New Black Sabbath box set rediscovers overlooked frontman Tony Martin
When you think of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne probably comes to mind, maybe the legendary Ronnie James Dio, who also enjoyed cult status, and occasionally Ian Gillan gets a mention.
But there’s one frontman who often gets overlooked: Tony Martin.
"Unfortunately, Tony Martin got pushed in the background," Black Sabbath founder and guitarist Tony Iommi, 76, tells dpa during an interview in London.
This is now set to change with a new Black Sabbath box set.
"Anno Domini 1989-1995" shines the spotlight on the often-forgotten frontman who led the heavy metal band twice in the late 80s and 90s. After Osbourne, Martin was the band's second-longest-serving vocalist.
Iommi has remastered the albums "Headless Cross" (1989), "Tyr" (1990) and "Cross Purposes" (1994) and even remixed "Forbidden" (1995) for the smartly presented box, which comes with either CDs or LPs.
"There's some great stuff with Tony Martin," Iommi says.
Unjustly overshadowed by Ozzy and Dio
"The funny thing is, though, when we had that line-up together, it was difficult because people wouldn't quite all accept it at the time," Iommi recalls of his time with Martin.
"I financed that whole project, the touring and buses and everything else. I paid for it personally," he says. "I really enjoyed the band, I enjoyed the stuff we were doing."
However, many mourned the loss of their predecessors Ozzy and Dio. It's different now, and the guitarist says a "new generation" of listeners are discovering a neglected side of the band.
"It's funny now because now it's become more popular than ever. People want to hear that now."
Guitarist Iommi was the only remaining original member of Black Sabbath at the time. The band line-up also included legendary drummer Cozy Powell, who had previously drummed other bands including Rainbow and Whitesnake, who died in an accident in 1998.
In the 90s, founding member Geezer Butler also rejoined the band on bass.
With the powerful-voiced Tony Martin on the microphone, the band played a little less dark heavy metal and more epic hard rock with a lot of atmosphere, as on the great "Headless Cross," which reached the top 20 of the album charts in Germany at the time.
Highlights include the powerful title track and the oppressive "When Death Calls," to which Queen guitarist and Iommi mate Brian May contributed a guitar solo at the time.
An overdue Tony Martin tribute - but with gaps
The album "Forbidden" sounds excellent in the new mix. The CDs, but not the vinyl LPs, contain three bonus tracks - a B-side and two songs previously only released in Japan.
Unfortunately, that's it for the musical extras.
The hopes of many fans for concert recordings from the Tony Martin era - you can find some on the internet - were not fulfilled.
The live disc "Cross Purposes Live," for which a concert film was released on VHS cassette in 1995, was also left out.
It is also a real downer that the excellent album "The Eternal Idol" (1987) is missing from the box. The reason: the rights to Tony Martin's Black Sabbath debut unfortunately lie with another record company.
Despite these gaps, "Anno Domini 1989-1995" is a fascinating compilation of this neglected Black Sabbath era and will hopefully give the now 67-year-old Martin the recognition he deserves.
To celebrate the release, Martin reunited with Iommi for an on-camera chat about the old days. Given Iommi's retirement from touring, it's unlikely the two Tonies will perform together again.
