635 Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bl**dy Sabbath (1973)

 635 Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bl**dy Sabbath (1973)

Studio Album - Heavy Metal


About the Act:

Black Sabbath were a Rock/Heavy Metal band from Birmingham, England. They were founded in 1968 and are mostly famous for having Ozzy Osbourne as their singer until 1979, and for being one of the most influential pioneers of Heavy Metal. As is evident from their name, they took influence from dark occultic imagery and ideas, and became known for Doom Metal. 

The classic line-up of the 70s was Ozzy, Tommy Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. Ozzy was fired at the end of the 70s for lack of engagement, possibly caused by his drug and alcohol abuse, and replaced at the suggestion of the daughter of their manager, Sharon (later to be Sharon Osbourne), by Ronnie James Dio, who at other times was involved with Rainbow, and his own band Dio. Although they had a hiatus between 2001 and 2006, they have been in more or less continuous existence until 2017.

About the Album:

This was their fifth studio album, and the Wikipedia entry for it is interesting, detailing some of the problems they were having as a band and with the recording.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

Ozzy sings high, and it cuts through the sound of everything else, like a trumpet line above the rock, sounding a clarion call. Despite this the words are often hard to hear, due to the tone of his voice, double (or more) tracking, and reticent consonants. The music is a mixture of heavy and less heavy rock, with almost a hint of prog at times. It's musically quite complex, and along with the riff-based proto-metal there are things like a string section, synthesizers, and a harpsichord. This all seems to hint that they were having fun in the studio.

The songs are about a variety of subjects, DNA (Spiral Architect), sperm (A National Acrobat), being damned (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath), and excesses in life (Killing Yourself to Live) and at least one song about a woman. They vary quite a bit in feel, but the most unusual track stylistically is Fluff, an instrumental (Named after Fluff Freeman, a radio DJ) which was probably intended as a pleasant interlude, but comes across as a bit of lift music. It's unlike their normal style and is quite soulless.

I enjoyed it reasonably well. I think it could have been recorded better, but it's an improvement (to my mind) from the Doom Metal that they are known for, although having said that, probably my favourite bits on this album were the heavier, more metal sections. The first track in particular has quite a menacing feel which I enjoyed, and really underlined why Sabbath were somewhat a niche market. 

Pretty good stuff. 

6.8/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6vKZWeBFGy7phxXP727tOa?highlight=spotify:track:2CzKVfVA9U7OKbIpAVPZOk

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMFTtgzckHg2Dkd2Cf1GHMl6ggWThJNyF

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbath_Bloody_Sabbath



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