Welcome back to Broken Records, the podcast that searches in all the right places to crown the very worst album in the history of music. We’ve got a biggie of a name this week as we look at Born Again, the 11th studio album from the inventors of heavy metal, Black Sabbath, released on the 7th of August 1983.

Sabbath basically dodged a bullet when original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne left the band and they were able to replace him with the equally enigmatic Ronnie James Dio. Dio recorded two albums with Sabbath, with 1980’s Heaven and Hell being considered as good as anything the band had ever put out. But when personal dynamics led to his departure in 1982, Sabbath were once again on the lookout for a new frontman. Enter former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan, a man who was highly influenced by Elvis and used to be in Jesus Christ Superstar, he didn’t quite look the right fit for a doomy, dark and menacing heavy metal band. And so it proved; though Gillan is a fine vocalist, he and the band struggled to gel creatively, and the result is this album, which also features one of the most eyeball abusing front covers in the history of music. To rub salt into the wounds, when the band went out to tour the record they were beset by problems, the main one being a massive Stonehenge stage set that they accidentally erected due to some incorrect measurements. Gillan was soon gone, but he leaves this fascinating album behind him. Question is; is it actually that bad?

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