Your top 3 Black Sabbath albums?

Master of Reality
Vol. 4
Sabotage

 

I,II, III, IV - and that's all I care for. On any given day the first three are interchangeable depending on my mood.
I will never forget hearing I for the first time through Altec Voice of the Theaters powered by Marantz 9s, controlled by a 7C.

 

BS
Paranoid
SBS

 

MOR
SBS
Sabotage
Vol 4 gets pick 4...

 

1) Paranoid
2) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
3) Black Sabbath (US version)

 

Master Of Reality
Sabotage
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
Vol 4
Heaven And Hell
Mob Rules
13
Never Say Die
Technical Ecstasy

 

Mine exactly!

 

This is funny for me because the first three albums are the only ones I own and like and the last time I saw them live was the "Master of Reality" tour.
Don't know why but the magic was gone for me after that.

Same thing happened to me with Deep Purple Mk II.
After "Machine Head" pffffft ...
Wait a second, it happened with BOC too!
Weird ...

 

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Heaven and Hell
Mob Rules

 

Self-titled
Paranoid

No #3 - they don't do it after that for me.

 

This is really tough for me. On first thought, my favorites to listen to are Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage and Heaven and Hell. But how do you compare those to albums so influential as the original albums. So I voted Paranoid, Master, and Vol 4 which I think are their most important (or "top") albums.

 

Vol. 4
Sabotage
Heaven & Hell

 

I'm gonna have to take the grumpy old man stance on this one.

First three!

 

S/T
BORN AGAIN
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

 

OP has it right. Those are my picks in that exact order. Love love LOVE the debut album.

 

Very tough, but . . .

Vol. 4
Paranoid
Sabotage

 

Headless Cross, but no Born Again or Dehumanizer? Hell, if the Tony Martin era is gonna be there, it should at least be Eternal Idol.

 

You forgot to include Tyr in the vote, which is in my top 3.

Master of Reality
Heaven & Hell
Tyr

 

Volume 4
Sabotage
Master

I can't believe technical ecstasy got a vote

 

I chose the first three releases and those are my favorite, in that exact order.

 

I can. It's in very regular rotation in my world.

 

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
S/T
Sabotage

 

My order for my top 3 favorites:
Paranoid (crushingly good and heavy - Wagner would have given a headbanger nod to its epicness)
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (stretching the boundaries, but still retaining some spittle flying/eyes of flame moments of metal intensity)
Sabotage (like a fine wine this has aged to almost perfection)

 

Master of Reality
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Sabotage

 

Love them all. Voted Sabotage, SBS, and Technical Ecstasy. I love that proggy period.
But the Dio era's great, I love Born Again, and like the Martin era a lot too.
Seventh Star would be my weakest one, but even that has the monstrous In For The Kill on it.
My favourite "metal" band of all-time, basically.