Black Sabbath - Forbidden
This is another album hampered by line-up changes. Ozzy Osbourne had been missing for a while but Forbidden didn’t have his replacement Ronny Dio on board either. Guitarist Tony Iommi was the only original member remaining for this album. You have to wonder just how far a band can go when original members have moved on. Black Sabbath’s 1995 Forbidden album provides the answer to what is too far a stretch.
There is another health warning about the album though. They were expecting US rapper Ice-T as the producer, bringing a hip and modern style to it. Instead, it was his fellow Body Count band member Ernie C instead. No matter which of the two were producing, you’d imagine most Black Sabbath fans feeling a touch paranoid at the prospect of a hip rather than hit album.
The album was widely slammed by critics and disliked by many fans. While it did make number six on the UK Rock and Metal charts, it only got as far as 71 on the main album chart there. It wasn't all bad news though. Iommi and Osbourne made up again in the aftermath of Forbidden and Ozzy returned to the Black Sabbath line-up.