The Eternal Idol
	Produced by J. Glixman, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, Chris Tsangerides
	Released on November 1987
	UK CHART POSITION #66
	Find it at GEMM
25548 cover

I did not buy The Eternal Idol because of the album cover. In fact, I believe I was reading an article in Playboy when I first heard this record, and I remember thinking “I would have bought this album solely for the music on it.” But that’s just the kind of guy I am. You, on the other hand, might find the music a poor motivator, which is probably why those savvy marketing folks at Warners figured The Eternal Idol was a pair of naked people short of a strong sell. In fairness, the album is better than I expected; for all the scary stuff you’ve heard about late-period Sabbath, this has its share of crunching metal and a melodic belter in the Dio tradition with Tony Martin. The production is top notch, the material solid if sometimes unspectacular, the guitar work impressive. If you’re looking for nods to classic Sabbath, they’re here: the moody “Eternal Idol” and the instrumental “Scarlet Pimpernel” are the obvious offspring. The rest of the album rocks hard by ‘80s standards, which is all you can ask for: Iommi’s vision for Sabbath was to stay relevant, not lead a second revolution. Sabbath fans can opt out, since this is really a record for fans of the genre. Only Iommi remains from the original quartet, making the Sabbath connection a weak one, but the zombie Sabbath is still better than the ubiquitous hell metal wannabes they originally inspired.

25548 back cover	25548 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. THE SHINING    5:38
2. ANCIENT WARRIOR    5:34
3. HARD LIFE TO LOVE    5:00
4. GLORY RIDE    4:48
5. BORN TO LOSE    3:43
6. NIGHTMARE    5:17
7. SCARLET PIMPERNEL    2:07
8. LOST FOREVER    4:00
9. ETERNAL IDOL    6:35
   
   All songs written by Tony Iommi

CREDITS

TONY IOMMI -- the player (i.e., guitars & god)
BEV BEVAN -- percussion
BOB DAISLEY -- bass
TONY MARTIN -- vocals
GEOFF NICHOLLS -- keyboards
ERIC SINGER -- drums
DAVE SPITZ -- bass
Chris Tsangerides -- mixing
Patrick Meehan -- executive producer

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