Born Again (Black Sabbath Album) - Release, Reception and Influence

Release, Reception and Influence

The album was released in October 1983 and was a commercial success. It was the highest charting Black Sabbath album in the United Kingdom since Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and became an American Top 40 hit. Despite this, it became the first Black Sabbath album to not have any RIAA certification in the US.

The album received negative reviews upon its release. Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia gave the album one and a half out of five stars and wrote that the album has "gone down as one of heavy metal's all-time greatest disappointments". He also described such songs as "Zero the Hero", "Hot Line", and "Keep It Warm" as "embarrassing". Blender contributor Ben Mitchell gave the album one out of five stars and claimed that the music on Born Again was worse than its cover. Martin Charles Strong, the author of The Essential Rock Discography, wrote that it was "an exercise in heavy-metal cliche". However, Popmatters contributor Adrien Begrand has noted the album as "overlooked". The British magazine Metal Forces defined it "a very good album" even if "Gillan may not be the perfect frontman for the Sabs".

Despite the overall negative reception with critics; the album remains a fan favourite, for Author Martin Popoff has written that "if any album in the history of Black Sabbath is getting a new set of horns up from metalheads here deep into the new century, it's Born Again." Death metal band Cannibal Corpse have covered "Zero the Hero", and the group's former singer, Chris Barnes, has called Born Again his favorite Black Sabbath album. The song has also been cited as the inspiration for the Guns N' Roses hit "Paradise City". Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has called Born Again "one of the best Black Sabbath albums". In 1984, Ozzy Osbourne stated that the album was the "best thing I've heard from Sabbath since the original group broke up".

The album and supporting tour also inspired the parody film This Is Spinal Tap. Geezer Butler has said that he told the associate scriptwriter of the film the story of the band's performances with their "Stonehenge" stage props.

It was announced that Born Again will be re-released with bonus material on May 30, 2011 in the UK. There had been speculation that the album would be re-mixed before being re-released, but the album was only remastered due to the fact that the original multi-track tapes could not be located.