Black Sabbath - Tyr (1990) Reviews

Tyr is one of those Sabbath albums that's a bit hard to objectively talk about. Because on one hand, you have a massive group of people who consider any Black Sabbath album that doesn't involve Ozzy as something that the contributors to should kill themselves for; on the other, there's some overcompensation, viewing the Tony Martin albums as misunderstood masterpieces. As you can tell by the comparison I'm making, I'm more towards the latter than the former. 
It's sort of hard to find reason to genuinely hate this album unless you happen to hate big, bombastic sounds circa the late '80s. Iommi and friends treat this attempt at Norse-inspired metal with more gravitas than Manowar. Cozy Powell, who I've always heard filling other, bigger shoes, fills the air with a suitably thundering backing track. On an album generally leaning more towards the power/trad spectrum of the genre, Powell's more restrained, rockish hand does something to make it feel more like Sabbath.
Martin feels like he does a lot here that takes him out of Dio's shadow. He's front and center whenever he sings, but unlike Dio, there are times when he wisely has his voice blend in more with the overall texture of the music. Not in a muddy, but rather a pleasing way. One melody among many, each easily distinguished should you chose to.
I feel like the one big problem this album has is that it doesn't really leave a big impact afterwards. Outside of Odin's Court/Valhalla, none of the songs feel like something I would listen to outside of the context of this album. It also should have ended the album rather than being placed just before one/two songs. (depending on which version you have) That's nothing against those two songs, just that if you have an epic about Valhalla, it should either begin or end the album, any other way and it feels like it's an afterthought.
To repeat my opening statement. Tyr is a victim reality not conforming to expectations people have of Black Sabbath. It's not the best Black Sabbath album, but that's some very stiff competition. It's a fun little album that doesn't deserve to be demonized for not sounding like something else.

Unlike many people, I found some enjoyment in all of the 80's Sabbath albums. The Dio ones were clearly of the higher quality however each of the subsequent albums featured some great tracks & were well worth a few listens. It's a shame that they were generally held back by the inclusion of a few weaker songs as well. Their first 90's album "Tyr" was much the same. It's a mixed bag really. There are some really solid & anthemic heavy metal tunes here like opener "Anno Mundi (The Vision)", the fist-pumping "Jerusalem" & the epic "Valhalla". But then we also have a few tracks that don't really hit the mark at all like "Heaven In Black", "Feels Good To Me" & "The Law Maker". Strangely the album highlight for me is probably the seductive acoustic number "Odin's Court" which flows straight into "Valhalla" in what is the clear climax of the album. All faults considered there's certainly still enough quality to make "Tyr" a worthy purchase for heavy metal fans but it's a little frustrating that the band have yet again failed to put together a full album of high grade material. I think their previous album "Headless Cross" was probably a touch more consistent than this one but there's not much in it. Another decent Black Sabbath record that pulls up just short of where I'd like it to be.