Seventh Star
	Produced by Jeff Glixman
	Released on February 1986
	US CHART POSITION #78
	Find it at GEMM
25337 LP cover

A few years passed before Sabbath (sort of) returned with Seventh Star. The project was in fact originally conceived as a Tony Iommi solo album, but as he didn’t have the cachet of an Ozzy or Ritchie Blackmore (disappointing, I know), the album was released as Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi. Of course, the record would have invited comparison to Sabbath anyway, in this case leaning decidedly toward the post-Ozzy incarnation of the band. Glenn Hughes is a limber vocalist, sounding at times like Corey Glover from Living Colour, and the rest of the band is serviceable if undistinguished. The material is solid (Iommi acquits himself ably as a lyricist), no worse than the filler you’d find on a Dio or Judas Priest album of the time. Seventh Star did not generate a hit single -- “Danger Zone” is a good choice for the honor, and the album-ending combination of “Angry Heart” and “In Memory…” is a graceful exit, but nothing on here would come up in a conversation of Sabbath’s best music. While the crunch of old is absent, Iommi does catch fire for a few guitar leads, notably on “Heart Like A Wheel.” And if “No Stranger To Love” seems a little light for metal, it is a pretty catchy power ballad all the same. There’s no reason to shun Seventh Star, although it’s probably one of the last Sabbath albums you need to own.

25337 back cover	25337 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. IN FOR THE KILL    3:48
2. NO STRANGER TO LOVE    4:28
3. TURN TO STONE    3:28
4. SPHINX (THE GUARDIAN)    1:12
5. SEVENTH STAR    5:20
6. DANGER ZONE    4:26
7. HEART LIKE A WHEEL    6:36
8. ANGRY HEART    3:06
9. IN MEMORY...    2:36
   
   All songs written by Anthony Iommi

CREDITS

GLENN HUGHES -- vocals, additional lyrics
TONY IOMMI -- all guitars
GEOFF NICHOLLS -- keyboards, additional lyrics
ERIC SINGER -- drums
DAVE "THE BEAST" SPITZ -- bass
Gordon Copley -- bass (2)
Jeff Glixman -- engineer, additional lyrics

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