BLACK SABBATH – Seventh Star [Deluxe Edition Japan 2xSHM-CD miniLP] *HQ*

As requested, here’s BLACK SABBATH classic 1986’s album “Seventh Star” in its 2-disc Deluxe Edition, the Japanese release being pressing on SHM-CD.
Originally released on Warner Brothers 28 January 1986, ”Seventh Star” features original member Tony Iommi with ex-Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes, one time KISS member Eric Singer, plus Geoff Nichols on keys and bass player Dave Spitz.
This remastered & expanded reissue featured the album freshly remastered adding the U.S. Remix of the hit ‘No Stranger to Love’ single and also for the very first time on CD, a live performance from London’s Hammersmith Odeon in June ’86 which features then unknown American singer Ray Gillen on lead vocals, who was brought-in to complete the tour following the departure of Glenn Hughes due to illness.
The album was not intended to be a Black Sabbath record, but the first solo album by Iommi. Last-minute pressure from Warner Bros. stemmed from the belief that it was likely to sell more with the famous name.
Its sound is a drastic (and intentional) departure from the trademark Sabbath sound. With a typically mid-Eighties production sound many of the songs have a very melodic hard rock sound, while some contain a bluesy feel.
Whichever the case, “Seventh Star” is an a-w-e-s-o-m-e album.

Elsewhere, ‘Seventh Star’ is a clear product of its time and that often works well. ‘Danger Zone’ translates Iommi’s riffs to AOR with a fantastic vocal performance by Hughes, as does the vaguely Deep Purple-esque ‘Angry Heart’.
The classic semi-ballad “No Stranger To Love” shines with Glenn’s AOR injections for a stellar radio-ready hit. Sandwiching ‘No Stranger…’ you have bangers going totally opposite with “In For The Kill” and “Turn To Stone” which come close to ‘80s Judas Priest aesthetic.
There’s another ballad here, the dark and intense ‘In Memory. An you have Iommi blues side pushed to mid-Eighties rock filter that is ‘Heart Like a Wheel’, but even that track is interesting.
All of this is truly wonderful, and I don’t think there’s a single bad song on ‘Seventh Star’.

As bonus, we have the alternate version / US remix / Video version of “No Stranger To Love”, for decades impossible to find / never released on any format.
The remastering on this release is quite excellent. The drums have a fullness that wasn’t there before. The guitar absolutely sizzles.

The bonus CD / live show with Ray Gillen on vocals exists due to Glenn’s vocal and drug problems. Gillen was hired when it was clear that Hughes was in no shape to tour. This show was professionally recorded for FM radio broadcast back in the day, so quality is decent for current standards. It was widely traded in bootleg circles, but this has been remastered from the original radio tapes.
The vocals are absolutely outstanding, the guitar play is more domineering, the keyboards sound less straightforward and the rhythm section provides some much-needed energy for a live setting.
It really is great to have Ray Gillen on record here.

Discussions whether or not ‘Seventh Star’ should be seen as a Black Sabbath album are valid, but whether or not this is a good album is a completely different story. It sets out to be a great melodic hard rock album and it largely succeeds at that.
It’s unfortunate that this Iommi / Hughes original partnership (they worked again later on ‘Fused’) fell apart so shortly after the release of ‘Seventh Star’, because it would have been interesting to hear what else they could have come up with.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Disc 1: Seventh Star (remastered +1)
01 – In For The Kill
02 – No Stranger To Love
03 – Turn To Stone
04 – Sphinx (The Guardian)
05 – Seventh Star
06 – Danger Zone
07 – Heart Like A Wheel
08 – Angry Heart
09 – In Memory
Bonus Track:
10 – No Stranger To Love [Alt Version – U.S. remix]

Disc 2: Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1986, feat Ray Gillen
01 – Mob Rules (Live)
02 – Danger Zone (Live)
03 – War Pigs (Live)
04 – Seventh Star (Live)
05 – Die Young (Live)
06 – Black Sabbath (Live)
07 – N.I.B. (Live)
08 – Neon Knights (Live)
09 – Paranoid (Live)

Glenn Hughes – vocals
Ray Gillen – vocals (Live)
Tony Iommi – guitar
Dave Spitz – bass
Eric Singer – drums
Geoff Nicholls – keyboards
Gordon Copley – bass on “No Stranger to Love”

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