{"id":41605,"date":"2009-07-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/headless-cross\/"},"modified":"2009-07-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-07-23T00:00:00","slug":"headless-cross","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/headless-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"Headless Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alright, let\u2019s get the easiest part of this review out of the way first: the album says Black Sabbath on the cover!<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sadly, it\u2019s all downhill from here. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

There are many terms one could use to describe Headless Cross<\/i>. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Stale. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Dated. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Formulaic.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

An exercise in self-parody. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

From the opening notes of \u201cThe Gates Of Hell,\u201d an ominous little intro piece, one can\u2019t help but raise an eyebrow. \u201cWill the opening track buck this theatrical, evil-sounding approach, in favor of old-school de-tuned riffage? Or will it \u2013\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Before there\u2019s ample time to finish the question, listeners are greeted with one of the most garish, offensive drum sounds to come out of the 1980\u2019s. Almost instantly, it dates the album by twenty years. As the mid-tempo title track paces along, one can\u2019t help but scratch their head. Where\u2019s the heaviness that we\u2019ve come to expect from Tony Iommi? Why do the keyboards get such a prominent role? The guitar solo is nice, but why is Iommi\u2019s tone so thin and fuzzy? <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Vocalist Tony Martin, to his credit, gives a stellar performance in the song, and Headless Cross<\/i> is arguably his best Sabbath album as far as his vocals are concerned. The guy has an excellent set of pipes on him, arguably the best of the Sabbath vocalists. But what a worrisome opener…! <\/o:p><\/p>\n

True, there are a few sparkles of brilliance scattered across the album. \u201cWhen Death Calls,\u201d is a genuinely eerie tune that stretches seven minutes in length, shifting from soft, \u201cPlanet Caravan\u201d-style verses, to menacing choruses \u2013 not to mention a guest solo from Brian May. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cNightwing,\u201d too, has some redeeming spots. A bit of acoustic work from Iommi for a change, soaring vocals, a powerful chorus\u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

But you can\u2019t polish a turd. Save for these two numbers, Headless Cross<\/i> is downright embarrassing to listen to. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The bulk of the album consists of sub-par, fist-pumping rock songs, saturated with laughable devil lyrics. The absolute worst offender in this department has to be \u201cCall Of The Wild,\u201d which leaves no clich\u00e9 untouched, throwing in the whole package of \u201cPrinces and kings, demons with wings,\u201d \u201cLucifer,\u201d \u201cEternal light…\u201d whatever fits the theme! You\u2019ll laugh or cry as Martin wails, \u201cHeeeeero! You\u2019ve got the fear of the devil burning your soul!\u201d Meanwhile, Iommi offers a tepid little riff while drummer Cozy Powell bops steadily along at 120 beats per minute. \u201cNo f*ckin\u2019 around here!\u201d as Frank Zappa once put it. \u201cNo 119, no 123! Gimmie the ol\u2019 120 beats per minute and crank up the goddamn handclaps!\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Okay, so there are no handclaps on this album. But the music is such generic 80\u2019s tripe, they may as well have added them!<\/o:p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Of the remaining tunes, only \u201cKill In The Spirit World\u201d is worthy of a mention due to the mere fact that it sounds so out of character. The overwhelming keys and poppy vocal melody that carry the verses are simply jaw-dropping \u2013 and not in a good way. Were it not for Iommi\u2019s distinctive soloing, you wouldn\u2019t know this is Black Sabbath. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

By the time the album comes to a close, it\u2019s just dazzling. What kind of Sabbath album is it when the rhythm section is on autopilot and Tony Iommi is in a riff-writing coma, with half his leads buried under keyboard lines? Headless Cross<\/i>, despite Tony Martin\u2019s solid vocals and about ten minutes worth of listenable material, is nothing less than Frisbee material. With devil horns, of course. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":29980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5638],"rating":[5620],"class_list":["post-41605","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-black-sabbath","rating-rating-f"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41605"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}