Black Sabbath Vol. 4 Song by Song Thread

I can totally understand your apprehension of not seeing The End tour, Ozzy was terrible for most of the 13 tour and I'm saying that as an Ozzy fanboy.
But, I feel you might have shortchanged yourself as I saw them twice and both times were superb. I don't know what Ozzy did between the 13 and End tour, but he was fantastic. Very strong and on key. And Thank God he didn't do the oy..oy..oy's to the riffs, that drove me nuts. From the 13 to the End tour, Ozzy seemed to strip his solo "Let's go crazy" to back when they started and seemed to take it a little more serious.

A favorite from the album. My ultimate favorite from the album is Age Of Reason. I feel that could've fit perfectly somewhere on Sabotage. If nothing else, for Tony's outro/solo at the end. That alone is worth the price of admission. Every time I hear that, it sends me into Technical Ecstasy. The outro/lead is one of the most inspiring, majestic, nasty and beautiful outros ever. It covers all the bases and then some. Love how it has the added choir as Tony tears it up and when the fret board is on fire smoothly transitions back into the riff. And he plays with such authority. I always get the image of the Hand of God coming down for the final judgement. Godzilla on steroids destroying a city.

My apologies to Musicman1998, didn't mean to derail your thread. Back to business.

Cornucopia:
I love this song. This was the second song I liked from that old 8-track. In jr high we had an assignment in music class. We could bring in one song to share with the class. We had to get up in front of the class and play your choice on whatever media. I took my trusted old Vol. 4 8-track. My classmates were more into Top 40 radio. I got up said this is Cornucopia from Black Sabbath. Before I played it, teacher asked to see the 8-track. I handed it to her, she read the title and made the disparaging remark, "Did they write in a cornfield?" So I put the 8-track in, had the tape and player all set to play Cornucopia. When I hit play and those first doomy chords come out, the class looked at me as it I had three heads. Seeing everyone's reaction and look, I knew I had discovered something special. It was great! When the song finished the teacher asked, "Did anyone like that song?" Only one girl raised her hand. I did catch the teacher tapping her foot while it was playing. Maybe got two converts that day
Once again, amazed at Geeaer's insight at that young age, then to put the thoughts to lyrics. The lyrics have more meaning today than when he wrote them. Amazing.
And as has been already mentioned, but deserves repeating.......Bill ****ing Ward!

Laguna Sunrise:
Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't Tony play this for Bill being unsure to put it on the album and Bill ensured him it was beautiful and it should go on the album.
It is beautiful. I agree with Godshifter it is a tad too long. As others have mentioned helps the dynamic of the album. Not only that, Tony could play a broom and make it interesting. My older brother said years ago they played this in a movie theater before the movie. I was too young to remember. As my brother tells it, the whole family was there and Dad didn't much like rock, especially hard rock. Laguna Sunrise is playing. Dad asked my brother , "Do you know who this is?" My brother replied "Black Sabbath." Dad gave him a strange look and said "Must've been one they wrote, when they weren't on drugs." He might have been right .

 

Laguna Sunrise
So there is something like a sunrise in the land of sludgy doom and gloom! LS is ample proof that this is one band that loves to take chances and has much more to offer than ultra-heavy rifferama and dark, gloomy lyrics. Light and shade, a winning formula that many of their followers could've learned from.

 

Maybe they were doing a Tony Montana, looking over the mountain to see the sunrise... 'Wow, check it out maaaan... We gotta record somethin'.. NOW!!!'
'Say hello to my little friend!' That's Tony (Iommi, in case you wonder) getting ready for another Monster Riff.

 

LS surprised me when I first heard it for the first spin in 1972. Not too surprised though considering the opening of Sleeping Village.

 

I think 13 is a brilliant album, and the closest we will ever get to re-creating the original magic ever again. It's far better than I ever expected considering the very unfortunate and regrettable lack of Bill. I still listen to the album regularly. I don't give a rip that they re-treaded so many familiar themes and approaches, a good album speaks for itself.

 

Sounds like the most boring class ever.
My highschool years weren't everything, but at least I can name three Iron Maiden converts, one Aerosmith nut, some guys who were big on AC/DC and several (speed/thrash) metal fans, one of which who was my biggest buddy back in Holland.

 

My BS bucket list goals were achieved in 97, back to back nights Seattle/Portland with near identical sets...1 or 2 song variance(pretty sure 1). The 05 show was Ozzfest in which I attended to see Judas Priest... I'm just not much of a fan of Ozzy as a singer after Diary.. I do value the 2 new Sabbath songs on "Reunion" and the "13" album... I also might of been more tempted to attend had Wilk been the touring drummer.. That said, I wish I'd gotten off my azz and went to see "Heaven and hell"..
I'm pretty well done with big shows, though I've yet to see McCartney. If the chance arises I'll pay to go and look at him, expecting bad singing....

 

Cornucopia is right up there with my favorite Sab material. Great riff, great lyrics. Great change to the chorus, and then back to the verse.

I went through a long phase where I didn't like strings in my rock. So I preferred Iommi's other instrumentals. But Laguna Sunrise is beautiful, and I don't mind the strings at all these days.

 

While everybody is mellowing on a hazy Laguna Sunrise....

Re: 13, it is a tremendous effort, and while I appreciate that Tony threw every idea and sound plus the kitchen sink on it, it probably would have turned out a bit better if they had cut it down a bit. That album is over 52 mins.

If they had held a song or two back, you could argue they could have toured another release after 13!
Anyhow, Id have loved to heard "13" recorded to tape, betcha that would take a lot of production shine off it.
But I get it, they wanted a modern sounding record, but in hindsight the old Sabbath album template from the 70s, cut to tape?

 

Cornucopia

It's hard to pay attention to anything but the drums on this. The Warden just kills it with the tempo/tonal changes. This song sounds like metal, but it's really jazz.

Laguna Sunrise

Beautiful little instrumental that illustrates how diverse this album is. It would make a good intro to Tequila Sunrise on a playlist.

 

One true classic for me, the rest just ok, good record, just not lots of great songs, nice effort,

Damaged Soul,

 

I like a lot the really special effect and mood the almost 3 minutes of Laguna Sunrise convey to me, it could even perfectly apply for the time span of a complete sunset, nothing more and nothing less. And, as a plus, kudos to Iommi again for his awesome last arpeggios really captivating, they always feel like completely moving me off time.

 

So, when can we put on our dancing shoes?

I suggest doing the last two songs seperately.
St. Vitus Dance is short and fairly straightforward, but I think Under The Sun needs it's own space.

 

Great review RRB! This thread kills me because I'm so busy these days... barely a minute to check these posts out... And now all this to catch up...

Maybe you can help me with this one note from the first chord of the verse riff (0:21) of this great song, which I could never figure out... This note sort of makes the riff for me, meaning I am obsessed with it! And I'm not good enough in music theory or just playing the guitar to know what it is. Plus the texture/down tuning, etc. of that monstrous, loud guitar sound prevent me from making it out... Perhaps it's one tone below the root of the chord? It sounds so good... almost, like Frank Zappa may have put it, like he's mad at somebody...

 

Thanks for reading it.
From what I hear and have played and seen it is a slide from the 5th fret on the 6th string up to the 7th fret B and then a quick 5th string 7th fret E note which is right next to it. Palm mute the riff. The slide from the A note on the 6th string is a ghost note that you are hearing. Hope that helps.
I hope this the riff you mean and not the chord that descends. That chord is an E at the 7th fret over strings 5,6 and 7. Use 7-9-7 fingering and then slide it down almost immediately. A ghost chord if you will.

 

St. Vitus’ Dance:

Now for St Vitus’ Dance, Which is a neurological disorder that causes muscle spasms that make the sufferer look like they are dancing. Lyrically the song is about a guy breaking up with what he thinks is a gold digger, but his heart breaks when he realizes it’s true love.
The song starts off kind of poppy by Black Sabbath standards, it has a nice flow to it, good rhythm by Bill Ward, Ozzy sounds good on here. It has a bit of a Paranoid flavor to it, does it relatively well.
Although my least favorite track on the album, it’s pretty good, and certainly works well within the context of this album.

 

St Vitus Dance
Reminds me of After Forever. Some nice riffs. Not very special, but works within the album.

 

Actually, the repeat of that chord, like at 0:25, is where my "mystery note" is the most prominent, so I wasn't specific enough, sorry!

Just to make sure, I just checked on the guitar, and this tune is in C#, right? If so, I think the note I like so much in this chord is the B... Not sure how to play it though... Not even if I should try, as Iommy is down-tuned, right? He sounds so at least... And I'm probably too lazy!

 

St. Vitus' Dance
This song gets a fair amount of criticism, but I like it a lot. It may not be as good as "Supernaut," "Snowblind," or the riff-behemoths that bookend the album, but it has an undeniably great groove and a catchy vocal melody.

 

ST. VITUS DANCE

Disappointing. Promises violent death by neurological disorder, delivers heavy metal version of "She Loves You." I consider this to be the first really duff track in four albums. The redeeming factor are, 1) the impressively strange and off-kilter riff, which manages to sound all rock'n'roll despite its quirky and rushed aspect, and, 2) Ozzy's vocal performance, which sounds genuinely emotional, almost in a Janis Joplin way. So it's kinda filler, but it's not facile, ordinary filler.

 

St. Vitus Dance
Ok song with some power chord riffing from Iommi. Bill Ward is again the star of the song, his swing and timing is incredible! My least favorite non-instrumental on the album. The one good thing about the tune is that the band St. Vitus got it's name from this song - so it has that going for it, yeah man! 6.5/10

 

St. Vitus' Dance has a mellower and more laid back style similar to Tomorrow's Dream and I love the bright, melodic riff of the chorus while the verse arrangement features a darker contrast. It's sort of a filler number to help close the album, but, at the same time, an essential and buried nugget within Sabbath's repertoire. 7 out of 10 or a B rating.

 

The weakest link on this record. Sounds like by-the-numbers rock and roll - and the Sabs are way above that.

 

I like St-VD, it has a very interesting, folk dance rhythm. Very un-rock 'n' roll... The verse riff part is a little bit Sabbath-by-numbers, but the rest is OK in my book.

 

Nice contrast to the grunginess that precedes it. I've a soft spot for it. I like sound of fingers scraping as they change chords on the guitar (not sure how to put that . . . ).