Former Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin recently spoke about the announced plans to reissue the albums he recorded with the band. He made an appearance on “The Rock And Metal Profs: The History And Philosophy Of Rock And Metal” podcast.
Tony Martin wants Eddie Van Halen session to be included
He was asked as to when the fans can expect to see the box set released, Martin said:
“I don’t know. As always with Black Sabbath, you don’t get a lot of information, to be honest; they keep things close to their chest. They don’t sort of say anything, especially if you’re in the band — they don’t tell you anything if you’re in the band. All I know is that it’s happening.”
He continued: “I know that two record labels are releasing it. I don’t know when, and I don’t know what it’s gonna look like. There was some suggestion a while back that we might be able to put extra tracks and stuff on it. I did offer, and I went to see [Black Sabbath guitarist] Tony Iommi and offered some things. And then he said we can’t use anything new ’cause nothing new can be released under the Black Sabbath name. It can only be stuff that’s got the original four members on it.
“I’m expecting it to be a remixed version of whatever the original was; that’s what I’m expecting,” Tony added. “So I await as you do to find out. Let me know if you hear it first.”
When the interviewer expressed hope that the box set will include some live recordings from the Martin era of Sabbath, either in audio or video format, Tony said: “I recorded the writing session with… Eddie Van Halen came over and helped us write one of the tracks [for 1994’s ‘Cross Purposes’ album]. And I had an eight-track recorder at the time in the 1980s, and I used to take it everywhere, this thing. I’ve got all of the writing sessions and rehearsals recorded. So I sent [Iommi] this, and he went, ‘Wow! That’s f***ing great.’ And I said, ‘Well, you’re welcome to use it, if you wanna put that on.’ So, I don’t know… Maybe you’ll get that on there.”
Martin added: “It’s great to hear Eddie play.”
Black Sabbath released six albums with Martin on vocals: “The Eternal Idol” (1987),”Headless Cross” (1989),”Tyr” (1990),”Cross Purposes” (1994),”Cross Purposes Live” (1995) and “Forbidden” (1995). Eventually, Martin and his “Forbidden”-era bandmates were ousted when Iommi reunited with Sabbath fellow original members.
Speaking about Eddie, previously, it was noted how Eddie had discussed going to Germany and Switzerland for lung cancer treatment to make himself a ‘guinea pig’ in a desperate attempt to prolong his life in text messages with the fan named Blair. One procedure, Eddie said in a text, “felt like two hands digging a 44-magnum bullet out of my chest.” He had died of a stroke at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, on October 6, 2020, at the age of 65.
