February 13, 1970 - Black Sabbath and Black Sabbath

Welcome to a new decade! It is the 1970s, where a lot of the greatest music ever made was released in my opinion. My first album from 1970 was released on February 13; the debut record by English metal band Black Sabbath, "Black Sabbath". But who are Black Sabbath? They are a four-piece rock band from Birmingham, England and they are widely considered to be one of the fathers of heavy metal music. They consist of lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward. While these days this album sounds closer to classic rock than it does modern metal, when this was released in 1970 it was the heaviest thing around. Slowed down and distorted guitars give a much heavier feel than anything else at the time and these guys would inspire other musicians to shape the metal genre. When this album was reissued on CD decades later it included the B-side to the only single off the album, so it is this slightly longer version that I have. All 8 songs were recorded in one twelve hour session at Regent Sound Studios in London.  That in itself, is amazing. The album has very little overdubs and very much has a live feel to it. Let's listen!

Side 1 begins with "Black Sabbath", making this a rare occurrence where a song, band and album all share a name. It begins with thunder rain and bells and moves into a slow chugging riff. It's a very simple riff but played slow and with such heavy distortion it sounds menacing. For the first time we hear the voice of Osbourne, an unmistakable tone as he describes the album cover: a creepy figure in black. Ward does some great slow drum fills, and I especially love when Ozzy says "please God help me". The song eventually speeds up with some nice bass from Butler backing some wicked guitar from Iommi. The bass is also very distorted and there's a solid guitar solo before the end of the song. The next song is led by a harmonica-riff, played by Osbourne. I'm not a huge harmonica fan, but this riff is pretty sweet along with some great drumming by Ward. He has several nice fills and there is some cool guitar while Ozzy is singing. The lyrics are about Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, making two rock heavyweights (Led Zeppelin) the other Tolkien fans! It's a very fun song with a great guitar solo as well as a harmonica solo! Track 3 is called "Behind The Wall Of Sleep", which has an awesome guitar intro. Yet another fairly simple riff, but a very catchy one with a great drum beat. Butler plays some excellent bass throughout this song, though most of it is relegated to the background as Iommi plays some also excellent guitar. Ward plays it out on the drums as a move to the final track of side 1 "N.I.B.". It opens with a phenomenal bass solo by Butler, really great stuff. Once he's finished he leads in with the iconic riff that carries the song. The guitar plays the same riff, which only makes it that much louder and Ozzy sounds like he's having fun with his "oh yeah!". The lyrics sound like he's trying to win over a girl but in the second verse we hear who is singing whe Ozzy says "my name is Lucifer, please take my hand". It has a great guitar solo, before they repeat the first two verses. I understand bringing it back, but that seems a little much. Another fantastic solo from Iommi makes up for it though and that ends the song. 

Side 2 begins with "Evil Woman", a cover of a Crow song that the producer pushed the band to record so they would have something commercial. This would be the only single released, and while I hate the idea of making the band do music they don't want to play, this is a great song. It's carried by a great bass riff rom Butler and the guitar is very slow and simple, aside from a cool solo. It is definitely more radio-friendly than the rest of the album and while it is done well no doubt it does feel a little out of place. Up next is "Sleeping Village", with begins with slow acoustic guitar and a weird "boing" noise. It moves into a much catchier riff with Iommi on electric guitar now. He plays a slow awesome riff and Ward does several great fills. The next part is a guitar solo that is pretty sweet, but the rhythm in the background is also great, making for quite the "solo". They return to the slow riff with more great drumming to close it out. Track 7 is a cover of an Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation song titled "Warning", which clocks in at 10 and a half minutes. The opening riff is carried by some great bass, which allows Iommi to play some scattered great licks. I love Ozzy's voice in this song, it fits really well and he sings about going for a woman that doesn't want him back. After the second verse is an extended decent guitar solo, and after the third verse we get a long drum roll by Ward. This leads into an even better guitar solo by Iommi and by the end of it he's also started another riff to keep the song going seamlessly. This part is a little slower and eventually the bass and drums fall off for the first true guitar solo. Fucking fantastic. Iommi just keeps getting better in this song he starts another new riff, this one very twang-y and blues-like, and he just will not stop with the excellent guitar. He goes off for another true solo and then has some fun with distortion and echo. The band finally rejoins Tony to play out one last verse. A truly unbelievably awesome song, mostly due to the phenomenal guitar. The album ends with "Wicked World", whose lyrics are about some awful things humanity has done. It's a cool rock song led by a fun guitar riff and has some more great drum parts from Ward. There's a pretty trippy guitar solo in this song as well as another true guitar solo by Iommi. No surprise by now, it was another great one. The band comes back for one more verse before ending with the fun riff that started it all. 

That wraps up "Black Sabbath", a very very good debut album. These slow, simple riffs sound fantastic and Tony Iommi definitely seems like something special. This album will be tough to top, but I look forward to seeing them try. What a way to kick off the decade!