Black Sabbath Vol. 4 was released on September 25, 1972.
Geezer Butler calls this album "Snow Blind in L.A."
Vol. 4 was the first Black Sabbath album to be recorded outside the UK. The band rented a posh house in Bel Air for rehearsals and the parties are the stuff of legend. Vol. 4 was most definitely a cocaine album, as evidenced by the band giving a thank you credit to their dealer in the liner notes "Thanks to the great COKE cola company of Los Angeles" and by this classic song...
Vol. 4 was a transitional album, bridging the gap between the more straight-ahead thunder of Master Of Reality and the more Prog Rock direction they would take on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage. Tony Iommi was handling all the arrangements by this point and also supervising the recording sessions, his growing maturity as an artist is evident on this album. Iommi was also the most sober by this point, so he had to take control as Ozzy, Geezer and Bill were starting to spiral out of control. Despite the massive drug use the album is chock-full of classic songs...
The Iommi arranged epic "Wheels Of Confusion/The Straightener", first single "Tomorrow's Dream", the futuristic "Supernaut" with the awesome acoustic guitar/percussion breakdown in the mid-section, the aforementioned head bobbing classic "Snowblind" and Iommi's memorable acoustic number "Laguna Sunrise", book ended by one of his most evil sounding doom riffs in "Under The Sun". There is also the widely debated ballad "Changes" which seems to be either loved or despised depending on who is listening. Cornucopia and St. Vitus' Dance are still influencing stoner bands to this day.
I'm sure Nickelback albums will fare just as well over time and be considdered timeless classics. You'll see.
_________________ I used to be with it, but then they changed what "it" was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me, and it'll happen to you, too.
I love this album. It's about impossible for me to pick a favorite Sabbath album but I tend to revolve around Black Sabbath, Sabotage and Vol. 4 the most (if we're narrowing it down to the Ozzy years, of course).
As a guitarist and songwriter (I hope to have some stuff recorded by the end of this year or early next - shameless plug...) this is one of my go-to albums whenever I need a little extra boost of inspiration. Something about this one just really "clicks" with me. I don't know why precisely, but it's an album I can put on and I instantly feel like picking up a guitar and jamming. I love the subtle blending of genres and the dynamics, plus it's a transitional album from one style to the next which is fascinating in itself. Every song has its own mood about it and at first listen it seemed disjointed to me, but the more I revisited it over time the more I came to love it and without hesitation I'd say it's one of my favorites today (typical for me - I tend to have delayed responses to great albums, haha).
"Under the Sun" is easily in my top 5 favorite Sabbath songs. And "The Straightener" (the second half of "Wheels of Confusion") never fails to give me chills every time. Both of these songs are dark and beautiful. The only song I occasionally skip is "Changes" if I'm not in the right mood, but I don't have a real problem with it. Oh, and you could probably extend the main riff of "Supernaut" for an additional 30 minutes and I wouldn't get sick of it. Probably the most downright fun song they ever did.
Anyway, great record. Now I feel like listening to it again.
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Subject: Re: Happy 40th Anniversary BLACK SABBATH VOL. 4
Subject: Happy 40th Anniversary BLACK SABBATH VOL. 4 
Tue Sep 25, 2012 1:20 pm
Probably the most downright fun song they ever did. 