Black Sabbath, for me, has been a recently acquired taste. They're a band I only began exploring in my late 20s, once I'd already been a musician for several years with my own ingrained influences. Because of that, I don't hold a lot of personal connection with most of their music, unlike say The Beatles, Led Zeppelin or Queens of the Stone Age.
But I cannot deny that at their best, they bring the power. I'm a sucker for some good heavy riffage and these guys were masters at it.
I'm going to stick with their first ten albums because... well those are the only ten I've bothered to and been interested in hearing. 80s/90s Sabbath is full of lineup changes (Iommi is the only consistent member) and many of albums are universally considered terrible. So this is a review of "Classic Sabbath", with all of the original members (for the most part). This basically covers their peak and their most influential records anyway.
All right lets get these war machines turning.
#10 -- Technical Ecstasy (1976)
**1/2
There are worse 70s prog-rock/metal blends, and credit to Tony Iommi he is always willing to try new things.
This doesn't work though since the album is so inconsistent. Not completely terrible... but most of it ranges from forgettable to truly unbearable. Ozzy's vocals sound really out of it, like he's mumbling his way to get through this one (and "The Osbournes" wouldn't even air for twenty-plus years). The experiments like Bill Ward's ELO-like ballad "It's Alright" or the flat shuffle of "Gypsy" just feel like they meander without finding purpose. Meanwhile "She's Gone" is such an over the top, overproduced ballad that "The Long And Winding Road" would say tone it down. Definite cringe.
The true nadir of the album, though, is the awful "Rock And Roll Doctor". It's the worst Sabbath song I've ever heard, and even their good albums have some clunkers. They sound like they're trying to sound like KISS... the bad version of KISS (and I am not a KISS fan).
What saves the album from true awfulness are some great moments though... the brooding "You Won't Change Me" which dials up the prog-rock a bit too high, but is still a captivating track. "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" is an experiment in funkiness done well, and "Dirty Women" is a guilty pleasure as a "so bad it's good". It's them trying to be KISS again but kinda making it work this time.
Technical Ecstasy isn't a good album though. Even when it's on, it's off... like constantly thinking you're on the wrong street when trying to find a friend's house... for like an hour... while dogs bark at you.
#9 -- Never Say Die! (1978)
***
It isn't nearly as bad as its reputation (considered by some as Sabbath's worst album, or the worst with Ozzy). Some people defend it adamantly, including a dear friend of mine.
I've tried, my friend... but I just can't get into it. I have it above Technical Ecstasy only because that album has multiple tunes I truly loathe. Never Say Die! confuses me more than it makes me wonder if my ears are bleeding.
Its best songs explode upon first listen, but wear out after a few listens and so lack noticeable resonance. The first three are the best: the title track hypnotizing you with energy, "Johnny Blade" getting the spacey prog keyboard perfectly timed with a heavy Iommi riff in the bridge, and "Junior's Eyes" strong groove showcases Geezer Butler's overlooked bassist ability.
Then the record just... kinda... trails off... drifting through a mix of quasi riffs and keyboards that don't offend but leave little impression. The only interruption is the damn bizarre "Breakout", a jazzy freakout so out of place you'd suspect the producer put it on the wrong album. It sort of leads into Bill Ward's "Swinging The Chain", which is interesting (and Ward is a solid singer) but it just leaves you feeling so lost because... none of this sounds like anything that would ever be on a Sabbath record. And yeah, I know they'd throw some random quiet instrumentals in there on earlier albums... but those were usually really short and had atmosphere that fit somewhat into those records. This is like Steely Dan hijacked the last two songs one day and Sabbath just shrugged and walked away.
The original lineup was completely falling apart at this point and much of the early production of Never Say Die! was done with a different singer, who wrote completely different lyrics. Ozzy eventually came back and refused to sing those, yet so many of these songs were already semi-finished and well... it explains the way this album really runs out of steam fast, or fractures somewhat on repeated listens. It isn't exactly bad... but after hearing it a few times I'm mostly done with it (except "Junior's Eyes" because that groove is great).
#8 -- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
***
Oh yeah. Here comes the surprise hate.
My favourite thing about this album... is the cover because it is seriously badass. But overall, I don't like this album. It's uneven... and grates me in so many places.
Don't get me completely wrong. The opening track is an epic, crushing stomp... hitting all the right spots of melody, heavy guitar riffs, soft interludes to throw you off... and general uneasiness. It's doom, Sabbath style. Then comes "A National Acrobat", one of the best songs Sabbath ever recorded. It's wonderful, that a memorable weaving hook that seems like it itself is balancing on a wire, while Ozzy sings resigned to the point of being crazy enough to walk it. The lyrics are just great in their existentialism, and Ozzy hits it perfectly. What an opening one-two punch on this record.
The rest of the album is so weird because it has other incredible highs (the irresistible low key rock of "Sabbra Cadabra" like something Zeppelin might've snuck onto "Physical Graffiti"... and then the true doominess of "Killing Yourself To Live"). Afterwards though, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath bottoms out fast. Once Ozzy starts singing "Spiral Architect" it really starts to suck (like a song designed in a lab to start a fan wave), while "Looking For Today" and "Who Are You" are likewise pretty low on the Tolerable Lameness spectrum.
This record is either a great heavy rock classic or unpleasant shlock rock, which sums up these weaker Sabbath albums quite well... like a Jekyl and Hyde dynamic.
#7 -- Sabotage (1975)
***1/2
Sabotage has probably my favourite Sabbath song of all, the opener "Hole In The Sky" (which I have definitely listened to multiple straight times, several times). The opening guitar lick sounds like it's launching you into the clouds like an airplane of chaos and it's exactly where you wanna be.
This is a solid mid 70s rock album. Full of great riffs (the super heavy "Symptom of the Universe" and its surprising groovy acoustic finish)... the haunting plucking of "Supertzar" (which I like, but would've been better at half the length)... or the sprawling epic "Megalomania", building on some trademark Ozzy gloom before the band kicks into overdrive on maximum rock mode, Ozzy's wails following right along. One thing you see on this record for the last time with the original lineup is how tight they could be (this song as a great example). Even the best moments of the last two 70s Sabbath albums can't compare with this song and the energy it pops.
My biggest criticism of Sabotage is that the second half of the album doesn't punch as hard as the first. It's fine (aside from the drearily flat "Am I Going Insane") but more forgettable. There's definitely a prog-rock influence beginning on the band here (explaining Technical Ecstasy and "Insane"). It works for the most part on Sabotage because it doesn't rob, it compliments the good foundation of heavy rock, adding touches instead of becoming part of the sound.
I do think this album is good, but not a good starter for a casual listener to dive into... since this is the band in a transitional mode. Good record, but start elsewhere.
(aside from "Hole In The Sky"... seriously take a break from reading me and go listen to it. Now.)
#6 -- Mob Rules (1981)
****
Ah, Dio.
Again, I haven't listened to any later Sabbath-ish stuff past this one, including the one (Dehumanizer) where Ronnie James Dio reappeared to sing vocals. That being said, I'm confident this list gets the best two Dio Sabbath albums.
There is debate amidst fans of the band loyal to the original lineup that this version of the group should've just renamed themselves, since this incarnation only had Iommi and Geezer left (Vinny Appice sits in for Ward on drums). I mean... shrug? The Mob Rules lineup would eventually record an album of new material as a "Heaven and Hell" band in 2009, so maybe after a few decades they were more open to the idea. But also... Black Sabbath was a much different presence in popular music in 1980/1981 than they were in 2009, when at that point they hadn't released an album in fourteen years. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. I know musicians sometimes get annoyed about this stuff (Roger Waters notoriously sued the remaining members of Pink Floyd when they kept the name and continued on without him).
One thing you can say about Mob Rules related to my last point: they do sound a bit like a different band now. The different drummer certainly changes the dynamic, but mostly this album broods more in tone and lyrics than Heaven and Hell. Dio is a big part of this... sounding less knights and dragons and more personal here. His vocals are undeniably a big part of these songs. I'm not a huge Ozzy fan as a vocalist.... he has his moments and at his best he invokes a haunting specter of doom. Dio though powers through a song with urgent energy or subdued grace, always in total command it seems. Just a wonderful soaring rock voice.
Mob Rules is a very good album, and will always remind me of one morning a few years past when I was incredibly hungover waking up at a friend's house. He played Mob Rules on cassette and we chatted until I had to go play baseball that evening. That title track is loaded with frantic energy... like an actual mob is going to grab you from inside your own headphones and drag you into the new law. "Voodoo" has the kind of sludgey addictive hook that got me into playing music sixteen years ago, Dio singing like he's an actual demon collecting his due... "Over and Over" is classic 80s metal lamentation sung by a master, with a guitar master backing him up.
Overall, the band is in fine form for arguably the last great Sabbath album. Not perfect, but very solid throughout (aside from "Country Girl" which never clicks and tries too hard).
#5 -- Heaven And Hell (1980)
****1/2
Like I said, love me some Dio.
Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules are siblings of course, recorded just a year apart. I give Heaven the nudge ahead because it sounds a bit tighter, has more of a classic heavy Sabbath tone... whereas Mob Rules loses focus during a song or two.
The first time I heard Heaven and Hell my first thought was how much it seemed like the band was trying to copy 80s metal. Then I realized this album came out in 1980... leading me to the opposite conclusion: lots of generic metal bands have instead desperately tried to copy this great record.
It kicks you in the butt right away... "Neon Knights" blasting full speed out of the gate and introducing Dio's impressive pipes. The mood quickly shifts over to the grand slow building "Children of the Sea" showing that despite the final two 70s prog-rock Ozzy albums, Tony Iommi's guitar can still bring the firepower.
This doesn't sound like 70s Sabbath at all, with gloom and doom traded for emotion and spookiness. A lot of that is Dio, who sounds nothing like Ozzy obviously, and this record seems so less murky than previous Sabbath outings as a result. Classic Ozzy Sabbath is loaded with the sense of impending biblical ruination, while Dio sings more of mythical legends and dangers. It works so well and is still very much Black Sabbath because those two things are different yet compatible genres of imagination. If you had to ask me... I'd prefer Dio, but that's entirely because I love his voice way way more.
My one criticism would be that the album sounds somewhat dated, since so much of its sound would be later mimicked by other 80s metal bands. This is that but done extremely well, and it makes Heaven and Hell Sabbath's great comeback album. And the cover is just fantastic.
#4 -- Paranoid (1970)
****1/2
The album I knew best before digging into their catalogue. It has the hits: "Iron Man" (probably their most famous song), "War Pigs" and the title track (which they wrote and recorded in an hour! They needed one extra song for the LP and bam. Crazy stuff).
Paranoid is an album seventeeen year old me would've loved endlessly, but this thirty-three version merely greatly enjoys it. The thrills are impressive but as a cohesive album it has an uneven flow. It ranges from epic rockers ("War Pigs", "Iron Man", "Hand of Doom") to strange loungey pieces ("Planet Caravan") and drum interludes ("Rat Salad"). This is fine in theory, since its good for an album to have some variety... its just that these don't completely fit together, like a puzzle piece that almost locks in but the image is off. Additionally, for a band with consistently great cover art (at least until the 80s), this one isn't quite up to their usual level.
As for the good stuff... there's a lot. The title track is one of my favourite rock songs, full stop. It's so simple (and easy to play) yet it always grabs you: the riff, how it stops at the perfect time every time, Ozzy's bleak loner vocals... I just love all of it. "Hand of Doom" is a great lyrical track for this band, capturing the desperation of a drug addicted Vietnam veteran so well it gives one chills. The whole album has that kind of sense to it: the pointless of war, the devastation it or radiation can have on people.
My all time favourite on this one though is, "Fairies Wear Boots", which is either about Ozzy and Geezer picking a fight with some neo-Nazis (you love to see it) or just them on a bad acid trip, depends who in the band you ask. The song starts out with this proto-funk to it, then just jumps into this hard stomp of heavy guitar, slowing back down when Ozzy starts singing (though the heaviness lingers in the background, ready to burst through again).
Paranoid is a classic rock album and is great, but certain songs *cough* "War Pigs" *cough* "Iron Man" have been overplayed so much they lost some edge. We're getting to the best of the best here and there's some even better company.
#3 -- Black Sabbath (1970)
****1/2
The way the opening track begins... the thunder... the church bells... such atmosphere... and then that sludgey, evil three note riff kicks in while the drums crash... what an entrance. It promises a certain reckoning, reaching out for your hand to welcome you along for the ride. A legendary opener and surely the best ever song that shares its name with a band (they actually wrote the song first, named it after the horror film "Black Sabbath" and then just ran with that name).
One of my dearest friends (you know who you are) considers this one of his favourite albums of all time. I'm not personally quite there, but this is definitely a classic rock masterpiece that has grown on me over time. Beyond the opener, this finds Sabbath at their most bluesy... bringing tons of extended grooves (Geezer's bass is especially notable in the mix) busy drum fills and of course those classic Iommi guitar licks. Songs like "N.I.B" hint that their impending heavy metalness, but this album is full of groove and open space. "The Wizard", "Wicked World" and "Evil Woman" (which isn't great, frankly) are rockers sure, but they resemble late 60s blues rock much more than anything the band would later do.
"Warning" (actually a cover) is just a wonderful document of a tight band at their very, very best, and a song that never feels as long as its fourteen minute run. A funky trip with some absolute great Iommi guitar interludes.
The first Sabbath album is probably not what most would expect, if (like me) you started at Paranoid, listened up until Sabotage and then went back. It is unique in their discography since it doesn't maybe 'rock' as hard as later albums, but this is them at their roots (they started out as a pure blues band) and it blends heavy blues rock into an impressive debut album.
One final note about the cover: first, it's terrifying. Second, I always thought that was Ozzy as the person in front of the cottage. Turns out it was actually a female model.
#2 -- Vol. 4 (1972)
*****
Listening to this album, for me, is like trying to recall a vivid dream you had years ago. Full of notable moments, yet the sound and feel of it drifts hazily from full speed insanity to lonely ballads within its dreamy logic.
You can tell this is around when the band really started to get heavy into drugs (they've confirmed this themselves)... I mean listen to "Snowblind" for crying out loud. This influence leaks into the sound of the record: the opening track sounds like waking up from a night of mayhem, only to take a few seconds before the headache (heavy guitar) kicks in, as do the old habits.
All that considered, this is an incredibly great album. There are a lot of different ideas happening here, from the murky drugginess of the opener... the rocket charged "Supernaut" (which just kicks so much ass)... a sweet guitar instrumental "Laguna Sunrise"... the spinning round and round riff of "St. Vitus Dance"... the low rumble of "Every Day Under The Sun"... random guitar delay effects on "FX"... each song offers something rather different than the rest. It's all over the place, but not unfocused in its songcraft and consistently intriguing (except for "FX").
All that said, I still think "Changes" is damn lame though. I've tried. Ozzy in melodrama mode never appeals to me, with one exception.
#1 -- Master of Reality (1971)
*****
A predictable choice and the easy one. To me though, this is the definitive Sabbath album. It consolidates their classic heavy guitar attack, is full of cryptic lyricism and has some of the most memorable riffs in rock music.
My argument for it at number one is just from how well it progresses and flows together. Each song naturally leads into the next in both in mood and concept. This is the first album Iommi started downtuning his guitar (something he came up with because it was too painful for him to play in standard tuning... he lost some of his fingertips in a factory accident as a teenager) and the results are amazing. This album sounds like it's rumbling up from underneath you.
I think Ozzy is really good on this one, since he's scaled back and his voice is complimenting the heavy mix, not trying to screech above it (one of my biggest issues with later Ozzy-era Sabbath). He sounds less like a rock star and more like a narrator here... carrying the listener along down through this journey. And this album really goes on an interesting journey: starting with the gratitude of "Sweet Leaf" (another song totally not about drugs... cough-cough-cough-cough) but it gradually descends into fear ("Children of the Grave"), lost souls ("Lord of This World"), the loneliness of longing ("Solitude") and finally the apocalyptic "Into The Void". That opening riff is such an all-time great one, with its odd timing and how it builds, I'm such a sucker for it.
To sum it up, Master of Reality is a masterpiece (see what I did there) of 70s heavy rock and probably their most influential album. Lots of metal bands that have come since either give kudos to this record for inspiring their own sound, especially when it comes to that lower tuning. So for all of that, it wins the prize.
Well... that's it for Black Sabbath. Hope this article has inspired you to maybe dust off some old CDs and pop on some godfathers of metal. Just kidding... nobody listens to CDs anymore. Next up I'll jump forward a few decades and tackle an essential artist of the 90s and profoundly interesting in the 00s (and not so hot in the 10s). Until next time.
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