(This makes more sense putting it here than on the site where old threads cannot be sensibly reactivated as they always slip again from sight among all the new stuff.)
I’ve received the new remaster of Seventh Star, an album that means so much to many people here and on which I have commented somewhat unkindly in the past. I’ve listened to it on rotation over the last few days going out of my way and herewith readjust my judgement somewhat: It’s a well-made and -sounding album, Glenn sings as well as Iommi plays guitar on it. I still think it’s rather conservative for 1986 though (the date of its first release), coming after such forward sounding albums as Born Again and Hughes Thrall on Tony’s and Glenn’s part. And while Glenn sings excellently on it, it’s not really the real Glenn we’re hearing because both the lyrics and the vocal melodies are Tony’s (who has a sense for melody and his lyrics aren’t inane either).
The remaster? Courtesy of a Mr Barry Grint, you haven’t heard either Glenn’s voice or Tony’s guitar as crisp and direct as on this remaster. I compared it to both he the original 1996 CD release (remastered by Ray Staff) and the 2010 double CD edition (remastered by Andy Pearce & Matt Wortham). In a nutshell:
The 1996 first CD release remaster sounds a little dull and muffled and not very substantial in the bass frequencies department.
The 2010 remaster boosts those bass frequencies no end, but doesn’t bring out the mids and highs either.
The current remaster curbs the subwoof mania of the 2010 remaster again and for the first time clears up the remaining frequencies of the sonic landscape. (No worries, David Spitz’ bass is still plenty audible, this isn’t Rising! )
So if you like to hear the two main protagonists more clearly and the whole album like there was no blanket lying over it, then the Grint remaster will make you happy. But if you prefer your Sabbath soup thick as lava with doomy bass frequencies all over, then it’s perhaps best for you to stick to the Pearce/Wortham 2010 remaster.
BTW: There are no comments/liner notes AT ALL in the flimsy and lovelessly done booklet of the new release, quite unlike the two previous releases. That is a real letdown if you ask me and cheapens the release.
Thanks Uwe for the Seventh Star review of those remasters. Mine is the original cd release, same as the vinyl I guess. The booklet with lyrics etc, 1986. It is a pretty ‘dry’ recording, intentionally so as it was intended to be a solo album, not many overdubs etc. I would probably go for the latest remaster by the sound of it, the better one and as technology improves rightly so. As I have the original booklet with lyrics etc, that wouldn’t be a problem for me not having any of that on the new release. In regard to Rondellus, yes what a wonderful way to pay tribute to ‘modern’ day rock music, I really enjoy that take on some of Sabbath’s finest 70’s songs. The more I hear that and I don’t listen to it often, the more it draws me in deeper and deeper. Most probably not available to purchase, new that is, there may be copies available out there. I have a copy of it on cd from way back when it was initially available online. Here is Joe’s report on it, from all those years ago. Love the lyrics in Latin, it is an ‘authentic’ way to cover a band’s music to my way of thinking. I don’t listen to other rock bands covering another band, It has to be different for me to have any interest. It can take a while to get used to, but it works brilliantly if you know the songs. Cheers
Couldn’t you found a monastery on Tasmania, MacGregorian Brothers of Solitude or something, and you could then sing this stuff all day? After a suitable medical procedure for the real high parts? Now don’t be squeamish, real art needs sacrifice!
Good idea Uwe, I could become the head Eunuch, in charge of all the other eunuchs. Record a full album of falsetto songs dedicated to Karin. Word has it that she adores those high end male vocalists big time. I suppose I had better place a warning notice on the album cover, as in ‘not to be played to domesticated animals at extreme volume levels because of possible hearing damage’. It is Anton I am concerned about, he he he. Karin playing the album at ‘eleven’ on the volume dial with her headphones on, no worries at all. At least I would be the last thing Karin ever heard, that has to be worth something? Cheers.
Yesterday I bought the 2026 remastered version. Oh my God!!
Today..
They forgot the bass! Suddenly I noticed it at the moment I put the disc on!! A waste of money, huge disappointment. Now I’m listening to the original to come to my senses..
Just as I thought, some people prefer the more doomy, billowing sublows sound of the 2010 remaster!
That of course came at a price, the new remaster puts Tony’s and Glenn’s contributions much more to the forefront and there is more detail. But I’ll grant you that it doesn’t sound all that “sabbath-y”.
Thanks AndreA, maybe I will stick to my original cd as I have always enjoyed that sound. Tony Iommi and or the producer(s) involved has a bad habit of having too loud a guitar and also the lead vocal on certain ‘Sabbath’ related projects to my ears. Sabotage and Born Again are terrible examples that. Some people may like that, butI much prefer an even mix. Nothing more annoying than guitars that are already powerful enough, being pushed to the fore, vocals also. Any instrument of that matter. Cheers.
The other thing we have to remember with The Seventh Star recording is that the Peruvian marching powder had a fair bit of say in that album. Some people involved with it and their perceptions may have been a little awry. Considering all that it is a pretty decent effort overall. Cheers.
Not a scratch on the final version and how Glenn sang it. That bluesy wailing doesn’t do it for me. Jeff Fenholt, the former Broadway singer (Jesus Christ Superstar for 12 years)
I have never heard that before, thanks Julio. Is Jeff Fenholt over singing, yes it sounds like it. At least it gave Iommi the basis of where to go with the song once Hughes was involved. Strange hearing another singer after four decades and also a slightly different arrangement and the lyrics too at times. Cheers.
Is sounds Survivor-ish, and maybe that could have fared better in the mid-80s American market?
Yet another “what if”, but then again if we added the “what ifs” of the combined Purple and Sabbath sagas, the Multiverse would probably collapse by lack of RAM memory!!!
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