𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
31 years ago this week, the “Sins of the Father” and his “TV Crimes” were exposed! And the “Computer God” was shown to be the “Master of Insanity”!
On June 22, 1992, Black Sabbath released their sixteenth full-length album “Dehumanizer” in the U.K. via I.R.S. Records (Released on June 30 via Reprise Records in the U.S.).
It was Sabbath's first studio album in over a decade to feature vocalist Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinny Appice, and their first in nine years to feature original bassist Geezer Butler. Initial writing and demo sessions at Rich Bitch Studios in Birmingham featured drummer Cozy Powell; bootlegs of these sessions exist. However, when Cozy became injured with a broken hip, he was replaced with Vinny. With Vinny back in the band, this effectively reunited the “Mob Rules” lineup. The band spent two weeks writing material before spending six weeks rehearsing and recording demos at Monnow Valley Studios in Wales.
The album's lineup – Dio, Appice, Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi – reunited in 2006 for a greatest hits set, “Black Sabbath: The Dio Years”, and a new studio album in 2009, “The Devil You Know” (billed as Heaven & Hell).
The album was re-released, with bonus content, on February 7, 2011.
Background:
Lyrically and musically, “Dehumanizer” is considered one of Sabbath's heaviest albums. Lyrical themes vary from a computer worshipped as a god (Computer God), to televangelists (TV Crimes), to individualism (I) and doubts about the afterlife (After All (The Dead)).
The album was recorded in Wales, at Rockfield Studios. It was intended to feature Cozy Powell, then Sabbath's drummer, but he was immobilised by a broken pelvic bone sustained in a horse riding accident. Dio initially wanted to replace Powell with Simon Wright, from AC/DC and his own band, but Butler and Iommi rejected him. They instead recruited Vinny Appice, who had served as Sabbath's drummer during most of Dio's previous tenure with the band, from 1980–1982.
During sessions for the album, Tony Martin made a short comeback when invited by the band to try the songs out. He stayed for just a couple of days and the band continued with Dio. Martin stated: "I had already started my first solo album “Back Where I Belong” – so, when I got the call to go back, I was committed by that point. And in fact it was just a couple of months after they had started the thing with Ronnie James Dio. I was determined to finish my solo thing and so turned them down at that point. We did keep in touch though and I went to some shows. Ronnie wasn’t too pleased, but eventually they had enough and asked me to rejoin again later so it felt like I hadn’t actually left. In fact, I was never formally fired; the phone just stopped ringing. Ian Gillan (Deep Purple singer, and another ex-Sabbath singer) asked me once if I had actually been fired and I said, 'No.' He said, 'Neither have I.' We should just turn up one day and walk on stage!"
Demo sessions with Powell yielded numerous recordings, including two unreleased songs – "The Night Life" (also called "Next Time"), whose riff was later used for "Psychophobia" on “Cross Purposes”, and "Bad Blood," which sounds very similar to "I" on “Dehumanizer”. These songs can be found, along with other demos and untitled songs, on the “Complete Dehumanizer Sessions” bootleg. "Computer God" was the title of an unreleased song by The Geezer Butler Band, in 1986 – only the title made it to “Dehumanizer”. The Butler version is available as a download on his website. "Master of Insanity" was also an unreleased Geezer Butler Band track, of which the “Dehumanizer” version is essentially a rerecording. "Master of Insanity" was the only track on “Dehumanizer” that Dio did not have a hand in writing the lyrics. Jimi Bell, the guitarist with Butler's band actually wrote the song. Geezer promised a credit and payment, but Jimi never was paid or credited for his contributions. The album's lead single, "TV Crimes," was a criticism of American televangelists, particularly Jeff Fenholt, who briefly worked with Iommi in the mid-1980s on what would become “Seventh Star”.
"We wanted it to be real Rock 'N' Roll: real basic," Dio told WERS' Nasty Habits show. "We wanted to capture what we are live and that's really what I think we did. We didn't do tons of overdubs or a lot of chorus-y kind of things. I think the important thing is that a band should be able to do all the things they do on record live, without any kind of sampling crap or that rubbish – so, of course, we didn't. We recorded it true to what the band is: just guitar, bass, drums and vocals, y'know – a couple of keyboard things here and there."
Although the Sabbath lineup was the same as 1981's “Mob Rules”, the musical direction is very different, and a marked change from their previous material, particularly the preceding “Tyr”. Much of the album anticipates the directions taken by Dio in his eponymous solo band's next two records, “Strange Highways” (1993) and “Angry Machines” (1996).
Commercially, the album marked a resurgence for Sabbath. It reached the Top 40 in the UK, and peaked at number 44 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Aftermath:
"It was good to try that with Ronnie…" Iommi reflected in 1997. "[But] we lost millions on it… because of the time we took to record it, and fly backwards and forwards to the States with everything, all the gear; bringing it back; recording here [the UK]… A lot of messing about and a lot of money wasted… If it came to it again now, we could plan it different and it'd be okay, but we had to try that. Originally Cozy was involved, then he wasn't."
This incarnation of Sabbath ended when Dio's contract with the band ended several days before the Costa Mesa reunion shows in November 1992. According to Iommi, Dio quit because he was asked to support Ozzy Osbourne's final shows at Costa Mesa, referring to Ozzy as a "clown." Dio would not record or perform with the band again until 2006. For the two Costa Mesa shows, the band replaced Dio with Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford; on the second night, Iommi, Butler and original Sabbath drummer Bill Ward joined Osbourne onstage for four songs. Halford and Dio were friends (Dio having been impressed with Halford's work ethic on the 'Stars' project) and Halford would only do the Costa Mesa shows with Dio's blessing, which he received when he spoke with Dio by phone. Both shows were unofficially recorded in their entirety and are now widely circulated as audio and video bootlegs.
“Dehumanizer” is included in the Black Sabbath box set “The Rules of Hell”.
“Dehumanizer” was re-released on February 7, 2011. This version includes a bonus disc with alternate recordings of several songs ("Master of Insanity," "Letters from Earth" and "Time Machine," the latter of which is available on the US version of the album as a bonus track) and several other songs recorded on July 26, 1992 in Tampa, Florida.
In 2021, Kerrang! ranked “Dehumanizer” as the eighth-best Black Sabbath album in a best-to-worst ranking of the band's discography.
Critical Reception:
Dehumanizer” received mixed reviews from critics. AllMusic’s Bradley Torreano gave a stark review, saying; “Dehumanizer” isn't terrible, but it should have been the sign for the band to call it a career. Instead, Dio split when he refused to open shows for Ozzy Osbourne's retirement tour; they used Judas Priest singer Rob Halford for a few shows, and then everyone left but Iommi and Butler, who stayed on to paste a new lineup back together for the marginally better “Cross Purposes”.”
While, for the Rhino remasters, Ken Pierce at PiercingMetal.com raved over “Dehumanizer”, stating; “…the magic seemed to return and they would record “Dehumanizer”, an album that was just what the Metal world needed at the time. Sadly, it arrived to hardly a whimper of interest and it’s long been said that their initial reunion album was one of those releases that nobody “got” during the time that it was first released. This makes perfect sense to me as this was 1992 and the world of music was caught up in itself with the growing Grunge Movement out of Seattle. All eyes were on this region and the movement had successfully all but killed off the Hair Metal nation from California and now was rearing its head in the direction of the legendary Metal bands as well. Everyone was listening to Nirvana, Pearl Jam or Alice In Chains and when it came to finding some interest for the new Black Sabbath, no one seemed to care at all. I admit that this one had passed me by as well since I was not following Sabbath at the time and had stopped after Dio moved on, so having a remastered copy to enjoy at this point in time was great. The album is perhaps one of the heaviest that the band had ever done and when you hear tunes like “Computer God” and “After All (The Dead” you will be convinced. It was also a little ahead of it’s time as it speaks of computers being worshipped as gods and with the way the Internet and overall technology has grown since then could they have been prophets to the way our world has become? The most powerful track on the album without a doubt is “I”, a strong number that finds Dio at his best and apparent angriest. It crunches with Metal energy and is a fist pumper. The band also seems to be playing with a renewed zeal on this one as they try to recapture lightning in a bottle like they had done ten years earlier. Sadly, the reunion would not last too long and Dio would return to his solo performing while Sabbath would bring back in Tony Martin for the immediate future on albums and touring.”
Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:
Click this link to listen to “Dehumanizer” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/dehumanizer/298103928
Click this link to watch the official music video for “TV Crimes”: https://youtu.be/KdWnr_zxvnM
Click this link to follow Black Sabbath on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackSabbath
Click this link to follow Tony Iommi on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyiomm
Click this link to follow Vinny Appice on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialVinnyAppice
Click this link to follow the official Ronnie James Dio Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialRonnieJamesDio
Click this link to follow Geezer Butler on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gzrmusic
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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