After two-plus years of waiting, Black Sabbath has finally reissued their Tony Martin-material! For those unaware, Martin sang for Black Sabbath between 1987 and 1991, and then again between 1993 and 1997. Martin's discography with the band includes The Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, Tyr, Cross Purposes, and Forbidden, all of which were largely unavailable on any format until now.
Black Sabbath will release Anno Domini 1989-1995 on May 31. The box set features newly remastered versions of the Tony Martin-era albums – Headless Cross from 1989, Tyr from 1990, and Cross Purposes from 1994 alongside a completely remixed and remastered version of the 1995 album Forbidden by guitarist Tony Iommi.
On the remix, Iommi said: "I was never happy with the guitar sound, and Cozy was definitely never happy with the drum sound… So, I thought it would be nice to do it for him in a way. I just felt that, without changing any of the songs, there was an opportunity to go back and bring out some of the sounds and make it more what people would expect Sabbath to sound like."
The CD version of also offers up the B-side "Cloak & Dagger" and the Japan-only releases "What's The Use" and "Loser Gets It All". A booklet comes with the set featuring photos, artwork, and liner notes by Hugh Gilmour. The collection also contains a Headless Cross poster and a replica concert book from the Headless Cross tour.
No word on if The Eternal Idol from 1987 and Cross Purposes Live from 1995 – also two Martin-era records – will get any sort of special re-release. BMG said in a comment to Metal Hammer regarding the absence of The Eternal Idol: "Management wanted this configuration of the box to be only the 'missing' albums. They've not been available on any format since release and never on streaming."
Still, it's excellent that a whole era of Black Sabbath is finally available again, and one that has been criminally overlooked for decades – partially because they're not on streaming, partially because no represses have been available. You can check out remastered versions of "Anno Mundi" from Tyr and "Headless Cross" from Headless Cross below. Pre-orders are available here.
