Black Sabbath- "Born Again" - Black Sabbath's eleventh studio album and was released in 1983. It was panned by critics at the time of its release, but reached #4 in the UK charts as well as the top 40 in the U.S. and has gained a strong cult following among a number of fans.
The album cover, which featured the image of an infant with horns and vampire fangs, with a purple background, was designed by Steve Joule. He also handwrote the lyrics that appear on the inner bag. The deliberately lurid design was submitted by Joule in a vain attempt to be rejected from this design commission, as he was also retained on a lucrative contract by Ozzy Osbourne's organization for his sleeve designs. To Joule's horror and surprise, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler approved the image for the album. Gillan and Ward were not present when the decision was made, though they later noted that they hated the finished cover. Gillan reportedly hated the cover so much, that he threw a box of 50 records out a window. Joule reports that he was drunk and high on speed when he drew the finalized designs for the album.
The cover is hated by many fans, but also has a cult following (much as the album itself), most notably with Max Cavalera and Glen Benton both stating that it is their favorite album over. Chris Barnes of Six Feet Under also said he likes the artwork, stating; "It's really the birth of the Antichrist in a Pop Art way which is scary of sorts on a few different levels for me."
Notes:
The album also featured the vocals of Ian Gillan, former lead singer for Deep Purple. Gillan joined the band in 1983 to replace departed vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward returned to the band as a replacement for Vinny Appice, who had left with Dio to form the band Dio, and quit the band right before the 1983 tour.
In the US and Canada, the album has never officially been released on Compact Disc by Warner Bros. Records. It is only available as an import.
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