After being unavailable for years, the four records are being given the boxset treatment in May…
Black Sabbath have announced that, after being unavailable physically or on streaming services for years, four of their albums with singer Tony Martin will finally be given a proper rerelease.
A special boxset, Anno Domini 1989-1995, will gather together Headless Cross (1989), Tyr (1990), Cross Purposes (1994) and Forbidden (1995), featuring remasters of the first three, and an entirely remixed version of Forbidden overseen by guitarist Tony Iommi.
Having previously mentioned that the production on that album – by Body Count guitarist Ernie C – could have been done differently, Tony explained of the remix: “I was never happy with the guitar sound, and Cozy [Powell, drums] 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 news will please fans, who have been calling for the oft-overlooked Martin-era to be made available again for years. With a similarly grandiose voice to Dio, and with a lyrical pen full of magic and mysticism, his work with the band was at times among some of the best ever to bear the Sabbath name, particularly Headless Cross and Tyr.
Anno Domini 1989 – 1995 is released on May 31 via BMG as vinyl and CD boxsets, with the CD version featuring bonus tracks Loser Gets It All, Cloak And Dagger and What's The Use, plus liner notes and photos, a Headless Cross poster, and booklet from the accompanying tour.
