The Eternal Idol in Bloomington, MN

After years of playing a dispiriting game of musical chairs with various lead singers during the early '80s,
Black Sabbath
guitarist
Tony Iommi
finally stumbled upon a dependable frontman when he admitted relative unknown
Tony Martin
into the fold, thereby initiating the original heavy metal band's long awaited return to respectability -- if not chart-topping success.
Martin
joined the oft-interrupted sessions for what would become 1987's
The Eternal Idol
album already in progress, stepping in for an unreliable
Ray Gillen
when the latter moved on to
Jake E. Lee
's
Badlands
, and helping
Iommi
rescue an astonishingly solid long-player from the jaws of complete and utter chaos. As it turned out,
's powerful, muscular voice -- though bearing more than a passing resemblance to former singer
Ronnie James Dio
-- was ultimately the perfect foil for full-bodied heavy metal anthems like
"Hard Life to Love,"
"Glory Ride,"
and
"Born to Lose,"
which were built upon some of
's heaviest, most undeniable riffs of the decade. A hodgepodge of temporary backing musicians and short-lived producers somehow manage to fill in the gaps, and make
sound like a very cohesive LP. If anything, however, it's the ever-reliable
Geoff Nicholls
who embodies a third pillar of stability, by adding impeccable supporting keyboards throughout -- most notably to
"Ancient Warrior"
and the fantastically gloomy title track. And above all else,
contains a bona fide heavy metal classic for the ages in its monumental opener,
"The Shining,"
which
had been kicking around in demo form since 1984, and which, in its final glorious form, is rightfully considered one of
's greatest songs bar none, regardless of singer, era, or album sales. In tandem with the consistently stellar songwriting all around, there's no denying
's standing as quite possibly
's most underrated opus, and arguably their best without either
Ozzy Osbourne
or
Ronnie Dio
at the microphone. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia