The Sabbath Stones

Updated on Nov 05, 2023

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Released 29 April 1996 Length 79:59 Artist Black Sabbath Label I.R.S. Records		Recorded 1983–95 Producer Various (see below) Release date 29 April 1996 Genre Heavy metal

The Sabbath Stones (1996) The Best of Black Sabbath (2000) Similar Tony Martin albums, Heavy metal albums

The sabbath stones the sabbath stones

The Sabbath Stones (1996) is a compilation album of Black Sabbath songs taken from albums ranging from 1983's Born Again to 1995's Forbidden. It was never formally released in the US or Canada, and was the last album to be released by Black Sabbath with I.R.S. Records.

The sabbath stones headless cross

Album information

It was created solely to fulfill Tony Iommi's contract with I.R.S. It included a short story about Black Sabbath which had some mistakes. Another mistake was the misspelling of Vinny Appice's name on the front cover of the CD as "Vinnie", a mistake which also appeared on both the Mob Rules and Live Evil sleeves.

The era covered by the album is considered to be the "third era" of Black Sabbath. After the initial line-up with Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward broke up the band's reformation with Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice formed the second era. Thereafter, line-ups were far less stable, with band members repeatedly coming and going, with many returning. This period is generally the least popular among Black Sabbath fans without Ozzy or Dio on vocals, although Dio's vocals are featured on the Dehumanizer album, with "TV Crimes" being taken from that album.

The version of "Headless Cross" that appears on this album starts with the last few seconds of the track "The Gates of Hell" (Which precedes "Headless Cross" on the Headless Cross album) before the opening drum line.

‘Loser Gets It All’, according to the liner notes in the album, was supposedly one of Tony Iommi’s favorite tracks to both perform and write. It was recorded during the Forbidden sessions, but only appeared on the Japanese version of the album.

Personnel

Tony Iommi – guitars - All tracks

Geoff Nicholls – keyboards - All tracks

Tony Martin – lead vocals - Tracks 1-4, 6, 7, 9-13, 16

Ronnie James Dio – lead vocals - Track 8

Ian Gillan – lead vocals - Track 14

Glenn Hughes – lead vocals - Track 15

Cozy Powell – drums - Tracks 1-7, 11-13

Vinny Appice – drums - Track 8

Bobby Rondinelli – drums - Tracks 9-10

Bill Ward – drums - Track 14

Eric Singer – drums - Track 15, 16

Laurence Cottle – bass - Tracks 1-3

Neil Murray – bass - Tracks 4-7, 11-13

Geezer Butler – bass - Tracks 8-10, 14

Dave Spitz – bass - Track 15

Bob Daisley – bass - Track 16

Guest musicians

Brian May – guitar solo - Track 2

Producers

Tony Iommi & Cozy Powell – Tracks 1-7

Mack for Musicland GmbH – Track 8

Leif Mases/Black Sabbath – Tracks 9, 10

Ernie C. – Tracks 11-13

Robin Black – Track 14

Jeff Glixman & Chris Tsangerides – Track 15

Jeff Glixman & V. Cooper – Track 16

Songs

1Headless Cross6:32
2When Death Calls6:56
3Devil & Daughter4:44

References

The Sabbath Stones Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA