Those who know me from somewhere are, surely, aware that I have used, on the Net, the alias “Dehumanizer” for some years now. Ever wondered why?
It’s because of this 1992 album, from Black Sabbath.
By far Black Sabbath’s heaviest and most intense album in their 30-plus year career, it’s also their third (not counting live albums) and last album with Ronnie James Dio, one of my favorite singers, incidentally. Moving away from Sabbath’s usual mystical / occult themes, this is an album about this world, this reality - harsh, uncompromising and brutal, every single second of it. Lyrical themes include the dehumanizing of the world (hence the album’s name), televangelists (one of the world’s worst plagues), individualism, life in prison, over-protecting parents, freedom, and, OK, some fantasy - “After All: The Dead”, a slow but heavy song, which was adapted and used in the PC game “Doom II”.
And the music… many people will disagree, of course, especially those annoying “Ozzy is Sabbath, man!” people, but, to me, Dio is the best singer and lyricist Sabbath ever had, and Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler were never as powerful, musically, as they were on this album - not a touch of commercialism here, not “let’s do a couple of love songs to sell more”. Complex, intricate songs, an onslaught of sound that never lets you rest, never lets go.
To me, the best Sabbath album, and one of the most unfairly underrated albums of all time - fans were expecting “Mob Rules part 2″, and not something as heavy and intense as this. If you want to listen to a heavy metal album that’s brutal yet beautiful, with great lyrics, and some of the best, more influential musicians in the world, you can’t do much better than this.
And wait until you listen to Iommi’s solos on “Too Late” and “I”… they still send shivers down my spine, after all these years.
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Did you ever hear the alternate version of Letters From Earth or the song Bad Blood that didn’t make it on the Dehumanizer album? THEY ROCK!!!!!!!
No, I haven’t. I’ll try to find them. Thanks!
Hi! My name is Chris and I work at Help.com. I’m asking a question on behalf of one of our members because, unlike me, you are a Black Sabbath expert. Would you mind emailing back the answer to: “what is black sabbath’s first album?”
Thanks!
Their first album is called just “Black Sabbath”. More info at http://www.black-sabbath.com (look at the discography).
long live black sabbath…in my opinion they rock more than ACDC..
Pò os cara apavoran não tem banda melhor que o Black Sabbath, ta pra nasse banda que supere os veio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello!
I love the Dehumanizer album too. Truly underrated I think. TV Crimes was an awesome single. The album is full of some of Tony Iommi’s best riffs and some fantastic solos. Computer God - great drumming, strong lyrics from Dio and just a great track. There are alternate versions of Letters From Earth, Computer God and Time Machine (Waynes World version) which are worth tracking down. I’m a bit of a Sabbath collector and just stumbled across your site. Do you have or do you know if there ever was a second single from this album? TV Crimes was first in the UK but I’ve picked up a Master Of Insanity cd single. It turns out to be part 1 of a 2cd set but I’ve never tracked down part 2. Any ideas??
q idola a
Ozzy is nothing compared to Dio, in Sabbath or no.
OZZY RULES FUCK YOU
Hello,
I recently just picked up “The Dio Years..” having been a HUGE Dio and Sabbath fan as a kid. I LOVED Heaven and Hell as a kid - just awesome stuff. I know it may seem sacrilegious to some, but my favorite version of Sabbath has been with…. Dio… I actually loved “Born Again” as well - I like Ozzy, but like these two singers (Dio, Gillian) FAR MORE. Infinitely more depth vocally and otherwise.
Anyway, over the decades I lost interest in hard rock. As I get older I find myself missing the heavy rock I loved as a kid, so I’ve been adding it back into my catalog of music. For some reason, in light of the current political climate in the U.S. at the moment, and that I’m a very progressive person who feels marginalized, I can’t seem to get “I” out of my head. Just a PHENOMENAL song. I thought this was a newer recording - done in the last couple of years. Then I did a search to find out more about the album from whence this came, and behold - 1992 (!). Sounds like he’s singing about the current establishment, the right, and their attitudes towards “We The People”… Just blows me away. I think that Alice In Chains lifted some ideas from this record for “Dirt” also - I believe that was a 1992 release as well. If not, they were still clearly influenced heavily by Sabbath regardless.
Thanks,
C.J. REBEL
KILL PROCESS