Rock Champions

AMG Review of Rock Champions

Greg Prato
All Music Guide

The late '80s and early '90s weren't one of Black Sabbath's peak periods, as many longtime fans grew tired of Tony Iommi issuing albums under the Sabbath name, while being the only original member left in attendance. Perhaps if Iommi had released the albums from this era (1987's Eternal Idol, 1989's Headless Cross, 1990s TYR, 1994's Cross Purposes and 1995's Forbidden) as solo projects rather than Sabbath outings, they would have fared better. Case in point -- there are quite a few standout tracks from this era, as evidenced by such compilations as 2001's Rock Champions, which highlights tracks from several of the aforementioned albums. Iommi and singer Tony Martin served as the core during this time period (with session veteran drummer Cozy Powell appearing often as well), which many hardcore Sabbath fans consider to be one of the better non-Ozzy Osbourne or Ronnie James Dio-led lineups. While there's nothing of the magnitude of "Iron Man" or "Sweet Leaf" here, there are quite a few surprising standouts, such as "Heaven in Black," "Anno Mundi," "Get a Grip," and "Guilty as Hell." Too bad Ozzy and the other original Sabbath chaps weren't reunited with Iommi during this period -- it would have only strengthened the promising material here.