DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan discusses his feelings toward the BLACK SABBATH album he sang on
Speaking with Spain’s RockFM, Gillan was asked to confirm the rumor that he physically broke 1983’s BLACK SABBATH album “Born Again“, upon hearing it for the first time. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I didn’t break it. I threw it out the window of my car. [Laughs]
“Look, I was disappointed,” he explained. “I didn’t have the mentality of all the guys in BLACK SABBATH. I loved it. I had a fantastic year; it was insane. But when we finished the mixes… I still have a cassette at my home of the monitor mixes of ‘Born Again‘, and it sounds fantastic — just on a cassette. And that’s the last thing I heard in the recording studio. When I heard the album, I went, ‘What is this?’ The bass rumble was a bit too much for me.
“There’s a famous line in a famous movie called ‘This Is Spinal Tap‘ that has two or three references to BLACK SABBATH in it,” Gillan added. “And I don’t know where these may have come from [laughs], but one of them was ‘This album is unplayable on American radio,’ because of the bass end. And so it was — unplayable on the radio.
“I was disappointed in the final production mix,” Ian continued. “I don’t know what happened between the studio and the factory, but something happened. So that was a disappointment. Having said that, I love some of the songs on there. And ‘Trashed’ is one of my favorite rock and roll songs of all time, and even more so because it’s a completely true story. [Laughs]”
The legendary vocalist also discussed his experiences on the road with BLACK SABBATH, saying: “I was with BLACK SABBATH for a year and I sang Ozzy Osbourne songs as well as the songs from ‘Born Again‘. And I never felt right doing that. It was great — I could sing them okay — but I didn’t sound like Ozzy. There was something not quite right.”
“Born Again” arrived in August of 1983 and was the only record to feature Gillan as well as the final LP with original BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward.