Black Sabbath Vol. 4 Song by Song Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Zoot Marimba, Mar 12, 2018.

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  1. Hermes

    Hermes Past Master

    Location:
    Denmark
    Sure, my plan is to get Vol 4, SBS and Sabotage.

    I already have Heaven and Hell and that compilation I mentioned (without Supernaut and Wheels of C).

    My problem is: where do I get a decent CD? Amazon seems to like shipping the modern low dynamic masters.

    EDIT: I found this good thread.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2018
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  2. zen

    zen Senior Member

    Under The Sun closes the album in fine fashion.
     
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  3. Rick Robson

    Rick Robson

    Location:
    ️️
    Oh that really slipped under my radar...
    Really a BIG of a statement that couldn't be more true and speaks wonders of Bill's genius :tiphat:
    As I posted earlier, what he said is pretty much an ever present Ward trademark on the Ozzy era Sabbath :cool:
     
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  4. BDC

    BDC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tacoma
    Back in the days of Vol 4 the crowds would of been 99% dudes, outside certain festivals, but I do remember Ozzy catching on with women in the 80s, and by 97 when I attended a couple Sabbath shows a pretty diverse audience. Aerosmith in the 70s was a band who made overtly sexual songs, and even their audience in those days was pretty much male, a much different thing by the time of Permanent vacation. Under the sun lyrically isn't much about sex, but sex is innate in rock n roll from it's onset and the blues it's derived from. I think maybe it just took time for the heaviness of some of this music to catch on with more people. In the mid 80s I could listen to Metallica, which for me at the time was the ultimate in heavy. The first time I heard Judas Priest Painkiller, that was a bridge too far in heaviness, it took time for me to be able to like it. Some of the heavy music never caught up with me, I really don't like Slayer. Outside of early Black Sabbath, I mostly don't like detuned rock/metal, with Soundgarden being a big exception. Listening to rock music for a man can get testosterone jacked up, but it doesn't make a heterosexual male wanna f___ the band or it's singer. These things hit men and women different, and not the same in each individual of a given sex. This is me trying to make sense of this, but as a male it'll always be futile to try and understand a perspective a can't come from.
     
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  5. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    I'm definitely interested in participating in the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage song by songs.

    BTW has there ever been a Zeppelin song by song thread? I'd love to see one on Physical Graffiti.
     
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  6. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    I've come to realize that when it comes to metal, I draw the line at "cookie monster" vocals. So that rules out about anything heavier than the "Big 4 of Thrash."
     
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  7. BDC

    BDC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tacoma
    Yeah that's a massive dividing line for me too. Others are detuning and the voicing of high gain amps.. I like the sound of a Bogner Ecstasy, but hate the sound of their Ubershall.

    These guys have a good take on detuned music, very Sabbath sounding musically, but with very unique vocals.. The recordings are too muddy often though IMO..


    I do dig this sh!t though.......
     
  8. sons of nothing

    sons of nothing Forum Resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    I thought he did less!
     
  9. EddieMann

    EddieMann I used to be a king...

    Location:
    Geneva, IL. USA.
    Back in the day, when that final chord on Under the Sun ended you KNEW that Vol. 4 was over. And usually, we all just sat there and said, "Whoa!" Thanks for all the great comments and thoughts. It was great to be around others who appreciated and felt like I did about this masterpiece. This has been a phenomenal thread!
     
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  10. Paulette

    Paulette Forum Resident

    So rock and roll is innately sexual?
    I know the song is not speaking of sex specifically. In fact is there a song that they wrote that is?
    I hear a person who is rebelling from controlling people and themes. Becoming powerful in his individuality. He's free confident powerful driven and focused. That's what leads me to a sexual charge. Being female and one that revels in these traits in a man this song takes me straight there.
    Rock and roll increases T?
     
  11. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    It has been a fine thread. BTW the most recent Mojo has some great articles on Nick. Someone needs to do a Nick SBS thread.
    [​IMG]
     
  12. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    I might do Pink Moon at some point, love that album.
     
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  13. EddieMann

    EddieMann I used to be a king...

    Location:
    Geneva, IL. USA.
    I pestered my local Barnes and Noble for a couple of weeks until this finally came in. I would love to contribute to a thread about Nick, but I'd only embarrass myself actually running the thread.
     
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  14. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    I am thinking of doing "Pink Moon". Not sure if it would get much action though but not a big deal.
     
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  15. BDC

    BDC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tacoma
    Innately maybe over stating the point, but the term "rock n roll" in itself comes from the act of sex.
    As for a Sabbath song about sex....

    Dirty Women----

    The neon lights are shining on me again
    I walk the lonely streets in search of a friend
    I need a lady to help me to get through the night, through the night
    If I could find one then everything would be alright

    The sleepy city is dreaming the night time away
    Out on the street I watch tomorrow becoming today
    I see a man, he's got take away women for sale, yes for sale
    Guess that's the answer, 'cause take away women don't fail

    Oh dirty women, they don't mess around
    Oh dirty women, they don't mess around
    You've got me coming, You've got me going around
    Oh dirty women, they don't mess around

    Walking the streets I wonder will it ever happen
    Gotta be good 'cause then everything will be OK
    If I could score tonight then I will end up happy

    A woman for sale is gonna help me save my day...

     
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  16. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    The most recent Guitar Techniques has an entire section on Nick's style. Unusual style and difficult to play.
     
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  17. Silksashbash

    Silksashbash Forum Resident

    Location:
    Finland
    Just noticed that Frank Anthony Iommi celebrated his 70th birthday just last month!

    He will be followed by Bill Ward in May and Ozzy in December. Geezer has yet to turn 69.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2018
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  18. BluesOvertookMe

    BluesOvertookMe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX, USA

    I love that contrast.
     
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  19. BluesOvertookMe

    BluesOvertookMe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX, USA

    You can trust the lyrics on black-sabbath.com better than any other source for that reason.
     
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  20. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Yes, the lyrics on many other sites, even ones I usually trust, contain some very obvious mistakes.
     
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  21. BluesOvertookMe

    BluesOvertookMe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX, USA
    St. Vitus Dance

    So Cornucopia had the Satanic square dance, and now St. Vitus Dance has a jig (Thanks to @GodShifter for that perfect description). Folk dancing and hard rock, what a bizarre combination! And @Rick Robson pointed out the great contrast between the light dancey feel and the hard, crushing powerful darkness within the song. I love that contrast and love just how bizarre this song is. 7.6 out of 10.

    [​IMG]
     
  22. BluesOvertookMe

    BluesOvertookMe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX, USA
    Good catch, I hear the same comparison.
     
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  23. BluesOvertookMe

    BluesOvertookMe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX, USA
    True story: I was listing to Nirvana's Nevermind for the first time as a complete album (on cassette on my Walkman) walking around Honolulu and instead of being struck by what I often read as other people's reactions: "OMG, this is something so new like I've never heard before" or "I can so hear the Pixies influence" or "Kurt is the voice of my generation!" I was struck by two things:

    1. That drummer is good.
    2. This sounds very influenced by Black Sabbath Vol. 4.
     
  24. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    UNDER THE SUN

    The more I revisit this album over the years, the more the concluding track seems like a recapitulation and resolution of the opening track. As you'll recall, "Wheels Of Confusion" describes the onset of disappointment and disillusion that happens when one grows up - the fairy tales and stories and the illusion that all the world loves us disappears into the bleak, sooty, nasty and violent world that we actually live in. Innocence is swallowed up in experience. "Under The Sun" is the concluding manifesto of the New Man, or rather the New Man as he was in 1972 or thereabouts.

    Well I don’t want no Jesus freak to tell me what it’s all about
    No black magician telling me to cast my soul out


    Get outta here, preacher! Likewise, get outta here, black magic freakazoid! I don't want propaganda or prognostications from either of you!

    Don’t believe in violence, I don’t even believe in peace
    I’ve opened the door now my mind has been released


    I love that line, "I don't even believe in peace." I imagine the point here is, "Look, I'm against violence, but I'm not part of your peace movement either. Stop trying to sign me up for stuff. I ain't on board." As the great poet William Blake said:

    I MUST Create a System, or be enslav’d by another Man’s; I will not Reason and Compare: my business is to Create.

    In the bridge, we see a re-presentation of some of the themes from "Cornucopia":

    People hiding their real face
    Keep on running their rat race
    Behind each flower grows a weed
    In their world of make-believe


    "Behind each flower there grows a weed." OMG! :laugh: Why do I LIKE this pessimism so much? I'm not by nature a pessimist - but it's just expressed so well!

    Ultimately, the lyric concludes with some pretty clear and unambiguous sentiments:

    So believe what I tell you, it’s the only way you’ll find in the end
    Just believe in yourself – you know you really shouldn’t have to pretend
    Don’t let those empty people try to interfere with your mind
    Just live your life and leave them all behind


    This is a perfect distillation of the philosophy of Black Sabbath, and this philosophy is probably one of the reasons why this group had such a resonance with teenagers in the 70's and beyond. At 15 I felt that I was all full of my own individual ideas and motivations, and was surrounded by a world of parents and teachers and peers (the worst is always peers!) who wanted to force me into their image. This song is a wailing cry of protest against that. How could I resist it? Similarly, Black Sabbath was a band who sold millions of albums and concert tickets in the face of doubt and disparagement and misunderstanding, always boldly insisting on their right to their own vision in the face of tastemakers who told them that they were old, played out and irrelevant from the get-go. In a sense, what Black Sabbath is about is exactly what rock'n'roll is about, which is the will to be one's own person in a world that demands conformity. It's a theme that goes all the way back to the beginning of rock'n'roll, and all the greatest and/or most successful exponents of rock either exemplify this or do a good job of faking it.

    Musically, there are other parallels with WOC: The song opens with a lengthy instrumental, but whereas the opening track is wailing and mournful, this one is stalking and purposeful. We are now looking ahead, and we KNOW what a wicked world we live in. Again, in the verses, we have an abrupt change to a slowly galloping riff which isn't quite danceable, more of a long-distance run. The middle section becomes a sprint, and dissolves into one of Iommi's last two-guitar tantrums (he would leave off the practice of two split-personality solos going on at the same time on subsequent albums)before getting back on the war-horse for the final verse. And lastly, gloriously, the song steers into a lengthy coda (again, similar to WOC) which starts off singing a baleful dirge, and then grinds slower, ever slower to the end, like an advancing army closing on the gates of the city. Ultimately, the song slams shut like a sarcophagus.

    Unfortunately, after the bold and satisfying declaration of independence that was Vol 4, Sabbath seems to have gone on to tamper with their sound and approach significantly on the next few albums, sometimes with great success and sometimes... not. But the right to change is also a right of self-determination, and we couldn't expect them to just keep cranking out the same sort of thing again, I suppose. But it is somewhat sad to contemplate the close of Vol 4. as the end of the first era of Black Sabbath, which still so wonderfully exemplifies the spirit and imagination of primitive heavy rock. Oddly, I've heard people say that the first four albums sound totally different to one another and that Sabbath never found their own sound until Dio, and I've also heard that the first four all sound alike and thank goodness they started doing something different after Vol 4. To me, the first four albums reflect a band in unity, growing and maturing and experimenting as a unit. The tragedy beyond that era is that they started to grow apart, and that of course is the story of many bands. The serpent in Eden told Adam and Eve that eating the apple would make them like unto God; the fruit of success tells the members of rock bands and other cooperative arrangements much the same thing.
     
  25. Hermes

    Hermes Past Master

    Location:
    Denmark
    Ha! - I thought Nirvana sounded like polished Pixies. Hadn't heard Sabbath yet (was alive in the seventies, but wasn't aware of Heavy Metal until late eighties)
     
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