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Cross Purposes

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Cross Purposes
Studio album by
Black Sabbath
Released31 January 1994[1][2]
Recorded1993
StudioMonnow Valley Studios (Rockfield, Wales)
GenreHeavy metal
Length47:27
LabelI.R.S.
ProducerLeif Mases, Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath chronology
Dehumanizer
(1992) 		Cross Purposes
(1994) 		Forbidden
(1995)

Cross Purposes is the seventeenth studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath, released through I.R.S. Records on 31 January 1994. The album marked the return of Tony Martin as the band's lead vocalist, after the second departure of Ronnie James Dio.

In 2024, a remaster of the album was announced as part of the box set Anno Domini 1989–1995, marking the first time the album has been officially reissued. The CD edition of the album contains the Japanese bonus track "What's the Use?".[3]

Background and recording

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Dehumanizer saw the reunion of Mob Rules-era Black Sabbath, but, after the tour, Ronnie James Dio (vocals) and Vinny Appice (drums) departed. They were replaced by former Sabbath vocalist Tony Martin and former Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli. Geezer Butler remained with the group, although he would depart later in the year again before the recording of the Forbidden album. Rondinelli left the recording sessions for Quiet Riot's album Terrified to join Black Sabbath. The album was recorded at Monnow Valley Studio, in Wales.[4]

Songs

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Tony Martin explained during the show at Roseland in NYC on February 12, 1995, that "Psychophobia" was about David Koresh, and the Waco, Texas, incident.[5]

A promo video in black-and-white was shot for the song "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle". Tony Martin explained in a 2011 interview with Martin Popoff that he wrote this song about Beverly Allitt, a children's hospital nurse in England who was convicted of serial infanticide in 1993. The video features a young girl, assumably in reference to this.[6]

The song "Cardinal Sin" was originally intended to be titled "Sin Cardinal Sin" (or "Sin, Cardinal Sin") but a printing error on the album sleeve caused the first word to be removed. Sabbath simply adopted the title "Cardinal Sin" as the name of the song.

"What's the Use?" was released only on the Japanese edition of Cross Purposes, which also contained a free sticker of the artwork. A nearly identical version of the "burning angel" image was featured on the Scorpions single Send Me an Angel three years earlier.

Reception

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Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Entertainment WeeklyD[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Select[10]

Bradley Torreano of AllMusic rated the album 3 stars out of 5, praising it for bridging various aspects of the band's different eras. He said it was "the first album since Born Again that actually sounds like a real Sabbath record" and "probably the best thing they'd released since The Mob Rules, even with the filler tracks and keyboards."[7] In July 2014, Guitar World magazine ranked Cross Purposes at number six in the "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[11]

Sales

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The album peaked at number 122 on the US Billboard 200 charts but made it to number 41 on the UK album charts.[12] In both Finland and Sweden, the album hit #9.

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Witness"Tony Iommi, Tony Martin, Geezer Butler4:56
2."Cross of Thorns"Iommi, Martin, Butler, Geoff Nicholls[a]4:32
3."Psychophobia"Iommi, Martin, Butler3:16
4."Virtual Death"Iommi, Martin, Butler5:49
5."Immaculate Deception"Iommi, Martin, Butler4:15
6."Dying for Love"Iommi, Martin, Butler, Nicholls5:53
7."Back to Eden"Iommi, Martin, Butler3:57
8."The Hand That Rocks the Cradle"Iommi, Martin, Butler4:31
9."Cardinal Sin"Iommi, Martin, Butler, Nicholls4:20
10."Evil Eye"Iommi, Martin, Butler, Nicholls, Eddie Van Halen[b]5:58
Bonus track on Japanese edition & 2024 remaster
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."What's the Use"Iommi, Martin, Butler3:03

Personnel

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Black Sabbath
Additional musician
Technical personnel
  • Leif Mases – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Darren Galer – assistant engineer
  • Dave Somers – assistant engineer
  • Tony Cousins – mastering

Charts

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Chart (1994) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13] 23
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] 85
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[15] 9
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 32
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[17] 32
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 41
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 41
US Billboard 200[21] 122

Notes

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The angel artwork depicted on the cover originally appeared on the 1990 single Send Me An Angel by the German hard rock band Scorpions.

  1. ^ Nicholls is uncredited on the original release of the album but is credited on the 2024 box set Anno Domini 1989–1995
  2. ^ Van Halen is uncredited as a co-writer due to restrictions from his label, Warner Bros. Records

References

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  1. ^ "Black Sabbath - Cross Purposes".
  2. ^ Cross Purposes (press advertisement). I.R.S. Records. 1994. Archived from the original on 5 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ Blabbermouth (21 March 2024). "BLACK SABBATH: Box Set Of TONY MARTIN-Era Recordings, 'Anno Domini 1989-1995', To Arrive In May". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Blabbermouth. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  4. ^ Stolz, Nolan (2017). Experiencing Black Sabbath: A Listener’s Companion. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 173. ISBN 9781442256910.
  5. ^ Live recording February 15, 1994, Youtube.
  6. ^ Popoff, Martin (2011). Black Sabbath: Doom Let Loose: An Illustrated History. Da Capo Press.
  7. ^ a b Bradley Torreano (8 February 1994). "Cross Purposes - Black Sabbath | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  8. ^ Frost, Deborah (11 February 1994). "Cross Purposes Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Black Sabbath: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  10. ^ "Black Sabbath: Cross Purposes Review".
  11. ^ "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". GuitarWorld.com. 14 July 2014. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  12. ^ "Billboard album chart history-Black Sabbath". Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  13. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Black Sabbath – Cross Purposes" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  14. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Black Sabbath – Cross Purposes" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  15. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  16. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Black Sabbath – Cross Purposes" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  17. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  18. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Black Sabbath – Cross Purposes". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Black Sabbath – Cross Purposes". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  20. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  21. ^ "Black Sabbath Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
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