Your top 3 Black Sabbath albums?

S/T
Paranoid
Mob Rules

 

Mob Rules
Heaven and Hell
Sabotage

 

1) Heaven & H***
2) Mob Rules
3) Paranoid

Ronnie James Dio is one of my favorites and I started listening to Sabbath because of him.
H & H has the magnificent Children Of The Sea.
Mob Rules has the devastating title track.
Paranoid is Paranoid!
I do like Born Again and Seventh Star.
Seventh Star isn't really a Sabbath album anyway. To my understanding, Iommi was doing a solo album and the label made him release it as a Sabbath record.
I haven't really checked out the Tony Martin era much. All I've heard is from a cheapo hits collection "10 Best Series."
They've put them out for a number of bands, but I don't think they ever put together a good selection.
I plan to give Martin a better chance at some point in the future.

 

S/T
Paranoid
Technical Ecstasy


When I was a kid I asked for paranoid for my birthday. My mom couldn't find it so she got me Technical Ecstasy which was just released. I really like many songs on that album.

 

First album because I love the psychedelic heavy blues with a touch of jazz.
Master of Reality because it was the album that got me into them.
Volume 4 because it is soooo metal.

I only left off Paranoid because the live versions on the Paris video demolish the studio versions, especially War Pigs.
Honorable mention to Sabatoge, their most underrated album.
I love the Dio stuff, but to me its a different band.

 

No doubt for me :
1) The "very heavy" mob rules
2) The headless cross ( special mentions for Cozy drumming & that evil guitar sound !)
3) Heaven & Hell (The reborn of the band)
Out of competition: The "mastodon" Live Evil

I would like to add that Black Sabbath is a survivor (nearly 50 years !) thanks to Tony "Last in line" Iommi. He always has surrounded himself with talented musicians to keep alive this project .
And remember what he said: "I am Black Sabbath and Black Sabbath is me".
Hats off to Mr Iommi

 

Mob Rules
Heaven & Hell
Dehumanizer

 

Cool! We have exacty the same 3 favorite Sabbath LPs at the moment!

 

Pretty surprised by how varied the voting is. I thought that the first two albums would be on everyone's ballots.

 

Painful choices - you really need those first 8 Ozzy albums (yeah - not 6) - how can you separate whats the better album from H&H and Mob Rules too? The Dio era is just as vital as the Ozzy period. If Born Again was mixed better (or recorded better - cant recall where the flaw in the sonics comes in) that is certainly an album that would have barnstormed its way into contention.

Martin era - Headless Cross is his peak for me. 13 was a huge disappointment - decent enough songs - badly recorded - a record that has no guts (just listen to Iommi (2000), Fused and then The Devil You Know - where did that monster sound go to Rick?)

So really - just get all Sabbath/Iommi work.

For purposes of the poll I manage to select this:

1. Master Of Reality / Heaven And Hell / Headless Cross

Headless Cross was the first Sabbath album I got to buy on day of release - marking a special moment for this listener - and I love its cheesy late 80's heavier than Whitesnake (1987) style sound wrapped around a great clutch of songs - go on and listen to Nightwing.

 

Painful choices - you really need those first 8 Ozzy albums (yeah - not 6) - how can you separate whats the better album from H&H and Mob Rules too? The Dio era is just as vital as the Ozzy period. If Born Again was mixed better (or recorded better - cant recall where the flaw in the sonics comes in) that is certainly an album that would have barnstormed its way into contention.

Martin era - Headless Cross is his peak for me. 13 was a huge disappointment - decent enough songs - badly recorded - a record that has no guts (just listen to Iommi (2000), Fused and then The Devil You Know - where did that monster sound go to Rick?)

So really - just get all Sabbath/Iommi work.

For purposes of the poll I manage to select this:

1. Master Of Reality / Heaven And Hell / Headless Cross

Headless Cross was the first Sabbath album I got to buy on day of release - marking a special moment for this listener - and I love its cheesy late 80's heavier than Whitesnake (1987) style sound wrapped around a great clutch of songs - go on and listen to Nightwing.

 

Painful choices - you really need those first 8 Ozzy albums (yeah - not 6) - how can you separate whats the better album from H&H and Mob Rules too? The Dio era is just as vital as the Ozzy period. If Born Again was mixed better (or recorded better - cant recall where the flaw in the sonics comes in) that is certainly an album that would have barnstormed its way into contention.

Martin era - Headless Cross is his peak for me. 13 was a huge disappointment - decent enough songs - badly recorded - a record that has no guts (just listen to Iommi (2000), Fused and then The Devil You Know - where did that monster sound go to Rick?)

So really - just get all Sabbath/Iommi work.

For purposes of the poll I manage to select this:

1. Master Of Reality / Heaven And Hell / Headless Cross

Headless Cross was the first Sabbath album I got to buy on day of release - marking a special moment for this listener - and I love its cheesy late 80's heavier than Whitesnake (1987) style sound wrapped around a great clutch of songs - go on and listen to Nightwing.

 

Painful choices - you really need those first 8 Ozzy albums (yeah - not 6) - how can you separate whats the better album from H&H and Mob Rules too? The Dio era is just as vital as the Ozzy period. If Born Again was mixed better (or recorded better - cant recall where the flaw in the sonics comes in) that is certainly an album that would have barnstormed its way into contention.

Martin era - Headless Cross is his peak for me. 13 was a huge disappointment - decent enough songs - badly recorded - a record that has no guts (just listen to Iommi (2000), Fused and then The Devil You Know - where did that monster sound go to Rick?)

So really - just get all Sabbath/Iommi work.

For purposes of the poll I manage to select this:

1. Master Of Reality / Heaven And Hell / Headless Cross

Headless Cross was the first Sabbath album I got to buy on day of release - marking a special moment for this listener - and I love its cheesy late 80's heavier than Whitesnake (1987) style sound wrapped around a great clutch of songs - go on and listen to Nightwing.

 

Is there a Sabbath album without Iommi ?

 

No I mean get the Iommi solo albums as well - they've not fallen all that far away from the Sabbath tree.

Apologies for the multiple identical post - seems to be a regular glitch here.

 

S/T
Masters Of Reality
Sabatage

 

1. Dehumanizer
2. Heaven & Hell
3. Mob Rules

 

Ok, it's clear now.

 

Master Of Reality
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Paranoid

 

Black Sabbath
Vol. 4
Sabotage

 

The guy's polls are always glaringly missing important albums. It's like he just does them off the top of his head. He doesn't even give an "other" option; it's just the albums he thinks of apparently.

I'll say that as much as I love the Ozzy era, I'd probably have to rank both Mob Rules and Heaven and Hell right up there. Both are tremendous albums with great songs and terrific production courtesy of Martin Birch. For me, I'd say those two albums resonate with me a bit more than even the Ozzy stuff as they were my first introduction to the band. I didn't really have a good handle on the 70's stuff until a bit later as a fan. H&H was my first Black Sabbath album and "Lady Evil" was the first song I ever heard from them.

 

Paranoid
Master of Reality
Vol 4

Yeah, this is pretty predictable from a 90s alt-grunge guy. But these albums represent peak Sabbath for me.

Paranoid is the best album, all the best songs, spacious areangements, searing guitar solos, very jazzy in style. The early blues stylings were completely discarded, which works very well. This band couldn't play the blues tk save their lives. But they can play this music better than anyone. I once heard a vintage LP press on a cheap Sansui turntable at Hymie's Records, and it sounded spectacular, like music coming out of a giant, gurgling swamp. Some albums just sound better on "cheaper" decks.

Master of Reality is probably the one I've played the most. Is there such a thing as "Catholic stoner sludge rock"? Well, there is now. I love the dry, smokey sound to the production; it sounds like the album was recorded in a small house in Seattle, right next to Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Nirvana. Gotta love those massive slabs of guitar fuzz!

Vol 4 is a transitional album, introducng a lot of new musicla ideas and arrangements. The guitars have a wonderful gurgley quality to them that I always enjoy. The songs focus on personal issues and setbacks, which helps it stand out from the pack (and also relates much closer to 90s alt-rock). I'm a big fan of the Chris Bellman Rhino LP, but I'd be thrilled to find a George Peckham UK press if the prices weren't so terrifying.

I've never been a fan of the first Black Sabbath album, although I respect how the title song went on to inspire about 50,000 heavy metal bands. But I have to agree with Lester Bangs ln this one: it's mostly a colection of tuneless jams that try to sound like The Cream. But every "heavy" band after 1967 wanted to sound like Cream (or Blue Cheer's Vincebus Eruptum, the true birth of heavy rock). There are good riffs and good snippets, but the Sabbath sound has yet to fully gel. They're still working things out. This album feels more like a demo. Also, I don't like the Satan schtick, which was already two years out of date by the time this album dropped. But, hey, that title song is genuinely scary sounding. The Boomers hated it, but their kids and grandkids loved it.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was no doubt seen as the band's creative peak, as it follows the Beatles paradigm of evolving and growing into respectability. Again, not a fan of the whole "devil" schtick (which was always a wink-nudge with these preachy Catholics), so I don't care for the cover. Don't roll your eyes at me. I had to suffer through the Moral Majority era of the 1980s. Anyway, the songs on SBS are excellent, fitting into the prog-rock era very nicely. Sabbath worked their tails off on this one and its shows. But it's also a little dated for the same reasons.

Sabotage Is a glorious meltdown of an album, all rock star raging at the world, spitting venom at record labels and management and fans, and the curse of rock stardom. The two operatic tracks anchor this album very well, and are balanced out by the very forceful and direct rock tracks "Hole in the Sky" and "Symptom of the Universe." Tommy Iommi's production continues to evolve, and the band becomes more like a 70s arena rock act. But they're a 1971 garage band at heart. Too bad The Ramones, Husker Du, Black Flag and Soundgarden are so far away.

Technical Ecstasy is just a mess. The first three tracks have charms, but the drugs and stardom burnout have taken over. Never Say Die at least has he title track, which is a killer bit of pop-rock, amd some interesting ideas here and there. But they've lost the plot entirely and have completely wrecked themselves. These guys should have taken a break to sober up and recharge. Instead, they tried to fit into a late-70s period that was openly hostile to rock music.

Finally, Dio saves the day with Heaven and Hell. Some of his lyrics are dumb as bricks (typical 80s heavy metal cliches which I've always hated, but I'm more on the punk side), but he sounds terrific and Sabbath sounded reborn. Too bad they couldn't keep up the momentum. I'll step off now and let The Ramones and Husker Du take over from here.

 

Great write up even if I don't agree with a lot of it. Well thought out and interesting to read. Cheers.

 

I really love that stuff they recorded with Tony Martin I love headless cross, I love the eternal idol and I love the seventh star LP.

I am one of the very few that like the 80s period more than the 70s.
For me it was perfect it had melody and the 80s sound but it was a little bit dark and had Tony on guitar.

Headless cross is one of the best melodic hard rock LPs ever!

Fred

 

Not when "Sabotage" is so amazing.