FORBIDDEN

"Forbidden" is the 18th full-length studio album by UK heavy metal act Black Sabbath. The album was released through I.R.S. Records in June 1995. After the short reunion with Dio and the subsequent release of "Dehumanizer (1992)", Black Sabbath reunited with the man Dio had replaced. Namely Tony Martin who was ready for another stint with the band. The first release was "Cross Purposes (1994)" which showed a more contemporary side of Black Sabbath and "Forbidden" is the successor to that album.

The music on "Forbidden" is heavy rock/metal as on any album by Black Sabbath but while I found the music on "Cross Purposes (1994)" of decent quality yet a bit mediocre, the music on "Forbidden" is downright bland and uninspired. The 7th track on the album, which has a bluesy feel to it, is called "Sick and Tired" and that actually says it all. This is most definitely a tired and trivial affair. Not only is the instrumental side of the compositions weak and filled with clichés but what´s even worse is that the vocals by Tony Martin are almost unacceptable at times. He sounds tired and hoarse. I expect much more from a vocalist of his caliber. I´m very disappointed about his performance here. But the vocal lines does have to take some of the blame here too. Again bland and uninspired. The inclusion of guest vocals by Ice T (Ice T, Body Count) on "The Illusion of Power" also comes off as rather embarrassing and what could have been a creative input just ends up in a song length of cringe worthy material. The sound production isn´t that well sounding either. It lacks punch and the sound on the vocals is odd.

I´d like to say something positive here but this is simply one of the worst albums recorded by Black Sabbath and while I was initially going to give it a 2 star (40%) rating I´ve thought it over and my rating has crawled down to a 1 star (20%) rating. Artists that can´t help it who release bad albums can be forgiven but established artists like Black Sabbath who release an album like "Forbidden" should not be let off the hook. "Forbidden" easily ranks along side "Seventh Star (1986)" as the worst album in Black Sabbath´s discography.