Search - Black Sabbath :: Cross Purposes

Largely ignored album, but great nontheless

SerenaBlackCat | PA | 12/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Whenever people argue that "musicians' earliest music is always the best" I have to think of Black Sabbath, who in my opinion was the best during their Tony Martin years. Of course this could also be b/c that's the first that I heard of Sabbath, but that's an entirely new tangent.

Every song on this album is well written and accessible- I got into it right away instead of having it grow on me, yet I wouldn't say it was "catchy"- it's better than that.

This is my favorite album by Black Sabbath. It basically went unnoticed b/c people just liked Sabbath with Ozzy, but I like Tony M much better. I like his accent and his voice is gravelly, but not too much. I like to sing to a lot of songs on this album. His expressive voice adds a lot to this music, but besides that it is also well written.

My favorite song would be "Immaculate Deception", which sounds kind of dreamy. I also liked "Virtual Death" because of its lyrics and harmony, and especially the middle section- yeah it's depressing, and when I was into it I was very depressed. "Evil Eye" is another hypnotic and kind of sexy song. I especially like the middle part and then the double guitar part in it. "Dying For Love" is also very emotional and beautiful. "Psychophobia" was my least favorite but it has some redeeming points. I basically liked all the songs on this album.

Interestingly, I think Sabbath's reputation exceeds them. My parents never objected to this music and I don't find it threatening at all. Is it me or do the lyrics sound kind of Christian? I might have thought they were a Christian band if I didn't know better.

When it comes to Black Sabbath, Tony Martin is the best singer, and this is their best album."

Another Strong Tony Martin Era Release

Steven Sly | Kalamazoo, MI United States | 10/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Another Sabbath album with Tony Martin at the helm and in my opinion another good one. "Cross Purposes" was the album that came after the ill fated reunion with Ronnie James Dio and its subsequent release "Dehuminizer". Although I am a huge Dio fan was really disappointed with the reunion effort and think that "Cross Purposes" blows "Dehumanizer" away. The music on this album sounds the most like classic Sabbath of any of the Tony Martin era recordings as the team of Butler / Iommi combine once again to produce some really strong material. Bobby Rondineli (Rainbow, Blue Oyster Cult, And Quiet Riot) is also on hand n the drum kit and delivers a fine performance. Although he seems to get slammed by many die hard Sabbath fans I maintain that Tony Martin is an incredible vocalist and this album produces some of his best work to date. Highlights include the opening track "I Witness", the heavy handed "Virtual Death" that has Geezer's signature bottom end written all over it, the ballad "Dying For Love", and the catchy rocker "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle". Tony Iommi has some really tasty guitar solos on this album and shows that he was still a very capable guitarist in the mid-90's. The album peters out for me a bit with the last two tracks "Cardinal Sin" and "Evil Eye" which are ok, but nothing spectacular. Overall I would rate this right behind "Tyr" as one of the best Sabbath albums of the 80's or 90's."

A tale of two albums

R. woods | New York | 12/30/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For me I really love the first 5 tracks, but the last 5 have never done it for me as much. I do believe however that Tony Martin is an amazing vocalist and I wish that more people would give this version of Sabbath a try and not compare to the earlier versions and judge it on it's own merits.

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