It’s all too easy to look back on Black Sabbath’s work and label one album classic, another one legendary, yet another one amazing. The passage of time has that effect. But if you were in a record shop in 1992, looking at Sabbath’s 16th album – with its juvenile sleeve and air of outdatedness – sitting next to far superior releases by new acts such as Nirvana and Soundgarden, the old buffers didn’t really look like contenders.

• Black Sabbath The Eternal Idol

Linhof technika serial number camera. Which is a shame, because when you stripped away the hackneyed concept (evil computers taking over the world), Dehumanizer was easily Sabbath’s best album since Heaven & Hell, released 12 years before. The band had endured a melancholy mid-tolate 80s, releasing ho-hum albums with Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes and Tony Martin, and never really finding their form, so when their sometime singer Ronnie James Dio and their old bassist Geezer Butler signed up for this album, the results were always going to be interesting.

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The music is high-octane hard rock as much as it is heavy metal, with songs such as TV Crimes, Computer God and Sins Of The Father all deserving a place in any given Sabbath set. Since Dio’s death last year, however, the music from this album isn’t likely to get a live airing again, leaving this extended reissue your best option. Three bonus mixes and five concert cuts (including Neon Knights and Children Of The Sea, from the Heaven & Hell era) add mucho value.

According to the unofficial BLACK SABBATH web site Black-Sabbath.com, Universal/Sanctuary has set a February 7 release date for the deluxe edition of BLACK SABBATH's 'Dehumanizer'. Originally issued in 1992, the LP was the first SABBATH effort to feature the vocals of the late, great Ronnie James Dio since 1981's 'Mob Rules'. With a lineup completed by founding members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, and drumming duties carried out by Vinny Appice, 'Dehumanizer' is arguably one of SABBATH's heaviest albums. This edition is expanded with the single edit of 'Master Of Insanity', an alternate version of 'Letters From Earth' that originally appeared as the B-side to the 'TV Crimes' single, and a version of 'Time Machine' originally recorded for the soundtrack to the movie 'Wayne's World'. In addition, the set includes five rare live tracks from Florida's Sundome recorded at the beginning of the 'Dehumanizer' tour in July 1992, including a previously unreleased live version of 'Master Of Insanity'.

Black Sabbath The Eternal Idol

The set includes liner notes from Metal Hammer's Dom Lawson, based on new interviews with Tony Iommi.

'Dehumanizer' deluxe edition track listing:

Disc One (Original Album 1992)

01. Computer God
02. After All (The Dead)
03. TV Crimes
04. Letters From Earth
05. Master Of Insanity
06. Time Machine
07. Sins Of The Father
08. Too Late
09. I
10. Buried Alive

Disc Two (Bonus Tracks)

01. Master Of Insanity (Single Edit)
02. Letters From Earth (B-Side Version)
03. Time Machine (Wayne's World Version)

Live at The Sundome,Tampa, Florida 25th July 1992:

01. Children Of The Sea
02. Die Young
03. TV Crimes
04. Master Of Insanity
05. Neon Knights