"The cataract of darkness form fully, the long black night begins, yet still, by the lake a young girl waits, unseeing she believes herself unseen, she smiles, faintly at the distant tolling bell, and the still falling rain."



BLACK SABBATH (released Jan 13, 1970 - UK, June 1, 1970 - US)

On November 11, 1969 four working class musicians from Birmingham entered Regent Sounds Studios to record their debut album. Their budget (600 pounds) only allowed them 8 hours of studio time. Produced by Rodger Bain (and co-engineered by a young Tom Allom), the album Black Sabbath was recorded in one day on a 4-track recorder in the tiny basement studio. The limited budget required them to record the entire album live with only enough time for some vocal and guitar overdubs. I wonder if anyone involved really knew what those humble beginnings would mean to the future of music?

Opening with the sound of a rainstorm and a distant tolling church bell, the world was about to experience something completely different. Tony Iommi's genre-creating Tritone (diablos in musica) riff enters like some shambling Lovecraft monstrosity, in one moment erasing all the flower-power music that had come before. The song's heavy/light/heavy mood is perfectly complimented by Geezer Butler's occult inspired lyrics and Ozzy Osbourne's tortured soul vocals. Every doom band that has ever existed should pay royalties to this album. Iommi unleashes another signature riff in the songs uptempo section.

Equally as powerful, The Wizard begins with a plaintive harmonica riff before the band kicks in with full fury on their own variation of the heavy blues sound then making the rounds through England. Even though other groups had played "heavy" songs before, this song reaches a level heretofore unattained. The pure groove and power of the rhythm section really sparks here, pushing Iommi's shuffle riff along and inspiring Ozzy to one of his strongest performances on the album.

Behind The Wall Of Sleep (we're back in Lovecraft territory again) is a very mature song-suite, showing Sabbath's knack for shifting time signatures and complex changes. Iommi and Bill Ward were both jazz fans, you can hear the freedom of that influence all over the arrangments of this album. Especially in Ward's drumming, which is far from mere time-keeping, but is alive with improvisational fills and accents.

A memorable bass solo from Geezer leads us into another signature Sabbath song, N.I.B. This composition truly cements the roots of heavy metal chord progressions that are still being used to this day (War Pigs is a slight variation on the same progression), I can't even begin to count the number of songs that have used some variation of this riff. Geezer's little love song (even though it happens to be sung from the devil's point of view) is powered by a near perfect performance from everyone involved. Iommi's inate knack for mixing in memorable melodic lines with his riffs is fully formed here, a landmark performance.

Opening side two (at least in the US) is Wicked World. The song starts with a jazz swing high hat groove before Iommi comes in with yet another signature riff. Rhythmic changes abound as Ozzy sings Geezer's honest lyrics about the state of the world (not the world as people wanted it to be, but as it was). The middle section is especially tasty, slowing down for an unaccompanied solo by Iommi before the song kicks back in.

Sleeping Village is another song suite that shows the maturity that endless residencies at clubs bring to the band. These guys are so tight on this album, working completely together as a unified whole. This song also goes through numerous changes, mixing the light/heavy quality to great effect...in essence, this song is an extended intro to the album's tour de force...

Warning. Using the Ansley Dunbar song as a building block for an extended Iommi solo, this epic song truly shows what a unique talent Tony has. This track was developed slowly over time at many live gigs, with Tony adding pieces as he went. The amount of styles he touches on in this one song is impressive. It's also a good example of what an amazing blues band Sabbath could have been if they had wanted to continue down that route. Just listen to the commentary Geezer adds underneath Iommi's riff around the 5 minute mark. I think I've played this song more than any other Sabbath tune in my lifetime, there's just something magical here that's always connected with me.

Complimenting this incredible slab of vinyl is a classy iconic album cover that used to give me the creeps when I was a kid. The look of the album perfectly compliments the contents.

It's true that Sabbath would continue to evolve quickly after this album...but this has stood the test of time as one of the greatest debut albums EVER. It's still my favorite Sabbath album all these years later.

*notes*

The first single released was Evil Woman (written by US group Crow) with Wicked World as the b-side. The UK version of the album replaces Wicked World with Evil Woman. Here's the cover of the single:



The album was released on Friday the 13th (funny, huh?)
On the original album cover, Ozzy is listed as "Ossie Osbourne".
The album didn't debut on the US charts until after Paranoid was released...but once it did it stayed in the top 200 for 18 months.
The original Vertigo version of the album was a gatefold with an upside cross inside it, this was done against the band's wishes.
Tony Iommi used a Fender Strat on the song "Wicked World".

One of my favorite albums of all time and the IMO one of the greatest debut albums in rock history. This was the first Black Sabbath I ever owned.

I can't really add more to my comments than what detuned wrote. Ozzy Osbourne's voice sounds deeper and his phrasing was different than he would use starting with the 2nd album and onward.

Along with Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, Black Sabbath would help create the template that all future metal bands built upon. For decades after this album was released, despite the staying power of the album and long successful career this band would have, critics would not give this album and band its due. Shows what a bunch of idiots critics were and they did not understand the loyalty of the brand new metal sub culture that was beginning to flower into existence.

Excellent start to one of my most important band of any genre in rock history.

Great album and creepy album cover that fit the music within it. There is no doubt that this was the start of Heavy Metal. I never get tired of the song Black Sabbath.

Wow. I really cant add anything to what detuned has said. But, this is one of my favorite albums ever, and one of the best of any genre, not to mention one of my favorite Sabbath albums. Other than that, detuned nailed just about everything I was going to say.

Except for: Evil Woman, easily one of the best cover songs they ever recorded, Iommi really took it and make it their own with his chunky guitar playing, Geezer and Ward compliment him perfectly and Ozzy shines. Hopefully everyones got the remastered version so they can hear it

This wasn't where I started with Sabbath and is still not quite my favorite but my appreciation for this album has grown more and more over the years. I really don't think you can overestimate the importance and influence of these guys starting with this album. I just can't imagine what rock and metal would sound like today without them.

I really like this album. Probably one of the first albums released that scared the crap out of you.

What a milestone! What an important album! What an achievement! It's funny that the first album I consider to be all metal, is a perfect one! What more can be said?

What can I about this album? Come on, which selfrespecting heavy metal fan doesn't have this record? Classic all the way through, featuring some of heavy rock's hardest and heaviest moments. Pure perfection.

But then again, the same could be said for most of the Sab's discography.

Truly a classic and the one that really started it all for metal.Can you imagine what the music community thought when they first heard this ? I'm amazed that they were even able to be signed back then.

It's always beautiful to see a band come out of the gates fully formed on their first album, and it's tempting to say something like "they showed a lot of potential on this one and would get even better"...but damn, this is a nearly perfect album

Great lp

good for a debut, but I like the first Van Halen a lil better

PARANOID (released September 18, 1970 - UK, January 1st, 1971 - US)

With the success of the debut album Black Sabbath, the pressure was intense to get the band back into the studio for a followup. Recorded under very similar circumstances as the debut, the band once more entered Regent Sound Studios with producer Rodger Bain and engineer Tom Allom. Recorded in two days (with a couple live gigs in between), Paranoid again benefits from the live-in-the-studio recording with only a few guitar and vocal overdubs and some effects thrown in.

However, the overall sound of the album is quite different from the previous release. The loose jams have been replaced by tightly focused, multi-layered compositions. The never-ending gigs the band was playing at this point in time had honed their group aesthetic to a laser sharp focus.

Tony Iommi lays down enough legendary riffs on this record to fill 20 metal albums...it's almost mind-boggling to comprehend. Not a single note is wasted, every guitar part inspired. His playing on tracks like War Pigs, Paranoid, etc. are STILL influencing legions of guitarists to this day.

Geezer's lyrics had also matured a great deal, for the most part leaving behind the occult tendencies of the debut for well-written stories reflecting the general public's state of mind about Vietnam. The hope of 1969 quickly decayed into the fear and apathy of 1970. Tackling subjects like the Vietnam War (War Pigs), nuclear holocaust (Electric Funeral), drug addiction (Hand Of Doom)...and even a sci-fi morality tale (Iron Man), Paranoid was NOT a "feel good" album for sure.

This album is so well known and packed to the brim with classics that a track-by-track breakdown isn't necessary, if you don't already know this album inside out and backwards then please turn in your official "heavy metal fan" ID at the door on your way out.

Some quick personal observations on particular segments are in order though. The ending section of War Pigs is one of my favorite pieces of music ever, as is Iommi's hauntingly melodic guitar solo.

Planet Caravan is a real gem of a song and for the first time really shows a different side to what the group was capable of. Ozzy's vocals (run through a leslie cabinet and ring modulator) create a truly haunting sound to what is essentially a plaintive ballad. Of particular note though is Iommi's clean toned jazz guitar solo that ends the piece, truly a beautiful performance and his phrasing is impeccable.

Electric Funeral's phaser-driven doom plod is like the evil twin brother to the debut's title track, a truly menacing tune. The uptempo mid section is one of my favorite parts of the entire album.

Hand Of Doom is a real tour de force, beginning with a memorable Geezer bass intro. The mid section gallop riff is the absolute definition of what heavy metal sounds like.

This album also contains one of the hippest songs they ever recorded: Fairies Wear Boots. Iommi's "Wes Montgomery-inspired" octave solo during the intro is legendary...and once Bill Ward powers that loping groove along, an instant classic was born. Why this song didn't become a huge hit at the time is beyond me.

The only slight mis-step on the album is Rat Salad, which Iommi said was just a time-filler that they worked up quickly in the studio. But with the rest of the album being of the quality it is, I've always been able to overlook that.

*Notes*
The album title was originally War Pigs (thus the cover art) but was declined by the record label because of the Vietnam War.

The song Paranoid (allegedly written by Iommi during lunch break) reached #4 on the UK singles chart and #61 on the US singles chart (the only Sabbath song to ever enter the US top 100).

Sabbath embarked on their first American tour as the opening act for Rod Stewart.

Here's the cover of a Dutch pressing of the Paranoid single (notice the cross).

I have listened to this album so many times growing up, that I am somewhat burned out on it. Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid', along with Deep Purple's 'Machine Head' and Led Zeppelin 'IV' are such landmark albums that they overshadow the rest of the band's catalog.

This album is almost perfect and it is amazing that in span of less than a year how much Black Sabbath grew as both as a band and songwriters. Critics at the time viewed them as one dimensional band. As the ugly step brother of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, it proves again that the music critics were not listening.

It was not til 1990's that non-metal critics viewed this album as a classic.

Two albums in and not only did they help kick start an entire genre but this album is still looked at as a blueprint of the perfect metal album 39 years after its release.

Debut - I can't add anything that hasn;t been said - GREAT album!!!!!

Paranoid - another MONSTER release! I like this one even better than the debut! Includes the 2nd song everyone learns to play on guitar, Iron Man (right after Smoke On The Water is learned on guitar)

I like the original (oops debut ) a lil' better than this
but for 1970, this was top shelf stuff :metal:

Bummer that most american radio stations "think" that Sabbath's only two songs are from this album.

One of the finest early heavy metal discs. I still think their best is yet to come, though.

A great album indeed, a little played out for me but it still holds up almost 40 years later.

While it's true that much of this album has been played almost to death, I for some reason don't seem to grow tired of it. The debut was awesome, but I like Paranoid a bit more. The band is much tighter and the song-writing better. Once again Sabbath continued to write the blueprint for so much music that we would hear over the years, and even better stuff was to come.

Black Sabbath - The first time I heard the title track open up on my record player, i turned the lights out and closed my eyes and let my imagination take over. Definatley my favourite Ozzy era album, its perfect.

Paranoid - Another perfect album, a little overplayed for me tho, so I don't usually reach for it.

Paranoid is where I discovered Sabbath, although it wasn't until a couple of years later. It was too dark and scary for me to relate to when I was twelve years old! However when I did discover it, it was like Machine Head a life changing experience. I must have listened to it every day for about a year straight. Purple's Machine Head has made a nice comeback from my dusty shelves, I only hope I can hear Paranoid with fresh ears again someday. Such a great album!

couple notes that I'm not sure have been mentioned:
1. Crow, who wrote the song Evil Woman from the debut are Minneapolis homeboys.
2. War Pigs was a later version of the song Walpurgis. I prefer the earlier version now just because I haven't heard it so much.

Paranoid - What an awesome release ! As kids we had this on an 8-track and played it to death. My friend had a portable player and this and Ace Frehley's solo album were the only 2 8-tracks any of us had (worth listening to anyways). I always loved Electric Funeral (maybe even more than the "hits"). Also, I gotta say that Paranoid,Iron Man and the occasional War Pigs are the only Sabbath songs that ever get played in the Pittsburgh area (I've said many times that Pittsburgh radio sucks!).