Black Sabbath - Sabotage (1975) Track by track thread

Carrying on with the Sabbath onslaught, we'll now look at 1975 album from Black Sabbath entitled Sabotage.

Rules for the thread are simple:

Comment on the song at hand and, if you wish, reflect on when you first heard this album and what your feelings were when you did. Again, please don't jump ahead of me in terms of songs I post. We'll do one a day (unless I become horribly busy, but this is the usual pace I do my threads).



BLACK SABBATH Sabotage (1975)

Background info:

Sabotage is considered by most Black Sabbath fans as the last great record of the classic era line-up. Though it contains many of the progressive elements of its predecessor, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, in terms of arrangements and instrumentation, it is a decidedly heavier affair than its 1973 ancestor. The band deciding to pare down the arrangements a bit, and go in a more direct, heavier approach, set to record what would their sixth album in exactly as many years. Sabotage was recorded at Morgan Studios in London, England over the period of almost a year which would be, easily, the longest that Black Sabbath had ever taken to record an album. Though hampered by legal problems, and technical difficulties (the first version of recorded sessions was mysteriously erased by tape operator, David Harris, leading to his credit as "saboteur"), the band persevered and created what is, arguably, their best record of their entire career with, albeit, one of the worst album covers in the history of rock music.

The process of what led up to Sabotage is a long and winding tale with the band being served legal papers by former manager, Jim Simpson, either during a concert or in the studio (the stories vary), and the band being, effectively, put on ice until until the legal matters could be resolved. Doubling their problems were that the band was also having financial difficulties due to their past association with manager, Patrick Meehan, who had unknowingly to the band, filtered a large portion of royalties to himself instead to the band themselves. In fact, though the band had played the California Jam festival in 1974 and had received a generous payment of $250,000 dollars for the performance, each member of the band was paid only a $1,000 a piece for their efforts. Taking into account travel expenses and everything else, this left a large portion of the proceeds unaccounted for. This, along with other instances, was just one more example of the legal and fiscal difficulties the band was dealing with during this timeframe.

Personal wise, the band was beginning to fracture a bit with personalities and health issues becoming an increasingly problematic area. Drummer Bill Ward was suffering from alcohol and drug issues as well as multiple health problems (a case of hepatitis and a mild heart attack to name two), while vocalist Ozzy Osbourne found himself becoming increasingly distant from the band due to musical differences and family issues. As always, guitarist Tony Iommi took the lead in terms of writing the bulk of the material, but there was a difference of opinion between Osbourne and Iommi in terms of where they wanted to go stylistically. Osbourne, reportedly, wanted the band to continue on with its heavy, thunderous attack while Iommi preferred to keep stretching the boundaries of their music and being more and more adventuresome with the arrangements. These are arguments that were stated later in interviews after the fact, so who knows where the truth lies in terms of the details, but what is known, for certain, is that there was developing tension within the group for a number of reasons during this time period.

Listening to the music of Sabotage, it walks a fine line stylistically with some of the cuts bordering on progressive rock and others being more basic, salt of earth rockers that Black Sabbath were so well known for. In fact, the disparity of some of the compositions on the album are stunning in terms of complexities and nuances to create long dramatic epics vs. pure, raw, primal riffs that are, somewhat simplistically molded into effective, concise rockers. For instance, two the best known songs on Sabotage, "Symptom of the Universe" and "Hole in the Sky" are songs that have no real traditional verse/chorus structure to them, and, instead, are songs that run off a couple of repeating figures that consistently repeat themselves. But the songs are so urgent and insistent with their drive and intensity, that the listener wouldn't notice. Conversely, two the longer pieces on Sabotage, the closers on both album sides, "Megalomania" and "The Writ" are well over eight minutes a piece and, structurally, are mind-blowing in terms of the intricate pieces put together to form them. They are, without a doubt, some of the most forward thinking, progressive tracks that Black Sabbath had ever attempted. That being said, even with these two longer, complex songs present, Sabotage, with the addition of the crunchy rocker "The Thrill of It All", and the rather mediocre and repetitive "Am I Going Insane (Radio)" is known, for the most part, as a direct, heavy rock album, and one of Black Sabbath's best.



HOLE IN THE SKY (Iommi, Butler, Ward, Osbourne) 4:08

Starting off Sabotage is the face melting riff rocker, "Hole in the Sky", which is one of my favorite Black Sabbath song of all-time (it's top five for sure). As I alluded to above, "Hole in the Sky" is not a difficult song in any sense of the word as it runs off one central riff for the verses (a grinding three note motif) and the chorus if you can call it that (1:38 for its first appearance which is herky jerky in nature). Yet, the vibe of this song is like a watching an unstoppable object roll down a mountain destroying everything in its path.

"Hole in the Sky" starts with Ozzy (maybe Bill?), I believe, saying "CHICKEN!!!" before it starts, but for a long time, I always used to think it was "ATTACK!" which, to me, is exactly what this song does (you can hear Bill count the song off right after that). That always set the mood for me for "Hole in the Sky". Nutty, nonsensical lyrics on this one, but who cares? I don't care about the lyrics; this song is about the riff and it destroys.

Ozzy sounds vibrant; almost crazed in his vocal and with Geezer Butler's growly, wah distorted bass line supporting Iommi's riff, it makes for a massive wrecker. One of the things I like best about "Hole in the Sky" is Bill Ward's drumming where it sounds like he's just going to town. His cymbal work is outstanding and I love, love, love the accentuations he does with his snare after every main lick of the song (like at 0:18). He makes this song, in my opinion.

 

Not much to add to your excellent summation of this great opening song.
I dig the way it's abruptly cuts off going into Don't Start...

 

Just a clarification, papers were served by Patrick Meehan, not Jim Simpson. This story was forever immortalized in “The Writ”.

Great summation, Jason. Nice work.

I, for one, have always liked the cover. Four more unique looking individuals in a rock band I have yet to see. Somehow fits the music, IMO.

 

Hole In The Sky has to be among the heaviest songs they ever did. Great opener for a great album.

 

A masterpiece of an album. The guitar sound is crazy distorted. The cover art is the best! Check out the back cover and Bill's underpants.

 

One of the best heavy Sabbath songs.... a simple riff, but powerful. A good opener, but not on the same level like SBS.

I don't think it's the worst artwork... could be worse!

Regarding the heavy sound... they never reached that before and after

 

Hole In the Sky
They really kicked this album off on a strong note. This song has some great playing by Tony Iommi, giving it a groove that sounds like a cross between the atmospheric sludge of Vol. 4 and the layered sound of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Ozzy gives one of his best vocal performances here; He shows he can wail with the best of the hard rock singers.

 

I have always considered this album the apotheosis of Sabbathosity.

I don’t know that I’d call “Hole In The Sky” a great song, but I like it and it’s an effective opener. The word “bludgeoning” comes to mind.

 

As a guitar geek I have to point out that the little bridge Iommi throws in between the verse riff (first appearing at 0:32) is some of sickest chordal vibrato I have ever heard. It sounds absolutely insane! So controlled and precise. His vibrato technique by this point was on its own island.

 

Hole In The Sky
Great groove. Some absolutely marvellous high singing. I disagree about this song being about the riff, though it's a good one, but to me it's also a lot about the vocals and the wonderfully wacky lyrics. Love it!

I find there's something bright and uplifting about the sound on this album that makes it very special in their catalogue.

 

A powerful opener, but as Claus said, not on par with SBS. I always found the cover hilarious, I hope that was their intention.

 

great album, great opener.
on a side note. when i was younger i'd see the cover and think "ozzy is looking pretty rough" then i would refocus and say "oh that's bill"

 

Respectfully, I'm going to disagree with both premises. I think Hole in the Sky is a much heavier offering than Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. SBS has too many breaks in the song and wasn't full out balls to the wall sound. One of the heaviest songs they ever did. But, that's just me.

Also, I have always thought Vol. 4 was the heaviest album they ever did.

I do agree about the cover. On par with Never Say Die........

Oh, by the way, I love Hole in the Sky.

 

Sabotage was my 1st Sabs album, and remains unquestionably their best and my favourite. Apart from Paranoid, it's the only Sabs album I can still play in full without skipping stuff.

Hole In The Sky was the 1st Sabs song I knowingly heard, although I'd probably heard Paranoid on the radio before that without knowing who or what it was. It was a Saturday afternoon in September 1975; I was 14 and holed up in bed with chickenpox, listening to Alan Freeman's BBC rock show, semi-delirious, not really enjoying any of the music, but too sick to be arsed to turn the radio off...then this (unintroduced) slobbering beast came on; I perked up, thinking 'WTF, this is the heaviest thing I've ever heard', waited to find out who it was...'oh, Black Sabbath, that makes sense', asked my mum to go buy it for me, and voila, I acquired my first (and probably still best) Heavy Metal Album...followed in quick succession by SBS and Paranoid, despite the derision of my mates - kind of strange to recollect now, but back then, BS were usually lumped in with Status Quo as low-brow, music for idiots etc...wonder what the 70s crew would've made of black/death/crap metal, LOL.

 

Sabotage (1975)
I simply love this album. It's a flip of the coin between this and Master Of Reality for my fav Sabbath album.
Master is probably the almost perfect album, but Sabotage's sheer versatility probably edges it for me.
Sure it was 1980 when I was trawling thru the classic Rock bands of the 70's that I discovered this, along with most of their back catalogue.




Hole In The Sky
Monstrous opening track...what a Riff. Almost sounds out of control teetering on the edge.
Tremendous.
5/5

 

Sabotage is a weird one for me, I don't really get the love for it, I actually prefer Technical Ecstasy.

Hole in the Sky is absolutely brilliant though, I often forget about this song because I don't tend to play this album so often but it's an absolute beast of an opener. Great planet destroying riff & superb vocals from Ozzy.

 

The red pants and the kimono. Cannot unsee!

 

At least Ozzy put something on.

 

HOLE IN THE SKY
What a pile driver riff! Ozzy's more bellowing or shouting over the guitar and crashing drums than singing, but that's the energy required to ride this juggernaut of a song over Niagra Falls. I love how Tony can render complicated song structure and lyrics that make sense almost meaningless when you have a riff this punishing. And Bill is just crashing away at those cymbals, but pay closer attention (as @GodShifter did) and you can see the nuance. And when Ozzy sings "through it I'll flyyyyyy" it's a really cool moment.

At first I thought, wow what if they played Hole in the Sky and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath back to back in concert, but then I realized that might actually kill the audience (or blow out Ozzy's vocal chords) so they had to play Snowblind after Hole in the Sky instead. 10.0 out of 10.0

 

Agree with all of this - what a song!

 

Misunderstanding. I said, Hole in the Sky is one of the heaviest track in Sabbath's discography, incl. Heaven and Hell. But the song is not as good as SBS. IMO

 

I also say.... Sabotage first side is the best Sabbath album. No fillers, all killers!

 

Rolling Stone's review, surprisingly positive:

Sabotage

Billy Altman
September 25, 1975


Sabotage is not only Black Sabbath's best record since Paranoid, it might be their best ever. Even with the usual themes of death, destruction and mental illness running throughout this album, the unleashed frenzy and raw energy they've returned to here comes like a breath of fresh air.

"Symptom of the Universe" rambles on, an atonal riff-based crusher, then shifts for a coda of lightly paced acoustic jamming. "Megalomania" is an inversion of that, erupting into a hard rocker with a hummable chorus before it's slammed home in a quake of phasing and feedback. For diversion, there's "Supertzar," which features the English Chamber Choir chanting off an off-time splurge of guitar phrases. Black Sabbath loyalists will no doubt love this record and those who've never bothered may even want to indulge.

 

I remember when I first bought Sabotage on vinyl and put it on and the absolute anger and menace of Hole in the Sky immediately gripped my ears and senses as I studied the album sleeve and just recall taking in its 4 minutes of recording time, as its impact was rather quick, direct and impressive. Ward's crashing rhythm coupled with possibly, one of Iommi's more simple, but merciless riffs and Ozzy's blistering vocal, Hole in the Sky offers a crushing, angry opening and again, would serve to influence heavy metal enthusiasts' from Venom to Mercyful Fate to Slayer. As with every opening cut thus far within their discography, "Sky" is a consistently excellent start to their 6th release. 8 out of 10 or an A rating.

 

Mick Farren's surprisingly hostile October 11, 1975 NME review:



I think it was Lester Bangs who put forward the proposition that people who went to Black Sabbath concerts derived their pleasure from ingesting massive amounts of downers and simply let the noise of the band vibrate their chest cavities, thus bypassing the ear altogether.

The problem with this thesis is that it hardly holds true for Black Sabbath`s records. You can scarcely achieve this kind of effect on the average home stereo without facing instant eviction.
There simply can`t be enough hermits and mountain dwellers to put this unpleasant record at number 9 in the charts.
At this point the fact has to be faced that Black Sabbath are simply low consciousness music.
(At this point the ingratiating critic slips in a disclaimer).
There is nothing essentially wrong with a low consciousness. It`s simply that I find it hard to relate to. I don`t have one. Neither do my knuckles trail on the ground when I walk.
Little Richard used to call rock and roll the healing music. Daily Mirror columnists like to call a tune “infectious”. This has to be atrophy music.

It`s heavy metal that`s so far into its half life that decay is almost complete.
The snap and fire of Jimi, the MC5 and even the early Who has been transformed by Sabbath into a ponderous, rolling THING that crushes all in its monomaniac path.
Is there no handsome young scientists who will come and save us in the nick of time?
Just as religoid chorales and tired shock tactics fail to disguise the essentially brutal thud-thud structures, the five cent psychiatry in the lyrics fails to boost them to even B movie stature.
Some couplets are dull gems of hothouse illiteracy.
How about: “Everybody`s looking at me / They`re paranoid inside / When I step outside I`ll feel free / Think I`ll find a place to hide”.
Then the subject enquires if he`s going insane. His only answer is loony laughter.
This isn`t psychodrama, It`s an amusement park ghost train. It has the same cheap, lowest common denominator, dubious thrill quotient while totally lacking the kind of gaudy innocence that might make it redeemingly charming.
It`s also highly successful, and probably causes brain damage.
Can I please take it off now?

ARTICLE ABOUT Black Sabbath from New Musical Express, October 11, 1975