Tyr (2024 Remaster)

An underrated gem from the end of the wonderfully bombastic and very uncool 80s period of heavy metal and hard rock. Many classic albums were forged in the decade; this will rightly never be classed as such but it began the troublesome and musically sterile 90s well. And it stands up pretty well today. As a fan of the Tony Martin era of Sabbath I am slightly biased but while never reaching the heady heights of much of their back catalogue it is a cohesive and serious collection of well written tracks.’Anno Mundi’ kicks it all off perfectly. I first heard this on a friend’s sister’s stereo in 1990 when I was still a wee teenager and the album was ‘new’. Nobody at the time seemed to like it but the very chunky opener clinched it for me and I rushed out to buy the cassette (which was the preferred form of print back in the olden days). It’s a classic in my eyes. ‘The Lawmaker’ on the other hand is not as good. It’s ok but there are no hooks or anything outstanding to make it worth future listens. ‘Jurusalem’ is another strong contender for personal classic. It is catchy and heavy and perfectly 80s sounding. ‘The Sabbath Stones’ goes on a bit and is slightly better than just ok. ‘The Battle of Tyr’ is more of an interlude but it adds to the tone of the album which is consistent throughout. It’s great theatre.’Odin’s Court’ is a lovely ‘kind-of’ ballad, very short but again keeps the tone of the album well. And it segues straight into the awesome monster that is ‘Valhalla’. This is another of the outstanding tracks here, but it is sadly the last. ‘Feels Good to Me’ is a nice little mid-paced rocker but it’s not excellent. And ‘Heaven in Black’ is very good but lacks something that should have moved it into classic territory, especially with such a great title.As a whole I’ll give it 5 stars as it’s more of a personal favourite, but as a piece of music it still stands up very well and is probably a 3 star effort on its own merits. But I love it.Just a short (!) N.B. concerning the price of the different issues by different sellers (at the time of writing November 2010). The edition I purchased was the 1990 but there is also a more recent 2008 version. The price I paid was reasonable for an out of print CD but still fairly high, but I REALLY wanted it and I was lucky as the used copy I received was in excellent condition. I would not have paid the £50 plus that others are charging for the 2008 edition. If you are thinking of purchasing, wait for a seller to charge between £10 or £20 as this is sufficient.

Great mix. Much improved. Seems to restore bass and keys. That were pushed to the background. On the original IRS release.

Ho usato la prima strofa del secondo pezzo “The Lawmaker” per spiegare cos’è artisticamente questo album per me: un dono di Dio (non Ronnie James però…).Terzo disco col bravissimo Tony Martin alla voce, per i miei gusti se la gioca con “Headless Cross” per la palma del migliore della Martin-era.Uscito nel 1990 ricordo che all’epoca sbagliando lo sottovalutai forse influenzato troppo da quello che sentivo in giro dai “duri e puri” del metal, l’ho recuperato poi negli anni a venire e sono molto felice di averlo fatto, voto 9/10.Per quanto riguarda il CD è usato ma tenuto benissimo, cercavo proprio questa prima versione e finalmente l’ho trovata ad un prezzo “umano”, visto i prezzi che ci sono in giro per questo lavoro, è evidente che il venditore gli ha cambiato la case forse perché era troppo rovinata, ma il disco e il libretto interno con i testi sono impeccabili, quindi sono soddisfatto al 100%.