Cross Purposes
by Black Sabbath
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Black Sabbath bestography
Cross Purposes is ranked 21st best out of 49 albums by Black Sabbath on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Black Sabbath is Paranoid which is ranked number 50 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 18,048.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Cross Purposes track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 73 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Cross Purposes rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 6 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  jeremy9 | Top 99 Music Albums of 1994 | 37/99 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Repo | 1994: Metal | 20/20 | - |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 1994 Pt 2 | 58/80 | - |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Top 73 Music Albums of 1994 | 65/73 | 1 |
| 2026 |  nitomano | Top 25 Music Albums of 1994 | 20/25 | 1 |
| 2025 | vruslov | Top 96 Music Albums of 1994 | 45/96 | 3 |
| 2025 | svk4ever | Top 50 Music Albums of 1994 | 32/50 | 2 |
| 2025 |  Fischman | Top 100 Music Albums of 1994 | 11/100 | 5 |
| 2025 | Johnnyo | Black Sabbath albums ranked best to worst by Classic Rock | 18/24 | - |
| 2024 | AAL2014 | Black Sabbath: So Far.. | 12/17 | - |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 24 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 26 | |||
Cross Purposes collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 22 members
Cross Purposes ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 57 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 02/07/2026 08:14 | PurplePiePete | 1,839 | 80/100 |
| ! | 02/03/2026 10:59 | Leginlists | 3,840 | 83/100 |
| ! | 11/17/2025 10:17 | platus | 5,876 | 74/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album has a Bayesian average rating of 62.7/100, a mean average of 61.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 61.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.6.
Forum mentions
Cross Purposes comments
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doombringer 04/15/2025 12:44 | #308516
If i should rank all the regular Black Sabbath albums ( 21 or so ?!? ) ''Cross Purposes'' would land in the lower third of that table . Sad to say but it's a mediocre release , despite some glimpses of good vocal - work and one or two great solos. (Edited)
llibnanoon 05/27/2020 15:19 | #252324
Not good. They should have never carried on as Black Sabbath without Ozzy. (Edited)
Goliath 10/30/2018 09:03 | #223573
Not a bad metal album, if it is not compared with the first 10 Sabbath albums. Certainly should be a lot higher than 587th in 1994. Great guitar work from Iommi in for example, Immaculate Deception. If this didn't have the Black Sabbath name attached, would it be ranked higher? I think so, a lot higher.
Underrated. By far the best Sabbath album out of the Tony Martin era.
Fischman 12/15/2016 16:57 | #180236
Easily the most underrated album in the Sabbath catalog! This is Tony Martin at his best, delivering the strongest songs during his tenure as the Sabbath frontman. Iommi's riffs are fine and the sound mix is excellent. Classic cuts include 'Cross of Thorns,' 'Back to Eden,' and 'The Hand that Rocks the Cradle.'
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