I'M TORN BETWEEN
THE DEVIL,
AND THE
DEEP BLUE SEA
Born Again
is the eleventh
studio album
by English
rock band
Released on
September, 12th 1983
in the United Kingdom,
it is the only album
the group recorded
with
lead vocalist
then-formerly of
Deep Purple.
It was also the last
Black Sabbath album
for 9 years
to feature
original bassist
Geezer Butler
and the last to
feature
original drummer
Bill Ward,
though Ward did
record one studio track
with the band
15 years later
on their 1998
live album
Reunion.
The album has received
mixed reviews
from critics,
but was a
commercial success
upon its 1983 release,
reaching No. 4
in the UK charts.
The album also hit
the top 40
in the United States.
In July 2021,
guitarist
and founding member
Tony Iommi
confirmed that the
long-lost original
master tapes
of the album
had been
finally located,
and that he was
considering remixing
the album
for a future
re-release.
Origins
Following the departure of
vocalist
Ronnie James Dio
and drummer
Vinny Appice
in 1982,
Sabbath's future was in doubt.
The band switched management
to Don Arden
(Sharon Osbourne's father)
and he suggested
Ian Gillan
as the
new vocalist.
The band had considered
vocalists such as
Robert Plant
and
David Coverdale
before settling on
Gillan.
With Whitesnake
on the verge of
breaking up,
Iommi was eager to form
a new group with
Coverdale
and drummer
Cozy Powell
joining him and Butler,
but Coverdale
and Powell
decided at the last minute
to continue with
Whitesnake
the latter would eventually
join Black Sabbath in 1988
While Iommi has claimed
that the band received an
audition tape from a
then-unknown
Michael Bolton
at this time,
Butler claims no
such thing happened
and that Iommi concocted
the story as
"a joke".
This claim has also been
refuted by Bolton himself,
who clarified that it was
"only a rumour".
But Believe It Or Not
Bolton Was A
Somewhat Rocker
Before All The Ballads
Check Out The Band
Blackjack
Iommi told
Hit Parader magazine
in late 1983
that Gillan was
the best candidate,
saying
"His shriek is legendary."
Gillan was
at first reluctant,
but his manager
convinced him to meet
with Iommi and Butler
at The Bear,
a pub in Oxford.
After a night of
heavy drinking,
Gillan officially committed
to the project in
February 1983.
The following morning
Gillan had no memory
of joining the band
he claimed he didn't even like
Black Sabbath's music,
but the deal had
already been struck.
The project was
originally intended
to be a new supergroup,
and the members
of the group
had no intention of
billing themselves as
Black Sabbath.
At some point
after recording
had been completed,
Arden insisted that
they use the
recognizable
Sabbath name,
and the members
were overruled.
Arden had secured a
sizable advance
from the record company
with the proviso that
Gillan be involved,
and they would only
release the album
under the
Black Sabbath name.
"We thought we were doing
a kind of
Gillan-Iommi-Butler-Ward album…"
I Think That would Have
Went OVER more Than
"Purple Sabbath"
recalled bassist
Geezer Butler.
"That is the way we approached
the album.
When we had finished
the album,
we took it to the
record company
and they said, '
Well, here's the contract:
it is going to go out as a
Black Sabbath album."
With Cozy Powell
electing to remain
with Coverdale
in Whitesnake,
Black Sabbath's
longtime drummer
Bill Ward
was persuaded to return
to the band.
Ward claimed to be
newly sober
after leaving the band
in 1980
to deal with his
alcoholism
and he assured
Iommi and Butler
that he was up
to recording and touring
once again.
Ward began drinking
at some point
during the sessions
and returned to
Los Angeles
for treatment
once the album
was completed,
and has remained
sober ever since.
NOTES :
THIS DELUXE EDITION
Has Outtakes
And A Concert
(Reading Festival on Saturday, August 27, 1983)
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