Editing Dehumanizer (section)

==Overview==
Lyrically and musically, ''Dehumanizer'' is considered one of Sabbath's heaviest albums. Lyrical themes vary from a computer worshipped as a god (Computer God), to [[televangelist]]s (TV Crimes), to [[individualism]] (I) and doubts about the [[afterlife]] (After All (The Dead)).

The album was recorded in [[Wales]], at [[Rockfield Studios]]. It was intended to feature [[Cozy Powell]], then Sabbath's drummer, but he was immobilised by a broken pelvic bone sustained in a horse riding accident. Dio initially wanted to replace Powell with [[Simon Wright (musician)|Simon Wright]], from [[AC/DC]] and [[Dio (band)|his own band]], but Butler and Iommi rejected him. They instead recruited [[Vinny Appice]], who had served as Sabbath's drummer during most of Dio's previous tenure with the band, from 1980–1982.

During sessions for the album, [[Tony Martin (British singer)|Tony Martin]] made a short comeback when invited by the band to try the songs out. He stayed for just a couple of days and the band continued with Dio. Martin stated: "I had already started my first solo album ''Back Where I Belong'' – so, when I got the call to go back, I was committed by that point. And in fact it was just a couple of months after they had started the thing with Ronnie James Dio. I was determined to finish my solo thing and so turned them down at that point. We did keep in touch though and I went to some shows. Ronnie wasn't too pleased, but eventually they had enough and asked me to rejoin again later so it felt like I hadn't actually left. In fact, I was never formally fired; the phone just stopped ringing. [[Ian Gillan]] [vocalist for [[Deep Purple]], and another ex-Sabbath singer] asked me once if I had actually been fired and I said, 'No.' He said, 'Neither have I.' We should just turn up one day and walk on stage!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geeksofdoom.com/2012/03/29/interview-former-black-sabbath-lead-singer-tony-martin|title=Interview: Former Black Sabbath Lead Singer Tony Martin|date=29 March 2012|access-date=2 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | work= criticalmass.se| url=http://www.criticalmass.se/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1810| title= Workshop with Tony Martin in Gothenburg  | access-date=29 March 2011}}</ref>

Demo sessions with Powell yielded numerous recordings, including two unreleased songs&nbsp;– "The Night Life" (also called "Next Time"), whose riff was later used for "Psychophobia" on ''[[Cross Purposes]]'', and "Bad Blood," which sounds very similar to "I" on ''Dehumanizer''. These songs can be found, along with other demos and untitled songs, on the ''Complete Dehumanizer Sessions'' bootleg.  "Computer God" was the title of an unreleased song by [[Geezer Butler Band|The Geezer Butler Band]], in 1986&nbsp;– only the title made it to ''Dehumanizer''. The Butler version is available as a download on his website.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geezerbutler.com/audio/|title=Audio Rarities {{!}} The Official Geezer Butler Website|language=en-US|access-date=1 June 2019}}</ref> "Master of Insanity" was also an unreleased Geezer Butler Band track, of which the ''Dehumanizer'' version is essentially a rerecording. "Master of Insanity" was the only track on ''Dehumanizer'' that Dio did not have a hand in writing the lyrics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Popoff |first1=Martin |title=Black Sabbath: Doom Let Loose |date=2006 |publisher=ECW Press |location=Tornonto |isbn=978-1550227314 |pages=273}}</ref> Jimi Bell, the guitarist with Butler's band actually wrote the song. Geezer promised a credit and payment, but Jimi never was paid or credited for his contributions.<ref name="sleazeroxx.com">{{Cite web|url=https://sleazeroxx.com/jimi-bell-recalls-being-finalist-in-audition-for-ozzys-guitarist-spot-which-went-to-zakk-wylde/|title=Jimi Bell recalls being finalist in audition for Ozzy's guitarist spot which went to Zakk Wylde – Sleaze Roxx|access-date=2 November 2019}}</ref> The album's lead single, "TV Crimes," was a criticism of American televangelists, particularly [[Jeff Fenholt]], who briefly worked with Iommi in the mid-1980s on what would become ''Seventh Star''.

"We wanted it to be real rock 'n' roll: real basic," Dio told [[WERS]]' ''Nasty Habits'' show. "We wanted to capture what we are live and that's really what I think we did. We didn't do tons of overdubs or a lot of chorus{{Non breaking hyphen}}y kind of things. I think the important thing is that a band should be able to do all the things they do on record live, without any kind of [[sampling (music)|sampling]] crap or that rubbish&nbsp;– so, of course, we didn't. We recorded it true to what the band is: just guitar, bass, drums and vocals, y'know&nbsp;– a couple of keyboard things here and there."<ref>[[WERS]] ''Nasty Habits'', recorded at New York's China Club, 6 August 1992</ref>

Although the Sabbath lineup was the same as 1981's ''[[Mob Rules (album)|Mob Rules]]'', the musical direction is very different, and a marked change from their previous material, particularly the preceding ''[[Tyr (album)|Tyr]]''. Much of the album anticipates the directions taken by Dio in his eponymous solo band's next two records, ''[[Strange Highways]]'' (1993) and ''[[Angry Machines]]'' (1996). Commercially, the album marked a resurgence for Sabbath. It reached the Top 40 in the UK,<ref name="GB" >{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/14136/black-sabbath/ |title=Black Sabbath Official Charts |publisher=[[Official Charts Company]] |access-date=21 November 2015 }}</ref> and peaked at number 44 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] chart.<ref name="USA" >{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/288497/black%20sabbath/chart?f=305|title=Chart history ''Dehumanizer''|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|publisher=[[Nielson SoundScan|Nielsen Business Media, Inc.]]|access-date=26 August 2009}}</ref>