Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath review
| Band: | Black Sabbath |
| Album: | Black Sabbath |
| Style: | Doom metal, Hard rock, Heavy metal |
| Release date: | February 13, 1970 |
| Guest review by: | HS |
Disc I
01. Black Sabbath
02. The Wizard
03. Wasp / Behind The Wall Of Sleep
04. Bassically / N.I.B.
05. Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Game With Me) [Crow cover]
06. A Bit Of Finger / Sleeping Village
07. Warning [Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation cover]
08. Wicked World [bonus]
Disc II [2009 Deluxe Edition Bonus CD]
01. Wicked World [Single B-side]
02. Black Sabbath [Studio Out-take]
03. Black Sabbath [Instrumental version]
04. The Wizard [Studio Out-take]
05. Behind The Wall Of Sleep [Studio Out-take]
06. N.I.B. [Instrumental version]
07. Evil Woman [Alternative version]
08. Sleeping Village [Intro]
09. Warning [Part 1]
Black Sabbath is not an ordinary album. It's the one that gave birth to our beloved metal genre. It was recorded back in 1970. At that time, although the spotlight was on the popular rock'n'roll groups which were constantly producing new "hits", Black Sabbath managed to compose the first heavy metal album ever.
The sound is heavy, the tempos are slow, the distorted riffs are clear and memorable. The bass parts make the instrument work as a second guitar and the drums sound deep and clear playing a great variety of fill ins while following the main guitar riff. Ozzy's thick vocals couldn't have worked better. There are some obvious blues elements [don't forget that Black Sabbath-Polka Tulk- were a heavy blues group] especially in the solos but this is not a problem, not at all.
The harmonica in 'The Wizard' song might sound a bit weird but it gives to it a characteristic sense. In this album there are also two covers: 'Evil Woman [don't you play your games with me]' and 'The Warning'.
The song themes are dark and the lyrics are plain, accurate and sometimes melodramatic. The rhyme might seem a little ordinary but it certainly isn't if you think that Black Sabbath were the first in the genre to put these words in order. My favorite quote is: "Look into my eyes you'll see who I am/My name's Lucifer please take my hand"
The creepy sound combined with the dark lyrical content resulted in the emergence of a chaotic evil atmosphere. I wonder what were the reactions of the people who listened to this album when it first came out back in the 70s. All true metalheads should own this album.
Written by HS | 02.09.2003
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 10
Visited by: 292 users
| marillionfan Account deleted |
marillionfan
Account deleted
Good review for a groudbreaking classic album. This is one of those albums that "revolutionised" rock music along with Deep Purple's In Rock(1970), Uriah Heep's Look at yourself (1971) and Led Zeppelin II (1969). Black Sabbath's debut album is indeed a must have for all rockers, it's no exaggeration. 
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| Dangerboner Lactation Cnslt Posts: 7262  |
When I first bought this album, it stayed in my cd player for 2 weeks straight. This album is a perfect 10. I especially love the doomy and bluesy elements in every track. The Wizard is one of my favorite songs due to the vocals and the harmonica and I love the instrumental at the end of the album. It's like a 10 minute guitar solo!
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| IronBlackZepp Posts: 180  |
Now this is a good review that pays respect to this classic album.
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835  |
Oh I have this one, I remember I used to listen to it a lot. That Sabbath sound just stands out.
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| Timelord Posts: 276  |
This is the first metal masterpiece. From the opening church bells this album sets a mood like no other before it. This my #2 all time favorite Sabbath record. Just looking at the witch on the cover makes your skin crawl. You knew by that picture this was to be no ordinary rock album. That green faced witch is the mother of metal. Any metalhead should have this album. Classic in every sense of the word.
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| Powerslavex Alexskywalker Posts: 777  |
I love this album it's so dark Ozzy's voice sounds fantastic, also the album represents the birth of what we call metal:maniac:
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| Ace Frawley The Spaceman Posts: 1459  |
I bet this album stood out as being quite different from anything else around when it came out - probably more so than most albums can ever claim. Agree it is groundbreaking and practically genre-creating in that whilst nobody at the time (let alone the band) was thinking this was anything other than rock, in hindsight people are now calling it the start of the sub-genre of rock known as metal.
---- The sun shines over The Fool...
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| Valentin B Iconoclast Posts: 10094  |
The fact that we cover N.I.B. with my band, more than 42 years after this album was made, speaks volumes about the quality of this album and how visionary it was. Every metal musician is pretty much a Sabbath copycat and their Ozzy albums are proof enough.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62001  |
Written by Valentin B on 16.11.2012 at 09:04 damn why I did not read reviews in old days any chance to her your cover?
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Valentin B Iconoclast Posts: 10094 |
Written by Bad English on 22.07.2015 at 01:34 nope, unfortunately the recordings we had of it are now lost  I wouldn't say it was the best cover though, we had some pretty uncreative drumming and no bass solo at the beginning, there are better versions out there...
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