Back Where I Belong

• Artist: Tony Martin
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1992
• Total Time: 51:41
• Type: Lyrics are included with the album
• Genre: Vocal Music

Review

The music contained on 1992's Back Where I Belong -- the debut solo album by Tony Martin, after exiting Black Sabbath for the first time -- will probably come as a surprise to many. And the reason is simple, as there is little of Sabbath's trademark "detuned doom and gloom" to be found here. In its place is slick radio rock (bringing to mind such acts as Foreigner), which seemed like a bit of an anomaly in 1992, as almost all rock acts were getting raw and real once more. However, Martin manages to enlist quite a few renowned rockers to drop by and leave their mark on the proceedings -- Queen's Brian May, Saxon's Nigel Glockler, Martin's ex-Sabbath bandmates Neil Murray and Geoff Nicholls, and even Ringo Starr's son (and eventual member of the Who), Zak Starkey. And as you can detect by the front cover image, Martin also supplies guitar, in addition to lead vocals. But as mentioned earlier, it's all about mainstream rock here, which sounds far more "1987" than "1992," especially the album-opening "If It Ain't Worth Fighting For," plus "It Ain't Good Enough" and the title track. Even a re-recording of a song Martin originally did with Black Sabbath, "Jerusalem" (from the album TYR), gets made over as a radio-friendly rocker. For true-blue '80s rock fans who refused to go down without a fight in the '90s, Martin provided some musical support with Back Where I Belong. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi

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