Whether fairly or not, Black Sabbath’s Born Again is one of the most maligned albums in heavy metal history. Its creation was legendarily chaotic, with the band losing beloved singer Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinnie Appice in the months leading up to it. It wasn’t supposed to be a Sabbath record, but management forced Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and a returning Bill Ward’s hand. Then the shit sandwich got its perfect accoutrement with that horrific front cover.
It seemed that the forefathers of heavy metal music only had one thing going for them in 1983. Following Dio’s departure (a result of creative tensions with his former bandmates), they were able to get a hold of Ian Gillan for the vacant frontman slot. The vocalist was famed for a brief but seminal stint as Deep Purple’s singer from 1969 to ’73, during which time he sang on the classic In Rock and Machine Head records. A solo career with The Ian Gillan Band (later simply Gillan) had flatlined, and he saw potential anew with Birmingham’s premier riff masters.
