Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (1970) Reviews
So, this is where it all begins... The rock genre that has since spawned countless subgenres. The main topic of this site. HEAVY METAL. The quartet of guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne are who you gotta thank for starting this awesome genre. I suppose you also gotta thank Iommi's friend, his factory foreman for giving Iommi back his confidence to play guitar after an industrial accident cost him two of his right hand's fingertips, by playing a recording of jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt who can still play despite losing the use of two fingers in a fire. On top of that, Iommi tuned his guitar down in some songs as low as D-flat to bend the strings easier, and that help pioneer the heavy aspect of lower tunings in metal. Anyway, there's also the lyrical concept which, unusual for rock bands at that time, was darkness and horror. This came from a horror movie cinema across the street from their studio, with one of the movies shown there, Black Sabbath, inspiring the name of the band (previous known as Earth, name later taken by an American drone metal band 20 years later), their first song, and their first album. The scary atmosphere the band would add to their songs would form the basis of their debut album. This is... BLACK SABBATH!
With the band's vision becoming a great success, it was like the beginning of a new era. Not just a new era... A new GENRE! Earlier bands like Cream, Led Zeppelin (still not metal, SIT DOWN, guys) and The Who may have been known as noisy trailblazers, but Sabbath took the noisiness to a different heavier level. Right from the visual, you know what this band and album is gonna be about. A frightening yet intriguing cover art of a pale woman in a black cloak with a watermill in the bleak background. And when you start playing that record, you'll be entering the most spooky yet pleasant experience of your life, a stormy realm with church bells ringing from afar...
Ladies and gentlemen, the title track of this album and band is heavy metal's big bang moment, with that melodic doomy riff in dark atmosphere being as impactful as the actual Big Bang! That tritone riff is actually inspired by the "Mars" segment of Gustav Holst's The Planets. And the lyrics are based on when Butler had a dream of a strange dark figure standing on the foot of his bed after he read an occult book Ozzy gave him. These lyrics are sung by Ozzy, whose vocal power is expressed from his scared cries of "Oh no! No! Please, God! Help me!" Still he tries some deeper notes which, even though they fail to get low, fits well with the angst. The riffing speeds up into fast hard rock/heavy metal for the last minute and a half, as Iommi shows his vibrato talent. If you're looking for the true beginning of heavy metal, that song is it right there! However, "The Wizard" is a different story. It's a harmonica-filled blues/hard rocker. Harmonicas aren't exactly the most metal instrument, but they make the song decently catchy, as does Ward's excellent drumming behind riffing effects. Ozzy's singing seems to hint at his later higher tone, but other than that, nothing super exciting.
"Behind the Wall of Sleep" is really great, though it has more of a stoner-ish blues rock sound. The title comes from a Lovecraft story and it's fits greatly with the atmosphere. A bass riff rumbles through under Ozzy's usual singing. "N.I.B." (Nativity in Black) continues the lyrical narrative idea they first had in the title opener, this one being more of a fictional devilish love story. Now listen, just because the band mentions the Devil, Satan, or Hell, etc., doesn't mean they worship any of that. They're against that, portraying them like they are bad things. Lucifer is depicted as the dark seductive antagonist he's meant to be. The riffing has that bluesy hard rock vibe of Cream, which is a little mundane, especially when Ozzy sings over it, but is made up for by the rest of the song being heavy metal/proto-stoner metal, especially in the slower sections. A brilliant hint at the genre they would establish! "Evil Woman" is a hard rock cover of a Crow song, which isn't so interesting, but it works well anyway.
"Sleeping Village" is a nice touch. I love the gloomy atmosphere caused by another rare instrument in metal, a Jew's harp. Whether or not it works, it's quite historical. Ozzy continues his deep emotional vocals that make younger vocalists wish they have that kind of sincerity. That I can consider a more prog-ish take on classic hard rock/heavy metal. "Warning" is also progressive in the sense that it's an over 10-minute-long jazzy jam. However, that's way too long and improvisational when covering a short blues song. Ozzy's vocals seem to flop a bit, but Iommi's soloing work well as the best part of the track along with the doomy atmosphere. An OK track, but too lengthy. "Wicked World" replaces "Evil Woman" in the American edition, and is also the bonus track in the 1996 European reissue. And let me tell you, that's an excellent replacement for "Evil Woman"! You can definitely hear "Wicked World" as an underrated stoner-ish hard rock/heavy metal classic. It starts with some fast punchy riffing. The bass drifts under Ozzy's skillful vocals that range from low to high in each verse. Unlike any of the other songs, this one has more political lyrics, albeit more simple than specific, while responding to all those happy hippy bands preceding them. Unfortunately, and you might hate me for this, Iommi's solo goes on for way too long and draggy, which is ironic considering his long solo in "Warning" is the only solid thing about that song. For "Wicked World", his soloing is just too rough. Still there's great power in his riffing as always.
I don't think any other album released in 1970 has ever been as historical as Black Sabbath's first two albums, with only Deep Purple in Rock being close to Black Sabbath's heavy greatness. Their debut is a revolutionary beginning of a new band, a new era, and a new genre. So put this record on and witness the birth of heavy metal!
Favorites: "Black Sabbath", "Behind the Wall of Sleep", "N.I.B.", "Sleeping Village", "Wicked World (bonus track)
Music fads come and go so quickly that it's hard to keep up with a lot of them. That's why when Black Sabbath firmly established the genre of heavy metal (whether they solely created it or not is a different debate for another time) back in 1970, it's amazing that's it's stood the test of time and is still going strong today as one of the most popular genres of music in the world.
With that said, I'm not a massive Black Sabbath fan. I respect their achievements, and rightfully so, as the genre I hold so dear wouldn't exist without them, but that doesn't change the fact that their music just doesn't quite "do it" for me.
I can appreciate how revolutionary this was back in the day, nothing as heavy, dark or doom-laden had come before. However, by the time I came around to owning this CD, it sounded rather dated and didn't quite measure up to a lot of the stuff I was listening to at the time (I was born in 1987 to put that into context). Ozzy Osbourne's vocals are very primitive and somewhat annoying to listen to (story goes that he was only invited to join the band as he owned a PA), and Tony Iommi's guitars were never quite heavy or interesting enough for me.
That being said, there are one or two decent tracks, most notably 'N.I.B.' and the title track, but in all honesty I could think of thousands of other songs I'd rather listen to.
When it all comes down to it, it's just a matter of taste. While this is arguably one of the most influential albums of all time, I respect it for that, it's just not something I enjoy listening to. The record's status as a classic is certainly not in any danger due to my opinion, and hell, if you think this is blasphemous, you should check out my review for 'Paranoid'...
Forget all the revisionary bullshit that claims otherwise, metal was born in a thunderstorm under the sound of a tolling church bell. Tony Iommi's first huge riff rumbling out of the grooves of this record, is the genuine Big Bang moment for metal music. Geezer Butler and Bill Ward hammer late 60's blues rock into a new and exciting form and Ozzy proclaims "I may not be the best vocalist ever, but, fuck you, I AM the greatest"
That this record is still relevant to so many people, almost fifty years after it's release, speaks volumes for both it's importance and quality. On side one Sabbath pretty much write the Commandments of Metal as Tony Iommi begins an unrivalled, decades-long career of churning out awesome riff after awesome riff.
If you don't love this album, then you don't like metal.