• AllMyVinyl #91
• Band: Black Sabbath
• Album Title: Forbidden
• Release Date: 5 Jun 1995 (UK)
• Date purchased: N/A
• Location purchased: Record Label
• Color of vinyl: clear
• Number of discs: 1
• Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | My Sabbath Website | Complete album on Youtube ]

FUCK – the song Kiss of Death is a killer track.  Still as awesome now as it was then.  I’ll get to the why of that later.

Today’s album is one that most people tend to dislike – even if they recognize it at all.  That’s the 18th overall studio album by Black Sabbath – 1995’s Forbidden.  This was the last hurrah for the Tony Martin era of Black Sabbath.  Most fans (especially the “No Ozzy No Sabbath” kind) tend to ignore this, and even those who did recognize it generally didn’t like it.  It was produced by Ernie C of the band Body Count, which itself was an odd choice.  I recall hearing at the time it was an attempt to “modernize” Sabbath in the mid 90’s, but the production mostly sounded flat almost from the get go.  That’s not to say say the album isn’t without merit, there’s some very good stuff on it, but overall it was a bit of a letdown.

At the time it was billed as the reunion of the Tyr lineup (it was), but it didn’t amount to much.  The label at the time (IRS) really did next to nothing to promote this and it really felt like the band was kind off on their own – this was borne out by my own personal experience.  I did see them on this tour, but the venue I saw them at was this really local hole in the wall place that held at most 1,000 when the place they had been playing for the last few tours that came through town (a 3,000) seater didn’t sell enough and they moved to this tiny venue.  That show was good for me because it was the only time I ever saw Cozy Powell live – in any band.  Sadly he didn’t do a drum solo.  I also really enjoyed Neil Murray’s playing.  In particular the song “When Death Calls” stands out as a highlight of that concert.  If you want to see how small this place was, click here to view the inside of it on Google Maps (one of the rare instances where the inside of a building I wanted to look at was available on Google Maps).  It’s amusing to me that there’s a bootleg from this show where you can hear me on the recording.  I was near some guy with a tape recorder, and that obviously is the source of the boot.  If you have heard the bootleg of the show from Philadelphia on the Forbidden tour (technically Upper Darby – The Tower Theatre), you can hear some moron screaming for “Kiss of Death” in-between songs.  That’s me.  Sadly they didn’t add it to the set list until the US tour was over, and they got to Europe.

Speaking of 1995, that comes to my original purchase of this album.  I of course was at the record store (Well, CDs pretty much in 1995)  – I was there the moment the store opened.  Went in and went to Sabbath, and Forbidden wasn’t there.  Checked around, nothing.  So I went to the counter and asked the employee about it.  I had them look in the computer to make sure they had some at all.  They confirmed that they were indeed scheduled to get it for today, but only a SINGLE BLOODY COPY was ordered for them – ONE.  for the entire store to sell.  Shows you how far Sabbath had fallen when the entire store had just a single copy for store shelves.  I asked if it sold, they said no, so I made them go into the box in the back from UPS which still had material to put out to get it as I wanted it.  I walked out with that  copy, leaving them with none.  On release day.  Kind of sad.  Always wondered if I sold them out of the album in the first 30 minutes of day one.  Given the obvious lack of respect, it wouldn’t shock me if that was the only copy that store EVER sold.

That was by far NOT my only copy – that original 1995 CD version (which I still have).  Within the next year or two someone who was a fan of my Black Sabbath Site (which itself started in the summer of 1995) was stationed in Japan was part of the US military.  He picked up a copy of the Japanese CD, which included the bonus track “Loser Gets It All”.  That track is more widely available now, but at the time it was pretty unheard of.  I still have that copy of the CD as well.  Vinyl wise, it was released on that format in 1995, but only in one country – Brazil (for some reason).  There are numerous copies of Forbidden on vinyl from back then, but the vast bulk of them are bootlegs.  Finding a TRUE honest to god original Forbidden print on vinyl from 1995 is exceedingly difficult.  I’ve never been able to do it. Somewhere in 2020 or 2021 I did acquire one of the bootlegs on vinyl from someone I traded a rare copy of Paranoid for.  Then in 2024, it came out in the Anno Domini box set – an honest to god legit (LEGAL!) print of Forbidden on vinyl.  After all this time.  Then later in 2024 the albums from that box were released individually – and that version is on clear vinyl (vs the black vinyl that was in the box set).   So I have a few copies of this album – there’s also the original 1995 cassette tape version which I still have as well.  So for an album that’s  considered their worst I have quite a few copies – 1 cassette, 4 CD’s (1 original, 1 Japanese original, 1 remixed CD from the Anno Domini CD box, and 1 individual CD remix not from a box), and 3 LPS (1995 bootleg, 2024 remix – black from box set, and 2024 clear vinyl remix individual release).  Technically I have a fourth vinyl, as I have a second copy of the Anno Domini box set – that one is remaining unopened, though.  I’ll actually be playing the clear vinyl remix from 2024 today, as honestly I’ve quickly grown to prefer the remix album to the original mix, and honestly the clear vinyl looks visually more interesting than the straight black one.

At the time this album was out new, I had just broken up with an ex girlfriend – she got knocked up by someone else, and these lyrics hit right around that time (Can’t get Close Enough, Shaking off Chains, I Won’t Cry For You). That’s a big reason why this is a big deal for me..  I once mentioned this to Tony Martin, and while he was appreciate of my love for the lyrics, he added “Unfortunately we needed about another million folks who thought like you to like it too, mate”.

Here’s some remarks about the individual tracks.  Most of this is taken from an article I wrote many years ago for my Sabbath site talking titled “Forbidden is a Good Album!”, but not all of it.  I’m also including remarks from 2024 relative to the remix and how it sounds different from the original mix.  A note about that.  If you get a chance to listen to this on vinyl AND can use headphones, do so. I think the remix feels better to my ears using headphones.  Anyway, to the tracks..

The Illusion Of Power – This is the only song on the album that doesn’t really do a whole lot for me. It’s not exactly “bad”, but this song strikes me as the one most heavily influenced by IceT & ErnieC. It’s also the answer to a trivia question; being “What is the only song in Sabbath’s history with a guest vocalist”? IceT’s “rap” in the middle of the song is interesting from a novelty standpoint, but not much else. I honestly wish they had picked a different song as the first one on the album.  Of course, it gets the “meh” song out of the way immediately. ;)

Illusion of Power remix remarks:

• Slightly different tone.
• Ice-T vocals mixed down just a little (not as out in front as before), and some accents that weren’t there overall.
• The ending of the song has some guitar bits that weren’t there originally.
• This doesn’t elevate it to being a great song, but the remix does help a bit in what was never really one of my favorite tracks.

Get a Grip – This song had commercial potential, and was the only song from the album that had a video made of it, and it was cartoon, no less. The song isn’t the most inventive musically in the band’s history, but for me, the simple riff works. Having said that I really enjoy the last minute of the song, as it goes into a kind of riff that I really like – it’s a hard driving simple one, but is really effective in conveying “power” and speaks to the mastery of Iommi’s licks, in that something so simple can be so damn effective. The song is about anti violence if I understand the lyrics properly, although I still don’t know what “Get a grip & shake the can” means lyrically.

Get a Grip remix remarks:

• Crunchier sound overall.
• Fade out lyrics slightly different than original.
• Overall, the remix didn’t change a ton here, one of the ones where it didn’t need as much changing yet still has a better overall sound (if that makes any sense at all)

Can’t Get Close Enough – This is the first of the super emotional songs for me. At the time, I was trying to get close to this woman, and it didn’t seem like anything I could do worked. Tried and tried (although Lord knows why, she was all wrong for me), and eventually broke through briefly, but I spent most of my time trying to convince her that she was worthy mostly of herself (as she had no self esteem, was not totally a very “with it” person). The music in this song is mostly pedestrian as Sabbath goes, but for me, it’s the lyrics of this song. It could be Iommi farting in tune with this one, and I’d love it because of the lyrics. This song *REALLY* hits home with me.

Close Enough remix remarks:

• Guitar intro reworked. Sounds similar, but different.
• Oh wow, the remix here is huge in the main part of the song.  It has a fatter and clearer sound overall as compared to the original.  Like that.  Like that A LOT.

Shaking off the Chains – The flipside of the last song. This too speaks to me about my relationship in 1995, but on the back end of it. Without boring you with my entire life story, when the relationship ended, it ended in a way that I couldn’t find anything left of my feelings for her (turned out she was pregnant by someone else when she left me). This song speaks more towards my anger and disappointment at what didn’t happen between us. Musically, it has a nice churning riff which I think goes well with the negative emotions displayed in the lyrics.

Shaking Off remix remarks: 

• Guitar intro more in your face than before.
• Martin’s vocals stand out far more than before.
• The “double echo” behind certain individual words Martin sings in the original chorus are gone.  That change is SUPER noticeable for me, since I know the original mix quite well.

I Won’t Cry For You – Another moody mostly slower song. It’s not a true “slow song”, but the understated but effective use of Tony Iommi’s guitars on here coupled with Tony Martin’s vocals make for a nice tapestry of emotion for me. This didn’t directly tie in to my emotional attachment to the songs on the Forbidden album, but it’s in the neighborhood. “Can’t Get Close” & “Chains” are the closest for me, but this sorta feels that way, but I think it’s more the music in this one than the lyrics.

I Won’t Cry For You remix remarks: 

• Neil’s bass more pronounced.
• Tony’s vocals are now echoed in chorus – he’s singing background for himself.
• The guitar solo feels different.
• In fact, this can hear the drums clearer too.
• Outro vocals feel different too.

Guilty As Hell – This is one of the weaker songs on the album for me. Nothing terribly special goes on lyrically for me here, and the song is just kind of “there”. Most people would probably call it a filler song; I don’t know if I’d go that far. I do like Cozy’s drumming in it for some reason. It’s not his best moment either, but it’s cool, and I do like the last thing you hear, the guitar “outro” thing at the absolute end of the song. Guilty as Hell does have one novel moment – it’s one of the two songs that I’m aware of in Sabbath’s back catalog that has the word “fuck” in the lyrics.

Guilty as Hell remix remarks: The vocals sound a bit more mixed than before, but overall this sounds the closest to the original of anything on the album. That’s not a bad thing, just pointing it out.. Not to say it’s identical, it’s been remixed too (some vocal echoing is here too).

Sick & Tired – or.. “Hey, Cozy Powell is on this album!!!” This song starts off with probably the only true “Cozy Powell” moment on the album, a nice drum intro before anything else gets going. There were interviews I read where Cozy said that he didn’t feel like this album was his best work, and I’d probably agree with that.  However, what makes this song really great for me is Tony Iommi’s guitar solo. For me, this is the most unique guitar solo he’s ever done in all the years I’ve been listening to him. Again, I’m no musician, so I can’t tell you technically what it is about it, but the playing – the texture just feels radically different to me, and I really liked it – I also loved the end of the song again, had a similar guitar “ending” like the last song did. At the time this song was new, I wondered if this song was lyrically about the situation Sabbath was in at the time insofar as not getting any attention. I realize that’s just me, but that’s what I thought.

Sick & Tired remix remarks:

• Cozy’s drum intro seems a bit enhanced here, and overall drum sound cleaner here.  The intro sounds like a fatter drum sound – I don’t know if it was a different take or what, but I like what was done with this.
• Guitar solo in middle seems less in front than it was before, can hear the rest of the band better here.
• The echo guitar effect at the absolute end of the song is GONE.  I LOVED THAT!  It’s gone, darnit!!  It’s probably my single most disliked change on the album – and it’s just one note really.  But still – I missed that!

Rusty Angels – Probably the most commercial song on the album – has a great hook. I really wish THIS was released as single instead of Get a Grip. Get a Grip was more simplistic, I feel this is a bit more complex in construction, and the main guitar riff here is very catchy, and I think would have worked better. Probably wouldn’t have gotten ’em a lot more attention, but I as a fan think this would have made a better single. I also think if this would have been released on one of the more popular albums, it would be a classic tune – if this song appeared on Headless Cross, I bet it would be one of the most popular songs to this day. A very overlooked gem in Sabbath’s catalog.

Rusty Angels remix remarks:

• The intro the song is noticeably different. I suspect some won’t like the change. Riff still the same, but sounds different if that makes sense (remix? New guitar recording? I’m just making shit up? ha)
• Chorus sounds more like the original than the intro does.
• As much as I thought Guilty as Hell sounds mostly the same, this one feels more changed. Once again, it’s not a new song, but this is VERY remixed.  Given the OG version was one of the best songs on the album, I’m not sure how this will be perceived, but I still like it.

Forbidden – The title track of the album usually is a song that stands out for some reason. When this album was not yet released, the working title was “The Illusion of Power”, and then it was changed to “Forbidden”. That indicated to me that the band liked the song for some reason, or at the very least the title. In listening to the song, it’s not the best on the album. It’s by far not the worst, but I wonder what the attraction is here. It does have a nice sound, especially in the choruses, it’s pretty enjoyable. Not my favorite, but when it’s on, I like it.

Forbidden remix remarks:

• The main guitar riff seems to have had its tone changed a bit. I wonder if Tony redid this?
• Guitar riff also has a secondary riff playing with it (new or just previously buried in mix?)
• This is also changed a lot in places.
• The middle part sounds totally different guitar wise.

Kiss of Death – Oh my god! BY FAR AND AWAY the best song on the album. This is absolutely perfect. It’s moody, has [censored] awesome guitars, great lyrics, and is just for me perfect in every way. There is no comparison to anything else on this album. And for me, this may be the best track in the entire Tony Martin era. I simply cannot say how strongly I love this song – I’d put it up with the all time best of Sabbath’s entire catalog. This is a song that in the slow opening and closing parts I can sit there with my eyes closed, and really be into this song. It has a wonderful power to it, that I wish more people could have seen, but it has the misfortune on being on an album that most people think is total crap. Again, I don’t know if I’m reading too much into this, but I always felt the song was big ol’ middle finger to those who counted Sabbath out and dead. I really was filled with a pride that I thought was felt by the band members about themselves. Again, that is likely myself imposing my own feelings about the song and the band upon lyrics that may fit that feeling. But dammit, that’s what the song means to me, so I’m sticking with it.  The song also ends the album perfectly with a “tick tock” sound that fades off into the distance – always loved that part.  Some time ago I actually sat down and managed to rank every single Black Sabbath song in history  and came up with a Top 20 of all time.  Kiss of Death ranked #9 on that list.

Kiss of Death remix remarks:

• Overall vibe is way heavier than before.  Always thought this was heavy, but it’s even moreso now.
• Once it gets to heavier guitar part about 3/4 of the way through the main riff feels a bit rearranged.
• Even the tick-tock at the end feels slightly different.

Loser Gets It All – To me, this is the second weakest song on the album. Nothing terribly excites me here. The only novelty I suppose is that it’s a track that most everyone hasn’t heard. It was available only on the Japanese version of Forbidden – and it did also turn up on 1996’s “Sabbath Stones” (which most people don’t even KNOW about). Again, it’s not like it’s a crappy song, but I don’t know if I’ve ever gone out of my way to say “Yeah – now that’s the song I want to listen to”. I’m sure some like it, but it doesn’t do anything for me. I also feel that as originally constructed Kiss of Death should have ended the album. Loser Gets it All doesn’t feel right as the last song on the album – I wish they had stuck it in the middle or something. In fact, as I listen to it now, it’s not actually all that bad, I think my irritation comes from the fact that I think Kiss of Death is SO perfect as an end of album song, that having this tacked onto the end annoys me – which means my irritation isn’t so much with the song, but with it’s placement. I might have to rethink my opinion on this one here.

Loser Gets it All remix remarks:  Well, I still don’t care for the song as much, but the remix gives it a fatter sound which is better than the original for sure.  The guitar solo part of the song feels a bit rearranged.  I do enjoy this more than I did in the original mix, but then I had a pretty low opinion of the original, so that wasn’t hard to improve on.

Thats it for this album.  The 2024 remix was a very VERY long time coming, but it was worth it, as overall it improves the album immensely.  As you can read above I always liked the album, but the remix makes it so much better.   I’ve written at length elsewhere about this album before.  I did a 25th anniversary article on the album for my Sabbath site which is quite detailed (and parts of this piece were culled from).  Please, take a look at it – it still holds up pretty well, even as we approach the 30th anniversary of the album next year.

Also, as side effect of the box set being released earlier this year the albums are available digitally now (Spotify, Apple Music, etc) where they never were before.  But as I’ve ranted about before, those places are like legal theft.  Go and buy the albums and play them as they should be played.

On physical media.  Do it – today.