I was there from the start. My brother had the album the first week it was out and he handed it to me and told me to listen to it. I had been playing guitar for around three years at the time. I heard it and was immediately floored. They sounded musically like a little brother to Cream but they still were very different in many ways. Iommi's tone was unique and his solos were very sparse sounding using the pentatonic and blues scales. He underplayed as compared to Eric Clapton and other players at that time. I saw them in 1971 in Philadelphia but I think they were drunk...at least Ozzy was. So it was somewhat of a letdown. Still I remained a big fan forever.
I came into Sab similar to Jon except it was MOR. Then Paranoid and the S/T so I was given them backwards. I'm the oldest so it wasn't a sibling but my dads sister(aunt) Giving me those records. Funny thing, She withheld records like Woodstock and MC5 because of the F bombs but had No Problem giving me stuff that gave me nightmares . I was maybe 7 maybe a bit younger. My mom used to say i came out of her singing and I have always been givin music by everyone in the family. Even now my 70 year old mother calls me from garage sales.
Some general remarks about Black Sabbath before I comment on the debut album: My relationship with Black Sabbath has been a very deep one. I first heard "Paranoid" on some various artists comp in 1977 and was transfixed by their eerie sound, in spite of the fact that my first impression was that the track was somewhat dull musically. But I played it over and over and my fascination grew. My first Sabbath purchase was not an album, but rather the folio of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, published by TRO-Essex and having correct transcriptions for bass guitar. A few weeks later I actually bought the album and my first bass guitar, and I used the book to lean my very first songs on the bass - "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and "A National Acrobat." Over the next couple of years I collected all the other Ozzy-era albums, excluding Technical Ecstasy. I was the only person of my acquaintance to be really interested in Sabbath, as I was also the only person I knew who was into Alice Cooper and the MC5 and several other hard rock bands. They were mine, and it was my pleasure to evangelize others and introduce them to the greatness of Sabbath. So what's so great about these guys anyway? Well, my conclusion is, it has a lot to do with a unified band sound and identity. Black Sabbath has a distinct musical framework, based upon the general instrumentation and timbre of 60's amped-up blues rock like Cream, Blue Cheer and Led Zeppelin, but (IMO) with almost all of the blues leached out and replaced (occasionally) with jazz. Seriously, I was listening to Sabbath's debut album just today and asking myself, "So, where is the 'blues' here, this being the 'bluesy' Sabbath album?" I don't hear it. I definitely hear Cream, as Sabbath is essentially a power trio with a lead singer, and the instrumental approach of Iommi/Butler/Ward is not dissimilar to Clapton/Bruce/Baker, and Ginger Baker does have a jazz background similar to Ward, but none of Sabbath's compositions or covers seem to have direct blues antecedents. The closest Sabbath seems to get to the blues is R&B, such as their cover of "Evil Woman." Ironically the most "bluesy" Sabbath track in my estimation is "Damaged Soul" from their new album. Sabbath also has a certain unique conceptual identity, and it includes religion, philosophy, pessimism, science fiction, and drug use. Sometimes all of these themes turn up in a single track. For me, the most fascinating aspect of Sabbath is their occasional religious emphasis. This aspect piqued my interest as a 14-year old agnostic and retains it today as a 49-year old Christian. I don't pretend that these guys are serious Christian believers or theological geniuses but the fact that they deal with these issues, even in the somewhat melodramatic way that they do, is appealing to me. I don't recommend listening to Sabbath albums as an adjunct to saying your rosary, but it is exciting entertainment for the spiritually minded person with a sense of humor. And I'm aware that many Christians hate Sabbath and think they're inspired by the devil, but I just have to conclude that those people don't have the benefit of my objective and dispassionate point of view. THE MUSICIANS: TONY IOMMI: All the best bands have a story that reads like a legend, a tale so unusual and unlikely that it will be doubted in the future because we can't believe reality is that cool. Tony Iommi is the mythic hero of Black Sabbath. Most young guitarists, having sliced off the tips of two fingers at their lousy day job, would have packed it in. Iommi, fortified by the equally awesome true-life legend of Django Reinhardt, melted down a bottle of Fairy Liquid and made himself new fingertips. Armed with these new prosthetic appendages, Iommi decided to make the world pay for his misfortune by employing drop-down tuning and pretty much single-handedly inventing heavy metal guitar, or at least founding a school of it. And in a generation of rock guitarists who seemed hell-bent on winning the coveted Crown of Overplaying, Iommi keeps things generally short and pithy, even if if did occasionally practice an eldritch art of overdubbing two independent lead guitars on top of one another, creating a weird disjointed effect. In my thinking, Iommi the guitarist is neither overrated nor underrated, he is simply Apart. TERENCE "GEEZER" BUTLER: I don't know who is more fascinating to me, Geezer Butler the monster bassist or Geezer Butler the Irish Poet. As bassist, his brilliantly fluid playing and wild, aggressive tones complement Iommi's weapons-grade SG perfectly, and as lyricist, he is probably the most responsible for Sabbath's unique conceptual identity. Like Alice Cooper, he was a religious prodigy who was nevertheless hounded out of his parish for the sin of having long hair. To this day, he apparently retains many strong personal convictions and commitments, including his marriage to Gloria, his commitment to a vegan lifestyle, and (according to Ozzy) a complete eschewing of profanity. JOHN "OZZY" OSBOURNE: Here I a not interested in discussing the Ozzy Osbourne that made a dozen solo albums with stupid, garish covers or the Ozzy that ripped off every musician he ever met or the Ozzy that spent several seasons on MTV doddering around into piles of dog poop. Rather, I am interested in the artist whom writer Mike Stark called "The Banshee - crying to be put out of his misery." The keening wail that permeates Sabbath's 70's albums is one of the most plaintive sounds in rock music. His technical ability relative to other singers is clearly Not The Point. He is Black Sabbath's singer, sometimes emeritus, and The Prince Of ****ing Darkness. BILL WARD: Bill Ward is the simple heart of Black Sabbath. When you read his reflections in dozens of interviews over the years, the deep affection that he has for the band, its members and legacy is obvious. The most troubled member of a band of misfits, Ward is nevertheless a major architect of the band's sound, having infused the early arrangements with his unique jazzy orchestral percussion. He thinks he's never been recorded well, but I say that his drums sound titanically awesome on the debut album, and I love the skull-beating he gives me on the Reunion album. I'll get around to lionizing other members of future incarnations of Black Sabbath as they appear. I won't say that the original Sabbath are "the ONLY Black Sabbath", but I will say that these four are the band that won my heart and holds my attention, the band that stands up with the Beatles and the Stones among my favorite and most respected artists, and the band whose work I will treasure as long as life lasts. They are in my personal Gallery Of Edgy Genius along with Hieronymous Bosch, William Blake, and H.P. Lovecraft.
Great post. I got into Sabbath at the age of 14, when Heaven and Hell was released. I heard "Lady Evil" on KLOS radio. A few months later "Blizzard Of Ozz" was released. Those two records got me to go back and discover all the rest. So, even though I had heard stuff from Paranoid and MOR on the radio, I never really pursued Sabbath until those records hit. Those records were so popular it seemed, and I guess I was just at the right age. The first time I heard the debut all the way through, my mind was blown.
Please, don't! One of the good things about this sort of thread is all the varied contributions from everyone, each with their own style, pointing the finger at what they feel worth noting and through the prism of their own point of view. The thread would be less if we tried to adhere to rules or homogenized everyone's approach. If someone's contribution is not my cup of tea, I can always skip it, but I'd rather it stayed for those that do appreciate it. That would be a mighty cool addition, as far as I'm concerned. I greatly enjoyed your analysis of Schenker and I'm looking forward to your posts on Iommi's guitar work, another big favourite of mine. Also, a thankful shout out to Scope J, who has contributed some great pictures!
I got into Black Sabbath relatively late as well. It would have been around 1982-ish, I believe. "The Mob Rules" was the most recent album, that I do remember. I got into Sabbath at roughly the same time I got into Ozzy Osbourne. Black Sabbath's stuff will always be timeless for me, Ozzy's stuff less so, but I don't want to get into that here. My fondest memory is that a girl who was interested in me (like that ever happens anymore!) got me "Born Again" as a Christmas gift in 1983. I'll never forget the look on my parents faces, after tearing into the Christmas paper to reveal a cassette with a screaming demonic baby on the cover! Hey, we were 13 years old so whatever. I've been warped ever since.
That is frickn hysterical. I've told this story here before, but it kinda reminds me of the time I was in church with my parents. It was after SBS had come out, and I was doodling on the church program instead of listening to the sermon....and if course I'm writing Black Sabbath, trying to emulate the font from that album. My Dad looks over while I'm doing this, and whispers... "What's Black Cabbage?"
The show you saw in Philly could be interesting. Do you remember if King Crimson opened? There is an unconfirmed date of July 14, 1971 at The Spectrum with Crimson. They also played the Philly Spectrum on March 29, 1972 with Edgar Winter and Wild Turkey opening. And there is a show from the Philly Spectrum now assumed to be April 2, 1971 with Humble Pie and Mountain. I believe this last one is the well known bootleg that has mostly circulated as Philly 4/71 over the years (also I think incorrectly listed by some as Philly 10/70 for a while) and I believe Mountain was the headliner. A great boot and historically fascinating to hear them early on as an opening act in the US. The crowd goes absolutely crazy for Sabbath at this show. One guy, in particular, is funny on the tape as he is just freaking out in amazement and keeps yelling "holy ****" after Iommi's long solo improvisations during "Wicked World."
Thanks for keeping things a nice steady pace. While I'm not as big a Sabbath fan as yourself, I'd like to at least chip in with my thoughts on Paranoid (I'm not so familiar with the albums either side of it not owning them, though I've heard them a few times each) and Sabotage, easily my favourite Sabbath album so far. Sadly what with my still ongoing commitment to The Cure thread, I've already given up hope of being able to get my thoughts in on the Metallica one, coupled with the OP's intent on rushing through every release of their modest output like a buffalo in a small side street (yeah I could still post a brief review of Ride the Lightning, but it's only going to mess up the thread further, as he must have almost got to the Black Album by now!). Already some excellent posts and critiques so far, so I've got some high standards to compete with!
I am an amateur at this so feel free to correct anything technical. One of my favorite rock songs of all time for 43 years and counting. Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath from their first album The one that started it all...at least heavy metal. The song starts off with thunder and rain sounds with a tolling bell. At :38 enters the infamous thundering G power chord which introduces the World to the Black Sabbath Tony Iommi. The chords cuts thru the background effects like a knife...like a monster has appeared on the scene in a horror movie. The G chord is a dropped third G Major chord. Only two notes......and an octave...G, D and a G octave. The remainder of the riff is simply the G octave note followed by the infamous D flat..a flatted fifth to G. At :42 Iommi plays a trill (devil's trill) of D flat to D which hints at the bare tritone. At :50, he omits the trill and instead lets the D flat "Devil tone" stand on its own. At 1:00, Tony throws in a quick slide to the 10th position G note to give the riff some variety. At 1:09 the dynamics decrease with Tony backing off on the volume setting up the entrance of the first verse at 1:24 with the world being introduced to Ozzy Osbourne. The melody is based on the G minor scale. You can hear the B flat note at the word "this" at 1:26. This gives the vocal melody an ominous sound since the chords do not add the dropped third which naturally ocurrs in G minor. In addition, Ozzy throws in the tritone of D flat at 1:30 in the word "me" The notes in the word "me" are D flat to D. At 1:44 Ozzy partially mimics the trill that Iommi uses in the word "me". The verse moves along until 2:16 where Ozzy screams out "Oh No" Listen to the word "no".... Ozzy sings a descending line and echo is added to his voice making it sound like he is being dragged into Hell....like his voice is fading from your ear....to be gone forever. Amazing stuff. Gave me goose bumps the first time I heard it. Still does. At 2:20 the band ramps back up with the main riff repeating. The tolling bell is ominously still in the background. There is no chorus. I cannot imagine a chorus fitting the tone of this song. The second verse starts at 3:06 and moves along pretty much the same as the first verse. At 3:58 Ozzy pleads for help from God. At 4:02 the word "me" winds up on the D flat...the Devils tritone...sounds like Ozzy is a goner. The riff returns and is repeated thru 4:31 ending with a growling G chord. A bridge enters with a riff based on the G minor scale at 4:36. This pattern sounds very close to the descending pattern used in the classical guitar piece Leyenda by Isaac Albeniz. I am sure Iommi had heard the piece and utilized the descending pattern for the song. Iommi plays the pattern with his pick at an angle to give the riff a nervous edgy sound. Ozzy comes in at 4:44 but has now shifted to the third person objective case. We now realize he is not alone in his peril......we are there with him! Oh no no no! At 5:14 the bridge changes slightly with the chords G-G Minor 7th as power chords. However, Geezer plays a descending run of G-F-E-E flat which tricks your ear into thinking Iommi and Butler are playing in unison. Iommi uses a wah wah pedal on the guitar chords to awesome effect. Bill Ward is amazing with some great fills and cymbal swells. Tony hits a subtle pinch harmonic at 5:23 while soloing around the G minor pentatonic scale. He starts in the lower third position with some great bends and double note bends at 5:26. At 5:29 he uses octave double note bends ascending up to the 15th position where he adds some great bluesy bends at 5:31. He continues wailing thru to 5:44 where he adds in some tasty trills at 5:48. He continues the solo up until 5:57 where something amazing happens. At 5:57 Iommi plays a G power chord that IMO, is the most dramatic power chord ever played in the history of rock. I still to this day, play this part over and over still in amazement. At 6:05 another amazing sound emerges. It sounds to me like he is still playing the same G-G minor 7th chord but the Wah pedal adds awesome overtones to the chord. Another wicked one of a kind sounding chord. At 6:08, a rhythmic cadence straight from many classical music pieces enters. The song ends abruptly with no fade out.
Black Sabbath (1970) 'Template' for so much that was to follow. A classic album. Genuinely unnerving on first listen. 4/5
I agree that I'm enjoying the pace of this thread. Somehow, it's easier to follow. That Metallica one was going by way too fast. I gave up after "Master of Puppets".
I agree. An amazing drummer throughout his career with Sabbath. Mind blowing playing on this first album. With Geezer hanging close to the roots of the chords, Ward opened up their sound with his style.
Bill Ward is a great drummer and, according to Iommi, highly unpredictable in terms of what he'd play. Iommi states that every time they'd play a song there was always something different in terms of what Ward would do. He was never a guy that was a lockstep, by the numbers drummer, but instead kind of free styled it to a degree. It's that element of Sabbath's playing that I think makes them so infectious and fun (fun being an odd word to use with Sabbath, but it's true). Sabbath could have been quite tedious with a different player behind the kit, but as dkmonroe points out, it was the right combination of styles and players in the band that made them so great.
If I were the OP of that thread, I'd seriously consider asking a gort to lock it and do another one a lot more slowly. Shame, because Metallica are one of my favourite bands of the 1980s and with all this very welcome resurgence in album by album threads in the last year or so, a Metallica one could have been great. Anyway sorry for the o/t, back to Sabbath!
I got into Sabbath with the Paranoid release becaise my older brother had the cassette (I didn't hear it for the first time until the early 80's when I was 10 or 11 years old). I never got the debut album for years after that but I knew a lot of the songs because I had the We Sold Our Souls comp. Being 12 years old and hearing the song Black Sabbath for the first time was a pretty eye opening experience. To put it frankly, it scared the S H I T out of me! After the tolling bell and rain and thunder, when that first crushing chord came in, I literally jumped out of my bed. I still believe it's the heaviest thing ever laid down on record. And the fact that it was recorded in 1969, I could only imagine what people thought at the time when it was brand new. The Wizard is brilliant. I always loved Behind The Wall of Sleep. I always thought that Bill Ward beat in that song would make a great sample for a hip hop song. When I started playing guitar I tried learning Warning note for note, even the extended guitar solo. Iommi was my primary teacher. He was the master in my book. Nobody will ever come close to him with all the tremendous riffs he wrote. I always thought of their debut as a heavier version of Cream IMO. Great stuff.
This promises to be a tasty thread. You all know a lot more about Sabbath than I do, but I am a willing pupil .
Bought this album when it came out. Their name and all the devil, witchey stuff that caused so much controversy at the time seems kind of cute now. These guys and Alice Cooper upset and scared the pants off parents. For us they were kind of like a low rent and not as technically proficient Deep Purple and were actually looked down on by many for their simplicity and lack of virtuosity. Let's face it, Tony was clunky sounding compared to the guitar aces of the day. This was when the whole guitar as gunslinger thing was taking off. Blackmore, Beck, Page, Clapton, Lee and even McLaughlin who was crossing over. Never the less there was something special going on here and we recognized it. Epic stoner music. That bell, that rain ... holy **** and he's singing about the devil! I checked out after "Master of Reality". For me after that the magic was gone, that coupled with my increased guitar playing snobbery caused me to move on. I still listen to that first album a lot.
Good comments. Tony's playing fit their harmonic language perfectly IMO. Not a lot of melodic twiddling...just stark and bare. He had a one of a kind guitar tone and a great vibrato. Was he as good as Ritchie Blackmore? No, but I like him for all of the things that make him one of a kind.
