Black Sabbath Vol. 4 Song by Song Thread

"Cos smokin and trippin is all that you do...YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"

Paul Wilkinson (ibid) makes the not entirely surprising observation that there are only 5 (different) words on the debut album with more than two syllables...also, around the time punk was kicking off, I remember someone wrote into the NME, taking the piss out of Sabs lyrics and citing the exact number of times the word "YEAH" appears in the first 6 albums. LOL. Hundeds, iirc. Count 'em, anyone?

 

I seem to remember hearing that Geezer wrote the bulk of the lyrics for the 13 album in one night (!) during the recording of the album, which presumes that they wrote the music first and then Geezer writes lyrics to fit. But back in the 70's, it may have gone any number of ways. Robert Plant used to keep a lyric book in which he'd write down ideas, perhaps Geezer did something similar. When your life is skipping from gig to gig and recording an album in the two months off you have between tours, the desire to have material on hand to work with must be pretty strong.

I know also that Bill and Geezer have recognized Ozzy's participation in Geezer's lyrics - "He spits them out all Ozzy!" is one of the quotes I believe. And reportedly Ozzy sometimes refused to sing something exactly as Geezer had written it. They were a true collaborative effort, especially in the early years.

 

I seem to recall watching a video of the recording of 13 and Ozzy was collaborating with Geezer on at least one song in the studio. He was going back and forth from the booth and talking with Butler about ideas he had. That's where I got the idea that he wrote some lyrics for the album, but I'm sure you're right about Geezer writing most of them.

Again: disclaimer: I am not an expert.

 

Snowblind:

And now we have the would be title cut, named for all the coke the band was doing while making this record.
Iommi unleashes yet another crushing riff to open the record while Bill lays down a fairly quirky pocket and Geezer, while sadly not as audible as he could and should be, makes his presence felt with a strong pulsing bassline. Ozzy comes in strong at :25, creating a kind of unwell feeling in the lyrics and even melody, the coke may seem good at first, but you’re f***ed in the long run. I absolutely love Iommi’s solo at 2:21, really soaring in its own way, and also the vocal right before that has a kind of removed-from-everything-Else quality to it. At 3:27, the track starts to pick up with a dirty riff, and Bill loosening up and going crazy, and it’s absolutely awesome! As is Iommi’s solo over the Mellotron, so eerie and awesome.
You know what, this might be my favorite on the album, just so incredible.

 

I believe Rob Zombie has word "yeah" cornered for multiple times used on any given song. Oh, and Little John, too.

 

My thoughts on "Snowblind" from my album review of Vol. 4

Starting off the second side of Vol. 4 is the ambitious track "Snowblind" which is, of course, about cocaine (if you have any doubt just listen to the end stanzas on the verses where Ozzy whispers cocaine; not too subtle, eh?). Whereas, on Master of Reality, Ozzy sung of his love of marijuana on "Sweet Leaf", here with "Snowblind" he sings of a drug which he clearly has conflicted feelings over. Though it makes him feel happy it also deadens his senses and makes him feel detached from the world. He defiantly tells his critics, "you're the one who's really a loser, this where I feel I belong". "Snowblind" is, of course, one of Black Sabbath's most famous tracks and is a concert staple to this day. It's an interesting track in that it contains four verses which has never been done before in a Sabbath song. The descending riff at 1:40 is brilliant and makes for a great solo section for Iommi and the middle bridge riff which runs off a C# to E to B figure is engaging as Ozzy sings his protest stanza. The final verse which is embellished by a string arrangement is powerful and helps to build tension as Iommi does his trademark soloing over it. While I think "Snowblind" is a great song, it, too, is in the "played too much" category for me, so it doesn't get as high a marks as it probably deserves.


Big thanks @Musicman1998 for starting this thread. For someone (me) that said I wasn't that interested in discussing this album, I certainly need to eat my words. I've enjoyed the hell out of this thread. Hopefully, some more Sabbath albums can be done in the future.

 

Snowblind
This is one of these songs that I think I only kind of like a bit then I hear it and realize I like it more than I thought. Note sure why: I love the riff, love the solo, love when the song charges off at 3:27 with Tony followed by Bill and love how the final minute goes with Tony and Bill. But still, I wish I could hear Geezer better!!!

Maybe my opinion of the song is influenced by some lackluster live versions I've heard where it just kinds lopes along. But the studio version is quite nice. 8.0 out of 10.

 

But they both sound kinda cool they way they do it.

 

My eyes are blind but I can see
The snowflakes glisten on the tree
The sun no longer sets me free
I feel there's no place freezing me

Talk about a lyric that stays with you.

 

As an aside, I remember reading an interview with Brad Gillis where he talked about learning the Sabbath tunes for Speak of the Devil. He stated specifically that "Snowblind" was a tough song to learn as it was just very oddly structured. He said that many Sabbath songs were like this in fact. Bridges where you wouldn't expect them, weird time signatures in places, and just an overall unpredictable nature to a lot of the songs. I'm pretty sure it was just a case of the band doing what they felt sounded right and didn't over think it. Many Sabbath songs are brilliantly constructed and that's partly the genius of Iommi (and the rest the band) and some of it just dumb luck and inspiration.

 

I think the band plays up the dumb luck stuff, in a sense of "Hey ,we were just four Brummies; we didn't really know what we were doing "(Oz does this the most I think), but the results show that they were very special and they had quite a lot of talent. Tony's knowledge of jazz and Blues and a really sense of how to make fantastic riffs, Geezer being so well read and having intellectual curiosity as well as the drive to be the next Jack Bruce as a bass player, and Bill's influence by jazz players yet a desire to sound unique and not just like his heroes helped really create something special.

But Tony getting his fingers injured in the factory accident - dumb luck. His drive to continue to play no matter what it took after the accident - that determination is part of why the band existed and why the music still resonates.

 

Very well said. I guess I was more alluding to the fact that none of the guys are trained musicians. They were all self taught (hell, Geezer played guitar before he picked up the bass) so, it was chemistry and, as you say, the backgrounds of the four that molded their unique sound and style. This, of course, could be said for many popular bands, but, in this case, we're discussing Black Sabbath in particular.

 

THE SNOWFLAKES

 

Snowblind
If "Supernaut" isn't the best song on the album, then this is. It's a very well-written song that benefits from a solid riff and an overall cold, murky feeling that fits the lyrics perfectly. I think of this song as combining the catchy songwriting of "Supernaut" with the hypnotic murk of the other major songs on the album.

 

Wow... I thought of it more as something coming from the prophylactic corner, like Rock'n'roll is devil's music, you know...
Sad to hear it's (again) from somebody who wants to put the blame for suicidal kids in drugs and music instead of the social environment...

 

The bridge and guitar solo add a lot to this song, even more so than most Black Sabbath songs. Most of the song feels like it's drifting in no particular direction, but the bridge gives it a "Hand of Doom" style feeling of being dragged down into some sort of abyss. The guitar solo following it amplifies that feeling by sounding somehow tired and being one of Tony Iommi's most emotional solos.

 

That's what I read, too. And somewhere else I read that one of the reasons Ozzy quit Sabbath was him having enough of that Geezer-stuff.
At the same time, I came to know that Ozzy really did more than to come up with just melodies as I had always thought (and something he still does in his solo stuff).
It seems that you can differ Geezer's writing from Ozzy's by identifying the more direct/less subtile style (Ozzy) from the more prosaic/thoughtful writing (Geezer).

 

"Snowblind" is a perfect example of how Sabbath would incorporate instruments not usually associated with heavy rock (strings in this case) and pull it off quite well.

 

New here, and my very first post is in the Black Sabbath Vol 4 thread! How fitting cause I am picking up a "better" copy of this tomorrow. Can't wait.
Supernaut is my favorite song on the album, but agree Snowblind is next best. Reminds me of when my Grandfather passed away in the mid 90's. In a box full of old photos and keepsakes, I found a pair of glasses for "Snow-blindness", according to my aunt. They were probably from the 40's. As odd as it seems, that song reminds me of him. Vol 4 is the second best non-commercial album (for me) after Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

 

Let's fact it - most rock musicians are self-taught, and many rock musicians who we all reckon to be The Best Of The Mighty Virtuosos were not only self-taught, but taught themselves to play using garbage instruments that we wouldn't even take to the pawn shop today. So there's always this feeling, both for them and us, that they just blundered around doing whatever they wanted to and all of a sudden they had a million dollars in the bank and a promotional contract with Fender, Laney, and Super Slinky Strings. But behind that is a lot of work and creativity - these guys often didn't have teachers, they bought records and figured out how to play by listening - they didn't even have the advantage of seeing parts being played, which we can all do with YouTube today. I presume that these guys had to work harder just to figure out parts than any student under a teacher would have to do.

 

I'm late to this thread and honestly, have not read it thru.

This record blew my little teenaged mind when I first got it, even tho I believe I probably already had the first 3.

today it sounds simply more produced somehow than the previous ones, however, listening back then, I remember thinking it sounded "heavier" or something.

Snowblind is a good example, the layering on this sounds HUGE. Was this the first album they did where they had enough money to spend on all kinds of studio time to build and build and build?

Or was that earlier?

Iommi is shown on the gatefold with what looks like a heavily modded old SG. Is this the same one from the other albums? Was he still using the Laneys at this point? Is that all he's ever used, SG into Laney?

 

No, Vol. 4 was the first album the band had time to actually experiment and work on things in the studio. They actually traveled to Los Angeles to record this one and lived in a house rented by Patrick Meehan, their manager at the time. They had several months to work on Vol. 4 whereas the Rodger Bain produced albums were relatively quick affairs in terms of studio time. For instance, the debut was recorded in two days. I believe Paranoid was done in a week (or quicker) and Master of Reality might have been two or three weeks (if that).

 

Snowblind starts off very dramatic with a huge series of chords, setting up one of metal's ultimate coke anthems. After those initial chords, "Toni" throws in some bright notes. The rush is on, and it's coming on in a big way. Ozzy starts off the lyrics with an almost nursery line rhyme(What is it with all the kid stuff on this album?!), the protagonist is hurting, but he's happy...He went through Changes and found something to make him happy...for a few minutes. Of course the cold pulsing through the veins is that cold after effect. The whispering. It's quick. It's the fasest train he could find.(side note the same guy gets off the rails on a crazy train...)
He tries justifying what he's doing. It makes him Happy, dontchaknow?? He's no loser...you are. The sun never sets cause you're always up. He sees what he is doing, but it is removing him from reality.In the end he's lying there, wondering if death will ever come.

I love the addition of the strings on this one, though it might be a tape loop on the Melly. I recall reading somewhere that Bill heard strings, and suggested it to the rest of the band, and told him he was daft. They tried It, and sure enough, it worked. Live, Ozzy would yell "cocaine" at the end of each verse, and they would even drop snow during the song-see Don Kirchner for the best example of this happening. At other times, Ozzy would introduce it by saying "One for the nose." I highly doubt anyone thought this song was about weather. In closing, here is a cover by the ultimate stoner band. Pay attention to the intro.

 

I don't think this has been posted yet. I've seen this floating around a few places - the photo from which the album cover was made. I found it here: Home of Metal | real vol 4 picture.

 

As Hand of Doom suggests heroin use, Sweet Leaf, an homage to marijuana, we now come to Snowblind which references cocaine. It's interesting to note that Sabbath made no bones about substance abuse and chose to commentate within the realm of temptations one can subject themselves to and it can be attributed to any walk of life besides the entertainment industry. Are they glorifying the rock and roll lifestyle with some of these songs? I don't think so. I think it was more of a testimonial message for the fans to be made aware of what the group were trying to express within the world they lived in during this time period. Musically, the song is yet another classic Sabbath number included on this record and the consistency level remains very high(no pun intended) in terms of the chord structure, rhythm and melodic arrangement and it's gone down as one of Sabbath's defining numbers and a live concert favorite. 8 out of 10 of an A rating.