This was the last album with tony martin and it the closes to sounding like the first 4 (ozzy) albums. the band just went in 8 days, played the songs, recorded them, then left. no weeks and months polishing every note. it's got raw sound, heavy, deep lyrics, great guitar solos. tony martin sings like a normal guy on this album and not so professional, like ozzy does. has melody but nothing too radio friendly (just like the early sabbath albums). tony martin's lyrics are more down to earth than the other albums. so if you like black sabbath, paranoid, masters of reality, vol.4 than you will like this.

Do I think it's a 5? No. But I just want to balance out the "Awful" reviews. Quite frankly, if you like the Tony Martin era, of the five albums, this might rank third. It's got a bit too much lighter stuff for me. The darker stuff, including "Shaking Off the Chains" (GREAT) and "Illusion of Power" (yes, the Ice T collaboration was cool, despite what anyone might say... it's not like he's rapping on this song... don't forget Body Count, folks) have an old doom Sabbath feel. The Tony Martin-Sabbath era, in my opinion, is underrated.

This is the last album with Tony Martin. He was the best singer Black Sabbath has ever had. When I first heard this, I didn't care much about it. If you buy this, you may not like it at first, but it will grow on you if you give it a chance. Buy it, and give it a chance, it has some really great tracks. "Get A Grip", "I Won't Cry For You", "Forbidden", and "Kiss Of Death" are awesome.

death to the naysayers... this album rocks......... don't knock it till you tried it..... the writing and production is superb, so give it a whirl... you won't be disappointed!

5 stars!

I personally think it is a good album.If you are into the Dio and Ozzy years then this isnt for you.If you enjoy Tony Martins Sabbath albums you
will most likely love it.I bought it back in 95 when it came out and I
thought this was the biggest dung pile I had seen in years.It sat in my
collection until this year when I was looking for something new to listen to.Didnt find anything new.This is a pretty consistent album.I like all of
it except the horrible ICE-T song.This album is 100 times better than the
crap on MTV now...Anyway if you want something diffrent ignore the name of
the band and you just might enjoy it...Up the Irons..