Black Sabbath - Tyr

Details :

• Year of release : 1990
• Label : EMI 521 2982 (1999 reissue)
• Review format : CD

What with the multitude of line-up changes, solo albums forcibly released under the bands name, mid tour singer changes and ill-advised forays into apartheid era South Africa all seemingly milking the cash cow dry it wouldn’t have been surprising or indeed disappointing if Tony Iommi had given up on the Black Sabbath name forever in the mid-80s. They had become something of a laughing stock in the likes of Kerrang, even being the but of an April Fool’s issue ‘exclusive’ with Welsh crooner Tom Jones named as the new singer! To then achieve a new deal with the IRS label and turn in a couple of pretty strong albums with a fairly settled line up around the turn of the decade was actually quite a surprise.

Keeping singer Tony Martin from the ill-fated Eternal Idol tour along with erstwhile and apparently invisible keyboard player Geoff Nicholls, Iommi finally convinced Cozy Powell to join him after an initial unsuccessful attempt when Powell was with Rainbow. After Geezer Butler decided to stick with Ozzy, veteran bass player Neil Murray joined for the Headless Cross tour (session player Laurence Cottle had played on the album) and this experienced and seemingly settled line-up won back quite a lot of public support with the well received album and tour. Classy, powerful but melodic metal that progressed from the Dio era line-up rather than the earlier Ozzy days, the follow up album Tyr consciously attempted to distance the band from traditional Satanic fare and produce a set of songs that explored different themes.

The centrepiece of the album is cemented around a trilogy of tracks that initially launched side two of the vinyl release. The Battle Of Tyr, Odin’s Court and Valhalla eschew the devil and instead tell the epic story of a Norse God. The Battle being a Geoff Nicholls spotlighting, atmospheric scene setter, Odin’s Court an acoustic storytelling track that bridges towards the full bands power during the excellent Valhalla.

Whilst hoping for an Iommi/Martin/Murray plus adequate replacement for the late Cozy Powell to announce a tour billed as ‘Headless Cross’ after the current Heaven And Hell thing runs its course is perhaps something I’m alone in wishing for, the other tracks on this album have significant appeal also. Anno Mundi is a superbly constructed album introduction that effectively demonstrates what a great set of pipes Tony Martin possessed even if he failed to match his predecessor in the live arena and also what power this line up could produce. The Law Maker is a quality rocker. Up tempo and accomplished it would have made an excellent single release at the time and Iommi sounds suitably re-invigorated on the solo. If I recall correctly, Jerusalem was a song Martin brought from his early band Alliance and it too makes a fine Heaven And Hell style mid tempo burner, whilst The Sabbath Stones was so good it ultimately lent it’s name to a latter day Sabbath compilation. A thunderous track that develops over the top of a typically heavy Powell drum kit assault then changes to an acoustic mid-section before erupting again and finally closing with a fast paced finale that ensures it remains in the memory of the listener after the album has finished.

Only the blues tinted balladry of Feels Good To Me really lowers the tempo for a whole song. A companion track in many way to Seventh Star’s No Stranger To Love it was unsurprisingly and rather predictably chosen as a completely unrepresentative single release. Failing to chart, it did however feature a very good live take of Heaven And Hell as a b-side but surely one of the heavier tracks would have stood more chance of airplay?

Heaven In Black, inspired by Moscow’s St. Basil’s Cathedral, is a fine closing track that stands as a good example of this line-ups abilities. Again a thunderous Powell under current leads a tracks that proves that whilst recreating the doom laden bluster of the Ozzy era was out of all but the original line-ups hands, it was possible to get close to the heights of the Dio fronted release. Of course in true Sabbath fashion they’d undo all the hard work that they had done by reuniting the Dio fronted line-up for the next release then producing something of lower quality!

Summary : As with predecessor The Headless Cross and latter, “other Sabbath re-union of the 90s” album Cross Purposes this is a classy melodic metal album with more than enough decent quality tracks to merit a decent mark. Also it ripe for a CD reissue with a better package than this Classic Rock Magazine sponsored budget effort. Whilst it’s a fact that the bands name had been through the mud and indeed with hindsight probably should have been retired following Never Say Die, this line-up did rebuild some credibility and reputation. Indeed having witnessed both the Headless Cross and Tyr tour they produced a fine live experience to boot! I remember a good friend and first generation Sabbath fan borrowing my original cassette purchase for a listen at work some 17 years ago and giving it 3 out of 5. You know what…. he was nearly correct!

If You Listen To One Track Listen To : The Sabbath Stones

Score : 3.5/5

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The promo clip for Feels Good To Me…

A nicely constructed slide show tribute to the late great Cozy Powell, to the backing of Anno Mundi….

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