Seventh Star

The twelfth album by Black Sabbath and the first without Geezer Butler, “Seventh Star” was the start of truly dark time for the band. The album was intended as a solo album by last remaining original Sabbath member Tony Iommi (hence why the album is more or less a blues record and not a metal album). But the band’s label Warner Brothers refused to release the album unless it was released under the Black Sabbath name (first printings of the album attempt a compromise: titling it “Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi” but later prints were just “Black Sabbath”).

Per label pressure, the album was retooled to feature the vocals of Glen Hughes of Deep Purple; however, Hughes was fired shortly after the band went on tour to promote the album and replaced with Ray Gillen. The group released a single video to promote the album (“No Stranger To Love”) which gained minor fame at the time of it’s release, as actress Denise Crosby (who starred in the video) was hired as part of the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” after filming the video for the band. The tour promoting the album was also heavily discussed in Anthrax’s episode of “Behind the Music”; Anthrax was hired to serve as the group’s opening act and discusses the negative reaction from themselves (and of metal fans who attended shows on the tour) with what considered an “In Name Only” version of Black Sabbath.

Though widely reviled by fans and disowned by Iommi, “Seventh Star” was a moderate commercial hit and ultimately reached #78 on the Billboard 200 album chart.