And so, he prepared to write songs for a new project, a Tony Iommi project, one that would not be judged as a Black Sabbath album, where he could put together material that would not necessarily fit in a Black Sabbath world. And this is what he did. His initial plan was to write material and have a different vocalist on each track. His wish list included singers such as Robert Plant, Rob Halford, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes. However, negotiating with their own publishing companies proved too difficult to sort out that idea, and he gave up on it. After a couple of short stints with vocalists David Donato and Jeff Fenholt, which included recording some demos that eventually were leaked and bootlegged extensively, Tony did come together with Glenn Hughes. After collaborating on a couple of songs, they agreed that they would do an entire album together, one that would allow Iommi to write material that he could never do under the Black Sabbath name, a deliberate move where he could show a versatility away from that band’s progression.
As with all things in music of course, not everything happens that easily. Record executives, no doubt seeing diminishing returns if they promoted the album as a Tony Iommi project, insisted on the album being released under the name Black Sabbath, even though not only was the tone of the album completely unrelatable to the material that band had released up to that point, but also that Tony was the only remaining member from either of the Mark 1, 2 or 3 lineups. It really was a complete cock-up, because this in no way sounds like a Black Sabbath album. But the executives and company weren’t having it. In the long run, the album was credited as “Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi”, which is surely one of the most ludicrous and preposterous band titles in the history of music. Tony had always been a part of Black Sabbath – why was it now Black Sabbath FEATURING Tony Iommi!?!? Did that solve the case that it was, and still should be considered, as a Iommi solo album? No. It does not. And the fact that it is listed as a part of the Black Sabbath discography is still something that feels out of place. It should be written out of that line up and just admitted as a solo release. Why? Well, that is something that we will now come to discuss.
The major reason for the certain amount of blowback that this album has received over the years is because of the way the songs have been composed, and just what the INTENTION was when those songs were written. They were written in the main by a legendary guitarist who was looking to compose a different type of song from what he had produced over the previous 15 plus years with his highly successful and influential band, alongside another legendary vocalist whose vocal style was usually lent to a different style of music than what was being expected from the band that this album was eventually referred to. And there is no doubting the quality of Glenn Hughes as a vocalist. Anyone who has heard him sing on the Deep Purple albums “Burn” and “Stormbringer” can attest to that. But he isn’t a heavy metal singer, or one that is ready to sing those types of songs that Black Sabbath had produced in the past. And between these two, they looked to produce an album that could combine Hughes’s talents along with Iommi looking to find a different drive away from his usual template. This is the way that the album should be listened to, not as an album of the Black Sabbath discography.
That being the case, there are some really good songs on this album, and some songs that require a certain amount of consideration of the reasoning behind why they were written. The album opens strongly with “In for the Kill” with a great introduction for new drummer Eric Singer, who Iommi had ‘stolen’ from his then-girlfriend’s solo band, Lita Ford, something that Iommi admitted in his autobiography helped to end that relationship (along with always doing copious amounts of cocaine with his mate Geoff Nicholls). The rumbling bass line from Dave Spitz helps create a great mood, and the rolling tempo geared with Iommi’s riffing offers a solid entry point into the album. “Turn to Stone”, which is the third song on the album, follows a similar route. It is uptempo, it has what I like to call on this album a great alternate Iommi riff and solo (one that isn’t the metal groundbreaking style of early Sabbath, but of a terrific hard rocking style that suits what he wants to achieve on this album) and Glenn’s vocals rage along in sync with it. It is another really good track for those that enjoy hard rocking fast tempo music. We then have the Geoff Nicholls keyboard heavy introduction of “Sphinx (The Guardian)” that acts as the precursor to the title track “Seventh Star”, a slower song that feels as though in a previous incarnation would have been far gloomier and doomier than this song is. Still, it has a terrific bass line from Spitz that is supported by the greater influence of the keys throughout from Nicholls, that simple solid drum beat from Singer, and Glenn’s vocal crooning over the top. Add to this another great riff from Tony and an even better composed solo through the middle of the track. All it seems to be missing is more energy throughout, both from Tony’s guitar and Glenn’s vocals. If he REALLY sang this, like we know he can at the top of his pipes, it could have been far more extraordinary.
Side 2 opens up with “Danger Zone” which has the most energy and punch of the album. The riff is harder, Glenn sings harder, and it sounds so much better as a result. “Angry Heart” phases in and out of soft rock while clinging somewhat desperately to the tendrils of hard rock around the edges. It channels some of the pieces of pop rock songs of the era with a greater emphasis from the Keys of Nicholls in the mix, and in this case it is Glenn’s vocals that carry the song, giving it the depth of character that makes it worth listening to.
The best examples of the experimentation Tony wanted to produce with this album can best be heard from three particular tracks. “Heart Like a Wheel” is basically a freeform blues exposition. The fade in of the song at the beginning is a bit standard, and the slow tempo and blues base of the track has you imagining the basement club filled with smoke, while an average blues band goes about its work. The ring of Singer’s snare on the track comes through too loud in comparison to the rest of the music on the song. Iommi plays as brilliantly as ever, and it is songs like this that he wanted to experiment with on this album, and the reason why the album is the way it is. And I’m all for it – it just isn’t the kind of song I enjoy, no matter who is playing it. At close to seven minutes of blues exploration, it overstays its welcome. The closing track to the album “In Memory…” is the second ballad of the album, this one of a truer character in that respect. It segues out of “Angry Heart” almost unnoticed apart from the softening of the mood of the track with the guitar closing to clear, and Glenn’s vocals rise to his beautiful ballad qualities that he is quite magnificent at.
Then comes the kicker. The second song on the album is the promotional single that was released, titled “No Stranger to Love”. If you are ever of a mind to do so, it is worth checking out the music video on YouTube and you’ll have an even better idea of how far away this is from being a Black Sabbath album. This is a pure power ballad, with every trick in the book that power ballads use to entice those that love these kinds of tracks into their web. And it is where this album loses a lot of listeners, because as the second track on the album it is so unexpected and so historically different. But here’s the thing - if you take it in the context that this ISN’T a Black Sabbath album, then you can judge it on face value, to like it or not like it. It is the major dividing song on this album, the one that truly sets itself apart from the track list. As discussed here it isn’t the only song that doesn’t necessarily fit the template that most want it to, but it is the major divisive one.
If you look at this purely as a solo album, does that cover up the large spindly cracks that being classed as a Sabbath album uncovers? No, it does not, and this song just goes to prove that. But approaching this as a solo release does at least give your ears the context they need to understand WHY it sounds so different to every other Sabbath album. Glenn Hughes is a brilliant vocalist, one of the greatest voices ever, and what he sings here is different from all other Sabbath vocalists. Anyone who has listened to the Iommi/Hughes album “Fused” from 2005 will know that these two can write and perform a thumping album. But this was 1986 and in an era that has its inherent problems.
“Seventh Star” was one of the first Black Sabbath albums I ever heard. This was mainly due to one of my best friends at the end of high school, who became particularly interested in the band during that time. As a result, he not only collected their albums in the same way I did – by having them taped for him by other friendly people onto blank C90 cassettes, but he also purchased this album on vinyl. He would often have it playing when I frequented his house, though initially I had trouble placing who the band was. It sure didn’t SOUND like Black Sabbath, musically or vocally. Once I had worked out the story behind the album, I made sure that he recorded it for me on my own C90 cassette that I offered him. This particular friend, who has been my brother-in-law now for over 30 years, remains a big fan of this album. I admire him for that in many ways.
I have had a difficult journey with this album over the years. I actually think that discovering it when I did has helped me accept it more than I might have had it been later on. At that time I was in the middle of two years where I was trying to discover and digest as much music in this new genre that I had found as I could, and anything remotely interesting I grabbed on to and listened to. And while this was certainly not as heavy as most of the music I was getting in to, it was still ‘labelled’ as Black Sabbath. And probably because I was enjoying bands such as Bon Jovi and Europe as much as I was Metallica and Iron Maiden at the time, I found I could listen to this and enjoy it as well. But I won’t deny that it wasn’t all that I hoped for. I first listened to this album a short while after finding “Heaven and Hell” and “Mob Rules” and “Paranoid”, so in comparison to those albums, it just wasn’t even in the same weight category. I listened to it and enjoyed it, but it was like comparing Dom Perignon to Blowhole Spumante (and that is a Kiama reference that most of you will not know, but I think will understand).
Why didn’t Glenn Hughes also play bass on the album? My guess is that his bass playing is too funky to incorporate into the songs Tony was writing, and that they needed a more mainstream style. But it also begs another question as to why this doesn’t sound like a Black Sabbath album. Because of Geezer Butler. As important and necessary as Tony Iommi is to making a Black Sabbath album sound like Black Sabbath – and a lot of Iommi’s guitaring here is fairly generic and his soloing is kept to a minimum, which given it is his greatest source of drawing in the fans is a little strange - I’ve always believed the same is true of Geezer Butler. Without his iconic bass sound, the songs lack the energy and drive to make them that good. Of course, this was not meant to be called a Black Sabbath album, was it?
If only this album could be re-recorded. Not now, of course, but if Iommi and Hughes had decided to do this all over again when they got back together in the mid-2000’s and added the kind of energy and power the songs deserved, this could be a far better and more enjoyable album. Just listening to it again this week, that much has been obvious. Better production, more passion in the songs. It wouldn’t have made it a world beater, but I think it would have found a way to better showcase the strengths that some of these songs do possess.
As one of two stand-alone albums away from the Ozzy Osbourne, Dio and Tony Martin eras of the band, “Seventh Star” suffers from mis-direction of the band name and the turmoil that went with the band members and tour that followed. Hughes was fired just six gigs into the tour and replaced by Ray Gillen, who if you listen to the remastered version of this album has the live songs from that tour, where Gillen sounds magnificent. Of course, he was then fired while recording the next album, so the turmoil had continued past this album.
My vinyl copy has been on my turntable in the Metal Cavern again this week, and I still enjoy listening to it. And as I am sure has become obvious over the course of this episode, I don’t listen to it as a Black Sabbath album. I listen to it as the first of the Iommi/Hughes collaborations, which eventually stretched to the 1996 DEP Sessions and then 2005’s “Fused” album. Songs like “In for the Kill”, “Turn to Stone” and “Danger Zone” are still as enjoyable to me as they were back in 1986. And yes, “No Stranger to Love” is still a completely average track. Yeah, look, I still sing along to it every time I listen to this album, but I feel dirty doing it. I love both Iommi and Hughes, but I still can’t abide by the power ballad. It is a conundrum.
If you take “Seventh Star” as a non-Sabbath album you will find it is worth a listen, flawed as it may be. There are pieces still worth a listen, even if it is as an historical reference. If you want to hear what Hughes and Iommi can REALLY do together, find a copy of “Fused”. It tears this to pieces.
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