Black Sabbath

I first discovered the music of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne when my Dad played it, I didn't think much of it but I liked it. It wasn't until I found Supernaut thanks to NIN and I went to see their show in Albuquerque that I fell in love with the band. Call it metal, doom metal, hard rock, or blues rock, label the band and their albums however you want, but their genre is Black Sabbath. Hell, you can hate them, but you can't deny the fact that they invented all the genres we have today. Let's get on with it, shall we? The Backstory: Black Sabbath first began as an blues band entitled The Polka Tulk Blues Company (for some reason on mobile Google calls them that instead of BS, but alright), they would play 1 or maybe 2 hour shows at pubs with Bill Ward, an very underrated drummer, doing an 40 minute drum solo to fill the rest of the setlist up. They later renamed the band Earth, but another band under the same name caused confusion, so they changed it to what would become a legendary name in rock. Tony Iommi (lead guitarist) would later for a short time join in with Jethro Tull until he decided that he couldn't connect with any of the members on an personal level, he was still fond of them. So, he went back to Earth and they reformed. Geezer Butler (bassist), before Sabbath was a guitarist in an band before switching to bass. After joining Earth, Geezer was heavily into the occult, his walls were painted black with inverted crosses on them, but he wasn't an true occultist by any means, he was just interested in it. So one day Ozzy bought him an very old book with spells and the like with pictures of Satan in it. Geezer put it in a cupboard and that was it. One night, however, changed everything... Geezer was sleeping until at the foot of his bed, a dark figure was pointing straight at him, just pure blackness. He started to freak out and try to find the book in the cupboard... But it was gone. That night, Geezer swore not to mess with the occult never again. He told the guys one day and Ozzy decided to write lyrics about Geezer's experience (one of the many times Ozzy has actually written lyrics for Black Sabbath) as an story about someone who messed with the occult and awoken Satan, casting himself into the burning flames of Hell and destroying humanity. They renamed the band to, of course, Black Sabbath after the song was written (correct me if I'm wrong) and the rest is history. Packaging: The album is kept inside an nice digipack, the disc itself has the nice olive green WB record labels on them for a purist like myself would be satisfied with. Contents: Inside the sleeve is a nice booklet detailing the making of the album (poem included) with nice recent pictures of the front and back cover's locations on it. Also has pictures of the band in studio and pictures of singles. The album includes five tracks, though if Behind The Wall of Sleep, N.I.B, Sleeping Village, and The Warning weren't pieced together you would actually have seven tracks in total. NOTE: At the time of the album's release in the US, they had to have 10 tracks instead of 8, so they put titles on the intros to tracks to make it look like there's more tracks. Great marketing, WB! Sound: The sound quality is AMAZING, it has an nice warm sound, you can hear the high-ends very clearly, but not on ear-piercing levels, the bass is nice and warm, and the overall sound is good for a remaster in this day of age where loudness is considered "good". Final Thoughts: It's cheap, it's nicely packaged, the sound is great, the book is an nice addition, and for 6-7 bucks, it's an steal and an must have for any fan, new or old. -Tritnew

Words fall utterly short of describing the majesty, the evil, the never-before-heard power and darkness of this album, and the legions of worshippers that it created (but I'll try to describe it anyway). When this album came out in February 1970, critics said it was a rehashing of the late '60s blues rock like Cream. But it became immediately obvious that it was much more than that, as the fans quickly latched on and copies of the album began flying off record store shelves. Sabbath had already been playing shows around England under various other names, like Polka Tulk Blues Band, and Earth, and their blues rock jams had garnered a sizeable fan following. When they went in to record this, their first album, they thought they had only two days to record and mix it, so they recorded it all live in one day so that they would have a day to mix it. Turns out that the two days they were allotted was for recording, so they could have spent more time on recording if they needed it. But they didn't need it, and in fact one day to record seemed like a lot to them. They played their live show songs and added some overdubbed guitar and a few sound effects and that was it. Ozzy sang live with them in a vocal booth and they all tracked together, giving the songs a solid jam feel, and showcasing their solidness and togetherness as a band. Merely a rehashing of blues rock like Cream? I think not. Just listen to the first track, just the first 40 secs of the first track and its immediately obvious that this is something much darker and more evil than anything that had come out before, or since. Then Ozzy starts singing and its immediately obvious again that this is not your same old blues-based rock. Singing about darkness and evil in his signature nasally and distinctive voice, when he gets to the end of the 2nd verse and screams "Oh no no, please God help me!" he cements the track as the most evil and terrifying song of the decade. Did they know what they were creating? I doubt they had any idea that what they were doing was so innovative that it would be hailed as the creator of the genre of heavy metal. No other rock band had the element of horror like Black Sabbath did with this first recording, and people graviated to that. Not only are the lyrics and riffs dark, even the tone that Tony Iommi gets out of his guitar is menacing and vicious. Because of an accident in the factory where he was working, he lost the tips of his middle two fretting fingers, and was almost going to give up playing altogether, until his old boss played him some Django Reinhardt, the famous 2-fingered Gypsy jazz guitarist. Because of this accident, he had to come up with new ways to make his tone heavy and huge, and in the process created a sound that spawned an entire genre. Think I'm over-exaggerating? Think again. There would be no heavy metal without Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath. Sure there are other bands that helped create the sound that became heavy metal, such as Led Zep, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Cream, Blue Cheer, Leaf Hound, etc., and their influence should not be down-played. But Black Sabbath took these inflluences and forged them into a new sound that was far more menacing and dark, which is a crucial component of metal. Anyway, if you like Sabbath's other albums and somehow haven't bought this one yet, do yourself a service and buy this album. There is so much raw energy and potential in this album that its amazing. Its not quite as solid as Paranoid as a whole, but it is an absolute necessity to own and stands tall, taller even than Paranoid, as the beginning of heavy metal. If you like classic rock in general, this is a crucial album for fully understanding rock history, as it is a landmark album of the seventies. If you like new doom metal, buy this album and see where it all began. If you like jazzy rock tunes and jam bands, there are great jazzy rock jams on here that you would dig. If you are a heavy metal purist, you already own this album, so buy it on cassette for your car or something. If you like Zeppelin, Cream, Hendrix, Leaf Hound, Blue Cheer, Deep Purple, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Diamond Head, any rock band from the late sixties or seventies, buy this album, you'll enjoy it. Highlight songs of the album: all of them! But I guess if I have to choose, I'd say- 'Black Sabbath', 'The Wizard', 'NIB', 'Wicked World'.

Great music by a great band

Love this album! Actually I love Black Sabbath so just about everything Ozzy and Ronnie have done

A wonderful album. Arrived in great shape. Maybe a nice write up inserted but I bought it for the music and sometimes don't read them. The first heavy metal album and boy does it deliver. Terrifying. Different. Ozzy has a very unique voice and when he uses it, which isn't very much because guitar dominates with just enough bass and drums, he pierces, holds, and caresses. You feel his emotion and, though the subject matter is at times unfriendly, he rises above that. Iommi's guitar delivers magnificent shorts bursts, longer chords, and everything that is beautiful about electric guitar. Drums are minimalistic and keep the beat, which a drummer is supposed to do. Bass rollicks along and the songs are incredibly well crafted. No piano, organ, or synthesizers. A little bit of harmonica which is both funny and exquisite. Ozzie is no Dylan but he can play. There are some long tunes here and those, along with the structure, mood, lyrics, and just plain heaviness set the template for Priest, Metallica, Maiden, and any other metal band you care to name. I've listened extensively to Sabbath's first four albums and the energy and rawness here aren't repeated in what I've heard. Each of the following three albums has many strengths but this album is phenomenal and where it began. A must have for any serious rock fan and for those interested in great songs and where metal began.

I bought some cd’s of some of my favorite albums, and I’m old school enough to still want to use devices to listen to my music on, like a cd player!

This review pertains to the 2009 Sanctuary release of this CD. A really strong first offering. I rank Black Sabbath's self-titled debut just a little lower than their second album, 'Paranoid' (which I consider their finest release, overall). There is a genuine creepy atmosphere on this disc that is hard to convey to the uninitiated, but I suppose the tolling of church bells cutting through distant peals of thunder and heavy rain is hardly subtle. Although the sound effects could be perceived as a little gimmicky, the effect does set the tone perfectly for the rest of this album; an album brimming with raw energy and emotion, plenty of minor keys, and heavy, blistering distortion. And I do mean HEAVY! Some later fans have expressed disappointment that the early stuff doesn't sound more like (what would later be called) 'heavy metal'. I'd say that having that expectation can ruin the uniqueness of this album for you. To truly appreciate the landscapes the band is exploring here, you simply have to let the music take you where it wants to go instead of trying to compare it with something else. Yes, it borrows from 'Cream' and other heavy bands of the time, but like all good art, 'Black Sabbath' taps into something primal that defies easy categorization or comparison. This album is essentially one long in-the-studio jam that offers a snapshot of what the band probably sounded like 'live' circa 1970, and it's a pretty fascinating listen. Standout cuts include 'Black Sabbath', 'Behind the Wall of Sleep' and 'N.I.B.'. As other reviewers have stated, 'Warning' (one of two cover songs on the LP) is a little self-indulgent and probably goes on for a bit too long- but it sounds right at home here and preserves the live feel of the rest of the album quite well. I have to admit I do tend to like the track listing of the U.S. version a little better, which replaces 'Evil Woman' with 'Wicked World' (I've never been a big fan of 'Evil Woman'- and from what the liner notes suggest, neither was the band). Luckily, Sanctuary does include 'Wicked World' on a second disc of alternate takes and mixes, which provides a track by track companion to the final release (very similar to the 2014 Led Zeppelin remasters). I should also add that the mysterious woman dressed in black standing before a pink Autumn sunset on the front cover has to be one of coolest and creepiest images to ever adorn a Sabbath album, again perfectly capturing the tone of the music here. The rest of their album covers (with the exception of 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath') haven't fared quite so well, in retrospect. On the technical side of things, I believe that Sanctuary has represented this band fairly well on CD, overall (certainly better than Sabbath's U.S. distributor, Rhino). The audio mastering, done by Andy Pearce, is appropriately dark, but still rich in detail, with virtually none of the over-compression, or excessively bright equalization you find on the U.S. releases. For me, this is one of Sanctuary's best representations of Sabbath on disc. Although I have to admit, in all honesty, that my experience with Black Sabbath on vinyl is slim to none, I will say that this CD does capture the warmth of a good analog recording- without all the crackles and pops. And the bonus disc just makes it that much more comprehensive and satisfying. Definitely recommended!!!

Upon first listening to this record, depending on when you were born, you will probably not consider Black Sabbath as belonging to the heavy metal genre. Having grown up in the late 90s, I always considered heavy metal to be Metallica, Slayer, or even one of those terrible glam rock bands of the 80s. Heavy metal, however, was truly born on this album. Many will argue and say that Led Zeppelin were also the band that helped bring about heavy metal, but having extensively listened to both bands I have to disagree completely. One listen to the opening track on this album will prove them wrong immediately. Black Sabbath open their self-titled album with the sound of a brooding thunderstorm and church bells, which go on to become a slow, heavy, brooding six minute declaration that heavy metal was just born. Indeed, looking at the various themes of heavy metal (mentioning the occult, a darker sound throughout), it becomes clear that Black Sabbath was the first metal album ever and also the darkest sound that had ever been produced by a band up until that point in 1970. The album contains riff after bone-shattering riff, all while managing to still sound melodic and musical, not just crazy and fast like so much of the metal that came after it. I would, however, say that this album by BS is more of a darker blues sound than metal. Comparisons have been made by stating this album sounds like a darker Cream. I would agree. I purchased this on vinyl, which came in a sleeve that replicated the original release (except not gatefold, unfortunately), and a record that was pressed on 180g vinyl. I was blown away by how great the pressing sounded and the difference between what I heard on vinyl vs. the CD copy I own. The three-part suite on side two sounds particularly stunning. No matter what medium you prefer, this is a pivotal album in music history and deserves to be in the library of any true music fan.

I bought the LP in 1970......Changed my life! Ths re-master is great!

Obra prima do rock. Veio rápido e bem embalado. Master muito boa. Só elogios ao produto.

Bra press med skivan som den såg ut på 70-talet med vertigo graffen!!! Ett måste till ett bra pris!

Sehr gute Platte von Black Sabbath in 180 gramm Qualität.

Tout bon son !