Disco de Black Sabbath: “TYR”

Yep, it doesn't have much to do with Ozzy-era Sabbath, so if that's all you're looking for, you can pretty much disregard it.

But if you like a wider palette of metal, this is really a great disc. The opening four songs are all top notch metal and cover a pretty wide territory. Anno Mundi may be the most 'progressive' song Sabbath ever did. The Lawmaker is fast, has a killer chorus riff, and sounds a lot like something off of Holy Diver, actually. And The Sabbath Stones is a classic, with a pure doom riff changing to a fast triple time outro.

There's a silly little synth orchestration in the middle, then you get another killer pair, the quiet, pretty Odin's Court flowing directly into Valhalla, which is upbeat and almost anthemic, with a catchy chorus you'll scream along too.

Surprisingly good production and high re-listenability value; I've got a lot of spins out of the disc and still enjoy it a lot. More than anything it reminds me of Savatage in the Zak Stevens years, so if you like that kind of metal, definitely check this out.

By 1990, Black Sabbath were virtually gone from the metal landscape. Ask any of the wise-ass metalheads of the era, and thats what they'll tell you. Music, as far as they've always been concerned, was not actually about music, but image and who is playing it. Most hard rock/metal bands have had ever-changing lineups. Which, to these people, is ok as long as the music gets played on the radio, etc. Ask how they feel about lineups and 9 out of 10 times they will claim that the "original" lineup was and is and always will be the best and the rest is just garbage. Tell them that 'Smoke On The Water' wasn't in fact original Deep Purple and watch their faces go numb (if they believe you at all). Get it? It's not the music, it's the general acceptance and knowledge of who's playing it that makes the fools listen. Thats no way to listen to music and I think most real music fans know that already. There's nothing I can say about "Tyr" that hasn't already been said here; it may well be the greatest Black Sabbath album ever made though. Oh yeah, Ozzy's not singing, the replacement Tony Martin is. And who do you think has the far better voice? Well, Martin does, but he's lacking the image. At least he didn't abuse animals or his wife to earn one. He lets the music speak for itself.

This album, probably as much as "Never Say Die" in 1978, marked the end of an epoch for Black Sabbath. However, whilst the last Osbourne-period album marked the end of one straggling era and the opening of another era of promise, "TYR" (which Tony Martin is quick to point out "rhymes with beer"!), in many ways, marked the true end of Black Sabbath as a creative entity. They would, of course, go on to produce the superb (but ill-fated) "Dehumanizer" album with the reunited Ronnie James Dio/Vinny Appice line-up. They (or, precisely, Tony Iommi) would also attempt a return to the form displayed on this album by reconstituting the Tony Martin line-up. However, the shadow of the "old" band was always waiting in the wings, and, of course, that's the way things ended up.

I like this album immensely. This is easily the best album that Sabbath did with Tony Martin, much better lyrically than the overdone pseudo-Satanism of the previous offering, "Headless Cross". Also, Iommi had led this line-up (which, of course, included the late, legendary drummer Cozy Powell, his former Whitesnake bass partner Neil Murray, and in-the-shadows keyboardist Geoff Nicholls in addition to Iommi and Martin), out on the road. They were tight, and it shows on this album. This really does sound like a BAND album, probably the most since "Heaven and Hell". Even though Iommi is still in creative control here, the other band members' creative input is notable, and their musicianship goes without saying. It is a credit to Iommi that his guitar playing is not the dominant force (though this is somewhat disappointing, given that his guitar work is so inspiring) and that there is a true ensemble feel here thanks to the excellent Iommi/Powell production.

Is it a concept album? Yes and no. Yes, with "The Battle of Tyr", "Odin's Court" and "Valhalla" forming a mini-epic, which drew comparisons to Manowar (who themselves have been compared to Sabbath!). No, because all the songs stand on their own merits as very strong compositions. Even the obvious radio-friendly "Feels Good to Me" doesn't mar the overall excellence of the album (despite a very cheesy video that has nothing to do with the song's lyrics).

Martin is lyrically more obscure here than previously, but I'd rather have that than the obvious pretensions toward what Sabbath "should" be lyrically that he tried on "Headless Cross". His vocals are peerless throughout and he moves out of the shadows of "Dio-imitator" that many tried to pin on him. Powell proves himself once again to be the engine of the band in a manner he hadn't done since his Rainbow days. Neil Murray, whilst not being as fast-fingered as Geezer Butler, is rock-solid. Geoff Nicholls adds colour where needed. And Sir Tony Iommi (Her Majesty the Queen should really consider this - he's at least as worthy of it as Mick Jagger or Elton John!)? As I said previously, he doesn't dominate the proceedings, but he still shows here that there is no one in heavy metal who does riffing, soloing, and songwriting like he does. After all, he wrote the book!

"Anno Mundi (The Vision)" - A bit of a mellow opener (until it gets going!) with possibly a political/ecological message? I'm not really good with Latin but I think a rough translation of the song title could be "The Year of the World."

"The Law Maker" - Powell's pounding introduces the kind of fast, furious rocker that Sabbath have done better than anyone else ever since "Heaven and Hell".

"Jerusalem" - Another Powell intro, but more mid-paced classic Sabbath. Tony Martin remade this on his solo album "Back Where I Belong," but I haven't heard that version.

"The Sabbath Stones" - Tony Martin says this is about God and I think he intends "The Sabbath Stones" to indicate the Ten Commandments tablets. Almost religious lyrics here, and, as a Christian I don't mind that at all! Very good musically as well, with Powell cannoning away as only he could.

"The Battle of Tyr" - This is an orchestral piece showcasing Geoff Nicholls. I think that may actually be timpani that Cozy is playing! If not, it's certainly some very strangely-EQ'd floor toms!

"Odin's Court" - The Viking atmosphere starts to build here. Martin stretches his range here effortlessly over Iommi's gentle clean electric guitar.

"Valhalla" - "Odin's Court" was almost soothing. "Valhalla" is anything but! Heavy, just the way it should be! The band locks into a tight groove behind Martin, making this the most propulsive song on the album. Excellent wah-flavoured Iommi solo as well.

"Feels Good to Me" - As stated previously, this was the band's attempt at a radio-friendly song, which Tony Martin has freely admitted. Even so, it's still good enough not to knock any stars off the five-star rating this album richly deserves.

"Heaven in Black" - This is a very slight detour into "Headless Cross" lyrical territory, though not as overt. Could be about Russian history, with mentions of the "czar". Cozy's double bass drum intro builds into a fine closer to a fine album.

This album and subsequent tour did very well almost everywhere but in the United States (I think there were only a handful of dates in the U.S., and they weren't publicised at all), where the Ozzy-only cult seemed to cripple anything Black Sabbath tried to do at least after Dio.

I had very high expectations of the band recapturing their glory days when I heard this album, but of course it wasn't to be. I will always respect Tony Iommi as a musician but I lost some respect for him as an artist when he broke up this very creative line-up to try and return to the "old days" with first the Dio line-up and ultimately the Ozzy line-up.

But if you have an open mind and want a very strong heavy metal album, you can do a lot worse than "TYR".

A well deserved five stars.

many old fans dislike this album and for a good reason that it has nothing to do with their essential albums with ozzy. but for me, it was the first black sabbath album to listen to and I found it quite amazing. the opening song anno mundi is one of my favorite hardrock songs ever and valhalla, jerusalem or heaven in black are highlights on this album. sure if you love old black sabbath to death there will be nothing that can keep you this cd from breaking this cd in two, but I suggest that you listen to it with an open mind. if you liked this one i would also recommend "The eternal Idol", it is in parts even better than tyr and has with it's title track again one of the best bs songs ever written. anyway it's not quite easy to get into black sabbath when you are a nineteen year old guy that listens to nearly every kind of music ( like I am) but if you want to, I suggest you start with this.

In 1990, Black Sabbath looked like it was finally undergoing some stability. Stability that hadn't been with the band since the Ozzy years. Tyr was the second album released by the band with the lineup of Tony Iommi, Tony Martin, Cozy Powell, and Neil Murray. This collaboration had already produced a great album with Headless Cross and didn't produce such a bad follow-up. Tyr has sort of a midieval theme to it. Just look at the names of songs such as "Odin's Court" and "The Lawmaker" to see what I mean. The album starts out with the soothing, almost celestial voices that start out "Anno Mundi" which, in my opinion, is the second best song on the album. It then goes into the more upbeat and heavy "The Lawmaker" and procedes to go into such gems as "Jerusalem" and "The Sabbath Stones," which are both great songs. However, in my opinion, the best song on the album is "Valhalla." This song is a mystical tale about the satanic land of Valhalla. It has a very powerful chorus and an amazing guitar solo. Definitly one of my favorite Sabbath songs. Despite the power of Tyr, this collaboration of Sabbath did not last for much longer. Iommi decided to reunite with ex-Sabbath members Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio, and Vinnie Appice for 1992's Dehuminizer album and tour.Although the Iommi, Martin, Powell, Murray version of Sabbath reunited for 1995's Forbidden, they could not match the power of Tyr.