Metal Nerdism Vol. 9: Top-10 (+1) greatest metal singers you don't see in the lists with the "greatest singers"

Very often (very often) there are lists about the "greatest" singers in magazines and (mostly) online media. These lists are always similar not only because the "greatest" singers are objectively known but mostly because you "can't" make such a list without a few specific names. Name them Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Eric Adams, Geoff Tate etc. These are legendary voices that should be in such lists for many reasons. If they are "objectively" the best, this is something that's always debated even among professionals, but they're definitely among the greatest.

While those lists are always similar, there will always be singers that never got their share of "greatness" in those lists but a few of them are singers of songs that match the quality of many of those you already know from those lists mentioned above. In the end, a song is not just about the instruments and how "correct" they're performed, or how a voice reaches specific "standards". The greatest pieces of art, sometimes are those who offered something new, something out-of-the-box, something with a passionate and unique performance, something that doesn't follow specific standards. "Critics-professionals-teachers" don't always understand them but the audience does. With that said, we can understand why Blizzard of Ozz or Metallica have sold millions of copies. These are perfect albums and everyone related to these albums can be in such "lists".

Besides all those singers that we use to see in these lists that are many times debatable according to personal tastes or because you can't understand the uniqueness, or talent, or you just don't like the person, there are many more that could be in every of those lists. So here you have the greatest metal singers you don't see in the lists with the "greatest singers".

written by Andreas Andreou

1. Jon Oliva

The Mountain King, the voice of Savatage, one of the best US metal bands. A unique voice with character and passion. From his early performances and his iconic yell in "Sirens" up less known tracks like "The Price You Pay" he was always a character but when he was singing personal lyrics, an unmatchable feeling was dominating each track. During 1989-1991 almost each performance was magnificent, something not very common, even for the greatest singers that use a specific "singing template". "When the Crowds Are Gone", "Hounds", "Summer's Rain", "If I Go Away", Jon Oliva was always unpredictable, a legend on his own.

PERFORMANCE: Tonight He Grins Again (Streets, 1991)

Check also: Russ North (Cloven Hoof)
 

2. Tony Martin

Tony Martin has a long story as an artist, even if he is mainly known as one of the Black Sabbath singers. Actually, he is the second longest serving singer of the first heavy metal band after Ozzy Osbourne. From The Alliance years up to replacing Ray Gillen in Tony Iommi's Black Sabbath version he was a singer with a talent that just needed the right people. And even if in The Eternal Idol (1987) he just followed Gillen's vocal lines, in Headless Cross (1989), Tyr (1990) and Cross Purposes (1994) he was an important element for one of the better heavy metal styles we love to listen. A solid singer with a huge voice. When he also started writing lyrics during Headless Cross he had the talent to find the most suitable words and phrasing that could perfectly fit with his vocal lines.

PERFORMANCE: When Death Calls (Headless Cross, 1989)

Check also: Russell Allen (Symphony X)
 

3. Blackie Lawless

In the '90s, the music world was changing despite the fact that there were still a few bands coming from the '80s that expanded their commercial success and fame. But there was also something new, especially in the United States of America, where everything that W.A.S.P. was representing, became "old" and outdated. It was that point where Blackie Lawless started presenting a different, mature face miles away from the '80s party style of the band and the years where they were targeted by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) along with bands like Twisted Sister. Still though, Blackie  was always different even if his live performance is known for pre-recorded parts. From simple lines like "I'm a wild child, come and love me", to controversial lines like "I got pictures of naked ladies" up to "where is the love to shelter me", Blackie always had this huge emotional voice that made every line sound true even if his self has rapidly change over the years.

PERFORMANCE: The Idol (The Crimson Idol, 1992)

Check also: David Wayne (Metal Church)
 

4. Robert Lowe

Few bands with more than 5 albums can claim that each one of them is at least great, and one of them is Solitude Aeturnus. The Epic Doom Metal legend from Texas is the greatest band of its kind along with Candlemass and an important element of this (true) statement is Robert Lowe's vocal prowess. A cathartic voice that leads tο redemption while at the same time it is mournful leading to ultimate sorrow.

PERFORMANCE: Mirror of Sorrow (Into the Depths of Sorrow, 1991)

Check also: Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs (Lamented Souls, Arcturus)
 

5. Steve Benito

While his legacy is limited to Heir Apparent's One Small Voice (1989) and a few more recordings here and there, Steve Benito had an extremely elastic voice that was very different from all those Geoff Tate clones that despite their excellent abilities were nothing new and all sounded alike. However, he didn't make any career in music because of his character since despite being a talented person, he was also extremely brash, offensive, very opinionated and always used to getting his way, leading Heir Apparent to the end after the release of One Small Voice, illegally taking the name and putting founder Terry Gorle out of the band. Still though, from the rehearsal recordings of the Triad release up to the second Heir Apparent album and the available live shows on the web, Steve Benito is an undeniable talented and intelligent singer.

PERFORMANCE: Cry for Rome (live session 1988)

Check also: Vittorio Ballerio (Adramelch)
 

6. Eric Clayton

Eric Clayton's story is a story that could be larger than the man himself and his band, Saviour Machine. A life of wounds and scars, each one of them present in each song and each performance. The scars in the soul of Eric Clayton were created from deep artistic and emotional wounds and after chasing monsters for a lifetime he finally found love and redemption. His songs are his legacy and within them, you can feel the wounds, the pain, the feelings, his revelation and his art. An emotional baritone with a unique ability to transfer his inner feelings and soul to the listener.

PERFORMANCE: The Night (Legend Part I, 1997)

Check also: Eric Wagner (Trouble)
 

7. J.D. Kimball

Born John David Kimball in March 12th of 1958, died by cancer in October 3rd of 2003, the voice of bravery can be heard in Battle Cry (1984), Warning of Danger (1985), The Curse (1986) and Nightmares EP (1987) of Omen, one of the greatest US underground metal bands of the '80s. "Nothing worthwhile is easy, the path isn't always clear", Kimball sang in "At All Cost" and his life was indeed unclear and difficult but his legacy will remain.

PERFORMANCE: Don't Fear the Night (Warning of Danger, 1985)

Check also: David DeFeis (Virgin Steele)
 

8. Devon Graves (Buddy Lackey)

A haunting and hypnotic voice that  transforms every single line into an image. There are very few singers that can catch the exact mood of the music and lyrics; Buddy Lackey (later Devon Graves) is one of them. Dreams, pain, anxiety, fear, life, society and a wider abstract philosophy around them finds the perfect voice to transform words into images through a unique performance that cannot be easily copied. From "Hangin' on a String" riding on an endless carousel of wishes, hopes and dreams up to the Deadsoul Tribe, the voice that whispers in our ears speaks in words that come from inside, crashing the waves upon the shore. Pure art.

PERFORMANCE: I Remember (A Social Grace, 1990)

Check also: John Arch (Fates Warning, Arch/Matheos)
 

9. Mike Baker

The voice of the first five albums of Shadow Gallery left the mortal world on October 29th of 2008 by heart attack but he marked our lives forever. Despite the fact that he wasn't a composer or lyricist and even most of the vocal lines were written by others (mostly Carl Cadden-James) his performance was an important element in the music of Shadow Gallery and truth to be told, Shadow Gallery's vocal lines are like songs within the songs, and among the best ones in metal music. Baker's emotionally trembled voice had a specific feeling in most of the songs adding a further uniqueness.

PERFORMANCE: Hope for Us? (Tyranny, 1998)

Check also: Alan Tecchio (Hades, WatchTower)
 

10. Dee Snider

There is also another kind of voice, the "life" voices. The confident singers who put their voice's uniqueness and character on top of their lyrics, mainly talking about life, like they already lived what they're talking about. It can't get more real than that and Dee Snider has one of the most powerful voices that grabs you at once no matter how many better singers you can easily think off. Recognizable from the first second, Snider might very well also be the greatest metal frontman ever walked the stage.

PERFORMANCE: The Fire Still Burns (Come Out and Play, 1985)

Check also: Biff Byford (Saxon)
 

+1: Jutta Weinhold

Those lists are male-dominated in all media, probably just because heavy metal also looks like. However, we can't act alike so here is our pick: Jutta Weinhold, the German singer mostly known from Zed Yago and Velvet Viper but she also had a solo career in the '70s.

I saw live Jutta in Germany at the Keep It True Festival in 2015. Born in 1947, she was 68 (!) years old that day. She didn't look more than 50 and she didn't sound more than 40. That was a legendary performance for a person that's nearly 70 years old. Bring in your mind someone at that age and then imagine that one on stage performing "Zed Yago", "The Spell from Over Yonder" and "Revenge". Unbelievable. Jutta nailed everyone, and EVERY man close to her age.

PERFORMANCE: Zed Yago (From Over Yonder, 1988)

Check also: Leather Leone (Chastain, Leather, Malibu Barbi)

Black Sabbath - Headless Cross: The story of the album.

Prologue.

Sometime in 1988, Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath were left without a record label after working for years with Warner Bros and Vertigo. Shortly, Iommi signed with I.R.S. Records after the label's owner, Miles Copeland, told him: "You know how to write albums, you know what people want. You do it and I'm fine with it." Later, Iommi asked drummer Cozy Powell to join him and they considered calling Ronnie James Dio but Tony Martin was finally the singer of Black Sabbath. There was a possibility for Geezer Butler to work again with Sabbath, but Geezer prefered to join Ozzy Osbourne's band since he was more successful than Sabbath at that time. Laurence Cottle played bass in Headless Cross, but mostly as a session musician since Neil Murray was brought as a full-time member for the upcoming tour. The song "When Death Calls" has a guest guitar solo by Brian May of Queen, and the titles of two tracks of Headless Cross were changed because Ozzy Osbourne's No Rest for the Wicked album that was released a few months earlier had the same ones; "Call of the Wild" was originally titled "Hero" and "Devil & Daughter" was originally titled "Devil's Daughter". Everyone also knows the story of Tony Iommi, that when Sabbath had the first record out with I.R.S., Cozy Powell and himself went into record stores in Toronto, Canada, and no one carried the album...

All of the above is the kind of information you can find in Wikipedia and all those articles that just copy and share these (known) details from Wiki, so let's dive deeper and try to elaborate more in one of the most underrated albums of the late '80s, the way it deserves it and not by just writing "one more article".

written by Andreas Andreou


Chapter I: Cut the crucifix half to the ground - Before the album.

After the release of Born Again (1983) and the supporting tour for the most disturbing Sabbath album, the band was falling apart and Tony Iommi was left alone, so he had the idea to record a solo album. The result was Seventh Star and you can read about it at Metal Nerdism Vol. 3: Five cases of albums that were not meant to be under that BAND name. "It was supposed to be a solo album. I certainly didn't want to release it as a Black Sabbath album, because I hadn't written it as a Black Sabbath album", Tony Iommi wrote in his biography and Seventh Star was finally released in January 1986 under the name Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi, with Tony alone on the cover sleeve; exactly as a solo project. The recording line-up besides Tony Iommi, was singer Glenn Hughes, bassist Dave Spitz, drummer Eric Singer, keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, and Jeff Glixman was the producer. The supporting tour was a commercial failure and just after a few shows, Glenn Hughes was replaced by Ray Gillen. Tony Iommi couldn't do anything else, so he continued using the name "Black Sabbath" and started working on his next album under the title The Eternal Idol, with Jeff Glixman once again producing. That album was very difficult to be completed with Iommi working like a solo project once again.

Bob Daisley was brought by producer Glixman to help with bass duties and even if the name of Dave Spitz also appears in the credits, Daisley had said that he played all the parts of the album. Daisley also wrote many of the lyrics since Iommi doesn't write lyrics and most of Gillen's parts were reworked because no matter how great his voice was, he was never a songwriter. It is said that Geoff Nicholls also contributed a few ideas but in the credits "all tracks written by Tony Iommi".

Back to the recordings though, they were started with Jeff Glixman and then he was replaced by producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, after Iommi's request because Glixman was very possessive with the project. Ray Gillen recorded his parts and then left the band (we will analyze it when an article for The Eternal Idol will be written). Bob Daisley was never an official member and just helped with recordings, but when he returned to Gary Moore's band, drummer Eric Singer also followed him... So at the end, Iommi was left with a nearly finished album but without a band. At the final stages, producer Chris Tsangaridis was brought to complete recordings and mixing, but most important, to lay down the new singer's performance because there was no chance for Tony Iommi to release an album and then go on tour without the singer of the album... And the new singer was Tony Martin.

Albert Chapman, a lifelong friend and old manager of Tony Iommi, suggested him Tony Martin of The Alliance, a band he was manager of [Read the story of Tony Martin & The Alliance]. Tony Martin recorded the vocals for the songs that were already written note by note in a few days and The Eternal Idol was ready for release. A difficult album, with many changes, a different touring line-up and another supporting tour that was a commercial failure, with just a few dates. Tony Martin's first live show with Black Sabbath was in Athens, Greece, on 21st of July 1987. In a few of the rest shows, Virgin Steele was the opening act.

Chapter II: To the hill of the Headless Cross - The album.

Once the few tour dates were completed, Tony Iommi entered 1988 with a huge uncertainty and without a record deal since Warner Bros dropped Black Sabbath. When he decided to ink a deal with I.R.S. Records, that was a huge step down but only with a smaller record label he could keep doing what he wanted. On the other hand, it was difficult to sign a deal with one of the major labels like Warner Bros because they would definitely want something that would be closer to real Black Sabbath and not something that was closer to a "solo project using the Black Sabbath banner". If Iommi wanted to continue releasing music under the Black Sabbath banner with a major label, he needed to have another major name also with him, something like Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio or David Coverdale.

Both Seventh Star and The Eternal Idol were great albums and had a few positive reviews despite the fact that had much less press coverage than the past when Ozzy and Dio were fronting. The poor sales, in contrast to the time it took them to be completed, the money spent for them and the tours that followed, didn't help at all. No one could actually consider them as a "real band" after 1984, since Seventh Star was supposed to be a solo album of Tony Iommi, The Eternal Idol was a record that had a different line-up started the recordings, a different line-up competed the recordings and another line-up completed the supporting tour...

Later in August 1988, legendary drummer Cozy Powell joined as an equal member with Tony Iommi and started working together on a new album. They even discussed getting another (most known) singer, considering Ronnie James Dio and David Coverdale, but Tony Martin was finally chosen for Black Sabbath; a wise final decision that was probably taken mostly thanks to Cozy Powell. David Coverdale was just a name they had in mind (mostly Powell) but he was never officially asked, probably for the better, because there was no way for Coverdale to let aside his successful career at that moment with Whitesnake, especially just one year after releasing the same-titled 1987 album, that sold more than all the latest Sabbath albums combined.



It was Powell also, who brought bassist Laurence Cottle to the project in order to record a few tracks, but in the end he recorded all of the album, since original Sabbath bass player Geezer Butler didn't finally join the Sabs again because he ended with Ozzy's solo band that was slightly more Sabbath-esque in 1988-'89, mainly during the live shows. Cottle was a jazz bass player and he was playing in a jazz club in London, so he completed his parts in just a few days overdubbing mostly. However, he was never meant to be a touring band member, even if he appears in the video clip of "Headless Cross" and is mentioned as a regular band member in the album credits.

The recording line-up of Headless Cross was Tony Martin (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitars), Laurence Cottle (bass), Cozy Powell (drums) and Geoff Nicholls (keyboards), while the album was produced by Tony Iommi and Cozy Powell who had the complete control of the project. The album was recorded in the United Kingdom with pre-production at Rich Bitch Studios in Birmingham, while recordings started when Iommi met Powell in August '88 and completed until November '88 in different studios: The Soundmill, Woodcray and Amazon Studios.

For Headless Cross, Tony Martin wrote the lyrics using a few Satanic themes in contrast to the older '70s lyrics of Geezer Butler that were more focused in the fear of Satan, society, anti-war themes and the dark future of the world. However, despite the general idea, Martin worked a lot in the lyrics, finding the most suitable words and phrasing that could perfectly fit with his vocal lines. According to what Martin has stated, the album's title was actually inspired by a village close to Birmingham, where it was hit hard by the Black Plague centuries ago. This time, writing credits are mentioned as "all songs by Black Sabbath".

Music wise, Black Sabbath brought many elements of the past, adding also a few new ones and presented a different album in their catalogue, even if The Riff is still there. The same-titled track has a strong Dio aura, even in the way Martin sings "Look through the people and on through the mist..." or "on a night such as this". What you can also clearly listen from the beginning (not "The Gates of Hell" intro...), is the fact that the album is very Powell-driven and also we need to add that Nicholls' keyboards create a perfect atmosphere. "When Death Calls" (with a guest solo of Queen's Brian May, Iommi's close friend) is one of those great epics of the Martin-era Sabbath with a great vocal performance, something that worked perfectly in the studio; so perfect that the expectations were set sky high and weren't easily reached in the live shows. Even "Devil & Daughter" is a very difficult song to perform live... and Tony Martin knows that very well!

The album also had a few more melodic moments that bring to mind even the AOR and melodic metal side of the late '80s, something that you could listen to during the verses of "Kill in the Spirit World". Even another Powell-driven cut like "Call of the Wind" has a melodic aura, something that a few Sabbath tracks had during the Martin-era. This is probably something that needs to be credited to Martin himself since he was also a part of the songwriting process, adding also the fact that he released a melodic solo album himself in 1992 (Back Where I Belong). "Black Moon" is a song that was written during The Eternal Idol sessions when producer Chris Tsangaridis was brought to complete the album. It was recorded as a single b-side and ended on "The Shining" single, just to be re-recorded and added again for Headless Cross. As for "Nightwing", this is the essence of an underrated track that, by the way, was remixed in a different session. "Cloak & Dagger" is another song that was recorded during the Headless Cross sessions and was finally used as a single b-side and bonus track.

Headless Cross was released on April 24th of 1989.

Chapter III: Where all witches meet - After the album.

It seemed that Sabbath were still waiting for the possibility of Geezer Butler joining them for the upcoming tour but in the end, bassist Neil Murray (former member of Whitesnake, Gary Moore and Vow Wow, among others), joined them. It is said that at some point after the release of The Eternal Idol, he was asked to join Sabbath but the first time he said "no". This is also something that should be credited to Cozy Powell since he introduced him to Tony Iommi.



The Headless Cross Tour in the United States started on May 31st of 1989 with Kingdom Come and Silent Rage supporting, but ticket sales and attendance were very low, so after just a handful of shows up to mid-June, all of the rest shows until mid-July were cancelled. Black Sabbath returned defeated in Europe and continued a European Tour (mainly in September, with Axxis supporting) with most dates in the UK and Germany. In October, Sabbath visited Japan for a few shows and later in November and December they went to Russia for more shows, where they played for around 20 dates with Girlschool supporting. It is said that Black Sabbath performed twice for a few days but the correct information is that they performed twice only during weekends, meaning just 4 or 5 days, where the first show in evening was around 60 to 70 minutes, and the next one later at night, was around 1 hour and 45 minutes. There is a rumour that these shows "burnt" Tony Martin's voice but this can't be considered as a fact. After all, it was just 5 dates maximum with a total of performance of 2 hours and 45 minutes for those 5 days. This sounds mostly as an "excuse" for future Sabbath performances where Tony Martin didn't reach the expected performance, according to a few people. Still though, the second longest serving frontman of Sabbath after Ozzy, never missed a show, even if he was sick.

Headless Cross had a better acceptance than The Eternal Idol but Tony Iommi wasn't really satisfied with the I.R.S. Records' distribution in North America (actually the album was released by the I.R.S. Metal sub-label). There is a story of Tony Iommi, who said that when Sabbath had the first record out with I.R.S., Cozy Powell and himself went into record stores in Toronto, Canada, and no one carried the album. However, Headless Cross charted higher than The Eternal Idol, even if none of them entered the Billboard 100 in the United States. And keep in mind, that The Eternal Idol was released by a bigger label but it wasn't easy for Iommi to blame a major label like Warner Bros or Vertigo, a label that even made him release a solo album under the Black Sabbath name. Most likely, I.R.S. was used as a scapegoat for the low ticket sales of the first shows and the cancellation of the rest of the Headless Cross North American tour.


Epilogue.

Headless Cross is a great album, even if it lacks originality. It is one of those perfect '80s heavy metal albums that you're never tired of listening to. For a few people, it is the "best" Black Sabbath album and for a few more among their Sabbath Top-5 albums. Subjectively, anyone can say that this is the "best" (correct word is "favourite") album but objectively it can't be the best Sabbath album, probably not even in the Top-5 Sabs albums, if you have a wider view of what BLACK SABBATH actually is. If the album will disappear from Sabbath's discography, a favourite album of many people will disappear from their lives and memories but the history of metal music won't change. You can't say the same for albums like Black Sabbath, Master of Reality or Heaven and Hell where many things will change in the lineage of heavy music in general.

Along with Tyr, this is probably the best album of the Tony Martin-era and Headless Cross nowadays, seems to be more related with the name of Tony Martin than Black Sabbath (the band) and that's a huge credit for Tony Martin; the man, the voice, the artist.

Tony Martin & The Alliance: The chapter before Black Sabbath

Tony Martin has a long story as an artist, even if he is mainly known as one of the Black Sabbath singers. Actually, he is the second longest serving singer of the first heavy metal band, after Ozzy Osbourne.

The story of the years before Black Sabbath is not very clear. Even the facts during the Black Sabbath years are not totally clear, so imagine what happened during the years of bands without official releases, many line-up changes and different perspectives, depending on who's talking. So, we will try to view history as it is.

by Andreas Andreou

The Alliance was a hard rock band in Birmingham, UK. The first incarnation of the band included drummer Barry Scrannage who performed with Starfighters, and The Flying Hat Band (the pre-Judas Priest band of Glenn Tipton), and also had been involved in the very early days of Ozzy Osbourne's solo band. Bassist Ace Kefford (of The Move) was also part of that band, called Space Race at the time. When Tony Martin (previously performed with Orion and Legend) meet Albert Chapman, a previous Black Sabbath tour manager, Albert became The Alliance and Tony Martin's manager. At some point, Albert fired Barry and Ace, and recruited few promising musicians, and among the ones who joined The Alliance, were Adrian Dawson (guitar), Tim Kelly (bass), Mitch Archer (drums) and Eddie George (keyboards).

It was in 1985 when the band hit a significant break when they got the chance to record three songs for Tommy Vance's BBC radio program Friday Rock Show. Those songs were "Strangers", "Trying to Forget", "No Broken Hearts", and all three of them, were an excellent example of high quality mid-80s melodic hard rock. In a fair world, "Strangers" could be a super hit, while "No Broken Hearts" a well-known rock ballad.

Shortly, The Alliance  signed a deal with Warner Bros Records and few more songs were recorded in demo form. Titles of few of those songs were "Victories Mine", "Keep in Touch", "Ready or Not", "Reaper", "Put a Little Faith in Me" and "Here I Am". It seemed that things were rolling but besides Tony Martin, the rest of the band started getting regular jobs and families, so in the end, it was just Tony who left alone to rehearse and record. It was that point, where Albert Chapman started spreading Tony's name around and ex-Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden was interested in Tony Martin for his band, Alaska. But Chapman decided to convince Tony Martin to continue with The Alliance.

Misha Calvin, a native of Yugoslavia, arrived in the UK during that time and was brought into the band. Misha Calvin was a talented guitarist but his position in The Alliance was uncertain, and shortly, Tony Martin decided to move on and left The Alliance. It is said that The Alliance tried to reform and approached original Judas Priest singer Al Atkins to join them but it never happened. I am not sure if this is correct, since at that time, Al Atkins was travelling around Europe (Yugoslavia, France, Netherlands)  

Before joining Black Sabbath, Tony Martin recorded few demo songs with Tobruk ("White Line Fever", It's Murder") when their singer Stuart "Snake" Neale left to join Idol Rich, but nothing else happened. Tony Martin was also invited by guitarist Adrian Vandenberg to have a jam and writing session, but this project also never happened because Adrian joined Whitesnake.

Suddenly, in 1993, an album under the title Evolution appears at Vienna Records and the band-artist's name, is Misha Calvin...

The track list of that album was:
01. Strangers (vocals by Tony Martin)
02. Ready or Not (vocals by Tony Martin)
03. Put a Little Faith in Me (vocals by Tony Martin)
04. Valhalla (instrumental)
05. Reaper (vocals by Tony Martin)
06. Don't Let Go (vocals by Ian Parry)
07. Can't Hold Me (vocals by Ian Parry)
08. Evolution (instrumental)
09. Here I Am (vocals by Tony Martin)
10. Heaven Only Knows (vocals by Ian Parry)

and line-up appears as:
Misha Calvin - Guitar
Steve Dunning - Bass
Martin "Wedge" Lister - Keyboards
Pete Barnacle - Drums
Tony Martin, Ian Parry - Vocals

Produced and arranged by Misha Calvin.

As for the credits, it is mentioned that tracks 2, 3 are written by Martin, while tracks 1, 5, 9, are written by Calvin/Martin.

What was that? Misha Calvin got The Alliance demo tracks, erased the old guitar parts and recorded his own, presenting it as a Misha Calvin release. It is not known if any of The Alliance members got any royalties from the Evolution release.
 

Evolution was re-released in 2001 (Panoramic Music)  and 2004 (Majestic Rock) including six bonus tracks, mentioned as the 'Evolution Studio Sessions' archive tapes featuring Tony Martin on vocals.

Tony Martin & The Alliance story, is one of the countless little chapters in the history of rock, that could be more known but remained in obscurity. After this chapter, Tony Martin joined Black Sabbath at a time where not many people were interested in working with them. He never missed a show, he was always there and I dare to say that he was an important element that made albums like "Headless Cross" and "Tyr" so great, but that's another story to be told...

Cross Purposes: The story behind an underrated Black Sabbath album and era.

The true story of Black Sabbath lies between myth and reality. Myths are also part of the story and depending on the view, the viewer and the storyteller, some of those "myths" are different perspectives of reality.

 

written by Andreas Andreou

Cross Purposes is the most classic-sounding Sabbath album of the Tony Martin era, originally released in January of 1994. When singer Tony Martin joined Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi was the only member of the original line-up and many die-hard Sabbath purists considered those Sabbath incarnations after the Born Again album (1983) more likely as Iommi solo projects under the Black Sabbath moniker.

While The Eternal Idol (1987) was the first "meeting" (still a great record), the following albums, Headless Cross (1989) and Tyr (1990), featuring also drummer Cozy Powell, were a solid artistic statement of high quality heavy metal. On the other hand, those albums were a commercial let-down for the Black Sabbath brand name, and the poor U.S. distribution of I.R.S. Records played its role. Tony Iommi wasn't very satisfied with that fact, but that wasn't the only reason of the commercial let-down. Black Sabbath were out-dated.

Former Rainbow and Black Sabbath iconic singer Ronnie James Dio started his solo career after parted ways with Black Sabbath. The Sabbath albums Heaven and Hell (1980) and Mob Rules (1981) are among the best Sabbath albums but the live album Live Evil (1982) caused the final drift between Dio and Iommi/Butler. During the '80s, Iommi (and many other musicians) stated that Dio had an extremely selfish attitude. On the other hand, Dio couldn't handle Iommi's drug abuse and the mixing sessions of Live Evil ended the battle between the two parties. Dio was asked to leave. In 1990, Dio released Lock Up the Wolves, his fifth studio album, but like Black Sabbath, his commercial success started to fade.

Behind every great man there's a great woman. Or a woman that can decide for the man... For example, over the years it is known that Sharon Osbourne is the boss behind Ozzy and one day in the beginning of the '90s, two other women arranged a meeting as friends; Gloria Butler and Wendy Dio. The result was Geezer Butler meeting Ronnie James Dio, and then a phone call to Tony Iommi. After Tyr, the rest Sabbath members that recorded the album and completed the tour (Tony Martin, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, Geoff Nichols) were each to his home or taking a break with other things. At that point, Tony Martin started working on his solo album Back Where I Belong but none of them knew what was happening until one point. More likely, Martin and Murray were removed from the band. Or they just didn't call them back. However, Dio and Powell didn't really like to work with each other and it was more than obvious that this collaboration will fail once the long recording sessions started. Dio wanted Simon Wright instead of Cozy Powell on drums but Iommi rejected him since he wanted Powell. Iommi called Martin to rejoin but it lasted for just a few days and a sequence of events led to the final solution: Tony Martin also wanted to finish his solo album, Cozy Powell had a horse riding accident and a broken bone. Meanwhile, Warner Bros Records offered the Dio reunion line-up a huge amount of money for a new album. With Powell off the picture due to his accident, drummer Vinny Appice was recruited and Dio was back in the studio since that was an accepted option for him. However, he didn't know that Iommi and Butler secretly called again Martin for demo sessions but the pressure of Warner Bros worked on Dio's behalf.

Dehumanizer, the sixteenth studio album of Black Sabbath was released in June 1992 but the line-up was once again short lived due to extended (again) conflicts between Dio and Iommi/Butler. The final conflict occurred when Ozzy invited Black Sabbath to open for his final (then) shows in Costa Mesa, California, United States. Dio refused because he believed that Black Sabbath shouldn't support anyone, especially Ozzy. If we will view Dehumanizer now, we can clearly understand that this album has a weird aura; it is an angry and awkward masterpiece full of drama, created between conflicts and different characters.

There might be a plan (myth, reality or part reality?) behind those events and different small stories that probably lead to a bigger idea; the reunion of the original Black Sabbath line-up, conducted by Sharon Osbourne. Tony Martin was an option as a replacement singer for Dio, for those shows, but he was in the middle of a tour for his solo album, plus there was a difficulty to get a visa for the United States, so Rob Halford joined Sabbath on stage.

After Dio's departure, Vinny Appice followed him and the idea of the original Sabbath line-up reunion seemed more complicated... or it just had to wait for few more years in order to get the correct contract deals. Someone knew better.

Meanwhile, the name Black Sabbath would release another album and Tony Martin was brought back again to work with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Geoff Nichols and drummer Bobby Rondinelli (ex-Rainbow) who joined the band without any audition. The recording sessions were easy and took around a month for Cross Purposes to be completed. However, with the band's original line-up reunion on the works, there was a thought that it shouldn't be released under the Black Sabbath name. Finally, it was released as Black Sabbath.

Track listing:
1. I Witness
2. Cross of Thorns
3. Psychophobia
4. Virtual Death
5. Immaculate Deception
6. Dying for Love
7. Back to Eden
8. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
9. Cardinal Sin
10. Evil Eye
11. What's the Use (bonus track for Japan)

Performed by:
Tony Martin - vocals
Tony Iommi - guitars
Geezer Butler - bass
Bobby Rondinelli - drums
Geoff Nicholls - keyboards

Written by Butler / Iommi / Martin
Produced by Leif Mases & Black Sabbath
Engineered and mixed by Leif Mases
Mastered by Tony Cousins

The cover art of the Burning Angel (with Melodie Hampson as the angel model) is nearly the same with the cover of Scorpions' "Send Me an Angel" single that was originally released in September 1991.

An interesting trivia is that Eddie Van Halen has an input in the song "Evil Eye" and came up with a solo for this song but couldn't be credited due to contract restrictions with his record label, Warner Bros. Eddie actually did played a solo to Iommi but it wasn't recorded on the song and Iommi redo it. Also, the song "Cardinal Sin" was originally meant to be "Sin Cardinal Sin" (or "Sin, Cardinal Sin") but due to an error, it was printed as "Cardinal Sin".

Lyrically, Cross Purposes is a diverse album and lyrics are written by Tony Martin, despite the fact that Geezer Butler was the primary lyricist in the '70s. "Dying for Love" is one of the album's highlights with exceptional lyrics about refugees, while "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" is about Beverly Allitt, a children's nurse at a hospital in England who was convicted of murdering her patients in 1993.

But besides the lyrics, the music also is diverse and that's why Cross Purposes is the most classic-sounding Sabbath album of the Tony Martin era. Because '70s Sabbath was a diverse band. When Tony Martin visited Greece in 2012, he told the author of this blog that Cross Purposes is probably his personal favourite album from the ones he recorded with Black Sabbath. There is a variety of songs, from the emotional power ballad "Dying for Love", "Cross of Thorns" with its dark, lyrical atmosphere and a magnificent solo by Iommi, "Immaculate Deception" with its haunted keyboards, the doomed and gloomy "Virtual Death" that brings in mind some of the '70s Sabbath aura, "Cardinal Sin" that has a Led Zeppelin "Kashmir" touch evolving to a powerful riff-driven explosion. And everything with a clear production and mix.

A tour followed to support the album but Tony Martin suffered from a throat infection at some shows, including the one that was recorded and filmed for Cross Purposes Live video (1995).  What many people don't know is the fact that before the South American shows, Bobby Rondinelli left the band because his new manager wanted a new contract and his demands were rejected by Gloria Butler that was handling such issues. However, Rondinelli returned during the Forbidden tour. Bill Ward was brought for the South American shows, so at that time, you had the original Black Sabbath line-up with Tony Martin instead of Ozzy! And Geoff Nicholls on keyboards, who was credited as a band member in the recordings of Cross Purposes but once again, they kept him out of the writing credits... Shortly Bill Ward was gone and there was some tense between Iommi and Butler. When Iommi fired Gloria, Geezer also left Sabbath.

In 1995 the Tyr line-up was resurrected and Forbidden was released. That was the end of that era.

Now, 25 years after Cross Purposes, the original line-up reunion and tours, the Heaven & Hell The Devil You Know album and reunion with Dio, the 13 album with Ozzy and The End, it seems that there is no bad blood between men that lived a life in ups and downs. Just the legacy. And a hope that we will see again Tony Iommi work with Tony Martin. Even for a while.
 

Tony Iommi has confirmed that he is working on remaster and remix of the last studio album with Tony Martin, Forbidden. There is not any estimated release date yet, but Tony Martin has also been contacted by Iommi to see if he is willing to record a few bonus tracks for the reissues of the Tony Martin-era Black Sabbath albums that will follow in the next years.

One more Heavy Metal week - Chapter II: Tony Martin

The chapter is opened and the pages are turned...

…the Manilla Road memories are still in my head (and heart) and forever will be. But I was also expecting another visit this week. Tony Martin would be in Greece for a few days, we spoke about it and arrange at the last day of his visit (October 18) a “Meet n’ Greet / Signing Session” at No Remorse record store. It seems that we were unlucky… Everything was set perfectly, some interviews were also arranged, but that day, there was a national strike in Greece, so we decided to cancel the event. However, at the same day (or night to be specific!) the German Heavy Metal armada Accept would perform live in Athens. Tony told me that he would love to see live the guys! He knew them from his Black Sabbath days and they played a couple of shows back then. Straight away, I booked him two tickets (one for him and one for his lovely lady) and we were ready for the show! Despite the strike, one interview was done at noon, with Chris Kissadjekian from Metal Hammer magazine. Well… It’s not right to tell you what was said during this exclusive interview, except from the things I knew and discuss with Tony, mainly from his Black Sabbath years. Anyway, after the interview, I picked him from the hotel in the center of Athens and we went for dinner. Thank God, he is not vegetarian!

Back in the mid 80s, Tony was a member of a band called The Alliance, a melodic AOR band with only a few demo recordings and not any official release. They were based in Birmingham, the birthplace of Heavy Metal, and one day, his manager told him that he would take him to an important meeting. He didn’t say where and with whom… When they arrived at the meeting place/house, the door opened. “Hi” said a voice. He was Tony Iommi. Tony (Martin) was shocked and speechless for a while. Black Sabbath had some issues at that period… Their singer at that time was Ray Gillen, but he left to form Badlands with ex-Ozzy guitarist Jake E. Lee. The recordings for the upcoming Black Sabbath album “The Eternal Idol” were finished, even if it took them many months. Gillen had recorded the vocals, but since he wasn’t in the band, a new voice was required. Black Sabbath gave Tony only one week to finish the vocals, even if they were composing / recording for more than a year. Tony did an excellent job. He recorded all the vocals from the beginning, without meeting anyone else from the band in the studio. They gave him Gillen recordings as a “guide” and “The Shining” was the first song he sung to take the part.

During the whole discussion, Tony had a kind of bitterness when he was speaking for Black Sabbath, “When we were traveling with plane, they were in the first class with campaign and wine, and I was in the back with chicken and dogs…”

“Headless Cross” was actually his “first” Black Sabbath album, composed and recorded as a band, but “Tyr” was the album that made him realize that actually he is a member of Black Sabbath, the greatest Heavy Metal band ever. The sad thing is that when he was realizing where he is and where he stands, they “fired” him to call back Ronnie James Dio and record “Dehumanizer”. “They stopped calling me", recalls Tony, "They didn’t reply to my calls. No one told me I was off the band.”

He met only once Dio, but Ronnie wasn’t very polite with him… It was during a time when the Sabbath guys start calling him again. They invited him at a concert, just like nothing was happening. They were happy “Nice to see you!” and stuff like that. He understood that something was wrong with Dio. Personally, I like “Dehumanizer”, but it seems like a break for all of them. Tony had time to record his first personal album “Back Were I Belong” and Sabbath had “Dehumanizer”. The next Black Sabbath studio album, “Cross Purposes” is Tony’s favorite Sabbath album - “It has the ‘biggest’ sound” - But the last one (“Forbidden”) is the worst for him. 

Tony had strong memories from his first Sabbath shows in Russia. By the way, his first ever live show with Black Sabbath was the one on Greece! In Russia, they played two shows each day for two weeks! One show at noon and one later at night. Thousands of people came and go in a huge stadium. 

Tony Martin remembers: “It was like thousands of people entering in the stadium, clapping and then leave. After a few hours thousands of different people enter. In the front line, almost 20 meters away from the stage, there were always the officialdom, like the mayor and his people, family… There was even a grandma in a wheel chair once, in the front line… knitting under the rhythm of Iron Man!”

Tony has very fond memories from Cozy Powell. He was very sad about his death. It was a car accident. A friend (girl) called him and asked for his help because her husband was beating her. Cozy, left everything and drove at her home. He was talking to her at phone saying he is going there, when the accident happened… After his death, they gave a concert in his memory. In the front line, there was a woman holding something like a jar. The same jar was left under the drum kit during the show. This woman was the one that called Cozy… When the band told her that they felt Cozy’s presence there, she said that he was with them. His ashes were in this jar…

Well… you all might know other stories, so I don’t have to add more here. After our dinner, I left Tony at the hotel and picked him up later, with my good friend Dimitris Sirinakis and his son, and we all went at Fuzz Club for Accept! Tony wanted to enter the venue before the show to meet the Accept boys. I tried my best for that, thanks to Hakos Pervanidis who was very helpful. We all went backstage and was funny to see Peter Baltes or Herman Frank hanging around. Tony took his VIP pass, spend some time with Accept and then we stood by the right side of the stage to watch the live show. The support band, Marauder from Greece are huge fans of Accept and they played were they should be. Excellent performance and their drummer, Grigoris, is a huge Cozy Powell & Black Sabbath fan and he was very happy to see Tony there. After a while he wore his hand-made Cozy Powell t-shirt! They even offer Tony a copy from their last album. Nice guys, great band, Heavy Metal! 

The time had come for Accept to walk the stage… Amazing performance! Even if half of the set are new songs, they already sound like the classic ones. Wolf Hoffmann remains a metal icon and they also enjoyed the show. I did, Tony did, everyone did, and the beers… oh, the beers…

After the show, we went to Revenge Of Rock Club. It was arranged that Tony would be there, so few fans were expecting him. We stayed for almost an hour at the club, he signed some CDs, took photographs and had great time there. We all did. And the beers… oh, the beers… Too many for one night, but I needed to escape for a while from the wine overdose of the last days!

Tony’s flight was leaving after a couple of hours and the time was already 02:00. So, until the next time, we said goodbye, and I hope that the next time he will be in Greece, it will be for a live show…

Mark Shelton and Manilla Road, Accept, Tony Martin, wine and beers, Heavy Metal and many good friends… What else do you need in one week? I think I can’t ask for more…