Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
What can I say about this album? I do not know. Just look at the cover. Is this the picture of a nightmare I had when I was seven years old? Could you imagine walking through the woods and seeing this out of the corner of your eye? If you like the scary Halloween-type genre, the cover of this album is just the tip of the iceberg.
Black Sabbath’s debut album was played and recorded live in ONE DAY, on October 16th1969. The only overdubs were sound effects such as bells, thunder and rain in addition to a duplicate guitar solo. These were added in the studio a few days later. Recording an album in one day is virtually unheard of presently. But what is more interesting is that I am not sure of other masterpieces that were recorded in one day. If you are aware of one, email me. You can find my email on the CONTACT page. I would like to know.
The album was produced by Roger Bain at Regent Sound Studios in London. Released on February 13th, 1970, the band was fresh off changing their name from Earth. Sabbath’s debut album is considered by many as the first heavy metal album. This is debatable as bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple have also been defined as heavy metal’s “first”. But all you need to do is turn on this album and listen to the opening track, also titled, Black Sabbath. After a thunder and rain introduction (with some bells tolling), the opening riff of this song, belongs in the Hall of Fame. This was PRE AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” and PRE-Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. Remember that. If there was a hall of fame for evil, dirty, angry, creepy, scary riffs, this would be at the very top.
Lead guitarist, Tony Iommi had a very distinguished sound. At age 17, Iommi lost the tips of his fingers on his right hand in an on the job accident at the sheet metal factory where he worked. As a left-handed guitar player, Iommi uses his right hand to move up and down the guitar neck. As a result of this injury, Iommi used pieces of plastic from a detergent bottle to create fake fingertips. He loosened his strings to enable more of a bend, which led to his heavy sound. Hailing from the industrial town of Birmingham, England, the band pushes their blue collar, hard and heavy sound out in this one of a kind record.
The album opener becomes darker as John Osbourne, otherwise known as Ozzy, enters the song with his guttural voice singing, “What is this, that stands before me? Figure in black, which points at me.” This is extremely powerful. As Ozzy is singing, drummer Bill Ward is playing a very atypical beat, void of many cymbals or the hi-hat. Ward places his bass and snare drums on different parts of the beat, integrating floor toms into his drum parts. Iommi takes the same opening riff but lightens it to a quiet ping as Ozzy’s singing takes over. Between each verse, the riff HITS you again in the head. The tempo of this part is slow, only to speed up to a gallop. Bassist Geezer Butler keeps the low-end bass pumping throughout the entire song, providing the foundation which invites Iommi and drummer Bill Ward to solo all over the song.
After it took me two hours to recuperate from looking at the album cover, this song highly exceeded my expectations. I am a heavy metal fan yes, but there are millions of overly produced, unimpressive heavy metals albums out there. I encourage you, even if not a fan, to listen to this. I have not heard one quite like it.
Sabbath certainly had several blues influences as well. They appear all over this album. The second track, The Wizard begins with a nasty, bluesy harmonica played by Ozzy. The riff kicks in and the band is off to the races. While Iommi’s next heavy riff is underway, Ozzy’s harmonica is jamming along with the beat. Despite Ozzy’s reputation for being a stumbling, babbling fool in the media, an impressive performance, nonetheless. This song sounds like the band was just improvising in the studio when the producer hit “record”, which is what makes it so magical. The Wizard takes off and transitions into the main riff as Ozzy licks his chops and pumps his lyrics into the verse. He is the strongest singer in heavy metal. As you listen to Tony Iommi’s guitar, his blues sound bleeds out of his riffs, making this album a perfect combination of metal and blues.
Another unique characteristic of this album are the two song medleys on the back half of the record. Sabbath recorded a ten minute, forty second “jam” called WASP/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Bassically/N.I.B. According to legend, the songs were jammed and listed together on the album due to finance reasons and increased publishing royalties via additional song titles. The lower the number of tracks on the record, the lower the cost, so the band placed them on the record as “one” song, when really, they are 3 songs plus a noticeably short bass solo (Bassically). WASP is the name given to the thirty-two second intro where bassist Geezer Butler is showcased. Butler’s bass style is also very blues influenced. He is well known for holding down the low-end of the rhythm while improvising up and down the neck only to return to the correct bass note at the proper timing. WASP segues right into Behind the Wall of Sleep, another heavy jam but with a slower rhythm. You will not find any thrash metal (incredibly fast) tempos here. It is filled with heavy sound, but moderate speeds. Behind the Wall of Sleep is supposedly about drug use, but I could not find any confirmation from any of the band members, nor was I able to locate the meaning of WASP. Was this an acronym? After hours of searching, I found news that supported it was a random name the band gave to the intro. The jury is still out on that one.
After Behind the Wall of Sleep transitions into Bassically, at about the four minute and nineteen second mark in the medley, bassist Geezer Butler turns up his instrument to begin the opening bass riff for N.I.B. You can literally hear him turn the knob on his bass as the volume quickly increases to start the next part. N.I.B., which is believed to be an acronym for “Nativity in Black”, turns the medley in another direction but back into a catchy riff with Ozzy’s lyrics that are sung in the same melody. This song exemplifies the classic Sabbath style with a low toned, dark riff that spills out into a long bluesy solo at the end. Something not many bands were doing in 1970.
I think it is important to address the Satanic references in this album. I for one, do not condone Satanism. As a young teenager, I dismissed metal’s references to Lucifer as expressions of anger, perhaps an investigation by the artist into what the underworld may be like. From my research, I have gathered evidence that Sabbath’s occult suggestions result from their curiosity of the underworld. Despite popular belief, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler were very well read, and at times they were curious what the other side of the coin looked like, so to speak. In 2018, Ozzy told the San Diego Union Tribune,
“I don’t understand organized religion. But I strive to be good, although it feels good to be bad, sometimes. I’m not bad, like, evil bad. I’m bad, in that I’m a naughty boy. I’m not a guy that worships the devil. When Black Sabbath started, we got invited to a graveyard at midnight. We told them our (dark) image is a joke.”
Ozzy later told the reporter for the Union Tribune they did not even accept the invitation to the graveyard that night, but they loved that their image had become a mystery.
Wicked World is another blues-infused metal song (I think I am picking up on a trend here) that is pretty cut and dry. The song replaced Evil Woman on the album’s U.S. release. Warner Brothers decided to remove Evil Woman because the band had previous success playing Wicked World live, thus leading the record company to believe it would sell more copies. Wicked World fits with the album’s formula, delivering a catchy riff that is followed up by Ozzy’s evil sounding lyrics. Once again, Geezer Butler’s bass keeps the song tight but pleases every bass player like me by going outside the lines, offering improvisation between every note. It is impossible not to hear Geezer’s playing on this album. It stands out.
The album closes out with another medley of songs, A Bit of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning. A Bit of Finger is the name of the twenty second guitar intro in one ear, coupled with a mouth harp playing in the other ear. The mouth harp (or “jaw harp”) is a small piece of flexible metal that is placed against the mouth and is plucked by the finger, which releases a vibration or sound. For some weird reason, I always think of Australia and “Crocodile Dundee” (not to be confused with the “bullroarer” or the “didgeridoo”) when I hear this instrument. If you have ever seen the movie, you will know what I am talking about. As Iommi’s soft picked guitar line continues, Ozzy’s lyrics enter. It is at this point the song becomes Sleeping Village. The same guitar line and mouth harp continue, only to stop suddenly. Iommi’s electric guitar riff begins and the song is now called Warning. Are you confused yet? I am. Again, the band structured it this way to save money and increase the amount of publishing rights.
Warning is a true jam. Those of you who prefer improvisational jam-band music over metal, will like this song. Butler, Iommi and Bill Ward bring this song back and forth from a slow metal riffed gallop to a fast blues jam. Back and forth. Back and forth until Ozzy puts his stamp on the song with his lyrics. All four band members cited The Beatles as a heavy influence on this song, but with a very non-Beatles sounding riff that is much “bluesier” than The Beatles. In all, the medley lasts fourteen minutes and twenty seconds, instantly keeping this album on “the fence” in terms of “is it metal or is it blues”? I think it is both genres rolled up and put in a blender.
This is a must have for your collection if you like blues music, metal music or if you are looking to be turned on to something new. This adds to what makes it great. It is not new. It was released in 1970 and recorded on ONE DAY remember!
For a Sabbath album that has more radio friendly, short, to-the-point songs, pick up a copy of their second release, Paranoid, also an extraordinarily strong record.
Or pick up some Black Sabbath merchandise if you have not yet. My merch collection is growing more than it did when I was fourteen!