The Eternal Idol

Warner Bros. Records released it on 8/11/87 for the American market.

The most problematic album recording in the history of Black Sabbath. Production started in Montserrat, with Jeff Glixman producing, and a line-up of Tony Iommi, Ray Gillen, Geoff Nicholls, Eric Singer and Dave Spitz, and ended in London, with Chris Tsangarides producing, and a line-up of Tony Iommi, Geoff Nicholls, Tony Martin and Bob Daisley guesting on bass. Band manager Patrick Meehan was also fired during recording.

A video was shot for "The Shining", with a stand-in bass player and Terry Chimes (of punk band The Clash) on drums.

"Nightmare" was originally intended for inclusion in the soundtrack of "Nightmare on Elm Street" (hence the title).

The cover depicts real people covered in bronze paint, to recreate an Auguste Rodin sculpture titled "Eternal".

An alternate title to the album was "Blood God".

"The Eternal Idol" was originally recorded with Ray Gillen but was redone with Tony Martin after Ray Gillen left the group. The only surviving part of Ray Gillen's voice on the released Eternal Idol album is some laughing on the track "Nightmare"

Although Dave Spitz receives credit in the liner notes for playing bass on the album, the bass sections were actually played by Bob Daisley.

Reissued on October 25th, 2010 in the UK as a Deluxe Expanded Edition with 2 bonus tracks:
10. Black Moon (3:39)
11. Some Kind of Woman (3:16)
and a second CD, featuring the Ray Gillen sessions for the same album:
1. Glory Ride (5:21)
2. Born to Lose (3:41)
3. Lost Forever (4:17)
4. Eternal Idol (6:48)
5. The Shining (6:30)
6. Hard Life to Love (5:20)
7. Nightmare (4:49)
8. Ancient Warrior (4:54)

Recording information:

Recorded at :
-Air Studios, Montserrat
-Air Studios, London
-Battery Studios, London

Identifiers:

Barcode: 042283270817