Cross Purposes
Seventeenth studio album by Black Sabbath, featuring Tony Martin's return.
Cross Purposes, Black Sabbath's seventeenth studio album, came out in early 1994 on I.R.S. Records. It brought Tony Martin back as lead singer following Ronnie James Dio's second exit. A live album from the tour, Cross Purposes Live, followed in 1995, and a remastered version arrived in 2024.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Black Sabbath
- Released
- 26 January 1994
- Recorded
- 1993
- Studio
- Monnow Valley Studios (Rockfield, Wales)
- Genre
- Heavy metal
- Length
- 47:27
- Label
- I.R.S.
- Producer
- Leif Mases; Black Sabbath
Facts from the source article.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Witness | Tony Iommi, Tony Martin, Geezer Butler | 4:56 |
| 2 | Cross of Thorns | Iommi, Martin, Butler, Geoff Nicholls | 4:32 |
| 3 | Psychophobia | Iommi, Martin, Butler | 3:16 |
| 4 | Virtual Death | Iommi, Martin, Butler | 5:49 |
| 5 | Immaculate Deception | Iommi, Martin, Butler | 4:15 |
| 6 | Dying for Love | Iommi, Martin, Butler, Nicholls | 5:53 |
| 7 | Back to Eden | Iommi, Martin, Butler | 3:57 |
| 8 | The Hand That Rocks the Cradle | Iommi, Martin, Butler | 4:31 |
| 9 | Cardinal Sin | Iommi, Martin, Butler, Nicholls | 4:20 |
| 10 | Evil Eye | Iommi, Martin, Butler, Nicholls, Eddie Van Halen | 5:58 |
Track listing from the source article.
Background and recording
After the Dehumanizer tour, Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice left Black Sabbath. Former vocalist Tony Martin and former Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli joined the band. Geezer Butler remained with the group. Rondinelli left Quiet Riot's Terrified sessions to join Black Sabbath. The album was recorded at Monnow Valley Studio in Wales.
Songs
Tony Martin stated that "Psychophobia" concerned David Koresh and the Waco, Texas, incident. A black-and-white promo video was made for "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle"; Martin wrote the song about nurse Beverly Allitt, convicted of serial infanticide in 1993. "Cardinal Sin" was originally intended as "Sin Cardinal Sin" but a printing error removed the first word. The Japanese edition included the bonus track "What's the Use?" and a sticker of the artwork; a similar burning angel image had appeared on the Scorpions single "Send Me an Angel" three years earlier.
Reception
Bradley Torreano of AllMusic rated the album three stars out of five, calling it the first since Born Again to sound like a real Sabbath record and probably their best since The Mob Rules. Guitar World ranked Cross Purposes sixth on its 2014 list "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". The album reached number 122 on the US Billboard 200, number 41 on the UK charts, and number nine in Finland and Sweden.
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