Black Sabbath "Tyr (1994 Reissue, USA, I.R.S. Records, X2 130479)"

Tyr (/ˈtɪər/) (stylized as ᛏᛉᚱ) is the fifteenth studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath, released on 20 August 1990 by I.R.S. Records.

The album title, and several song titles, allude to Norse mythology, which led many to call Tyr a concept album, although bassist Neil Murray dispelled that in 2005, stating that while many of the songs may seem loosely related, very little of the album has to do with mythology and it was not intended to be a concept recording.

In 2024, a remaster of the album was announced as part of the box set Anno Domini 1989–1995, marking the first time the album has been officially reissued. The 2024 remaster was also released as a stand alone CD and vinyl on 15 November 2024.

The album’s departure from the darker lyrics of Headless Cross was discussed by Tony Iommi in his 2012 autobiography Iron Man: “For our next album, Tyr, we went back to the Woodcray Studios in February 1990, with me and Cozy producing it again. On Headless Cross, Tony Martin had just come into the band and he assumed, oh, Black Sabbath, it’s all about the Devil, so his lyrics were full of the Devil and Satan. It was too much in your face. We told him to be a bit more subtle about it, so for Tyr he did all these lyrics about Nordic gods and whatnot. It took me a while to get my head around that.” The album was originally intended to be titled Satanic Verses but Tyr was chosen instead to disassociate it from the dark themes of the previous album.

This album represents possibly the most dramatic departure from Black Sabbath’s traditional sound, with only traces of it found in the occasional riff. The production has been criticised by some (who claim Cozy Powell’s drums drown out most of the other instruments) and praised by others, who note that this is one of Sabbath’s heaviest albums and perhaps the most prominently reliant on keyboards by the perennial fifth member, Geoff Nicholls.

The band have stated that while they do not disown or regret the song “Feels Good to Me”, it was put on the album solely to be released as a single and does not fit in musically with the rest of the record. The Tyr tour never made it beyond UK & Europe and consisted of around 50 shows total.

Geezer Butler, Ian Gillan and Brian May made guest appearances on the European leg of the Tyr tour; Butler and May appearing during the encore of the show performed on 8 September 1990 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

In Norse mythology, Týr is the god of single combat and heroic glory, and the son of Odin. The runes on the cover, ᛏ, ᛉ, and ᚱ are taken from the Rök runestone in Sweden. The middle rune, algiz, is transcribed as the modern letter x or z, not y.

The only track to feature on post-Tyr tours was “Anno Mundi”, e.g. on the Cross Purposes Live VHS/DVD. Tony Martin re-recorded “Jerusalem” for his 1992 solo album Back Where I Belong. The Black Sabbath line-up that recorded Tyr would reunite to record their eighteenth studio album, Forbidden, in 1995. Frontman Heri Joensen of Viking metal band Týr claims to have been influenced by the album cover when designing his own band’s logo.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Tony Martin; all music is composed by Tony Iommi, Tony Martin, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, Geoff Nicholls.

Standard edition

1. "Anno Mundi" 6:12
2. "The Law Maker" 3:53
3. "Jerusalem" 3:59
4. "The Sabbath Stones" 6:46
5. "The Battle of Tyr" (instrumental) 1:08
6. "Odin’s Court" 2:42
7. "Valhalla" 4:41
8. "Feels Good to Me" 5:44
9. "Heaven in Black" 4:05

Total length: 39:10

CD packaged in jewel case with black tray. 8 page booklet includes lyrics and credits.

An unreleased song called "Wings of Thunder" was composed and recorded for this album. The first mention of this song was in 2004 by Tony Martin, who in an interview said that he was going to include this song on his album "Scream" (2005), but this never happened. In 2019, Tony Martin talked about this song again on Facebook, finding recording tapes of it and confirming that this song was made for the album "Tyr", and that it was with the titles "Wings of Thunder" and "No Time to Die".

Another unreleased song that was made during the album sessions was "Raising Hell", which emerged as an idea between Cozy Powell and Geoff Nicholls, but which came to nothing. This song (according to various sources) would supposedly be reworked in the sessions for the following album "Dehumanizer" (1992). It was not until 1992 that Tony Martin and Cozy Powell rehearsed this song at Cozy Powells Hammer and would record a demo (of which said demo is the one that many claim was made on Black Sabbath's album "Dehumanizer"), which Cozy suggested to Martin that he save this song for a future solo album. Powell gave a box of drum track tapes to Martin for future use. This is how this song officially appeared on Tony Martin's album "Scream" (2005) using Cozy Powell's drum track from those tapes.

At the time of the recording sessions for this album, an instrumental song called "Miranha" was recorded, which was played with Tony Iommi on guitars and bass, Cozy Powell on drums and Geoff Nicholls on keyboards. This song appeared on the "Guitar Speak, Vol. 2" (1990) compilation under the name Tony Iommi. On this song, Powell and Nicholls were not credited.

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed February - June 1990 at Monnow Valley Studios, Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK and Woodcray Studios, Wokingham, Berkshire, England, UK.

Pre-production at Rich Bitch Studios.

Mastered at the Townhouse.