Album · 40 years old this year
Seventh Star
Seventh Star is Black Sabbath's twelfth studio album, released in January 1986. It began life as a solo record for guitarist Tony Iommi, but pressure from Warner Bros. Records and the band's manager, Don Arden, saw it billed as Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi. It was the first Sabbath album without bassist and main lyricist Geezer Butler, who had left after the Born Again tour in 1984.
Iommi is joined by Glenn Hughes on lead vocals, Geoff Nicholls on keyboards, Eric Singer on drums and Dave Spitz on bass. It's a heavy metal and hard rock record with a very different line-up from the classic days, which makes it an intriguing chapter in the band's story. It reached number 27 in the UK and number 78 on the Billboard 200.
Seventh Star: tracklist, credits and charts
9 tracks · 34:57Tracklist
- 1In for the KillTony Iommi3:42
- 2No Stranger to LoveTony Iommi and Glenn Hughes4:29
- 3Turn to StoneTony Iommi3:29
- 4Sphinx (The Guardian)Tony Iommi1:11
- 5Seventh StarTony Iommi5:20
- 6Danger ZoneTony Iommi4:26
- 7Heart Like a WheelTony Iommi6:37
- 8Angry HeartTony Iommi3:07
- 9In Memory...Tony Iommi2:36
- Produced by
- Jeff Glixman, Black Sabbath
- Recorded at
- Cheshire Sound (Atlanta), Cherokee (Los Angeles)
- Recorded
- June–August 1985
- Engineered by
- Jeff Glixman
- Artwork
- Steve Gerdes
- Photography
- Kevin Stapleton
- Label
- Warner Bros. Records
- Length
- 34:57
Line-up
- Tony Iommi · guitar
- Geoff Nicholls · keyboard
- Eric Singer · drums (drum set)
- David Spitz · bass guitar
- Glenn Hughes · vocals
- Gordon Copley · bass guitar · guest
Singles
- “No Stranger to Love” · 1986 (EU)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1986 | 27 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1986 | 78 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1986 | 10 |
| Swedish Albums · 1986 | 11 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1986 | 17 |
| European Albums Chart · 1986 | 31 |
| German Albums · 1986 | 51 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1986 | 66 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1986 | 88 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
52.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
1.1k
ListenBrainz listeners
114k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
529
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 20 January
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Full discography →
Black Sabbath
1970
Paranoid
1970
Master of Reality
1971
Vol 4
1972
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
1973
We Sold Our Soul for Rock ’n’ Roll
1975
Sabotage
1975
Technical Ecstasy
1976
Never Say Die!
1978
Heaven and Hell
1980
Live at Last
1980
Mob Rules
1981
Live Evil
1982
Born Again
1983
The Sabbath Collection
1985
The Eternal Idol
1987
Headless Cross
1989
TYR
1990
The Ozzy Osbourne Years
1991
Dehumanizer
1992
Cross Purposes
1994
Cross Purposes – Live
1995
Forbidden
1995
The Sabbath Stones
1996
Under Wheels of Confusion: 1970–1987
1996
Reunion
1998
The Collection
1999
Black Mass
1999
The Best of Black Sabbath
2000
Past Lives
2002
Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970–1978
2002
Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970–1978
2004
Greatest Hits 1970–1978
2006
The Dio Years
2007
Live at Hammersmith Odeon
2007
The Rules of Hell
2008
Greatest Hits
2009
13
2013
Live… Gathered in Their Masses
2013
The End
2016
The Ultimate Collection
2016
The End
2017
Anno Domini: 1989–1995
2024
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1986-01-20 vs 1986-03-05 (musicbrainz), 1986-01-23 (wikidata)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 5 March 1986 | ignored lone early release dated 1986-01-28 |
| Wikipedia infobox | 20 January 1986 | |
| Wikidata | 23 January 1986 | |
| US release | 1986 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 28 January 1986 | earliest UK or European date |
23 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XW | Sanctuary Records | 5414939681875 | remaster |
| 1986 | CA | Warner Bros. Records | 075992533713 | other |
| 1986 | US | Warner Bros. Records | 075992533713 | other |
| 1986 | XE | Vertigo | 042282670427 | other |
| 1986 | DE | Vertigo | 042282670410 | other |
| 1986 | ES | Vertigo | 042282670441 | other |
| 28 January 1986 | GB | Vertigo | 042282670410 | original |
| 5 March 1986 | JP | Vertigo | other | |
| August 1986 | YU | PGP-RTB | other | |
| 5 December 1990 | JP | Vertigo | 4988011323881 | other |
| 22 April 1996 | GB | Essential! Records | 5017615833522 | other |
| 7 March 2001 | JP | Victor | 4988002413386 | remaster |
| 2004 | XW | Rhino | 0081227862367 | remaster |
| 30 March 2004 | GB | Sanctuary Midline | 5050749207623 | other |
| 2010 | XE | Sanctuary Records | 602527524726 | other |
| 1 November 2010 | GB | Sanctuary Records | 602527524726 | deluxe |
| 24 August 2011 | JP | Sanctuary Records | 4988005672438 | deluxe |
| 8 October 2013 | US | Warner Bros. Records | 081227963286 | other |
| 28 March 2014 | XW | Sanctuary Records | 5414939927898 | deluxe |
| 18 April 2026 | US | Warner Records | 081227804947 | remaster |
| 18 April 2026 | GB | — | other | |
| 10 July 2026 | US | Warner Records | 603497804580 | other |
| 10 July 2026 | XW | Sanctuary Records | 4099964239997 | other |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 1500×1500 | native: native 1500x1500 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 500×500 | upscaled |