Anniversary Week Part 4- Black Sabbath: Seventh Star (Review)

Anniversary week day four, and we’re finally getting into the interesting stuff. Seventh Star is hardly the definitive Black Sabbath album, and it’s certainly not got the best cover art I’ve seen (Born Again’s would even trump it), but I love it. You can’t say I didn’t warn you about my tastes when the banner has Seventh Star and Virtual XI on it.

But to the album. It commences with the solid metal chugging of “In For the Kill”. The guitar work is both heavy and dynamic, not sluggish in any way, and perfectly backs Glenn Hughes’ powerful vocals. And Glenn’s voice has just a touch of rasp to add character to his range. How could anyone not like this? Is it because of the next song? “No Stranger to Love” may be a ballad, but it’s also a ballad that I like very much. Why this one? Dunno really. It’s probably Glenn Hughes’ versatility. The guy can croon and belt with equal talent, sometimes in the very same song. I even prefer the single mix of this song. It just sounds empty here without the backing vocals. I mean, what sort of person would ask for female-esque backing vocals on a Black Sabbath song? Me apparently.

And then it’s back to the metal, though with a little more of a riff this time. The highlight of the song though, is easily Glenn Hughes’ powerful delivery to send off the chorus with a long, loud ’STTTTOOOOOOOONNNNNNEEEEE!!!!!”. “Sphinx, The Guardian” is next. It’s a nice little atmospheric break that leads into “Seventh Star”, and hearkens back to the varied experimentation of earlier Sabbath albums. And then it’s the title track, the monolithic “Seventh Star”. One of my favorite Sabbath epics, some may say the riff is a little dull, but I say that it’s metronomic preciseness adds to the sense of inevitability the song exudes. You will enjoy this song, it’s only a matter of time. The song benefits from that style of production far more than the entire Heaven and Hell album did, and the way the keyboards kick in at 1:42 (as well as other places on the song) just kicks the epicness into overdrive and is one of my favorite moments on the whole disc.

And then it’s back to uptempo 80’s metal. Iommi, Hughes, Spitz, Singer and Nicholls doing what they do best, slick dual guitar riffing permeates the entire song while Hughes continues to belt without problem One of my favorite songs on the disc. But of course, most albums are not perfect. In the case of Seventh Star its flaw is the next song, “Heart Like a Wheel”. The song should have been cut. It’s a long, slow, boring bluesy one and I can’t believe that it was the only song from the album ever played after the Seventh Star tour.

But we’re back to the awesome after that. “Angry Heart” goes for a more midtempo speed and works well as it lets the keyboards better accentuate the riff. I’m a sucker for keyboards, as you know. Sure it’s a slower song, but Glenn Hughes has no problem belting things out at this speed either. He’s such a great singer, and certainly doesn’t have a word for ‘half-assed’ in his vocabulary.

And, lastly, we end with the acoustic “In Memory”. It may be a softer one, but it still fits in with the album, and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. Hughes croons for the mot part, but still manages to sneak some power into the chorus. He’s just the gift that keeps on giving. I just have one question. When he sings the line ‘it still haunts me’, is that a little jab from Iommi at the Sabbath name and legacy (made all the more relevant by the fact that this was going to be a solo album before the label slapped the Sabbath name on it)? Either way, I’m glad it was a Sabbath album, or else we wouldn’t have got the awesome shows from the Seventh Star tour, or the great Tony Martin era of the band.

Seventh Star is easily my favorite album with Glenn Hughes on vocals. Heck, it’s my second favorite Sabbath album at that. And you know, for an album from 1986, it really is quite timeless sounding. There really isn’t any obtuse synth to date it. An absolute ripper of an album.

The verdict- 4.5/5

And if you thought that was contrarian, you ain’t seen nothing yet.