Forbidden
LABEL: Warner
U.S. RELEASE: June 5, 1995
PRODUCER: Ernie Cunnigan
PERSONNEL: Tony Martin (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Neil Murray (bass), Cozy Powell (drums), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards)
ALL OF SABBATH’S uncertainty about their role in modern music came to the fore on Forbidden. The band and management asked Ernie Cunnigan — a member of rapper Ice-T’s metal side-project, Body Count — to produce. Body Count had a serious profile, thanks to the controversy over “Cop Killer,” and the group maintained a dangerous air that Sabbath presumably wanted for themselves. Still, the ruse smacked of desperation. That said, Forbidden wasn’t bad. “Illusion of Power,” had its moments, including a guest rant from Ice-T. But that was it for Sabbath, studio albums-wise, for the next 18 years. The classic lineup reunited from 1997 to ’99 and again from 2004 to ’06 to play Ozzfest and tour the world, with a live album, Reunion, keeping the coffers full, and Sabbath were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in ’06. From 2007 to 2010, Iommi and Butler reunited with Dio and Appice to form a new band, Heaven & Hell, a world-class act that toured widely and released an excellent album, The Devil You Know, in 2009. Sadly, the group ended when Dio succumbed to stomach cancer in 2010.