How would diehards take to an album without Ozzy, yet one that featured an American fronting the most British of all heavy bands? Did Iommi have any worries about public acceptance? It felt right for the time, and was Black Sabbath as people had never heard us before.”īut that of itself carried an inherent danger. And we all knew when the album was finished that it was something special. It really did feel like we were starting all over again. But with Ronnie, there were so many more options. We were doing things that, quite frankly, would have been beyond us with Ozzy. While many doubted the move towards Dio and a new musical direction, Iommi had no such fears. “Nothing was actually put on tape, and then left off. “I believe we used all the songs we wrote for the record,” he insists. Iommi’s recollection is that the first track to be recorded was the title song itself, although Children Of The Sea was the first song that he and Dio wrote for the album. But this time, it was a joy to be in the studio.” We’d been used to taking longer and longer to record, with things getting out of hand. What he brought in was an extra dimension to the songs. ![]() It was Ronnie who’d recommended Martin, as they’d worked together in Rainbow. “We felt that bringing someone in could really help focus the ideas. But this, again, is wide of the mark.Īpart from the recruitment of Dio, the other major change came with the arrival of producer Martin Birch, the first outsider to work with Sabbath in the studio since Rodger Bain on 1971’s Master Of Reality. Others have suggest that original Rainbow bassist Craig Gruber is featured – uncredited – on the final album. But, in the end he sorted himself out, and Geoff stayed with us on keyboards. “I knew Geoff through his previous band Quartz, and so I asked him to come in and do some bass lines for us when Geezer’s commitment was in doubt. ![]() In fact, Ronnie played bass when Geezer flew back to England to finalise his divorce. “And we didn’t know whether he’d be in the right frame to record the album. “Geezer was dealing with a lot of serious issues at the time,” reveals the master guitarist. Black Sabbath on stage at Hammersmith Odeon In 1981 (Image credit: Getty Images)
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