Born Again is the eleventh studio album by Black Sabbath, released in August 7, 1983 in Europe through Vertigo and on October 4, 1983 in North America, through Warner Bros. It is the only album the group recorded with lead vocalist Ian Gillan, best known for his work with Deep Purple. It was also the last Black Sabbath album for nine years to feature original bassist Geezer Butler and the last to feature original drummer Bill Ward, though Ward did record a studio track with the band fifteen years later on their 1998 live album Reunion.
The album has received mixed reviews from critics, but was a commercial success upon its 1983 release, reaching No. 4 in the UK charts. The album also hit the top 40 in the United States. In July 2021, guitarist and founding member Tony Iommi confirmed that the long lost original master tapes of the album had been finally located, and that he was considering remixing the album for a future re-release.
Following the departure of vocalist Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinny Appice in 1982, Sabbath‘s future was in doubt. The band switched management to Don Arden (Sharon Osbourne‘s father) and he suggested Ian Gillan as the new vocalist. The band had considered vocalists such as Robert Plant and David Coverdale before settling on Gillan.
With Whitesnake on the verge of breaking up, Iommi was eager to form a new group with Coverdale and drummer Cozy Powell joining him and Butler, but Coverdale and Powell decided at the last minute to continue with Whitesnake. While Iommi has claimed that the band received an audition tape from a then-unknown Michael Bolton at this time, Butler claims no such thing happened and that Iommi concocted the story as “a joke”.
Born Again was a commercial success. It was the highest charting Black Sabbath album in the United Kingdom since Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973), and became an American Top 40 hit. Despite this, it was the first Black Sabbath album to fall short of RIAA certification. The Born Again album cover, depicting what Martin Popoff described as a “garish red devil-baby” is by Steve ‘Krusher’ Joule, a Kerrang! designer who also worked on Ozzy Osbourne‘s Speak of the Devil. It is based on a black-and-white photocopy of a photograph published in a 1968 magazine. Joule was said to have deliberately delivered a sub-par cover due to his involvement with and loyalty to the band’s former vocalist Osbourne.
Tracklist:
Side A
- Trashed
- Stonehenge (instrumental)
- Disturbing the Priest
- The Dark (instrumental)
- Zero the Hero
Side B
- Digital Bitch
- Born Again
- Hot Line
- Keep It Warm
Black Sabbath
Ian Gillan: vocals
Tony Iommi: guitars, guitar effects, flute
Geezer Butler: bass, bass effects
Bill Ward: drums, percussion
Additional musicians
Geoff Nicholls: keyboards
Credits
Steve Barrett: art assistant
Black Sabbath: producer
Robin Black: producer, engineer
Stephen Chase: engineer, assistant engineer
Paul Clark: co-ordination
Hugh Gilmour: liner notes, design, reissue design, original sleeve design
Ross Halfin: photography
Steve Joule: artwork, cover design
Peter Restey: equipment technician
Ray Staff: remastering
Chris Walter: photography
