joining but an Ozzy reunion also took place the 2nd night which led to negotiations into 1993 where Ozzy refused to sign. The did lead to Martin returning, and one felt that if there was a chance of the reunion talk starting again this time it would happen and in 1997 there we go.

In any case, I love the Martin era and Forbidden isn't awful to me. La de da

Decibel Geek Podcast did a good show about the post-Dio era called "The Other Sabbath." They played some cuts from Born Again through Forbidden. I may seek out Eternal Idol at some point. Not sure if I'll go any further than that.

This book does an excellent job of telling the Sabbath/Ozzy story from 1979 through 2007. I highly recommend it. There are some editing problems but that was mainly because it originally was two separate books, one on Ozzy's solo career and one on Black Sabbath after Ozzy left. Those two books were merged together into this book and some material gets repeated but there is so much worthy information in it that any editing problems are easily overlooked.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/095826841X/?tag=imwan-20

This book has accounts from both Tony Martin and Neil Murray that the Ozzy reunion thing was being worked on and everyone knew that at the end of the tour that Iommi was going to dump everyone and go back to Ozzy. It's specifically stated that Forbidden was a rush job to fulfill the IRS contract so Iommi could be free of it. As far as the tour, Martin complained that they were scheduling too many shows too close together and his voice and the shows were suffering from it, and he got a fax back from the management that told him to shut up and play the shows and "the band will not be staying in the same format."

Basically everyone involved with the band at this time seemed to have problems with the way it was being run. Cozy Powell didn't make it through the tour but he was still having some problems with his hip which contributed to that. As much as I love Martin-era Sabbath, it's hard to see the band as anything but a joke during the Forbidden period.

Things were so bad that even Geezer Butler took a real nasty swipe at Iommi on the first G//Z/R record, Plastic Planet. Go read the lyrics for "Giving Up the Ghost." It was pretty obvious at the time that Butler wrote that about Iommi and I can't remember when but he did confirm that song was directed at Iommi and the mess he made out of the Black Sabbath name.

Now you are talking!! The Eternal Idol is one of Sabbath's better albums IMO, and I would take it ahead of some of the classic Ozzy records (I think it's better than both Master of Reality and Vol 4). Songwriting is great from start to finish, Martin's voice just soars and there are some wicked tones from Iommi on that record. The band was a complete mess during this period too, but Iommi somehow delivered a classic with The Eternal Idol.

Yes, but Geezer was doing awful Nu-Metal and copying younger acts and was embarrassing himself as well.

I own the books you mention and they were pretty good but there were errors and sloppy writing. Some good detail though.

I'm not defending my tastes again though-I like the album.

This is one of those albums that I have, but I can't really recall the music - other than "Guilty as Hell", which I really like.

Gonna give it a spin right now.

Let me know your thoughts DanO.

"Guilty as Hell" is a good one. "Kiss of Death" is a masterpiece.

Again, it's not a great album. But a good album? I think it is despite the flaws.

I highly recommend Eternal Idol, especially if you're a fan of the more Gothic Dio style.

But, Headless Cross and Tyr are way up there for me.

No freakin way. I dig Eternal Idol but......

I've played the album a few times over the past 2 days. Certainly not a "bad" record by any means, IMO.

You are correct, "Kiss of Death" is excellent! "Guilty as Hell" remains my fave, maybe because I've liked it for so long.

No, this is not "Paranoid" or "Heaven and Hell", but I like it more than 95% of the stuff I hear these days. I'll definitely grab the new version.