My complements to you!! I really enjoy your presentation and thoughtfulness. It must be time consuming and difficult - that being said, I hope to see your take on other bands very soon! Queen, Led Zeppelin- anyone really! Thanks for doing what you do!!!
Love your reviews top tens etc One observation, not a complaint, man, do you like the word topography. I'd describe your style as somehow like a Guardian review without the being wrong about everything trait. Great stuff. More power to your channel.
Yep, followed closely by Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. But Sabotage has moments that I have come to recognise the brilliance of in the 35+ years of listening to it
It's all diminuendo , instead of the typical crescendo approach to so many ballads . It is one of the few , if not the only album recorded that featured so many songs that kind of get mellower as they progress, quite an achievement but I believe that the album probably would have sold better if songs like the Writ, would have been just straight-up traditional songs ending at the heavy part. Technically they're only 2 cracks that could truly be defined as diminuendos , nose would be the aforementioned the Writ , and the Thrill of it All.this album definitely features some of the only screaming vocals done through Ozzy's entire career. Hole in the sky is arguably iron maiden's entire career put into one song
I almost agree. Sabotage...is my 2nd pick, with only Master Of Reality topping it. Sabotage...is a true masterpiece. Though I prefer Master Of Reality over Sabotage...I probably listen to Sabotage way more. Master...is just so ingrained in my head...it sometimes gets old. But yes...Sabotage, is greatly underrated in the Black Sabbath catolog, by even the hardest core Sabbath fans. Sabotage...is true grit.
Sabotage is THE s***. The riff to Symptom is enough on its own. Just that one riff is enough. Not to mention insane tempo and theme changes in most of the songs, the dramatic choir in Supertzar. The thrill of Thrill of it All. Best album by Sabs, Top 10 (metal) album overall!!!
It is a great album but that is the point where the drugs set in(the point of no return) and it still doesn't have the power and force of Master of Reality.
I've watched a lot of Black Sabbath album rankings and I don't know why nobody ever talks about the song, "Under the Sun" from Vol. 4. It is their most stand out track from all of their albums. Ferocious doom metal in 1972.
Master of Reality was the pinnacle for me... I'll never forget hearing it for the first time as a young kid. I like all of the original albums up to Sabotage....very spotty after that with the exception of Heaven and Hell which kicked ass
To be honest, I have trouble deciding a favourite out of their first 6 albums...agree their following albums are patchy, Heaven and Hell is decent in its own right but it's not Sabbath to me, it's Dio.
@@harryirene1 Yes it was not easy trying to listen to them when they released that first album with Dio and I only learned to appreciate it over the years because there is some good stuff on it and the band was playing excellent. I liked about half of the album to be honest and didn't like the next one at all and believe me I tried... and after that it was that horrible album with Ian Gillan which should have been aborted. I never listened to much after that even the ine when Dio came back or the great reunion with Ozzy... it just isn't the same
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Never Say Die are my two favorites. Never understood the dislike for Never Say Die. Johnny Blade, Junior's Eyes and Airdance are worth the price of admission alone.
Totally agree with you, "Never Say Die" for me ranks higher than TE, MOR, and Sabbotage. It gets a bad rap because the band was having issues with Ozzy.
@@hermanhelmich That's funny, one of things I like about this album is the production! Oh well, to each his own. I definitely wish Dio would have come up with a better lyric than" what do you say to the dead' for example. It does come off as a little cheesy, but I still love After All.
I got into Sabbath when the Eternal Idol album was released. So, I started with the Martin albums, then worked back to the Dio and Gillan albums. Ozzy era was the last and my least favorites.
I received Masters of reality and paranoid age 13 on Christmas Eve. I snuck beers and listen to those albums all night while my parents had a small neighbor holiday celebration in the living room. headphones on, getting drunk for the first time listening to Black Sabbath. knocking over bookshelf that held my Panasonic stereo. I was hooked.
It's an overlooked disc for sure. Hard to believe it was followed by the disjointed Forbidden. Eye Witness, Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Cardynal Sin, Virtual Death, Evil Eye. It was a cool album.
@Kevin Badger I am as turned off by Ozzy only Sabbath listeners, or Blackmore only Deep Purple, David Byron era Uriah Heep, etc, but Mr.Truxton DID comment above that he enjoys Eternal Idol and Headless Cross. Granted, I don't quite understand how one could find Cross Purposes boring, from the careening, break neck pace of opener Eye Witness on through to Hand that Rocks the Cradle and Cardynal Syn, to the closing number Evil Eye, the fact remains that a narrow minded Ozzy fanboy would never accept Eternal Idol (my favorite Martin era album) or Headless Cross. I'm not quite moved by Headless Cross or Tyr the way I am by the other 2 Martin albums (I pretend that Forbidden never was recorded), but I listen to the 3 (4 counting The Devil You Know) Dio fronted Sabbath albums, Born Again with Ian Gillan, and Seventh Star with Glenn Hughes as much or more than I do the 8 albums Ozz and the original lineup produced (Sabotage and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath being their peak). I don't think finding two Martin albums to be a bit generic and another to be an abortion makes me an Ozzy fanboy. As a matter of fact, I love listening to the early 80s Dio interview where Dio responds to Ozzys earlier comments about Sabbath not being worthy of carrying the Sabbath trademark , RJD smoked Ozzy like he did his traditional half of a joint before taking the stage for a show. I've saw the classic lineup in concert, the Dio/Appice H&H lineup in concert, and was also fortunate enough to catch Dio solo in concert and Ozzy solo.
You sir have done a great job with this. Sabbath has to be one of the hardest band to rank albums due to the different lineups they have gone through. My only gripe is Paranoid, it is overplayed and over hyped. Every time the songs come on the radio I catch myself changing channel. I know it was commercially successful and I think that's the issue.
Great list! Always love your reasoning on which album in better or worse. Not that i agree on all but still you have thought it through thuroughly. Could you do a Whishbone Ash album count? To me they are such an underrated band with so many really great songs.
@@classicalbum I know. And I don't know how you arrived at it. For one, SABOTAGE takes EVERYTHING they had been doing from that first album right up until SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH, and puts it all on one album. So in the middle of "The Writ" you get moments of a "Hand of Doom" coupled with "Laguna Sunrise." It is an amalgamation of everything they had been doing in the world of "heavy metal." Which was groundbreaking, because NO ONE sounded like them in 1969/1970. They were making a genre of their own. SABOTAGE takes that genre, and pushes it past what they had done before; which leads you to : SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE. The pundits who go to Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" and say they got there first, are so "off" it's like they never listened to music before. The opening of Symptom TELLS you this is something absolutely new and unheard of previous. If "Children of the Grave" made "The Immigrant Song" sound like the boys from Led Zeppelin were going on a Viking picnic, "Symptom of the Universe" makes every "hard rock" band of the time sound like they barely maintained erections, let alone knew what "hard" meant. Symptom is groundbreaking. And Black Sabbath from 1970 right up until 1975 were creating an entire genre unto themselves, but would influence countless numbers of bands that followed. Lyrically, whether Geezer or Ozzy were writing the contents of SABOTAGE (both did) , Black Sabbath in the 1970's lyrically makes every Dio rainbow, wheel, dragon, king, mountain look incredibly redundant. How you can pass by lyrics such as these (which are Ozzy written) You are nonentity, you have no destiny You are a figment of a thing unknown A mental picture of a stolen soul The fornication of your golden throne And go for Dio's fascination with rainbows, I have no idea. Sabbath lyrics in the Ozzy era were close to poetry. And both SABOTAGE and SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH reach lyrical plateaus that Dio never could reach. And not because he was tiny. He was just fascinated with the words that easily rhyme. OZZY! Between 1973 - 1975, Ozzy was a vocalist to be reckoned with. And his performance on SABOTAGE is the performance of his career. He is singing his ass off on that album. And i cannot think of any other singer that was attempting to even do what he was doing in 1973 - 1975. Not even a Rob Halford. Not a Plant. Not a Gillan. What Ozzy's doing on SABOTAGE is singing his heart out. And half the time you can hear him singing til he has no breath left (SEE SYMPTOM'S VERSES). He was on fire between 1973 - 1975. THE THRILL OF IT ALL is one of the best vocals he ever did for Black Sabbath. I don't know why he is so down on this album, when it's the one he should be the proudest of. SABOTAGE is a reason why he still had a career AFTER Black sabbath. He couldn't sing like that anymore, but what he could do cemented a reputation as a singer with some serious power. And his range had increased since that first album. They kept down tuning. He kept going higher. Listen to Ozzy on that first album, and then listen to SABOTAGE. He had developed so far beyond how he had started, it should eclipse anything Dio did. Because Dio always sounds the same. A great vocalist. Technically superior. But he's singing about goddamn rainbows half the time. I just don't know how you put The Mob Rules before Black Sabbath's masterpiece, Sabotage. How did you get there???? I don't mean to imply your opinion is wrong, because it's yours. But goddamn. Have you not listened to Sabotage lately? If I say anything here that makes you go back to that album and realise that's their masterpiece, or at least listen to the thing and say, goddamn, Ozzy is kicking ass on this, goddamn the lyrics are awesome, goddamn they took everything they had been doing and put it on one album, sometimes in one song, then I've helped you! ;)
Different albums can mean different things for different people. 'Mob Rules' has a special place in my heart. Don't get me wrong, I love 'Sabotage'... but if you look at the comments to this video everyone's ranking is different not definitive. Therefore let's just agree Sabbath were a great band that made some truly great music.
Ronnie Dio won over me and my mates, all Ozzy heads, when on the heaven and hell tour at the Apollo, announced that N I B was Nativity In Black! We were overwhelmed at this magnificent knowledge imparted upon us.Black Magic and a great gig. supported by Fist!
Black Sabbath’s 1970 self titled debut album is my personal favorite of theirs. They have so many classic must have albums. 13 is their Worst album in my opinion.
Fantastic show. My own personal ranking would be somewhat different but that's what makes music so interesting. I can't believe it's taken me so long to watch this! 👍
As always an excellent, well reasoned exploration of the Sabbath catalog. Perhaps it is somewhat heretical to say, but Heaven and Hell has always been my favorite. Being that I was 14 at the time of its release, it had a major impact on me. Anyway, always enjoy your perspective. Cheers mate!
steve tobin - Apparently that was the idea for the 2011 reissue, but they couldn’t find/access the master tapes. A shame since it’s one of the worst sounding albums around.
I really like your ranking you are very exhaustive in your contents. you make me want to listen to the whole discography again, and that's what a good review must induce you to do .thanks again
I have seen 1000's of concerts and Black Sabbath is my all time favorite band, I never got to see them together. I saw Ozzy solo and had the honor to see Dio on the Mob Rules tour. One of my favorite concert experiences was at the Born Again show where Ian Gillian sang Smoke on the Water with Black Sabbath, incredible. I always loved Vol. 4 myself.
I remember when Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules, Blizzard of Oz, and Diary of a Madman were all were released basically within the same 2 year span... I was so torn.
Wow! That was so enjoyable. You open my mind to a different take. I grew up on those first 6 and stopped following Sabbath thereafter. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is my top one, then Master of Reality and third place goes to Sabotage, I feel they all have aged better than the first album and Paranoid.
Don Airey also featured in a band called Coloseum II, a jazz/prog instrumental group featuring Gary Moore, Jon Hiseman on drums and a bassist whose name escapes me at the moment.
Hello! First comment in teh channel. I discovered teh channel yesterday when youtube recommended the Motorhead ranking video. I really enjoy these thingsa nd your thoughts on the albums. I've since listened to the Queen one, the David Bowie one (loved that and it looks like there are a couple of albums by him I still need to check out) and now, this one for one of my oldesta nd dearest favourites, Sabbath. So I have a soft spot for Cross Purposes, buecause until I heard that album I actually had no idea Sabbath had any albums past the 70s. I was a 90s teen and I guess by that time, none of the Dio stuff was being played on the radio and people didn't reallyt alk about it. I guess I wasn't aware that there was a song from Dehumanizer on the Wayne's World soundtrack in 1992. But anyway...The first song from the era I heard was 'Cross of Thorns", and I remember taping it and playing it for a friend and asking him to guess what band it was. of course he couldn't, and was truly mystified when I told him it was Sabbath. i still really like that song. Tony martin just makes those slow moody songs from his era work. Some of the rockers though, not so much. Those albums *all* suffered from thin guitar tones, in my opinion. It's not enough to spoil the fantastic Headless Cross, but even that one really suffers. Those remixes would be welcome!!
Great reviews man. I'm glad I've discovered your channel. I've found someone that I (mostly) agree with regarding music! That's no small feat these days.
I got Paranoid on cassette the autumn when I was 8 or 9. (ca 1980) I lived in the remote north norwegian countryside, in a old house. My bedroom was in the attic, and the wind made the house make this sounds. So there I was, nightime dark and windy. And Paranoid scared the shit out of the little boy who was me. But I could not stop listen to it. I was so fascinated. Great childhood memories. Cool video. I enjoyed.
You are onto something! There are different bands like The Doors, Early Van Halen, Simon & Garfunkel and others who did remaster their work and put them in the same box. Talking CD here. I would love a box like that for Tony Martin-era Black Sabbath. I'd easily buy that! While I think Eternal Idol and Tyr are solid and quite enjoyable albums. Having them all in better shape would be very nice!
For me) 1) Heaven & Hell 2) Mob Rules 3) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 4) Paranoid 5) Master of Reality 6) Volume 7 I just love Dio's lyrics and singing. The band went from being a sludgy, hard, doom metal group to a tight, fast galloping metal group able to push up next to NWBHM with ease. Geezer and Tony seemed to up their playing substantially on the Dio records.
What a wonderful video, 30 minutes of pure joy 😀. Here's my picks. You can see I rate Tony Martin very highly, so I appreciated your good review of Headless Cross, a vocal tour de force! 1. Headless Cross 2. Heaven & Hell 3. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 4. Eternal Idol 5. Mob Rules 6. Paranoid 7. Black Sabbath 8. Dehumanizer 9. Seventh Star 10. Sabotage
My Top 10 1) Sabotage 2) Master of Reality 3) Black Sabbath 4) Volume IV 5) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 6) Heaven And Hell 7) The Eternal Idol 8) Thirteen 9) The Headless Cross 10) Paranoid YES, Paranoid is 10th and that may even be too high. I am tired of so many tracks on this album. Its all they ever play. Love Planet Caravan, my favorite off it. SABOTAGE RULES
Grazie, I understand your English too. ps Your fifth is my first. But with these kind of bands, with 5/6 great albums or more in their discography, rankings could change tomorrow.
Brilliant video, Barry. An excellent choice for the number 1 spot. I have a soft spot for Sabotage as I think it’s an interesting listen. But any album from the classic era could be my favourite. I can’t argue with Paranoid, though. I love your explanations of the albums too.
In the 80’s I used to drive past a sign for Headless across (near Redditch, close to Birmingham) on a weekly basis. It made me chuckle when Tony Iommi named the album after a place in Redditch.
She’s Gone is an absolutely heartbreaking piece of awesomeness! One of my favorite Sabbath tracks, and easily the best Black Sabbath song recorded between the Sabotage and Heaven And Hell albums. Really sorry to hear that you don’t think better of it.
I cannot believe that someone just got me to sit through a serious and scholarly dissertation on the historical importance of Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi. Even crazier than that? I am actually pulling out my old Sabbath albums and listening to them carefully for the first time since I was in college. Can you do one of these programs for Blue Oyster Cult? Or, better yet, the Peter Green Fleetwood Mac? (Come to think of it, the Bob Welch Fleetwood Mac was very good, also...) Many thanks!
Thanks for your review! My opinion differs but that's the greatness of music and tastes, or not? ☺ My Top 3 are: 1) Mob Rules 2) Born Again 3) Headless Cross
I never got why people rank "Master of Reality" so high.. Sweet Leaf and Children of the Grave are good but not all that exceptional. I actually think SBS, Vol 4 and the first album are all better having more original and better material IMO.. Maybe because it more closely resembles the Metal genre of the late 80s/early 90s as does Sabbotage. I always saw Sabbath as Rock n' Roll first before that genre term was coined.
My top 10 are 1. Sabotage 2. Paranoid 3. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 4. Vol 4 5. Black Sabbath 6. Never Say Die 7. Master Or Reality 8. Mob Rules 9. Heaven And Hell 10. Technical Ecstasy Eternal Idol is my fav Tony Martin album.
To be honest, I've only listened to the first 8 albums with Ozzy... Never Say Die and Technical Ecstacy are a bit of a step down from the first 6, but are still really good and not deserving of the hate some give them. My personal rank of what I've heard: 1. Black Sabbath IV 2. Master of Reality 3. Sabotage 4. Paranoid 5. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 6. Black Sabbath 7. Technical Ecstacy 8. Never Say Die
100% agree brother. Technical Ecstasy, and Never Say Die...are relatively low on my list as well...but I still like them...and won't rank them below Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules. And even though...I like those two Dio-vocal-led albums...I would still choose TE or NSD, over the Dio albums. (Now Ronnie James Dio's; Holy Diver is a different story. That album was stellar).
For me 1 Heaven &hell 2 Mob Rules 3 SBS 4 Sabotage 5 Black Sabbath 6 Paranoid 7 Seventh Star 8 MOR 9 Vol 4 10 Technical Ecstasy 11 Born Again 12 Headless Cross 13 eternal idol
I do agree with this ranking, the albums are in pretty much the right order for my tastes. Yet, my number one would be a tie between the first two albums. I have the super deluxe box of Paranoid, and would love to see the debut album in a box set package as well.
Glad to see Headless Cross high on the list.I had virtually given up on Sabbath at this point.A glowing review in Metal Hammer changed all that.Tony Martins vocal rival Dio’s here.Also good to see Heaven and Hell up.I was 18 and working in a record shop when it came out.Being in Tasmania with the only form of communication in the metal world being three month old Melody Maker mags imagine my surprise when I flip the cover and there is a drawing of Dio with the Sabs.I had no idea he was out of Rainbow and Ozzy was out on his own.This album really saved Sabbath.
Black Sabbath are one of my all time favourite bands! My favourite albums in order are: 1. The Headless Cross 2. Volume 4 3. Master of Reality 4. Heaven & Hell 5. Born Again 6. Paranoid 7. Black Sabbath 8. Sabotage 9. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 10. Mob Rules 11. Seventh Star 12. Dehumanizer 13. 13 14. Technical Ecstasy 15. The Devil You Know 16. Forbidden 17. Never Say Die 18. Tyr 19. The Eternal Idol (both versions) 20. Cross Purposes
You put the albums on which Cozy Powell plays at the end of the list??? You need to replace the last five albums with those from the middle and it will be the right one...
There IS some good stuff on Forbidden. I didn't know a remix was possibly in the works. Would love to hear it and would love the rest of the Martin era to get the deluxe treatment (Eternal Idol already did), plus a re-release of Cross Purposes Live.
My complements to you!! I really enjoy your presentation and thoughtfulness. It must be time consuming and difficult - that being said, I hope to see your take on other bands very soon! Queen, Led Zeppelin- anyone really! Thanks for doing what you do!!!
My pleasure... I might do Tull next
@@classicalbum Please do King Crimson
@@classicalbum thick as a brick was definitely Jethro Tull's all time best album.
Please do Beatles
Love your reviews top tens etc
One observation, not a complaint,
man, do you like the word topography.
I'd describe your style as somehow like a Guardian review without the being wrong about everything trait.
Great stuff. More power to your channel.
There is no bad song on Heaven and Hell!! Top tier metal album!
Sabotage is my favourite Sabbath album. I love the progressive and experimental feel to the record.
Yep, followed closely by Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. But Sabotage has moments that I have come to recognise the brilliance of in the 35+ years of listening to it
Symptom of the universe 🤘🤘 nuff said
It's all diminuendo , instead of the typical crescendo approach to so many ballads . It is one of the few , if not the only album recorded that featured so many songs that kind of get mellower as they progress, quite an achievement but I believe that the album probably would have sold better if songs like the Writ, would have been just straight-up traditional songs ending at the heavy part. Technically they're only 2 cracks that could truly be defined as diminuendos , nose would be the aforementioned the Writ , and the Thrill of it All.this album definitely features some of the only screaming vocals done through Ozzy's entire career. Hole in the sky is arguably iron maiden's entire career put into one song
I almost agree. Sabotage...is my 2nd pick, with only Master Of Reality topping it. Sabotage...is a true masterpiece. Though I prefer Master Of Reality over Sabotage...I probably listen to Sabotage way more. Master...is just so ingrained in my head...it sometimes gets old. But yes...Sabotage, is greatly underrated in the Black Sabbath catolog, by even the hardest core Sabbath fans. Sabotage...is true grit.
Sabotage is THE s***. The riff to Symptom is enough on its own. Just that one riff is enough. Not to mention insane tempo and theme changes in most of the songs, the dramatic choir in Supertzar. The thrill of Thrill of it All. Best album by Sabs, Top 10 (metal) album overall!!!
Volume 4 is probably my favourite. First time I heard "Wheels of Confusion" it completely blew my mind.
Yes! I thought I was the only one, sabbaths most underrated song easily. I'd call vol 4 a perfect album
It is a great album but that is the point where the drugs set in(the point of no return) and it still doesn't have the power and force of Master of Reality.
@@jonesy2111 A great album also. First 4 records are absolute classics.
Volume 4 is a great choice! Supernaut and St. Vitus Dance remain some of my absolute favorites from the band.
@@thedinkster5772 those 2 and snowblind are my personal favorites
I've watched a lot of Black Sabbath album rankings and I don't know why nobody ever talks about the song, "Under the Sun" from Vol. 4. It is their most stand out track from all of their albums. Ferocious doom metal in 1972.
Master of Reality was the pinnacle for me... I'll never forget hearing it for the first time as a young kid. I like all of the original albums up to Sabotage....very spotty after that with the exception of Heaven and Hell which kicked ass
To be honest, I have trouble deciding a favourite out of their first 6 albums...agree their following albums are patchy, Heaven and Hell is decent in its own right but it's not Sabbath to me, it's Dio.
@@harryirene1 Yes it was not easy trying to listen to them when they released that first album with Dio and I only learned to appreciate it over the years because there is some good stuff on it and the band was playing excellent. I liked about half of the album to be honest and didn't like the next one at all and believe me I tried... and after that it was that horrible album with Ian Gillan which should have been aborted. I never listened to much after that even the ine when Dio came back or the great reunion with Ozzy... it just isn't the same
@@jonesy2111 Born again is underrated imho.
@@andrejz8954 The album certainly has it's cult fans and good points
'Planet Caravan' and 'Solitude' are both wonderfully affecting songs IMO !
I love those 2 songs!!
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Never Say Die are my two favorites. Never understood the dislike for Never Say Die. Johnny Blade, Junior's Eyes and Airdance are worth the price of admission alone.
Totally agree with you, "Never Say Die" for me ranks higher than TE, MOR, and Sabbotage. It gets a bad rap because the band was having issues with Ozzy.
Love the detailed analysis of each album. The Tull video was especially good, as was this one. Kudos to you, sir.
I liked Dehumanizer - it was the heaviest album they’d done at the time
me too!
This
Excellent album that for my money needs a higher place in the list
In a vacuum this is a very good album.... What Dehumanizer suffers from is Painkiller.
Thats what this album should have been.
There are zero bad songs on “Vol. 4”, even “Changes” and “FX” fit perfectly. “Supernaut” is THE quintessential heavy metal song 🧙♂️ 🌚
Never say Die is My most nostalgic and Loved album..Have re listened in recent years and still LOVE it..Great reviews..CHEERS
I personally love Eternal Idol .. Powerful album , Heavy , Great riffs , awesome vocals ( Both options) variation in moods 🤘
Paranoid is my favourite Sabbath album. A fantastic record.
Closely followed by the debut album. Both great.
I will never understand why so many people don't like Dehumanizer. Riffs, Ronnie, and Rhythm provide by Vinny and Geezer!
It was voted far into Martin Popoffs top 500 metal album (224 i think. Definitely 200s). It is not as underrated as people think.
Headless Cross too
@@integrity101 I've just seen really low ratings of it by a lot of Sabbath fans and authors.
I think a lot of people were expecting "Heaven and Hell Part Two.".. and Dehumanizer was definetly not Heaven and Hell Part Two.
CymaticSand Production is pretty bad, and too little lyrical finesse
@@hermanhelmich That's funny, one of things I like about this album is the production! Oh well, to each his own. I definitely wish Dio would have come up with a better lyric than" what do you say to the dead' for example. It does come off as a little cheesy, but I still love After All.
Headless Cross is so underrrated album, It usually seems that some fans just skip this phase of the Sabbath, unfortunately
It was all a marketing screwup or it would be a legend
I got into Sabbath when the Eternal Idol album was released. So, I started with the Martin albums, then worked back to the Dio and Gillan albums. Ozzy era was the last and my least favorites.
Martin-era absolutely crushes Dio era.
@@hmpz36911 never 🤔😣
I skip skipping it by not getting to it, it saves a lot of pain and heartache 😅
I received Masters of reality and paranoid age 13 on Christmas Eve. I snuck beers and listen to those albums all night while my parents had a small neighbor holiday celebration in the living room. headphones on, getting drunk for the first time listening to Black Sabbath. knocking over bookshelf that held my Panasonic stereo. I was hooked.
Cross Purposes is a great album. One of my favourite Sabbath albums.
It bores me to tears to be honest....
It's an overlooked disc for sure. Hard to believe it was followed by the disjointed Forbidden. Eye Witness, Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Cardynal Sin, Virtual Death, Evil Eye. It was a cool album.
@Kevin Badger Subjective things. I love Eternal Idol and Headless Cross though. Those are one of my favorites.
@Kevin Badger I am as turned off by Ozzy only Sabbath listeners, or Blackmore only Deep Purple, David Byron era Uriah Heep, etc, but Mr.Truxton DID comment above that he enjoys Eternal Idol and Headless Cross. Granted, I don't quite understand how one could find Cross Purposes boring, from the careening, break neck pace of opener Eye Witness on through to Hand that Rocks the Cradle and Cardynal Syn, to the closing number Evil Eye, the fact remains that a narrow minded Ozzy fanboy would never accept Eternal Idol (my favorite Martin era album) or Headless Cross. I'm not quite moved by Headless Cross or Tyr the way I am by the other 2 Martin albums (I pretend that Forbidden never was recorded), but I listen to the 3 (4 counting The Devil You Know) Dio fronted Sabbath albums, Born Again with Ian Gillan, and Seventh Star with Glenn Hughes as much or more than I do the 8 albums Ozz and the original lineup produced (Sabotage and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath being their peak). I don't think finding two Martin albums to be a bit generic and another to be an abortion makes me an Ozzy fanboy. As a matter of fact, I love listening to the early 80s Dio interview where Dio responds to Ozzys earlier comments about Sabbath not being worthy of carrying the Sabbath trademark , RJD smoked Ozzy like he did his traditional half of a joint before taking the stage for a show. I've saw the classic lineup in concert, the Dio/Appice H&H lineup in concert, and was also fortunate enough to catch Dio solo in concert and Ozzy solo.
@@Mr.Truxton There's a Forbidden fan out there somewhere, there's always one 😅
I'm agree. Paranoid is the best album i think. Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die is both very underated albums if you ask me
'Black Sabbath' definitely sports one of my favourite, most memorable artwork covers !
In my music as in my life all roads lead the Black Sabbath! Your comment about Ian pace is awesome
Hallelujah! I know the topic here is Black Sabbath, but so glad to hear that somebody else thinks Ian Paice is a seriously under-rated drummer.
Nice to see Mob rules rated so highly, to me it's always seemed criminally underrated, it's actually my fave Sabbath album!
Glad Gus Fring lets you do this on the side Mike! Seriously though, great job on the reviews , love it!
Bahahaha now I cant stop seeing it...guarantee mike was jammin' sabbath
Thank you. Heaven and Hell is my favorite.
i do believe Johnny Blade is a stone cold 'lost classic' from the Never Say Die album. However a very interesting and entertaining video as always.
Great song!
Barrie Strong The whole album is woefully underrated
Love Johnny Blade. One of the few great songs on that album. Cover art is cool though!
Ward and Oz killed it on this tune!
A great song... an absolute killer
I really enjoy you're reviews. Thank you sir
Heaven and hell..., solid gold
Maybe weird but I love Technical Ecstasy.
Yeah, weird.
Sure you are a Sabbath fan?
@@plciferpffer3048 Actually, more of a Carpenters/ Donny Osmond fan.
Me too !!
Don't ever say "maybe weird" for that. Understand? Weird are fake Sabbath fans whose musically limited brains don't understand artistic perfection of Technical Ecstasy.
“It’s Alright “ is a beautiful song.
You sir have done a great job with this. Sabbath has to be one of the hardest band to rank albums due to the different lineups they have gone through. My only gripe is Paranoid, it is overplayed and over hyped. Every time the songs come on the radio I catch myself changing channel. I know it was commercially successful and I think that's the issue.
Great list! Always love your reasoning on which album in better or worse. Not that i agree on all but still you have thought it through thuroughly. Could you do a Whishbone Ash album count? To me they are such an underrated band with so many really great songs.
I'd have to listen to them but I will try
Excellent to hear all your thoughts on their albums.
SABOTAGE is their masterpiece. How The Mob Rules comes before it, I have no idea.
It's just an opinion.
@@classicalbum I know. And I don't know how you arrived at it.
For one, SABOTAGE takes EVERYTHING they had been doing from that first album right up until SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH, and puts it all on one album. So in the middle of "The Writ" you get moments of a "Hand of Doom" coupled with "Laguna Sunrise." It is an amalgamation of everything they had been doing in the world of "heavy metal." Which was groundbreaking, because NO ONE sounded like them in 1969/1970. They were making a genre of their own. SABOTAGE takes that genre, and pushes it past what they had done before; which leads you to :
SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE.
The pundits who go to Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" and say they got there first, are so "off" it's like they never listened to music before. The opening of Symptom TELLS you this is something absolutely new and unheard of previous. If "Children of the Grave" made "The Immigrant Song" sound like the boys from Led Zeppelin were going on a Viking picnic, "Symptom of the Universe" makes every "hard rock" band of the time sound like they barely maintained erections, let alone knew what "hard" meant. Symptom is groundbreaking. And Black Sabbath from 1970 right up until 1975 were creating an entire genre unto themselves, but would influence countless numbers of bands that followed.
Lyrically, whether Geezer or Ozzy were writing the contents of SABOTAGE (both did) , Black Sabbath in the 1970's lyrically makes every Dio rainbow, wheel, dragon, king, mountain look incredibly redundant. How you can pass by lyrics such as these (which are Ozzy written)
You are nonentity,
you have no destiny
You are a figment
of a thing unknown
A mental picture of a stolen soul
The fornication
of your golden throne
And go for Dio's fascination with rainbows, I have no idea. Sabbath lyrics in the Ozzy era were close to poetry. And both SABOTAGE and SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH reach lyrical plateaus that Dio never could reach. And not because he was tiny. He was just fascinated with the words that easily rhyme.
OZZY!
Between 1973 - 1975, Ozzy was a vocalist to be reckoned with. And his performance on SABOTAGE is the performance of his career. He is singing his ass off on that album. And i cannot think of any other singer that was attempting to even do what he was doing in 1973 - 1975. Not even a Rob Halford. Not a Plant. Not a Gillan. What Ozzy's doing on SABOTAGE is singing his heart out. And half the time you can hear him singing til he has no breath left (SEE SYMPTOM'S VERSES). He was on fire between 1973 - 1975. THE THRILL OF IT ALL is one of the best vocals he ever did for Black Sabbath. I don't know why he is so down on this album, when it's the one he should be the proudest of. SABOTAGE is a reason why he still had a career AFTER Black sabbath. He couldn't sing like that anymore, but what he could do cemented a reputation as a singer with some serious power. And his range had increased since that first album. They kept down tuning. He kept going higher. Listen to Ozzy on that first album, and then listen to SABOTAGE. He had developed so far beyond how he had started, it should eclipse anything Dio did. Because Dio always sounds the same. A great vocalist. Technically superior. But he's singing about goddamn rainbows half the time.
I just don't know how you put The Mob Rules before Black Sabbath's masterpiece, Sabotage. How did you get there???? I don't mean to imply your opinion is wrong, because it's yours. But goddamn. Have you not listened to Sabotage lately? If I say anything here that makes you go back to that album and realise that's their masterpiece, or at least listen to the thing and say, goddamn, Ozzy is kicking ass on this, goddamn the lyrics are awesome, goddamn they took everything they had been doing and put it on one album, sometimes in one song, then I've helped you! ;)
Different albums can mean different things for different people. 'Mob Rules' has a special place in my heart. Don't get me wrong, I love 'Sabotage'... but if you look at the comments to this video everyone's ranking is different not definitive. Therefore let's just agree Sabbath were a great band that made some truly great music.
@@classicalbum Ok we can agree to that ;) BUT SABOTAGE IS THEIR MASTERPIECE!!!!!
@@DrTomoculus it is certainly a great album.
Ronnie Dio won over me and my mates, all Ozzy heads, when on the heaven and hell tour at the Apollo, announced that N I B was Nativity In Black! We were overwhelmed at this magnificent knowledge imparted upon us.Black Magic and a great gig. supported by Fist!
Black Sabbath’s 1970 self titled debut album is my personal favorite of theirs. They have so many classic must have albums. 13 is their Worst album in my opinion.
Enjoyed well done! Torn on which is my fav. 1st album or sabotage!
Fantastic show. My own personal ranking would be somewhat different but that's what makes music so interesting. I can't believe it's taken me so long to watch this! 👍
As always an excellent, well reasoned exploration of the Sabbath catalog. Perhaps it is somewhat heretical to say, but Heaven and Hell has always been my favorite. Being that I was 14 at the time of its release, it had a major impact on me. Anyway, always enjoy your perspective. Cheers mate!
Great album
Thank you for quoting Lester Bangs!
A remix of born again would be wonderful thing
steve tobin - Apparently that was the idea for the 2011 reissue, but they couldn’t find/access the master tapes. A shame since it’s one of the worst sounding albums around.
It should be aborted.... the album cover for certain
Rick Jones that album cover had always “irked me” its weird and unsettling like some child devil baby yelling like wtf is that
I heard they lost the masters in a fire.
I really like your ranking you are very exhaustive in your contents. you make me want to listen to the whole discography again, and that's what a good review must induce you to do .thanks again
Go for it! Thank you for watching
I have seen 1000's of concerts and Black Sabbath is my all time favorite band, I never got to see them together. I saw Ozzy solo and had the honor to see Dio on the Mob Rules tour. One of my favorite concert experiences was at the Born Again show where Ian Gillian sang Smoke on the Water with Black Sabbath, incredible. I always loved Vol. 4 myself.
I remember when Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules, Blizzard of Oz, and Diary of a Madman were all were released basically within the same 2 year span... I was so torn.
1) Heaven and Hell 🤘
2) Mob Rules
3) Dehumanizer
4) Headless Cross
5) The Eternal Idol
6) Tyr
7) Cross Purposes
8) Seventh Star
9) Born Again
10) Forbidden
Wow! That was so enjoyable. You open my mind to a different take. I grew up on those first 6 and stopped following Sabbath thereafter. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is my top one, then Master of Reality and third place goes to Sabotage, I feel they all have aged better than the first album and Paranoid.
Top one for me too
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is my favorite as well.
@@lordslothrop365 Same here.
Great video as usual Vol 4 the best for me - an atmosphere, crunchingly heavy, all of it's own.
This is an old video
You have the perfect "documentary voice". I'm honestly surprised National Geographic haven't tried to hire you.
Especially with his liberal use of describing "the topography"
Still best reviews on RUclips imho
Don Airey also featured in a band called Coloseum II, a jazz/prog instrumental group featuring Gary Moore, Jon Hiseman on drums and a bassist whose name escapes me at the moment.
John Mole - sadly no longer with us for some while now. Saw them live in the mid 70s, they were great. Of course, GM and JH also sadly departed.
Awesome troll job there, pal.
Hello! First comment in teh channel. I discovered teh channel yesterday when youtube recommended the Motorhead ranking video. I really enjoy these thingsa nd your thoughts on the albums. I've since listened to the Queen one, the David Bowie one (loved that and it looks like there are a couple of albums by him I still need to check out) and now, this one for one of my oldesta nd dearest favourites, Sabbath.
So I have a soft spot for Cross Purposes, buecause until I heard that album I actually had no idea Sabbath had any albums past the 70s. I was a 90s teen and I guess by that time, none of the Dio stuff was being played on the radio and people didn't reallyt alk about it. I guess I wasn't aware that there was a song from Dehumanizer on the Wayne's World soundtrack in 1992. But anyway...The first song from the era I heard was 'Cross of Thorns", and I remember taping it and playing it for a friend and asking him to guess what band it was. of course he couldn't, and was truly mystified when I told him it was Sabbath. i still really like that song. Tony martin just makes those slow moody songs from his era work. Some of the rockers though, not so much. Those albums *all* suffered from thin guitar tones, in my opinion. It's not enough to spoil the fantastic Headless Cross, but even that one really suffers. Those remixes would be welcome!!
Great reviews man. I'm glad I've discovered your channel. I've found someone that I (mostly) agree with regarding music! That's no small feat these days.
Welcome aboard....
My favorite Black Sabbath album, is definitely master of reality. What a great album. Second favorite, definitely the first album.
I got Paranoid on cassette the autumn when I was 8 or 9. (ca 1980)
I lived in the remote north norwegian countryside, in a old house.
My bedroom was in the attic, and the wind made the house make this sounds.
So there I was, nightime dark and windy.
And Paranoid scared the shit out of the little boy who was me.
But I could not stop listen to it.
I was so fascinated.
Great childhood memories.
Cool video.
I enjoyed.
8:21 I'll be honest with you: I love their music, I do. I'm a Bolton Sabbath fan. I celebrate the band's entire catalog.
Curious what you think of Forbidden now that it's been remixed
You are onto something! There are different bands like The Doors, Early Van Halen, Simon & Garfunkel and others who did remaster their work and put them in the same box. Talking CD here. I would love a box like that for Tony Martin-era Black Sabbath. I'd easily buy that! While I think Eternal Idol and Tyr are solid and quite enjoyable albums. Having them all in better shape would be very nice!
Best overview of Sabbath on YT. Agree precisely with your top 3.
Love your vids! I've always considered Technical Ecstasy Sabbbaths Prog Rock album.
Nice video. This just got recommended to me. Subscribed to your channel.
For me)
1) Heaven & Hell
2) Mob Rules
3) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
4) Paranoid
5) Master of Reality
6) Volume 7
I just love Dio's lyrics and singing.
The band went from being a sludgy, hard, doom metal group to a tight, fast galloping metal group able to push up next to NWBHM with ease. Geezer and Tony seemed to up their playing substantially on the Dio records.
What a wonderful video, 30 minutes of pure joy 😀.
Here's my picks.
You can see I rate Tony Martin very highly, so I appreciated your good review of Headless Cross, a vocal tour de force!
1. Headless Cross
2. Heaven & Hell
3. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
4. Eternal Idol
5. Mob Rules
6. Paranoid
7. Black Sabbath
8. Dehumanizer
9. Seventh Star
10. Sabotage
Thank you
Top 10 Sabbath albums:
1) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
2) Heaven And Hell
3) Vol.4
4) Sabotage
5) Paranoid
6) Black Sabbath
7) Master Of Reality
8) Mob Rules
9) Technical Ecstasy
10) 13
Good list
Great video, great channel. Just a small correction. Evil Woman was actually their first ever single, The Wizard was their second.
Cheers
Weevil woman wasn’t it originally?
My Top 10
1) Sabotage
2) Master of Reality
3) Black Sabbath
4) Volume IV
5) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
6) Heaven And Hell
7) The Eternal Idol
8) Thirteen
9) The Headless Cross
10) Paranoid
YES, Paranoid is 10th and that may even be too high. I am tired of so many tracks on this album. Its all they ever play. Love Planet Caravan, my favorite off it. SABOTAGE RULES
Grazie, I understand your English too. ps Your fifth is my first. But with these kind of bands, with 5/6 great albums or more in their discography, rankings could change tomorrow.
Comparing black sabbath albums is like Comparing Monet paintings.... they are all masterpieces!
Yes but some are more masterpiecey than others :-)
My favourite BS albums:
1 Heaven And Hell
2 Mob Rules
3 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
4 Seventh Star
5 Technical Ecstasy
6 Black Sabbath
7 Born Again
8 Headless Cross
9 Sabotage
10 vol 4
11 master of reality
12 eternal idol
13 Paranoid
14 13
15 Tyr
16 cross purposes
17 never say die
18 Forbiden
Brilliant video, Barry. An excellent choice for the number 1 spot. I have a soft spot for Sabotage as I think it’s an interesting listen. But any album from the classic era could be my favourite. I can’t argue with Paranoid, though. I love your explanations of the albums too.
Thank you for dropping by. Hope your own channel is coming along nicely.
Classic Album Review Its going ok. Slowly but surely building subscribers. Thanks for asking, Barry.
In the 80’s I used to drive past a sign for Headless across (near Redditch, close to Birmingham) on a weekly basis. It made me chuckle when Tony Iommi named the album after a place in Redditch.
She’s Gone is an absolutely heartbreaking piece of awesomeness! One of my favorite Sabbath tracks, and easily the best Black Sabbath song recorded between the Sabotage and Heaven And Hell albums. Really sorry to hear that you don’t think better of it.
So true bro
I cannot believe that someone just got me to sit through a serious and scholarly dissertation on the historical importance of Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi. Even crazier than that? I am actually pulling out my old Sabbath albums and listening to them carefully for the first time since I was in college. Can you do one of these programs for Blue Oyster Cult? Or, better yet, the Peter Green Fleetwood Mac? (Come to think of it, the Bob Welch Fleetwood Mac was very good, also...) Many thanks!
Thanks for your review! My opinion differs but that's the greatness of music and tastes, or not? ☺
My Top 3 are: 1) Mob Rules 2) Born Again 3) Headless Cross
The drummer on The End tour was very authentic to Bill Ward. I felt like I was seeing Bill Ward circa 1973-74 at the California Jam.
She's gone is one of my favorite songs
I never got why people rank "Master of Reality" so high.. Sweet Leaf and Children of the Grave are good but not all that exceptional. I actually think SBS, Vol 4 and the first album are all better having more original and better material IMO.. Maybe because it more closely resembles the Metal genre of the late 80s/early 90s as does Sabbotage. I always saw Sabbath as Rock n' Roll first before that genre term was coined.
Great reviews, but I love Never Say Die album
Underrated!
@@andrejz8954 Real Black Sabbath fans usually love Never Say Die album.
It's refreshing to see someone else who appreciates Headless Cross. Great record.
I want to see a re-issuing and remastering campaign for this era of Sabbath.
@@classicalbum I could dig that. Tony Martin deserves more love than he gets.
Well Done!!
My top 10 are
1. Sabotage
2. Paranoid
3. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
4. Vol 4
5. Black Sabbath
6. Never Say Die
7. Master Or Reality
8. Mob Rules
9. Heaven And Hell
10. Technical Ecstasy
Eternal Idol is my fav Tony Martin album.
Wonderfully presented list. Shades of Bob Harris in there too.
Heaven And Hell wins by a longshot. One of the best metal records I've ever heard.
That was a great breakdown. I find it really hard to choose my favourite Sabbath album.
To be honest, I've only listened to the first 8 albums with Ozzy... Never Say Die and Technical Ecstacy are a bit of a step down from the first 6, but are still really good and not deserving of the hate some give them.
My personal rank of what I've heard:
1. Black Sabbath IV
2. Master of Reality
3. Sabotage
4. Paranoid
5. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
6. Black Sabbath
7. Technical Ecstacy
8. Never Say Die
100% agree brother. Technical Ecstasy, and Never Say Die...are relatively low on my list as well...but I still like them...and won't rank them below Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules. And even though...I like those two Dio-vocal-led albums...I would still choose TE or NSD, over the Dio albums. (Now Ronnie James Dio's; Holy Diver is a different story. That album was stellar).
Same here...Black Sabbath was a 70s band.
1. 1-6
2: 7,8
I literally cannot divide the first 6, just awesome, banging albums.
My 3 favs are 1. sabotage 2. Sabbath bloody sabbath 3. Vol 4
For me 1 Heaven &hell
2 Mob Rules
3 SBS
4 Sabotage
5 Black Sabbath
6 Paranoid
7 Seventh Star
8 MOR
9 Vol 4
10 Technical Ecstasy
11 Born Again
12 Headless Cross
13 eternal idol
Great list!
Thank you!
I do agree with this ranking, the albums are in pretty much the right order for my tastes. Yet, my number one would be a tie between the first two albums. I have the super deluxe box of Paranoid, and would love to see the debut album in a box set package as well.
Glad to see Headless Cross high on the list.I had virtually given up on Sabbath at this point.A glowing review in Metal Hammer changed all that.Tony Martins vocal rival Dio’s here.Also good to see Heaven and Hell up.I was 18 and working in a record shop when it came out.Being in Tasmania with the only form of communication in the metal world being three month old Melody Maker mags imagine my surprise when I flip the cover and there is a drawing of Dio with the Sabs.I had no idea he was out of Rainbow and Ozzy was out on his own.This album really saved Sabbath.
It has it all baby
Nice video Rob Halford
I've been called Ian Anderson before but never Rob Halford...
Black Sabbath are one of my all time favourite bands!
My favourite albums in order are:
1. The Headless Cross
2. Volume 4
3. Master of Reality
4. Heaven & Hell
5. Born Again
6. Paranoid
7. Black Sabbath
8. Sabotage
9. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
10. Mob Rules
11. Seventh Star
12. Dehumanizer
13. 13
14. Technical Ecstasy
15. The Devil You Know
16. Forbidden
17. Never Say Die
18. Tyr
19. The Eternal Idol (both versions)
20. Cross Purposes
Born Again pretty high here......
Smouldering title-track has to be one of the great metal songs ever recorded imo !
Great video, thanks for sharing!
Ozzy era:
1. Master of reality
2. Sabbath bloody sabbath
3. Paranoid
4. Vol.4
5. Black sabbath
6. Sabotage
7. Technical ecstacy
8. Never say die
The best ones are the first 4 period. In that order.
Great video. I am amazed you put mob rules about sabotage and the first album. But we all have our favourites.
Those are all great albums.
You put the albums on which Cozy Powell plays at the end of the list??? You need to replace the last five albums with those from the middle and it will be the right one...
Great list😁 Very interesting. My #1 - heaven and hell .
Your # 7 is my # 1. I rank the first four Black Sabbath albums in the order that they were released.
Dehumanizer is absolute🔥.
Captures the true essence of Black Sabbath in a refreshing way
Good review!
There IS some good stuff on Forbidden. I didn't know a remix was possibly in the works. Would love to hear it and would love the rest of the Martin era to get the deluxe treatment (Eternal Idol already did), plus a re-release of Cross Purposes Live.