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Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Sanctuary Records
Released: 1970.02.13
Time:
 42:59
Category: Hard Rock
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: ****...... (4/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.black-sabbath.com
Appears with: Ozzy Osbourne
Purchase date: 2008.12.05
Price in €: 7,99





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Black Sabbath (T.Butler/A.Iommi/J.Osbourne/W.Ward) - 6:21
[2] The Wizard (T.Butler/A.Iommi/J.Osbourne/W.Ward) - 4:24
[3] Behind the Wall of Sleep (T.Butler/A.Iommi/J.Osbourne/W.Ward) - 3:37
[4] N.I.B. (T.Butler/A.Iommi/J.Osbourne/W.Ward) - 6:07
[5] Evil Woman (T.Butler/A.Iommi/J.Osbourne/W.Ward) - 3:25
[6] Sleeping Village (T.Butler/A.Iommi/J.Osbourne/W.Ward) - 3:46
[7] The Warning (T.Butler/A.Iommi/J.Osbourne/W.Ward) - 10:32
[8] Wicked World (T.Butler/A.Iommi/J.Osbourne/W.Ward) - 4:43
 

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Ozzy Osbourne - Harmonica, Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar, Producer
Geezer Butler - Bass, Producer
Bill Ward - Drums, Vocals

Peter Restey - Keyboards
Ira Ferguson - Guitar
Michael Howse - Bass
Bill Russell - Drums

Rodger Bain - Producer
Tom (Colonel) Allom - Engineer
Barry Sheffield - Engineer
Ray Staff - Remastering
Keef - Photography, Design
Ross Halfin - Additional Photography
Chris Walter - Additional Photography
Hugh Gilmour - Re-issue Design, Booklet Notes, Original Sleeves
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s

1971 LP Warner Bros. 1871
1972 LP Warner Bros. 2602
1988 CD Warner Bros. 2-1871
1988 CS Warner Bros. M5-1871
1990 LP Warner Bros. 1871
1992 CD Castle CA196
2000 CD Castle Communications 803
2003 LP Earmark 410040
2004 LP Earmark 641004
2004 CD Sanctuary SRMCD-031
2005 LP Earmark 4100400
2006 CD Creative Sounds 6006
2006 LP Runt 41054
2007 CD Universal 1097
2007 CD Universal Japan 1097
2007 CD Sanctuary 392

BLACK SABBATH announces the arrival of both the band and the style in no uncertain terms. Though given more to extended jams and "suites" than later Sabbath recordings, songs like the ominous title cut and the bluesy, harmonica-driven rocker ...    Full Description"The Wizard" set the standard the band would follow for years to come. Singer Ozzy Osbourne already possessed one of the most distinctive voices in rock, and his chemistry with guitarist Tony Iommi, whose crushing guitar work descends like a ton of bricks, is undeniable. Still dug out, dusted off, and played, BLACK SABBATH is, in many ways, the true beginning of heavy metal.

The archetypal heavy metal band, Black Sabbath unleashed a debut album marked by ponderous, sludgy rhythms, heavily distorted riffs and chords, and more than a whiff of darkness and Black Magic. Its crushing atmosphere of doom proved intense and relentless; the cumulative effect was dubbed "downer rock," but it proved immediately popular with a disaffected audience. Though no one could have predicted it at the time, Sabbath was laying the groundwork for a genre that would continue to grow in popularity through the '70s, '80s, '90s, and beyond.

Live Recording.



Included in Q's "Best Metal Albums Of All Time" - "...[This] was to prove so influential it remains a template for metal bands 3 decades on. The band's signature song remains the scariest of all heavy metal songs..."

Q (8/00, p.126)



Some might claim that this 1970 debut is the definitive Black Sabbath record. While the gothic overtones of the opening track, "Black Sabbath" (thunderstorms and foreboding church bells introduce Ozzy Osbourne's howl and Tony Iommi's sludgy guitar), and the raucous defiling of Cream on "N.I.B." were thrilling then (and remain so now), there is too much wanking here to really qualify the collection as the must-have Black Sabbath record. (That prize would have to go to Paranoid.) But the blues-heavy riffs of "The Wizard," the soon-to-be-famous chord-progression stylings on "Wasp," and the grunge-boogie of "Wicked World" allow it to stand as a solid testament to the deep and lasting influence the band has had over the years.

Lorry Fleming - Amazon.com essential recording



Als Black Sabbath 1970 mit ihrem gleichnamigen Debütalbum auf der Bildfläche erschienen, steckte der Heavy Metal noch in seinen Kinderschuhen. Außer Deep Purple gab es kaum eine bekannte, mit harten Gitarrenriffs operierende Band. Sabbath betraten mit ihrem leicht psychopathischen, für damalige Verhältnisse ultraheftigen Düster-Rock absolutes Neuland und schafften es - schon in diesem frühen Stadium ihrer langen Karriere - geniale Songs zu schreiben. "Black Sabbath", "The Wizard", "Behind The Wall Of Sleep" und "N.I.B." sind zeitlose Metal-Hits, die weitaus mehr zu bieten haben als stumpfen Lärm. Tony Iommi weiß seine Gitarre sehr vielseitig einzusetzen und scheut auch vor leisen Tönen nicht zurück, während Madman Ozzy mehr als einmal wie ein aus der Hölle entflohener Langzeitinsasse klingt. Mit ihren Bandkollegen Butler und Ward kreieren die beiden einen enorm intensiven Gänsehaut-Sound, der sie zu einer der originellsten und erfolgreichsten Heavy-Bands aller Zeiten macht.

Michael Rensen - Amazon.de



Black Sabbath's debut album is given over to lengthy songs and suite-like pieces where individual songs blur together and riffs pound away one after another, frequently under extended jams. There isn't much variety in tempo, mood, or the band's simple, blues-derived musical vocabulary, but that's not the point; Sabbath's slowed-down, murky guitar rock bludgeons the listener in an almost hallucinatory fashion, reveling in its own dazed, druggy state of consciousness. Songs like the apocalyptic title track, "N.I.B.," and "The Wizard" make their obsessions with evil and black magic seem like more than just stereotypical heavy metal posturing because of the dim, suffocating musical atmosphere the band frames them in. This blueprint would be refined and occasionally elaborated upon over the band's next few albums, but there are plenty of metal classics already here.

Steve Huey - All Music Guide



Mediocrity doesn't tutor greatness often—when it is influential at all, its progeny usually achieve even ranker nadirs. But in rock, one of whose founding principles is that glorious mistakes can open out into amazing new styles, anything can happen. Thus the Cream phenomenon, which is far from dead even now. Although they were essentially an egotistical group of lazy artisans who nullified their considerable talents by swallowing their own hype, raking in fistfulls of cash and flying by the unflattering light of day, they left a whole raft of studious imitators who are setting sail, visions of superstardom dancing in their heads, to this day.

Gun and Black Sabbath are two recent additions to the troops, both from England, and they well typify the paradoxes and possibilities inherent in serving time in such a school. This is Gun's second album, a distinct improvement over the first, but it still suffers by the familiarity of its derivation. The leads are always powerful, often overdubbed to escape the limitations of the trio format, sounding at times as if lead guitarist Adrian Curtis has taken several Clapton riffs and set them whirling around each other — compelling, but not quite new.

It's no accident that the best tracks are at least partially acoustic. "Oh, Lady You," for instance, is a tender ballad of extreme simplicity, rather like the Beatles' "Long Long Long." In another refreshing touch, the song is bounded by two short uptempo flamenco bridges that are just sanguinely appropriate.

But the real standout here is "Angeline," a sorrowful ballad with strings and some beautifully melancholy piano work that sounds like the cat had been listening hard to old masters like "Las Vegas Tango" on the great long-lost Individualism of Gil Evans album. The lyrics are especially poignant, handling the touchy subject of a "straight" individual combing the underground in an anguished search for the girl he loves: "Look at you/What a state you're in/What you been doing? / Where's that place you've been?" Not until the end of the song do you realize that the man is not a lover but the father of the girl he's seeking, pleading to another young runaway as if she were his own daughter. The theme could easily be used for a snide put-down of the old folks, but the maturity of the handling here reveals Gun to have musical invention and lyrical insight only beginning to emerge.

Over across the tracks in the industrial side of Cream country lie unskilled laborers like Black Sabbath, which was hyped as a rockin' ritual celebration of the Satanic mass or some such claptrap, something like England's answer to Coven. Well, they're not that bad, but that's about all the credit you can give them. The whole album is a shuck—despite the murky songtitles and some inane lyrics that sound like Vanilla Fudge paying doggerel tribute to Aleister Crowley, the album has nothing to do with spiritualism, the occult, or anything much except stiff recitations of Cream cliches that sound like the musicians learned them out of a book, grinding on and on with dogged persistence. Vocals are sparse, most of the album being filled with plodding bass lines over which the lead guitar dribbles wooden Claptonisms from the master's tiredest Cream days. They even have discordant jams with bass and guitar reeling like velocitized speedfreaks all over each other's musical perimeters yet never quite finding synch—just like Cream! But worse.

LESTER BANGS - Sep 17, 1970
Rolling Stone
 

 L y r i c s


BLACK SABBATH

What is this that stands before me?
Figure in black which points at me
Turn around quick, and start to run
Find out I'm the chosen one
Oh nooo!

Big black shape with eyes of fire
Telling people their desire
Satan's sitting there, he's smiling
Watches those flames get higher and higher
Oh no, no, please God help me!

Is it the end, my friend?
Satan's coming 'round the bend
people running 'cause they're scared
The people better go and beware!
No, no, please, no!


THE WIZARD

Misty morning, clouds in the sky
Without warning, the wizard walks by
Casting his shadow, weaving his spell
Long gray cloak, tinkling bell

Never talking
Just keeps walking
spreading his magic

Evil power disappears
Demons worry when the wizard is near
He turns tears into joy
Everyone's happy when the wizard walks by

Never talking
Just keeps walking
spreading his magic

Sun is shining, clouds have gone by
All the people give a happy sigh
He has passed by, giving his sign
Left all the people feeling so fine

Never talking
Just keeps walking
spreading his magic


BEHIND THE WALL OF SLEEP

visions cuped within the flower
Deadly petals with strange power
Faces shine a deadly smile
Look upon you at your trial

Chill that numbs from head to toe
Icy sun with frosty glow
Words that go "Read to your sorrow"
Words that go "Read no tomorrow"

Feel your spirit rise with the breeze
Feel your body falling to its knees
Sleepy wall of remorse
turns your body to a corpse
turns your body to a corpse
turns your body to a corpse
Sleepy wall of remorse
Turns your body to a corpse

Now from darkness theres spring light
Wall of sleep is cold and bright
Wall of sleep is lying broken
Sun shines in, you have awoken


N.I.B.

Some people say my love cannot be true
please believe me, my love, and I'll show you
I will give you those things you thought unreal
The sun, the moon, the stars all bear my seal

Oh yeah!

Follow me now and you will not regret
leaving the life you led before we met
You are the first to have this love of mine
forever with me 'till the end of time

Your love for me has just got to be real
before you know the way I'm going to feel
I'm going to feel
I'm going to feel

Oh yeah!

Now I have you with me, under my power
Our love grows stronger now with every hour
Look into my eyes, you'll see who I am
my name is Lucifer, please take my hand

Oh yeah!

Follow me now and you will not regret
leaving the life you led before we met
You are the first to have this love of mine
forever with me 'till the end of time

Your love for me has just got to be real
before you know the way I'm going to feel
I'm going to feel
I'm going to feel

Oh yeah!

Now I have you with me, under my power
Our love grows stronger now with every hour
Look into my eyes, you'll see who I am
my name is Lucifer, please take my hand


EVIL WOMEN

I've seen a look of evil in your eyes
You've been filling me all full of lies
Sorrow will not change your shameful deeds
Do well best, someone else has better seen

Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me

Now I know just what you're looking for
You want me to claim this child you bore
Well you know that it was he, not me
And you know the way it got to be

Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with

Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me

Wickedness lies in your moisten lips
Your body moves just like the crack of a whip
Blackness sleeps on top of your stained bed
Do you whish that you could see me dead

Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me


SLEEPING VILLAGE

Red sun rising in the sky
Sleeping village, cockerels cry
Soft breeze blowing in the trees
peace of mind, feel at ease


THE WARNING

Now the first day that I met ya
I was looking in the sky
When the sun turned all a blur
and the thunderclouds rolled by
The sea began to shiver
and the wind began to moan
It must've been a sign for me
to leave you well alone
I was born without you, baby
but my feelings were a little bit too strong

you never said you love me
and I don't believe you can
'cause I saw you in a dream
and you were with another man
You looked so cool and casual
and I tried to look the same
But now I've got to know ya
tell me who am I to blame?
I was born without you, baby
but my feelings were a little bit too strong

Now the whole wide world is movin'
'cause there's iron in my heart
I just can't keep from cryin'
'cause you say we've got to part
Sorrow grips my voice as I stand here all alone
And watch you slowly take away
a love I've never known
I was born without you, baby
but my feelings were a little bit too strong


WICKED WORLD

The world today is such a wicked Place
Fighting going on between the human race
People got to work just to earn their bread
While people just across the sea are counting the dead

A politician's job they say is very high
For he has to choose who's got to go and die
They can put a man on the moon quite easy
while people here on earth are dying of old diseases

A woman goes to work every day after day
She just goes to work just to earn her pay
Child sitting crying by a life that's harder
he doesn't even know who is his father
 

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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