''Seventh Star'' is the twelfth studio album by English heavy metal band

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

. Released in January 1986, it features founding guitarist Tony Iommi alongside musicians Geoff Nicholls,

Eric Singer Eric Singer (born Eric Doyle Mensinger; May 12, 1958) is an American drummer. Associated with the hard rock band Kiss since 1991, he has also performed with artists such as Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Lita Ford, Badlands, Brian May and Gary ...

, and Dave Spitz, playing keyboards, drums, and bass, respectively, and Glenn Hughes, ex- Deep Purple and ex-

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vocalist, as lead singer. The album was the group's first release without bassist and primary lyricist

Geezer Butler Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is a English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heaven & Hell ...

, who left the band in 1984 after the ''Born Again'' tour. It was originally written, recorded, and intended to be the first solo album by Iommi. Because of the pressures from

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and the prompting of band manager

Don Arden Don Arden (born Harry Levy; 4 January 1926 – 21 July 2007) was an English music manager, agent, and businessman. He managed the careers of rock acts such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Air Supply, Small Faces, The Move, Black Sabbat ...

, the record was billed as ''Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi''. Later releases label the album as simply by ''Black Sabbath''. Despite the issues behind the release's production, it earned moderate commercial success, reaching #27 in the UK and #78 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart.

Album information

As was the case with its predecessor, '' Born Again'', this album was not intended to be a Black Sabbath record. Last-minute pressure from Warner Bros. stemmed from the belief that it was likely to sell more with the famous name. Its sound is a drastic (and intentional) departure from the trademark Sabbath sound. Many of the songs have a very hard rock sound, while some contain a bluesy feel (especially "Heart Like a Wheel"). ''Seventh Star'' was the first album to feature long-time keyboardist Geoff Nicholls as an official band member. "It seemed to me like the band was on its last legs and my heart just went out to Tony," recalled former drummer Bill Ward. "I thought, 'God, how much more can he take?' or 'How much more does he want?'… What I saw was a great band I just felt was diminishing." The promo-single and video version of "No Stranger to Love" had additional harmony vocals added by Hughes to make it more "radio-friendly". Actress

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, who would later portray

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in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', was featured in the video. A tour for the album featured Hughes only at the first few shows. He was fired five dates into the tour, and replaced by

Ray Gillen Raymond Arthur Gillen (May 12, 1959 – December 1, 1993) was an American rock singer. He is best known for his work with Badlands, in addition to his stint with Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s and recording most of the vocals on Phenomena's '' ...

, who completed the North American and European legs of the tour, though several dates in the US were cancelled. W.A.S.P. and Anthrax were opening acts on the North American tour. Hughes has performed "No Stranger to Love", "Seventh Star" and "Heart Like a Wheel" at some of his live concerts. "I really like ''Seventh Star''," Tony Martin told Sabbath fanzine ''Southern Cross'', "mainly because I admire Glenn Hughes' voice." ''Seventh Star'' was rereleased in Europe on 1 November 2010, as a two-disc special edition. Disc 2 includes a concert recorded in 1986, with Gillen on vocals. The single version of ''No Stranger to Love'' is a bonus track on disc 1.

Reviews and reception

The album peaked at #78 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Some retrospective critical assessments of the album have been negative; for example, ''

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'' rated the release only two out of five stars. However, critic Eduardo Rivadavia of

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gave ''Seventh Star'' a mixed to positive review, praising what he saw as the "fiery tunefulness" that makes "aggressive hard rockers like "In for the Kill," "Turn to Stone," and "Danger Zone" uncommonly catchy". However, he argued that the songwriting and vocal work fell flat on songs such as the album's title track. He stated generally that he found the release an "often misunderstood and underrated album". Reviews from the period were more positive. A reviewer for the magazine ''

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'' gave ''Seventh Star'' a perfect score of five out of five.''Kerrang!'', January, 1986 issue

Track listing

Standard Edition

Music by Tony Iommi; lyrics by Tony Iommi, Glenn Hughes, Geoff Nicholls and

Jeff Glixman Jeff Glixman is an American record producer. He has produced, mixed or remastered artists such as Kansas, Magnum, Gary Moore, Yngwie Malmsteen, The Georgia Satellites and Black Sabbath. Combined sales of his projects exceed 30 million units. Ca ...

2010 Deluxe Edition Disc 2

Recorded at

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, England on 2 June 1986, featuring

performing vocals A contemporary South Korean release sported a much reduced and reordered track listing.

Personnel

Black Sabbath * Tony Iommi –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Glenn Hughes –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Dave Spitz –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(except on "No Stranger to Love") *

– drums * Geoff Nicholls – keyboards Additional Musicians * Gordon Copley – bass guitar (on "No Stranger to Love") *

– vocals (on 2010 Deluxe Edition Disc 2)

Release history

Charts

References

External links

*
Seventh Star entry at black-sabbath.com
{{Authority control 1986 albums Albums produced by Jeff Glixman Black Sabbath albums Glenn Hughes albums Vertigo Records albums Warner Records albums