This is the first album with Tony Martin. An underrated singer who partnered well with Iommi's writing at this time. Bob Daisley, who worked with Ozzy, plays bass on this album, and Eric Singer handles the drums. Keyboard boards are dialed up next to the more metallic chug of guitar that was metal enough for 1987. Tony Martin's voice is the prototype for what so many power metal bands would end up sounding like, as he held his own with the singers of the day, owing more to Dio than Halford or Dickinson. There is a darker quality to his voice that works. The more exotic chord progressions Tony dabbled in for the solo section work well, too.
The more Whitesnake-style rock of " Hard Life to Love' sounds a little more dated than the first two songs; perhaps the cock rocking swagger is the problem. Martin's voice has more of a husk to it here. Tony's guitar solo on "Glory Ride' might be great, but the song itself mainly suffers from production flaws of the day that find the more palm-muted guitar gallop behind the vocals and keyboards. 'Born to Love' has a dirtier bluesy guitar riff, but less vocal heft, which makes it feel more Dokken, so there is a fight to see which one is getting the most love in the studio on this album.
"Nightmare" works well enough for what they are doing here, it is clear the later albums with Martin would find things fitting more confidently in place, and this album has an element of these guys trying to figure out what they are doing here."Lost Forever" has a more 80s metal attack. The vocals sound more like everyone doing this sort of thing in '87. The title track is darker. and the doomiest song on the albun. Martin's voice is at its best when working with this sort of thing. I'll give this an 8.5, though this is not the worst Sabbath album; it falls short of even the post-Ozzy stuff up to this point.
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