Seventh Star is the twelfth studio album by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released on 20 January 1986 in the United States and on 17 February 1986 in the United Kingdom, it features founding guitarist Tony Iommi alongside musicians Geoff Nicholls, Eric Singer, and Dave Spitz, playing keyboards, drums, and bass, respectively, and Glenn Hughes as lead singer. The album was the group's first release without bassist and primary lyricist Geezer Butler, who left the band in 1984 after the Born Again tour. Seventh Star was originally intended as the first solo album by Iommi. Because of the pressures from Warner Bros. Records and the prompting of band manager Don Arden, the record was billed as Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi.
Despite the complications behind the album's production, it earned moderate commercial success and reaching number 27 in the UK and number 78 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Album information As was the case with its predecessor, Born Again, this album was not intended to be a Black Sabbath record. Last-minute pressure from Warner Brothers stemmed from the belief an Iommi solo record would be less successful. Its sound is a drastic, and intentional, departure from the trademark Sabbath sound. Many of the songs have a very hard rock sound, while some contain a bluesy feel (especially "Heart Like a Wheel"). Seventh Star was the first album to feature long-time keyboardist Geoff Nicholls as an official band member.
"It seemed to me like the band was on its last legs and my heart just went out to Tony," recalled former drummer Bill Ward. "I thought, 'God, how much more can he take?' or 'How much more does he want?'… What I saw was a great band I just felt was diminishing."
The promo-single and video version of "No Stranger to Love" had additional harmony vocals added by Hughes to make it more radio-friendly. Actress Denise Crosby was featured in the video.
A tour for the album featured Hughes only at the first few shows. He was fired five dates into the tour, and replaced by Ray Gillen, who completed the North American and European legs of the tour, though several dates in the US were cancelled. W.A.S.P. and Anthrax were opening acts on the North American tour.
Hughes has performed "No Stranger to Love", "Seventh Star" and "Heart Like a Wheel" at some of his live concerts. "I really like Seventh Star," Tony Martin told Sabbath fanzine Southern Cross, "mainly because I admire Glenn Hughes' voice."Southern Cross (ISSN 0966-5064), No.10, May 1993
Seventh Star was rereleased in Europe on 1 November 2010, as a two-disc special edition. Disc 2 includes a concert recorded in 1986, with Gillen on vocals. The single version of No Stranger to Love is a bonus track on disc one.
Reviews and reception
The album peaked at number 78 on the Billboard 200 chart. Some retrospective critical assessments of the album have been negative; for example, The New Rolling Stone Album Guide rated the release only two out of five stars.
However, critic Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic gave Seventh Star a mixed to positive review, praising what he saw as the "fiery tunefulness" that makes "aggressive hard rockers like 'In for the Kill', 'Turn to Stone', and 'Danger Zone' uncommonly catchy". However, he argued that the songwriting and vocal work fell flat on songs such as the album's title track. He stated generally that he found the release an "often misunderstood and underrated album".
Reviews from the period were more positive. A reviewer for the magazine Kerrang! gave Seventh Star a perfect score of five out of five.Kerrang!, January, 1986 issue
Track listing Standard edition
Recorded at Hammersmith Odeon in London on 2 June 1986, featuring Ray Gillen performing vocals.
South Korean edition
Personnel Personnel taken from Seventh Star liner notes.
Black Sabbath Tony Iommi – guitars Glenn Hughes – vocals Eric Singer – drums Dave "The Beast" Spitz – bass Geoff Nicholls – keyboards
Additional musician Gordon Copley – bass on "No Stranger to Love"
Production Jeff Glixman – production, engineering Scott Church – engineering assistance Greg Fulginiti – mastering Steve J. Gerdes – art direction, design Kevin Stapleton – photography
Release history Region Date Label United States 20 January 1986 Warner Bros. Records Europe 17 February 1986 Vertigo Records Japan March 1986 Nippon Phonogram South Korea May 1986 Vertigo Records United Kingdom 1996 Castle Communications United Kingdom 2004 Sanctuary Records United Kingdom 2010 Sanctuary Records/Universal Music Group United Kingdom 10 July 2026 BMG United States
Charts Chart (1986) Peakposition Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 88European Albums Chart31 Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) 10
Chart (2026) Peakposition Greek Albums (IFPI) 63
References
External links
Seventh Star entry at black-sabbath.com 20th Anniversary article about the album