I have my own contrarian take: the best Black Sabbath record is _Vol. 4_ . _Vol. 4_ is not just their most emotive album, but possibly one of the bleakest records ever made. Its songs are about regret, depression, despair, the innocence of youth and the disillusionment of old age, about failed relationships, about time passing without consequence. Many have noted that it works as a piece of existentialist--or perhaps absurdist--art. If there's a unifying concept, it's our powerlessness in the face of an indifferent world. These songs confront the absurdity of life head on. But they don't imagine Sisyphus happy. Rather, they tell us that unhappiness, even despair, are appropriate and perhaps inevitable reactions to the human condition. In matters of biography, this is the _Exile on Main Street_ of British proto-metal. The band weren't hungry upstarts anymore, but a bunch of famous rock stars renting out a mansion in L.A., strung out from the indulgences and false promises of their own success. As Ozzy Osbourne memorably put it, by this time they'd gone from being "a rock band meddling with drugs" to being "a drug band meddling with rock." Indeed, the specter of addiction hangs over the entire album. It was to be called "Snowblind" until the record label made them change it. And quite unlike "Sweet Leaf," the upbeat drug anthem from their previous album, the intended title track depicts a vacant, enervated life: --------------------- My eyes are blind, but I can see The snowflakes glisten on the tree The sun no longer sets me free I feel the snowflakes freezing me Let the winter sun shine on Let me feel the frost of dawn Fill my dreams with flakes of snow Soon I'll feel the chilling glow --------------------- No song captures the theme and mood of the album as much as "Wheels of Confusion," the opening track: --------------------- Long ago I wandered through my mind In the land of fairy tales and stories Lost in happiness I knew no fears Innocence and love was all I knew It was an illusion Soon the days were passing into years Happiness just didn't come so easy Life was more than fairy tales and daydreams Innocence was just another word It was an illusion Lost in the wheels of confusion Running through valleys of tears Eyes full of angry delusion Hiding in everyday fears So I found that life is just a game But you know there's never been a winner Try your hardest, you'll still be a loser The world will still be turning when you're gone --------------------- I've been listening to this album for 25 years. It keeps finding new ways to reveal itself to me.
I'm such a Black Sabbath fan I wouldn't very much argue any of their early albums aren't their best. I've been obsessed even with Never say Die and Technical Ecstasy, and you're not wrong at all about Vol. 4, I can totally see anyone picking that one as their best album, and on any given day I might too. It's pretty dark and heavy but also consistent and cohesive. SnowBlind might be my fav Sabbath song ever. Thanks for the comment!
I love Sabotage but I also rank Vol. 4 as my favorite. The mix is not the greatest but the songs go from straight-forward metal to epic with time signature changes.
SBS is my 2nd fave, but if I had to pick a single favorite Black Sabbath *song*, it would without hesitation be the title track, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. IMO this is the greatest heavy metal song of all time, by a wide margin. (There isn't a challenger until Diary of Madman ~7 years later.) Likewise, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath has my favorite cover art of all time. But in the way Sabotage functions as an entire album - as a whole - it is unparalleled IMO. I've always thought of SBS and Sabotage as sibling works - two sides of the same coin or whatever. I like to imagine Moses coming down from the mountain top, but instead of a couple of dusty old tablets, he's got SBS in one hand and Sabotage in the other. :D
I would definitely rate Born Again as the best non-Ozzy Sabbath album. I thought Gillan was perfect on it. Even if he wasn't a great long-term fit, Sabbath got a great performance out of him. "Zero the Hero" is one of the coolest Black Sabbath songs of all time.
It is a very brooding and eerie record, even the title track Born Again, its great! I do think Dehumanizer doesnt get enough love though, I mean, the song After All is an incredible gem
Funny fact about Sabotage: The guy who mastered our albums was an engineer on the Sabotage recording, and told us that at a certain point, someone (the producer?) suggested that the bathroom in the studio had a cool sound and that Tony should record his guitar from within the bathroom (meaning he should put his amp in there), and Tony was so out of it that he actually went in there with his amp and recorded in the bathroom. Other than that I probably agree with Martin about Sabotage, it's just an amazing, scary, very adventurous album. Love it! Great show!
Nothing "contrarian" about it...SABOTAGE is the best Sabbath LP. WE SOLD OUR SOUL (1976 best of) was my introduction to Sabbath on vinyl. I was 11 in 1976 and "AM I GOING INSANE (Radio) was my least fav track on that LP. The rest of the songs on that "Best Of" made me want to explore the rest of the catalog. Obviously, at that point, SABOTAGE was the last one I sought out and you can imagine my surprise upon finally buying it! I'm like...how in the hell was AIGI the sole representation of SABOTAGE on that best of? Crazy when you think of it. Great stuff Martin! Your knowledge and passion is addicting! Keep these coming!
2] It was about 18 months after SABOTAGE that I heard the second record and by then I had a pretty good idea of what the band and their compositions had been about. I could see the genesis of such pieces as the magnificent MEGALOMANIA, which is almost Floyd Zeppelinesque in its construction and length. In common with those two bands, when flying on song, there is never a second wasted and the way the band delve in and out of control and abandon is masterful. There have been few songs treating the subject of management hassles that quite come over as powerfully as this one. Each band member handles their end superbly and the organ drones eerily without ever being obtrusive or for that matter, intrusive. The ending is probably the wildest thing to be found on the opening six albums. THE THRILL OF IT ALL is for me a tale of two cities. The first part is one of the best pieces of music the Sabs ever put together and the way the riff and the vocal melody intertwine is sublime and the way Geezer's bass only partly shadows the riff is real neat. But the riff itself is my favourite Black Sabbath riff, which is saying something when one considers such greats as BLACK SABBATH, THE WIZARD, parts of SLEEPING VILLAGE, WARNING, IRON MAN, ELECTRIC FUNERAL, FAIRIES WEAR BOOTS, SWEET LEAF, LORD OF THIS WORLD, INTO THE VOID {2 of them in this one are high up among the challengers for my favourite}, SUPERNAUT, SNOWBLIND, A NATIONAL ACROBAT and LOOKING FOR TODAY, not to mention the aforementioned HOLE IN THE SKY and SYMPTOM.... it's also one of my fave riffs per se and when I think of the huge number of riffs from the 60s and 70s in particular, that's some achievement. I just think it's such a great riff. The lyrics are also fabulous, the way it starts with "Inclination of direction...." is mysterious enough to warrant further listening. I guess some Christians might find the second verse offensive as it seems to be a bit of a dig; when I was atheist, I took a cynical delight in singing it. But if you actually listen to it, it can be taken quite positively, namely, that the Lord goes on loving people and trying to reach us even though we seem to get worse with each passing year. The question posed is "Is mankind worth it ?", a question that it would make no sense to ask if God hadn't made it clear that mankind is "worth it". The second part of the song is great, but it's a true anti-climax after that first part. It does sound funny, saying something is great while simultaneously being a disappointment but in the case of this song, it is. The brilliant momentum created by the superb opening and that glorious riff is halted. I love multipart songs and the Sabs did more than most heavy bands and did them well, often being a wonderful surprise and demonstrating that the reputation they had then and even more so now is pretty unwarranted and I wonder if critics and fans alike actually listened to the music sometimes. But for probably the only time, the multipart thing doesn't work for me so I love the track but am also frustrated by it. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it coz I've got no reason to lie..... SUPERTZAR, the second instrumental, is a clever marriage of hard rock and a YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT type choir. But it's hard rock without the usual suspects of bass and drums doing what they usually do to make the rock hard. Bill Ward excels on his drum part and on the glockenspiel and other percussion instruments that he plays. Most of the Sabbath instrumentals were really Tony Iommi works but on these early albums, they fit snugly. The other thing that strikes me is how good choirs actually do sound within a rock context and orchestras for that matter. Many "classical" buffs may have viewed rock with contempt {as did many of the orchestral musicians who played sessions on rock and pop records} but the truth is that rockers were actually far more musically flexible, broad minded and progressive than they were and McCartney is not far wrong when he called rock the classical music of his day.
My favorite Sabbath is either 'Sabotage' or the first album, depending on my mood. It's got a ton of great riffs, is probably their most progressive album and it's definitely Ozzy's high water mark as a vocalist, in Sabbath or as a solo artist!
I can’t pick one. For me it’s a tie between reality, bloody and sabotage. But very soon after that I must mention Paranoid, Vol 4, Mob and Heaven. What an insane band!
i remember when i bought it, around 1981 in a used record store. i thought , hmmm, no "hits", but i was blow away from the HEAVY RIFFS!...i grew to love this album! One of my favorites to this day!~
ya and VOL 4 is unreal too! i dont think I argued much for it, but really it might be my favorite along with Master and Paranoid... but I also really everything from the Ozzy era so it's like picking between children
Volume 4 is my number 2 favorite by a hair only because Paranoid has Hand of Doom which is possibly my favorite song of all time, definitely my favorite Sabbath song. I love so many of the lyrics on Volume 4.
Martin Popoff has three favourite albums of all time that I have heard him mention so far. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti Black Sabbath - Sabotage Robert Plant - The Principle Of Moments
I really grew to like “Sabotage” a lot. In my opinion, the best Sabbath album from the 70’s. “Hole in the sky”, “Symptom of the universe”, and “Megalomania” are masterpieces in one album.
@@thecontrarians2438 Wow. "Hell Bent for Leather" for Judas Priest and "Sabotage" for Black Sabbath? You're right on both. Subscribed. By the way, let me double down. "Megalomania" is the best Sabbath song and it isn't even close.
Here are some thoughts I had written on the album some 15 years ago. None of my thoughts have changed about this record so I thought I'd share them. Be warned though, it's a long read ! This absolute pearler of an album as far as I'm concerned sums up the Sabs; it's like a distillation of everything they'd been in the last five years with added interest.....it's the point at which they'd been aiming and had finally reached and I don't think it ever got this good again though they did continue to knock out good work from time to time. Just about every album has some value and everyone has their faves and opinions. Mine is that the first six albums were a superbly strong and gradual climb through brilliance and constitute Sabbath's classic contribution to 20th century popular music. SABOTAGE was my first experience of Black Sabbath. In the little I'd read about them prior to August '80, I formed the impression that these were rude and violent men that took no prisoners; Rock On wrote about how Iommi had attacked Allan Jones from Melody Maker because he had written a stinker of an article about him and this crummy American rock 'encyclopedia' I had in '79 {but which was written much earlier, probably no later than '73} talked about them being a band that dealt in "doom and gloom with such titles as WAR PIGS" {it's been 25 years since I saw it; that is the only bit I can remember from it}. So when I actually saw an album by the Sabs, I had to get it and I can still picture that Monday evening when I listened to it for the first time on my Dad's stereo {he was out of town} with his headphones...The cover itself {one of my faves and IMO the only good one they ever did although I have a liking for Vol 4} was fascinating and I couldn't take my eyes off Bill and Ozzy {although I thought Bill was Ozzy} as they both looked so strange and there was something menacing about the whole band..... HOLE IN THE SKY was pretty much everything that I imagined a group like Black Sabbath would sound like, heavy guitar riff, bass following and running off the riff to create its own dark counterpoint, pounding rock solid cymbal crisp drumming that threatened to leap out of the headphones and into my head and mad, wailing, utterly disturbed vocals. This was heavy metal man ! I had quite a bit of metal by this point and this was the heaviest lot I'd heard thus far. I had a palpable shock when the song just stopped suddenly, it was such a surprise that I caught my breath and had trouble breathing for a few moments, I honestly thought my heart might give out. Honestly. It was as much a shock to find the next song was an acoustic guitar thingy, and a nice one too. So right from the start I could see that Sabbath weren't strangers to a little diversity. But DON'T START(TOO LATE) was still a rather creepy disturbing little piece, despite being short. The song it segues into, SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE was more akin to the opener but faster, rawer, punkier, more tuneless, heavier and that savage ripsaw riff and Bill Ward's manic wild drumming really got the heart racing more and my fists clenching. He was in poor physical and mental shape during the recording sessions but there's no let up, especially on the opening two he drums on. The next part of SYMPTOM is as much of a surprise as the second track, lovely floating, calm music. Some of the sound of the first part is rather death/thrash/speed metalish; some of the lyrics in the second {"Woman child of love's creation, come and step inside my dreams...."} would not be out of place on a Moody Blues record. Had I been aware of their albums prior, I wouldn't have been surprised because most of their output up to this point was either dual or multipart. I got the debut after this, then MASTER and BLOODY, then VOL 4.
Sabotage is my favorite as well. My buddies much older brother turned me on to it in 1985 when I was 15 and I was arguing that Sabbath was lame because all I knew was Iron Man and Parotid and thought they were kind of commercial sounding (hey, I was 15 and knew nothing). He came out of his house and threw the tape of Sabotage at me and I was blown away. From the opening of Hole in the Sky to the great closing song of The Writ (which is my favorite FU song of all time), the album spoke to me. It still does and I have a copy in the car I play often. It was basically my real introduction to Sabbath and will always hold a special place in my heart.
I have to agree with "Sabotage". It's the proggy culmination of "Vol 4" and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" yet has the heavy depth of "Masters Of Reality". Just for "Hole In The Sky", "Megalomania", and "The Writ", this is Sabbath's unsung masterpiece.
I have a hard time ranking Sabbath albums... I'd rather put on Sabotage than Paranoid, but I've also listened to Paranoid so many times. They're both incredible, as are albums like Master of Reality and Heaven and Hell. I don't necessarily group Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die together; I enjoy the former more than the latter. I'm going to be contrarian though about "Am I Going Insane." That song has been very important to me when I've gone through periods of depression. I've felt that it has really spoken to my experiences during those dark times. I also love the maniacal laughing at the end and how it flows into The Writ. My favorite two tracks are "Symptom of the Universe" and "Supertzar."
When I was 13 yrs old I heard Paranoid I & put Kiss down in the late 70s (thanks to Zeppelin to) I bought it on 8 track and was wowed. I went on to borrow Masters of Reality from a friend and again thought the band was special but it wasn't until the early 90s that I heard a song on the radio called "Symtom of the Universe " and immediately went to the record store and bought the Sabotage CD. So for the younger me Paranoid was my gateway album to real metal where as I enjoyed Sabotage more as an adult. Great show guys.
If I had to name my favorite Sabbath album I'd say it's Master Of Reality but Sabotage is one of my other favorites as well and my favorite track on that one is "Supertzar". I just love the progressive sound of it. Not very typical of most of their work but I wish they would have done more instrumentals like this.
Can easily agree with this one. I think Sabotage (along with Paranoid) is the best, if not slightly overshadowed, Sabbath album. Love how heavy, moody and in a way spooky it gets. Great stuff!
My first Sabbath album, and I wasn't overly impressed, though "Symptom" is one of top Sab songs. That acoustic breakdown is the real magic of that song. The rest of the songs sounds like drugs. "Won't you help me, Mr. Jesus," though, is a phrase I used all the time to taunt my teachers in school.
lol, i do really like this album for sure, really its hard for me to rate the 70s albums cause they are all so close for me, but i tend to lean towards the paranoid, master and vol4 era for my top picks, but man ABS and Sabotage are right up there for me too, Thrill of it All is probably my favorite from this one.
During that period, live music tv was alive, there were on Don Kirshners Rock Concert(1975), did Hole In the Sky from Sabotage, and i think Snowblind, and a few others, very thundering album, fairly clear recording, you could hear all the instruments. Paranoid to me, was to commercial, and overplayed on Classic FM Radio Iron Man and Paranoid, and War Pigs, were always played and practically nothing else.
I actually enjoy 13, partly because I had the honor of seeing Black Sabbath for the first time on that tour. Great show despite the lack of Bill Ward. I think the worst thing that could be said about 13 is that it was derivative of the early sounds. However, it was great to hear Ozzy and the band writing, recording, and performing together one last time. I love the first six albums. Vol. 4 is my favorite. There is just something epic about that record. For me, Sabatoge represents the culmination of all the styles that came before it and "The Writ" is the pinnacle of the era. I never listened to the post-Ozzy albums until recently. I finally gave the Dio albums a chance and was surprised to like them nearly as much as the Ozzy era. Born Again is growing on me too but the production is pretty unlistenable. The Tony Martin albums that I have heard have left me cold--especially the awful Forbidden.
Totally with Mr Popoff on this one. Yes on first listen Paranoid and Master of Reality is what hooks you in at first but you eventually get hooked on Sabotage and you realise this is the holy grail..... and then you listen to the live version of Megalomania and life is never the same again :)
I LOVE the Sabbath of the 70's and my favorite album is "Master Of Reality", but anyway is great to listen and think by your comments on Sabotage and Paranoid as well. 🤘🤘
I love this Sab slab of wax, too! It’s my favorite Ozzy fronted Sabbath album. A stellar choice, Mr. P.! Keep rocking, rolling and ruling... no fooling! 🤘🏼 🤘🏼
You can't go wrong with any of the four album run between Master Of Reality and Sabotage. A legendary, untouchable string of albums that are all unquestionably 10 out of 10s. However, my personal choice would be Volume 4, an album I consider as the best album of all time (including AC/DC - Let There Be Rock and SLAYER - Reign In Blood). To me, Volume 4 is Sabbath's heaviest and most consistent record (we can forgive "Changes"!). "Supernaut", "Wheels of Confusion", "Tomorrow's Dream" and "Under The Sun" are all within the top 20 Sabbath tracks of all time.
Ya I agree, I even think you cant really go wrong with any of the first 11 or 12 albums. In this episode I was a little pushy with paranoid and not really actively listening to Martin (which is somewhat part of the show) but I immensely enjoy Sabotage. Even while I was putting the episode together and adding the tracks I kept stopping to listen to them. Thanks for the solid comment.
Sabotage it certainly also Ozzy's vocal apex. His vocals abilities started to really hit their stride on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and peaked on Sabotage and it's subsequent tour. He never sounded that good again. Just listen to him performing Megalomania in Asbury Park in 1975 and it almost surpasses his studio performance.
Without a doubt the best Sabbath album by far ... So much more interesting and varied and kinda sheer lunacy too. Love the production and the experimentation .. great choice
When I was an adolescent listening to the singles chart, songs like Paranoid and Black Night meant a great deal to me, and I've continued to love them down the years, whereas Slade and T Rex have been consigned to the skip of childish things along with The Wheels on the Bus. However, by the time I’d progressed (pun intended) to listening to entire albums it was prog or nothing, and it’s only in recent years I've developed a taste for heavy metal. Earlier this year I acquired Sabbath Bloody Sabbath off the back of hearing and liking the title track back in the day, but I found the rest of the album disappointingly unheavy, albeit quite enjoyable. So, a big thankyou for highlighting this one, after a few listens on YT the CD is on its way.
Sabotage is still one of my favorites (though today I find myself listening more to MoR or Vol. 4). I felt their songwriting was at its most mature and versatile. Funny enough, the first song I heard from this album was "Am I Going Insane?" and I thought it was weird too, but I found myself liking it for that very same reason. It's strangely catchy to me. Some people I knew who liked Sabbath thought I was weird for liking it.
Right on Martin I was just having a discussion with a reaction channel that just listened to Meglamania, which is rarely reacted to and their was a group of us saying how great this album is and how it's our favorite offering from them.I watch you on Sea of Tranquility so I'm very familiar with your work.
Vol. 4 is my favorite of the Ozzy era, followed by Sabotage and Master of Reality. Vol. 4 builds on the heavy stuff from MoR while also taking some risks with more mainstream songs. Of the classic era I'd say Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is my least favorite album. I just can't get down with the production at all, it just lacks any punch and makes what should be heavy songs feel like a slog. Still need to really listen to Technical Ecstasy though. The video of Sabbath on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in 1975 is amazing. Ozzy kills it on Hole in the Sky and Tony looks gacked out of his mind as he plays everything perfectly. It's a huge shame that they had to cut that tour short after Ozzy's motorcycle crash. I wonder if those songs would have more staying power for the band if it wasn't such a chaotic time in their lives
Sabotage was a defining album during my teenage years. When the Symptom riff interrupts the acoustic prelude I always had this image of a guy busting into a barroom looking for trouble. “Oh no - look out.”
Just missing the Born Again book....need it Sabotage and Vol 4 flip flop as my faves...Hole In The Sky might be the heaviest track ever...Wasn't it KEZE out of Spokane?
When I first got into Black Sabbath as a teenager, I didn't think much of Sabotage beyond Symptom of the Universe and Hole in the Sky. As I've gotten older, I appreciate it a lot more, songs like The Writ, Megalomania and The Thrill of It All feel like they were some of Ozzy's best vocals with Sabbath. I wouldn't rank it as my favorite, but I wouldn't object to anybody calling it theirs. I'd say it's probably in my top 5, but at number 5, I've gone through different phases with Sabbath where Paranoid was my favorite when I first got into them, for a while I was really into Volume 4 and I went through a phase where I loved the Debut album and a phase where I loved Mob Rules. Paranoid (Because Hand of Doom is my favorite song) Volume 4 (My favorite lyrics of any album in history) Mob Rules (Favorite Dio Album) Black Sabbath Sabotage The ones I don't love as much as the rest of the fanbase typically does are Heaven & Hell, Master of Reality and Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath. Master of Reality and Heaven & Hell somewhere in the 6-8 Range, but I could take or leave a lot of the stuff on Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath.
Hand of doom is one of my faves too, I did an episode of LW rain train where I ranked my top 10 sabbath songs and my top 3 were snow blind, hand of doom and fairies wear boots
Thanks for these videos. If nothing else they make me revisit great music. When it comes to Sabbath Im very much in the Paranoid camp. Although I can take or leave Rat salad. Sabotage is a great album as well. Although Don't start too late ... like why ? Symptoms is the template for thrash. Sabotage where they really pushed the musical boundaries. very proggy in places. Less jazzy swing of the early albums. Going insane is so out of place. But for those first 6 Sabbath albums pick your favourite child. Then you have Dio's first two albums. The only thing they lacked was that great gatefold sleeve double live album.
ya, i even count TE and NSD , as i love those too, but really i think if i try to be objective Paranoid comes out on top for me, i also like Vol 4 a lot and ive seen people kind of put that one down... and I'm also a Dio/Born again fan too, i havnt dug too deep into the era after gillan and dio other than 13 and Dehumanizer, but I like Headless cross even. glad you enjoy the videos!
Sabotage ages like a fine wine. The more time you give it the more you end up getting out of it ! Which I think is kinda true of everything from Master of reality through to Sabotage . They kinda spin off with Dio for me and while adore those albums as well (later on Dehumanizer has its moments , and the Devil you know is arguably the reason I like Dio having only seen him live once and it being on that tour ) they’re very different, so I tend too reach for Ozzy or Dio and tend not to mix them . I completely get why people bang on about Paranoid though it’s “the hit factory “ and was my favourite when I was getting into them .
I love Master of Reality and i recently (marco) guested on a show called LeBrain Train where we did our top Sabbath tracks and I realized in preparation how many songs from MOR really are top Sabbath songs. I like every single track from MOR.
@@thecontrarians2438 it’s like the secret hit factory you only discover when you’re fully invested in the band . I’ll check the Lebrain train episode out , always keen for more Sabbath content
Everything that Sir Popoff said about the content of Sabotage is accurate. The reason I can't give that album the top spot in Black Sabbath's discography is that it is almost too clever of an album for a band that is supposed to embody 70's heavy metal. As if one can hear that Queen was blossoming around the making of this album. Something that can also be heard on Judas Priest's Sad Wings Of Destiny..... If I had to propose solely one album to represent their sound and the musical template they are known for I would probably go with Master or SBS because those albums still possess the immediacy of the Paranoid album in catchiness and song-length but they both also feature the beginings of Iommi's musical exploration that carries on and stops after Born Again. Vol.4 is also a solid contender but it is an odd album. Something about its sequencing is off. Exemple: Changes, great ballad but it appears way too early on the album (we know that Martin is not into ballads!!). Face B is arguably stronger than Face A. Very good album though not as peak-inducing as Sabotage. I agree that Technical and NSD both contain some hidden gems. "You Won't Change Me" and "Junior's Eyes" respectively come to mind. All that being said, Black Sabbath's sixth full-length is definitely their most ambitious and advanced release. Possibly their best sounding mix/production from the original lineup. Ozzy's vocals on it are at their "most-metal-sounding" and Megalomania has to be one of the band's greatest compositions BUT if one is trying to introduce a casual listener to the creators of heavy metal, Sabotage might be a bit too proggy and intellectual to best represent "the Sabbath sound".......and imagery. Let's face it, that front sleeve is embarassing....especially after Sabbath Bloody Sabbath!!!!
Wow great points, I totally agree on a lot of what you said, however I think Master but also Vol 4 (based on how heavy it is) are probably the closest albums that I wouldn't have too much of a problem with, if someone told me either album was their best. they're some of the heaviest and contain some of Sabbaths biggest staples. Aside from Master and Vol 4, I would have more of a problem with every other pick. My own personal opinion is Sabbath is probably in my top 3 bands ever and I love every 70's release almost like children, so it's hard for me to pick one over the other especially depending on which day of the week it is. However when I come into these debates I try to use things that are Objective rather than subjective, and the facts are that Paranoid and the songs on it are the most popular things they've done, have sold the most, are on the radio more frequently, have popped up on compilation releases and live setlists more often, etc. So it's hard to argue against it based on someone's subjective opinion on what they prefer to listen to... even production quality wise. I know someone who thinks 80's Sabbath with Dio and other eras of Sabbath blow the 70's Sabbath out of the water. On the other hand, I love Never Say Die! and I often see other RUclips personalities (Pete Pardo from SOT being one) who put down Never Say Die! Another thing I hear about the argument against Paranoid that I dont think is very fair is the "Ive listened to it to death" argument. I have that problem now a days with the Dio era, I've listened to Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules soo much, and ignored Dehumanizer for so long that lately, Dehumanizer sounds so fresh and intriguing to me that I would typically prefer that one over the other 2 if I'm having a listen session, but does that make it the best of the 3? Anyway now that ive rambled on lol, yes I dont disagree with Martin about the brilliance of Sabotage, I just really think its hard to pick anything they did over Paranoid as objectively the best Sabbath album. Thanks for the comment!
I agree that an album shouldn't be penalized for being overheard and that Paranoid's popularity is undeniable but does it make it their best release....? Same goes with the Black Album which I consider to be Metallica's best sounding and most accomplished album even though I always pick Lightning or Puppetz as their ultimate release. Same argument is probably applicable to Back In Black or British Steel.....meaning more sales does not necessarily mean better. I agree that the 80's Sabbath is generally more advanced than the 70's Sabbath but I also think that the Dio albums are overrated. Yes Ronnie's voice will always be one of the best in the genre but H&H and MR both contain several songs that force me to use the skip button!! As for Pardo.....he prefers several Tony Martin albums over some Ozzy-era albums so we have to take his opinion on Sabbath with a grain of salt....hehe. SOT is a great channel though! I would agree that Paranoid is better representation of "the Sabbath-sound" than Sabotage but I still wouldn't be comfortable saying it's the best thing they ever put out.
@@jml8238 Ya you're right, and I actually play both sides of the subjective/objective argument depending on if im in the hot seat or not lol. I actually argued against back in black in our ACDC episode and i picked Flush the Fashion from Alice Cooper. You're totally right about Metallica, Black album is a beast yet any metallica fan will pick one of the aforementioned albums over it, and the same applies for other bands, like Sabbath. In Sabbath's case for me, its objective AND my subjective opinion is that Paranoid is probably the best one, its so hard to argue against Hand of Doom, Fairies, War Pigs, Electric Funeral like the more I think about the track list the more i'm baffled that people are actually kind of down on the album, like i said, almost like its paranoids fault for having the most popular (over played) songs on it. Production might be better on Sabotage... anyway im proabably going in circles now lol i could talk about sabbath all day... I will say though, to be honest, though i stand by my argument, i probably spin Never Say Die! or SBS more often these days than Paranoid... but just the other day i got sucked back into the self-titled and thought man this is heavy and progressive and bluesy and cool and dark, but anyway lol like i said tomorrow i might have a different opinion those albums are all so close for me.
@@thecontrarians2438 Don't get me wrong, I love Paranoid too. I just rarely listen to it nowadays. Check out Zakk Sabbath's "Vertigo"....super solid re-recording of the self-titled album. They also put out their version of "Under The Sun". I hope they re-record ALL the Ozzy-era albums!!
I love Dehumanizer. Along with the two solo Dio albums that followed it, it has Dio's most menacing, evil and angry vocal delivery of any of his Sabbath albums. It's far and away better than his last outing with Sabbath where he sounded tired and his vocals had significantly deteriorated.
Dehumanizer has been getting my attention so much more than Mob and Heaven recently, I practically like every song off it and agree, it's heavy and doomy too. I've never listened to the Heaven and Hell album Dio made with Sabbath in the 2000's though I saw them live twice in 2006/7, maybe i should finally go listen to it.
The Cardigans would play Supertzar as their opening music before they took the stage. I saw them open for Beck in 1996. I think they may have done a few Sabbath covers in the studio.
Great episode! I’d pick Vol 4 as my fav, but sabbath bloody sabbath is right there! I think sabbath has 6-7, 5 star albums! I for one don’t care much for the tony Martin era albums,that said I own all them and listen often! The Dio era is right with the Ozzy era for me! Born Again is also right there! 3.5-4 star album! Yep; dig me some sabbath lol!
yep they progressed every step of the way, and Martin is right, from Paranoid to MOR to Vol 4 Sabbath is more dark and clanky, but SBS and Sabotage are more polished and orchestrated for sure.
You guys mentioned Dehumanizer. Talk about a contrarian opinion, Dehumanizer is my favorite Sabbath album. In fact, it ranks in my top 10 favorite heavy albums ever!
I Love Dehumanizer! I go to it more than mob rules and heaven and hell these days, probably the heaviest of the three.. After All, which predates god is dead by like 2 decades is a cool doomy sabbath/dio song (reminds me of god is dead from 13), computer gods is incredible, the song "I" showcases Dio's vocal power, TV Crimes is a wicked tony thrash song.. im right with you!
@@thecontrarians2438 Glad there is someone else who gets it! I'll never forget seeing Heaven and Hell's reunion tour in 2007 and they opened with After All (the Dead) and I was absolutely stunned that they started the show with such a deep track, but it was incredible. That is one of the few albums I consider to be perfect. I love every song on it. Both Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules have that one song that I think falls below the rest, but Dehumanizer is consistent from start to finish.
@@keviniles8748 Yep, i saw them twice on the heaven and hell tour, i think once in 06 and once 07, alice cooper opened one show and Megadeth/down opened the other!
I consider myself an expert on sabbath too..ive seen them 6 times and have been listening to them since the late 60's..everyone has their own opinions.writing a book(s) doesnt make you an expert..the real fans are the experts.
I'm one of those who think Heaven & Hell is the best Sabbath album followed by Sabotage. Symptom Of The Universe & Megalomania are my 2 fav Sabbath songs.
well - similar age to you and Sabotage is my fav BS - since about 1981 (I was 16 when discovered it) - and Thrill of it Alll is one of my fav songs of ALL time from ALL bands - probably played it 10,000times... I've only met one other person who love it as well.. but perhaps no one like me.... (btw, Am I going insane is just crap).
Black Sabbath have probably created more stone cold classic albums then any other band on this planet. The first six Ozzy albums and Heaven and Hell are clearly brilliant. Plus there are the "hidden" gems i.e Technical Ecstasy, Never Say Die, Mob Rules, and Born Again. What a great, great band.
I never would have thought of Mob Rules as a hidden gem. I suppose Heaven and Hell got more air time, but I always guessed they sold about the same number of copies. (Emphasis on "guessed".) I actually prefer Mob Rules over Heaven and Hell: Voodoo, Falling off the Edge of the World, Country Girl, Sign of the Southern Cross - the album is just incredible.
3] AM I GOING INSANE is probably for me the song that most seems to encapsulate Ozzy Osbourne. It's one of the few lyrics Geezer Butler didn't write and it doesn't sound like him either. In fact, it sounds like Ozzy trying to tackle a Geezer type subject and while it sounds lightweight in comparison, it's a heartfelt lyric to a really good song and given Ozzy's activities over the next ten years, not entirely unfounded. When Geezer originally wrote PARANOID, he didn't actually know what the word meant, hence the word not appearing in the song; being one of the songs the band did dealing with the instability of the mind, by '75 Ozzy was actually able to sound knowledgeable and use it in its correct context. Their early mellotron/synthesizer experiments are mixed, but good to listen to and have held up well. I've noted quite a bit of flak regarding Bill Ward. It seems that there are those that feel that he was the shittiest drummer in heavydom and that his sound and technique was truly crap. It's all a matter of taste and opinion I guess, but I have to totally disagree. I like loads of different drummers of different genres and personally, for me he was without a doubt one of heavy rock's most inventive drummers. I don't know whether he was influential but whether or not he was is irrelevant to me. He's such a musical drummer, he provided something that was unique and his often deft and intricate bits were probably too subtle for a lot of ears. That he managed to be so delicate within such a barrage of metal as well as thumping and rhythmic and fast is remarkable. He may have been an alcoholic drug addict but he sure was a thinking man's drummer. His playing at the end of THE WRIT is fantastic, energetic, forceful, compelling. The song itself is almost part two of MEGALOMAMIA, one of the best of theirs IMO; a bitter, not well disguised tale of hassles with management, it's a classic. Like on some of the serious songs from earlier albums, it's hard not to laugh at Ozzy because of that voice. I always see his face when I hear that voice and I just crack up. But his vocal performance carries with it the requisite sting and it's a convincing outpouring. The song is a grand ending to a belter of an album. I've never thought of this or any other Sabbath LP from the first five years as heavier or not heavier; to me they were just heavy like much of 'Physical Graffitti' was, to me, heavy. They did have delicate and sensitive moments and they played these off well against the crush.
wow amazing! Thanks for the thorough comments! I absolutely love Thrill of it all as it is one of my favorite Black Sabbath songs. Am I Going Insane is probably the weakest on the record. I did a write up like this a few years ago comparing every song from TE to every song from Never Say Die! I should try to find that. Thanks again very interesting read!
Yep, the best imo , when they were up against it the first time and going through loads of mgt bullshh*t!....worst cover tho 🤭🤘🏻 Technical ecstasy much maligned, I love it too
Hi, it’s a good album. Maybe just below the first 5 albums which are all really good. Sabbath bloody sabbath probably the peak of the band and my favourite. Miles ahead of the next two bizarre albums. Band had brief return to form 80-83 and again with Dio after that. Thank You
That we be a really good topic for an episode, I think not great albums and not bad albums, technical ecstasy and never say die. Could also talk briefly about the album before and after, would make a great show.
Sabotage and Black Sabbath are my two favourite Black Sabbath albums. 2) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 3) Masters 4) Paranoid 5) Vol. 4 6) Mob Rules 7) Heaven & Hell 8) Headless Cross 9) Never Say Die 10) Technical Ecstasy. The worst song they ever recorded might be Swinging The Chain.
I listened to Paranoid to death when I was younger and now I can't listen to any of those songs anymore, it has become one of my least Ozzy-era-Sabbath favorite albums. Love Sabotage. My favorite Sabbath are Vol. 4 and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.
Ya and thats a common complaint Martin will have with certain albums from bands, but the fact that an album got played to death is one of the points i like to argue of why it was so good. I hear ya though! I've gone through phases with bands where I listen to their clunkers a lot more because they're fresher, Like Dehumanizer has grown on me a lot recently whereas I feel Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules have become a little played out. Thanks for the comment.
@@thecontrarians2438 Yes, good point. For me, what makes a record my favorite is the test of time. I have listened to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath for more than 30 years and it still amazes me. There are not many records like that, that keep kicking ass through the years and never wear off, but there are.
I love Ozzy-era Sabbath. Can't stand the Dio stuff, and as for Born Again...I don't like Sabbath minus Ozzy, and I hated Deep Purple, but for whatever reason (likely sheer perversity) I dig it.
@@Dehumanizer3000 Im in the same boat, i have a friend who is ozzy or nothing, and i have another friend who this the dio album blow away anything they did with ozzy... me i kinda like everything
@@thecontrarians2438 each album offers something different, we ain't getting more sabbath albums, its a good thing Iommi was consistent with his writing and guitar work
Sabotage is Fantastic, no doubt!!!! Except for Am I Going Insane and Supertzar, it's all gold. Paranoid is the best, unless you're just sick of hearing several of the songs. Fairies Wear Boots and Electric Funeral are so unique. I like it the best because, to me, it is the blueprint of the Sabbath style and sound; great riffs, great bass lines(up front in the mix), great drums, and Ozzy's vocals. the 1st album is unique sounding and there is nothing like it. Paranoid was a step ahead with more modern tones. Master of Reality has a fantastic tone that inspired the entire stoner metal sound. It always seems odd that Sabbath would never revisit that sound. 4, to me is very harsh sounding(the guitars especially). Good songs, good vocals, not my favorite. SBS sounds like Paranoid 2, with its great songs, except for that damn synth song(Who Are You). I think Eddie Trunk can be thanked for the popularity of Heaven and Hell. I like Mob Rules better myself. Anyway, I love Sabbath with Ozzy and Dio.
Ya I agree, Paranoid is the gold standard, and I think most people would admit it drops on their list because of being over played (which in itself shows how great it was). MOR is another close fav of mine, but to be honest I really like all the original Sab/Ozzy albums and they are almsot neck and neck for me. Sabotage has some cool gems on it.
Master of Reality was my favorite for years. Then Sabotage entered my collection and it quickly became my all-time Sabbath album. I love Ronnie's first two albums with Sabbath but, even those two didn't hit me the way Sabotage did. The creativity was off the charts on this album. I agree that Am I Going Insane was the worst track on the album and I'd go so far as to say that it shouldn't have been released Ever! Having said that, The Thrill Of It All could be one of the greatest vocals ever recorded! As far as Paranoid goes, I loved that album so much that I played it out of existence. I can listen to those songs if they come on randomly but, outside of Fairies Wear Boots, I never play them intentionally.
Thrill of it All is one of my top songs ever, for Paranoid, Hand of Doom is in my Sabbath rotation too. I get what people mean when they say an album is overplayed, but to me that just means it was that good!
@@thecontrarians2438 Hand of Doom is still good for me too. Electric Funeral is still listenable as well but, Fairies Wear Boots is the only other track I can consciously choose to listen to from Paranoid. My first few bands played a heavy dose of early Sabbath too so that contributed to the overplaying of the album too.
@@patriotpizzaman I like every track, Planet caravan is one of my top mellow sabbath songs, electric funeral has the crunchiest ozzy vocal and wicked solo, bills playing on the instrumental, Paranoid is basically a greatest hits album.. you're not wrong though I just listened to Martin and Pete Pardo list their top Sabbath albums on Guitar Hack and none of them put Paranoid in their top 3!!
I have my own contrarian take: the best Black Sabbath record is _Vol. 4_ .
_Vol. 4_ is not just their most emotive album, but possibly one of the bleakest records ever made. Its songs are about regret, depression, despair, the innocence of youth and the disillusionment of old age, about failed relationships, about time passing without consequence. Many have noted that it works as a piece of existentialist--or perhaps absurdist--art. If there's a unifying concept, it's our powerlessness in the face of an indifferent world. These songs confront the absurdity of life head on. But they don't imagine Sisyphus happy. Rather, they tell us that unhappiness, even despair, are appropriate and perhaps inevitable reactions to the human condition.
In matters of biography, this is the _Exile on Main Street_ of British proto-metal. The band weren't hungry upstarts anymore, but a bunch of famous rock stars renting out a mansion in L.A., strung out from the indulgences and false promises of their own success. As Ozzy Osbourne memorably put it, by this time they'd gone from being "a rock band meddling with drugs" to being "a drug band meddling with rock."
Indeed, the specter of addiction hangs over the entire album. It was to be called "Snowblind" until the record label made them change it. And quite unlike "Sweet Leaf," the upbeat drug anthem from their previous album, the intended title track depicts a vacant, enervated life:
---------------------
My eyes are blind, but I can see
The snowflakes glisten on the tree
The sun no longer sets me free
I feel the snowflakes freezing me
Let the winter sun shine on
Let me feel the frost of dawn
Fill my dreams with flakes of snow
Soon I'll feel the chilling glow
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No song captures the theme and mood of the album as much as "Wheels of Confusion," the opening track:
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Long ago I wandered through my mind
In the land of fairy tales and stories
Lost in happiness I knew no fears
Innocence and love was all I knew
It was an illusion
Soon the days were passing into years
Happiness just didn't come so easy
Life was more than fairy tales and daydreams
Innocence was just another word
It was an illusion
Lost in the wheels of confusion
Running through valleys of tears
Eyes full of angry delusion
Hiding in everyday fears
So I found that life is just a game
But you know there's never been a winner
Try your hardest, you'll still be a loser
The world will still be turning when you're gone
---------------------
I've been listening to this album for 25 years. It keeps finding new ways to reveal itself to me.
I'm such a Black Sabbath fan I wouldn't very much argue any of their early albums aren't their best. I've been obsessed even with Never say Die and Technical Ecstasy, and you're not wrong at all about Vol. 4, I can totally see anyone picking that one as their best album, and on any given day I might too. It's pretty dark and heavy but also consistent and cohesive. SnowBlind might be my fav Sabbath song ever. Thanks for the comment!
Agreed, my favorite as well. Always been my favorite.
My favourite too
I love Sabotage but I also rank Vol. 4 as my favorite. The mix is not the greatest but the songs go from straight-forward metal to epic with time signature changes.
@@mobilecomptrek Vol 4 is unstoppable
Bravo, Martin. I would take Sabotage over Paranoid in a heartbeat. It's their "Fair Warning." Heavy and weird, only for the purists.
That's an astute observation.
Thanks, Doc. I'm doing what I can during these trying times.
I agree!
I'll take Sabbath Bloody Sabbath over both. I think it's the greatest album ever, by anyone.
SBS is my 2nd fave, but if I had to pick a single favorite Black Sabbath *song*, it would without hesitation be the title track, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. IMO this is the greatest heavy metal song of all time, by a wide margin. (There isn't a challenger until Diary of Madman ~7 years later.) Likewise, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath has my favorite cover art of all time. But in the way Sabotage functions as an entire album - as a whole - it is unparalleled IMO.
I've always thought of SBS and Sabotage as sibling works - two sides of the same coin or whatever. I like to imagine Moses coming down from the mountain top, but instead of a couple of dusty old tablets, he's got SBS in one hand and Sabotage in the other. :D
Sabotage is a fair choice. So many epic tracks. Megalomania and The Writ, in particular.
Thill of it All, Symptom, Hole in the Sky, even Supertzar.
I would definitely rate Born Again as the best non-Ozzy Sabbath album. I thought Gillan was perfect on it. Even if he wasn't a great long-term fit, Sabbath got a great performance out of him. "Zero the Hero" is one of the coolest Black Sabbath songs of all time.
It is a very brooding and eerie record, even the title track Born Again, its great! I do think Dehumanizer doesnt get enough love though, I mean, the song After All is an incredible gem
Funny fact about Sabotage: The guy who mastered our albums was an engineer on the Sabotage recording, and told us that at a certain point, someone (the producer?) suggested that the bathroom in the studio had a cool sound and that Tony should record his guitar from within the bathroom (meaning he should put his amp in there), and Tony was so out of it that he actually went in there with his amp and recorded in the bathroom. Other than that I probably agree with Martin about Sabotage, it's just an amazing, scary, very adventurous album. Love it! Great show!
haha wow cool! Never heard that! Thanks for Sharing!
Sabbath's finest album hands down. Been my favorite forever. So complete and cohesive.
I swing between "Sabotage" and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" as my favorite Ozzy-era Black Sabbath albums. You just can't go wrong with either album.
Nothing "contrarian" about it...SABOTAGE is the best Sabbath LP. WE SOLD OUR SOUL (1976 best of) was my introduction to Sabbath on vinyl. I was 11 in 1976 and "AM I GOING INSANE (Radio) was my least fav track on that LP. The rest of the songs on that "Best Of" made me want to explore the rest of the catalog. Obviously, at that point, SABOTAGE was the last one I sought out and you can imagine my surprise upon finally buying it! I'm like...how in the hell was AIGI the sole representation of SABOTAGE on that best of? Crazy when you think of it. Great stuff Martin! Your knowledge and passion is addicting! Keep these coming!
yep totally agree, and it's starting to seem like picking Paranoid was the "contrarian" pick...
Sabotage has always been my favorite Sabbath album.
Peak Ozzy era IMO.
2]
It was about 18 months after SABOTAGE that I heard the second record and by then I had a pretty good idea of what the band and their compositions had been about. I could see the genesis of such pieces as the magnificent MEGALOMANIA, which is almost Floyd Zeppelinesque in its construction and length. In common with those two bands, when flying on song, there is never a second wasted and the way the band delve in and out of control and abandon is masterful. There have been few songs treating the subject of management hassles that quite come over as powerfully as this one. Each band member handles their end superbly and the organ drones eerily without ever being obtrusive or for that matter, intrusive. The ending is probably the wildest thing to be found on the opening six albums.
THE THRILL OF IT ALL is for me a tale of two cities. The first part is one of the best pieces of music the Sabs ever put together and the way the riff and the vocal melody intertwine is sublime and the way Geezer's bass only partly shadows the riff is real neat. But the riff itself is my favourite Black Sabbath riff, which is saying something when one considers such greats as BLACK SABBATH, THE WIZARD, parts of SLEEPING VILLAGE, WARNING, IRON MAN, ELECTRIC FUNERAL, FAIRIES WEAR BOOTS, SWEET LEAF, LORD OF THIS WORLD, INTO THE VOID {2 of them in this one are high up among the challengers for my favourite}, SUPERNAUT, SNOWBLIND, A NATIONAL ACROBAT and LOOKING FOR TODAY, not to mention the aforementioned HOLE IN THE SKY and SYMPTOM.... it's also one of my fave riffs per se and when I think of the huge number of riffs from the 60s and 70s in particular, that's some achievement. I just think it's such a great riff. The lyrics are also fabulous, the way it starts with "Inclination of direction...." is mysterious enough to warrant further listening. I guess some Christians might find the second verse offensive as it seems to be a bit of a dig; when I was atheist, I took a cynical delight in singing it. But if you actually listen to it, it can be taken quite positively, namely, that the Lord goes on loving people and trying to reach us even though we seem to get worse with each passing year. The question posed is "Is mankind worth it ?", a question that it would make no sense to ask if God hadn't made it clear that mankind is "worth it". The second part of the song is great, but it's a true anti-climax after that first part. It does sound funny, saying something is great while simultaneously being a disappointment but in the case of this song, it is. The brilliant momentum created by the superb opening and that glorious riff is halted. I love multipart songs and the Sabs did more than most heavy bands and did them well, often being a wonderful surprise and demonstrating that the reputation they had then and even more so now is pretty unwarranted and I wonder if critics and fans alike actually listened to the music sometimes. But for probably the only time, the multipart thing doesn't work for me so I love the track but am also frustrated by it.
Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it coz I've got no reason to lie.....
SUPERTZAR, the second instrumental, is a clever marriage of hard rock and a YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT type choir. But it's hard rock without the usual suspects of bass and drums doing what they usually do to make the rock hard. Bill Ward excels on his drum part and on the glockenspiel and other percussion instruments that he plays. Most of the Sabbath instrumentals were really Tony Iommi works but on these early albums, they fit snugly. The other thing that strikes me is how good choirs actually do sound within a rock context and orchestras for that matter. Many "classical" buffs may have viewed rock with contempt {as did many of the orchestral musicians who played sessions on rock and pop records} but the truth is that rockers were actually far more musically flexible, broad minded and progressive than they were and McCartney is not far wrong when he called rock the classical music of his day.
"Heaven and Hell"/ "Mob Rules" = best for my high school years
My favorite Sabbath is either 'Sabotage' or the first album, depending on my mood. It's got a ton of great riffs, is probably their most progressive album and it's definitely Ozzy's high water mark as a vocalist, in Sabbath or as a solo artist!
i think the first album is a little underrated for sure, cant go wrong with any of the ozzy era albums imo
My first time watching the show. Love it! Music geek heaven here. 👍
Great! Glad you enjoyed it! It's all about the love for music here!
I can’t pick one. For me it’s a tie between reality, bloody and sabotage. But very soon after that I must mention Paranoid, Vol 4, Mob and Heaven. What an insane band!
i remember when i bought it, around 1981 in a used record store. i thought , hmmm, no "hits", but i was blow away from the HEAVY RIFFS!...i grew to love this album! One of my favorites to this day!~
Sabotage is the absolute pinnacle of 70s Sabbath!
Thanks for the comment! Can't go wrong with 70's Sabbath
My second favorite Sabbath album behind Vol. 4. Sabotage is a heavy HEAVY album
ya and VOL 4 is unreal too! i dont think I argued much for it, but really it might be my favorite along with Master and Paranoid... but I also really everything from the Ozzy era so it's like picking between children
Volume 4 is my number 2 favorite by a hair only because Paranoid has Hand of Doom which is possibly my favorite song of all time, definitely my favorite Sabbath song. I love so many of the lyrics on Volume 4.
Martin Popoff has three favourite albums of all time that I have heard him mention so far.
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Black Sabbath - Sabotage
Robert Plant - The Principle Of Moments
haha im sure there are more!
I really grew to like “Sabotage” a lot. In my opinion, the best Sabbath album from the 70’s. “Hole in the sky”, “Symptom of the universe”, and “Megalomania” are masterpieces in one album.
Thrill of it all too one of my favs ever. Agreed it's one of the best.
@@thecontrarians2438 Agree Martin, Sabotage is my favorite as well.
@@thecontrarians2438 one of my favorites as well
@@thecontrarians2438 Wow. "Hell Bent for Leather" for Judas Priest and "Sabotage" for Black Sabbath? You're right on both. Subscribed.
By the way, let me double down. "Megalomania" is the best Sabbath song and it isn't even close.
Here are some thoughts I had written on the album some 15 years ago. None of my thoughts have changed about this record so I thought I'd share them. Be warned though, it's a long read !
This absolute pearler of an album as far as I'm concerned sums up the Sabs; it's like a distillation of everything they'd been in the last five years with added interest.....it's the point at which they'd been aiming and had finally reached and I don't think it ever got this good again though they did continue to knock out good work from time to time. Just about every album has some value and everyone has their faves and opinions. Mine is that the first six albums were a superbly strong and gradual climb through brilliance and constitute Sabbath's classic contribution to 20th century popular music.
SABOTAGE was my first experience of Black Sabbath. In the little I'd read about them prior to August '80, I formed the impression that these were rude and violent men that took no prisoners; Rock On wrote about how Iommi had attacked Allan Jones from Melody Maker because he had written a stinker of an article about him and this crummy American rock 'encyclopedia' I had in '79 {but which was written much earlier, probably no later than '73} talked about them being a band that dealt in "doom and gloom with such titles as WAR PIGS" {it's been 25 years since I saw it; that is the only bit I can remember from it}. So when I actually saw an album by the Sabs, I had to get it and I can still picture that Monday evening when I listened to it for the first time on my Dad's stereo {he was out of town} with his headphones...The cover itself {one of my faves and IMO the only good one they ever did although I have a liking for Vol 4} was fascinating and I couldn't take my eyes off Bill and Ozzy {although I thought Bill was Ozzy} as they both looked so strange and there was something menacing about the whole band.....
HOLE IN THE SKY was pretty much everything that I imagined a group like Black Sabbath would sound like, heavy guitar riff, bass following and running off the riff to create its own dark counterpoint, pounding rock solid cymbal crisp drumming that threatened to leap out of the headphones and into my head and mad, wailing, utterly disturbed vocals. This was heavy metal man ! I had quite a bit of metal by this point and this was the heaviest lot I'd heard thus far. I had a palpable shock when the song just stopped suddenly, it was such a surprise that I caught my breath and had trouble breathing for a few moments, I honestly thought my heart might give out. Honestly. It was as much a shock to find the next song was an acoustic guitar thingy, and a nice one too. So right from the start I could see that Sabbath weren't strangers to a little diversity. But DON'T START(TOO LATE) was still a rather creepy disturbing little piece, despite being short. The song it segues into, SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE was more akin to the opener but faster, rawer, punkier, more tuneless, heavier and that savage ripsaw riff and Bill Ward's manic wild drumming really got the heart racing more and my fists clenching. He was in poor physical and mental shape during the recording sessions but there's no let up, especially on the opening two he drums on. The next part of SYMPTOM is as much of a surprise as the second track, lovely floating, calm music. Some of the sound of the first part is rather death/thrash/speed metalish; some of the lyrics in the second {"Woman child of love's creation, come and step inside my dreams...."} would not be out of place on a Moody Blues record. Had I been aware of their albums prior, I wouldn't have been surprised because most of their output up to this point was either dual or multipart. I got the debut after this, then MASTER and BLOODY, then VOL 4.
Sabotage is my favorite as well. My buddies much older brother turned me on to it in 1985 when I was 15 and I was arguing that Sabbath was lame because all I knew was Iron Man and Parotid and thought they were kind of commercial sounding (hey, I was 15 and knew nothing). He came out of his house and threw the tape of Sabotage at me and I was blown away. From the opening of Hole in the Sky to the great closing song of The Writ (which is my favorite FU song of all time), the album spoke to me. It still does and I have a copy in the car I play often. It was basically my real introduction to Sabbath and will always hold a special place in my heart.
I have to agree with "Sabotage". It's the proggy culmination of "Vol 4" and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" yet has the heavy depth of "Masters Of Reality".
Just for "Hole In The Sky", "Megalomania", and "The Writ", this is Sabbath's unsung masterpiece.
I have a hard time ranking Sabbath albums... I'd rather put on Sabotage than Paranoid, but I've also listened to Paranoid so many times. They're both incredible, as are albums like Master of Reality and Heaven and Hell. I don't necessarily group Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die together; I enjoy the former more than the latter.
I'm going to be contrarian though about "Am I Going Insane." That song has been very important to me when I've gone through periods of depression. I've felt that it has really spoken to my experiences during those dark times. I also love the maniacal laughing at the end and how it flows into The Writ.
My favorite two tracks are "Symptom of the Universe" and "Supertzar."
When I was 13 yrs old I heard Paranoid I & put Kiss down in the late 70s (thanks to Zeppelin to) I bought it on 8 track and was wowed. I went on to borrow Masters of Reality from a friend and again thought the band was special but it wasn't until the early 90s that I heard a song on the radio called "Symtom of the Universe " and immediately went to the record store and bought the Sabotage CD. So for the younger me Paranoid was my gateway album to real metal where as I enjoyed Sabotage more as an adult. Great show guys.
Thanks you!!
Great channel! Im from Argentina but live in Mallorca, love the subjects discussed in here, and yes Martin, Sabotage is the one!
Thank you From Canada! It's hard not to like any early Sabbath!
If I had to name my favorite Sabbath album I'd say it's Master Of Reality but Sabotage is one of my other favorites as well and my favorite track on that one is "Supertzar". I just love the progressive sound of it. Not very typical of most of their work but I wish they would have done more instrumentals like this.
Can easily agree with this one. I think Sabotage (along with Paranoid) is the best, if not slightly overshadowed, Sabbath album. Love how heavy, moody and in a way spooky it gets. Great stuff!
Well done Martin. Sabotage is also my favorite album from my favorite band.
Yes, my favorite Sabbath album and definitely top 10 for me.
Could'nt agree more. Sabotage has always been my fav Sabs album....just ahead of Master Of Reality, which might be their best!!!!!!!!
My first Sabbath album, and I wasn't overly impressed, though "Symptom" is one of top Sab songs. That acoustic breakdown is the real magic of that song. The rest of the songs sounds like drugs. "Won't you help me, Mr. Jesus," though, is a phrase I used all the time to taunt my teachers in school.
lol, i do really like this album for sure, really its hard for me to rate the 70s albums cause they are all so close for me, but i tend to lean towards the paranoid, master and vol4 era for my top picks, but man ABS and Sabotage are right up there for me too, Thrill of it All is probably my favorite from this one.
My favourite Sabbath Album, I think symptom of the universe is my top Sabbath song too
My favourite Sabbath album, along with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Amazing sound, way ahead of their time.
During that period, live music tv was alive, there were on Don Kirshners Rock Concert(1975), did Hole In the Sky from Sabotage, and i think Snowblind, and a few others, very thundering album, fairly clear recording, you could hear all the instruments. Paranoid to me, was to commercial, and overplayed on Classic FM Radio Iron Man and Paranoid, and War Pigs, were always played and practically nothing else.
I actually enjoy 13, partly because I had the honor of seeing Black Sabbath for the first time on that tour. Great show despite the lack of Bill Ward. I think the worst thing that could be said about 13 is that it was derivative of the early sounds. However, it was great to hear Ozzy and the band writing, recording, and performing together one last time.
I love the first six albums. Vol. 4 is my favorite. There is just something epic about that record. For me, Sabatoge represents the culmination of all the styles that came before it and "The Writ" is the pinnacle of the era.
I never listened to the post-Ozzy albums until recently. I finally gave the Dio albums a chance and was surprised to like them nearly as much as the Ozzy era. Born Again is growing on me too but the production is pretty unlistenable. The Tony Martin albums that I have heard have left me cold--especially the awful Forbidden.
It's all about "The Writ". My first Sabbath record was "Master Of Reality". However, "Sabotage" is my favorite of the original 6
Great video, I'm a huge Black Sabbath fan saw them years ago for the first time! I have to agree with Marco on this one! Paranoid is my go to!
Haha thanks pal! Ya man, Paranoid is probably one the biggest pioneering album for metal.
Great job guy's. It's always a pleasure to hear your take on all things Heavy Metal. 🤘🍺
thank you!!!
Totally with Mr Popoff on this one. Yes on first listen Paranoid and Master of Reality is what hooks you in at first but you eventually get hooked on Sabotage and you realise this is the holy grail..... and then you listen to the live version of Megalomania and life is never the same again :)
The laughing at the end of Am I going Insane still gives me goosebumps
I LOVE the Sabbath of the 70's and my favorite album is "Master Of Reality", but anyway is great to listen and think by your comments on Sabotage and Paranoid as well. 🤘🤘
Yep Master of Reality gets alot of love, we could have explored it a bit more on the show, but I think Martin and I were very focused.
I love this Sab slab of wax, too! It’s my favorite Ozzy fronted Sabbath album. A stellar choice, Mr. P.! Keep rocking, rolling and ruling... no fooling! 🤘🏼 🤘🏼
Awesome! thanks for the comment!
You can't go wrong with any of the four album run between Master Of Reality and Sabotage. A legendary, untouchable string of albums that are all unquestionably 10 out of 10s. However, my personal choice would be Volume 4, an album I consider as the best album of all time (including AC/DC - Let There Be Rock and SLAYER - Reign In Blood). To me, Volume 4 is Sabbath's heaviest and most consistent record (we can forgive "Changes"!). "Supernaut", "Wheels of Confusion", "Tomorrow's Dream" and "Under The Sun" are all within the top 20 Sabbath tracks of all time.
Ya I agree, I even think you cant really go wrong with any of the first 11 or 12 albums. In this episode I was a little pushy with paranoid and not really actively listening to Martin (which is somewhat part of the show) but I immensely enjoy Sabotage. Even while I was putting the episode together and adding the tracks I kept stopping to listen to them. Thanks for the solid comment.
Sabotage it certainly also Ozzy's vocal apex. His vocals abilities started to really hit their stride on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and peaked on Sabotage and it's subsequent tour. He never sounded that good again. Just listen to him performing Megalomania in Asbury Park in 1975 and it almost surpasses his studio performance.
Ozzy's vocals are underrated!
Without a doubt the best Sabbath album by far ... So much more interesting and varied and kinda sheer lunacy too. Love the production and the experimentation .. great choice
Thank you! Thanks for the comment! 🙏
When I was an adolescent listening to the singles chart, songs like Paranoid and Black Night meant a great deal to me, and I've continued to love them down the years, whereas Slade and T Rex have been consigned to the skip of childish things along with The Wheels on the Bus. However, by the time I’d progressed (pun intended) to listening to entire albums it was prog or nothing, and it’s only in recent years I've developed a taste for heavy metal.
Earlier this year I acquired Sabbath Bloody Sabbath off the back of hearing and liking the title track back in the day, but I found the rest of the album disappointingly unheavy, albeit quite enjoyable. So, a big thankyou for highlighting this one, after a few listens on YT the CD is on its way.
Sabotage is still one of my favorites (though today I find myself listening more to MoR or Vol. 4). I felt their songwriting was at its most mature and versatile.
Funny enough, the first song I heard from this album was "Am I Going Insane?" and I thought it was weird too, but I found myself liking it for that very same reason. It's strangely catchy to me. Some people I knew who liked Sabbath thought I was weird for liking it.
Now that's a Contrarians view! Master of Reality is one of my Sabbath .buddies fav
Right on Martin I was just having a discussion with a reaction channel that just listened to Meglamania, which is rarely reacted to and their was a group of us saying how great this album is and how it's our favorite offering from them.I watch you on Sea of Tranquility so I'm very familiar with your work.
Thanks Cathy! Hope you enjoyed the show! I also hope those folks reacted well to the song!!
Never say die never gets the credit it deserves. If you listen to it you can hear the beginnings of heaven and hell in Toni's playing.
Vol. 4 is my favorite of the Ozzy era, followed by Sabotage and Master of Reality. Vol. 4 builds on the heavy stuff from MoR while also taking some risks with more mainstream songs. Of the classic era I'd say Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is my least favorite album. I just can't get down with the production at all, it just lacks any punch and makes what should be heavy songs feel like a slog. Still need to really listen to Technical Ecstasy though.
The video of Sabbath on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in 1975 is amazing. Ozzy kills it on Hole in the Sky and Tony looks gacked out of his mind as he plays everything perfectly. It's a huge shame that they had to cut that tour short after Ozzy's motorcycle crash. I wonder if those songs would have more staying power for the band if it wasn't such a chaotic time in their lives
Martin, you got my vote without a doubt.
Sabotage was a defining album during my teenage years. When the Symptom riff interrupts the acoustic prelude I always had this image of a guy busting into a barroom looking for trouble. “Oh no - look out.”
I love all the 80s Black Sabbath 70s records like children!
Just missing the Born Again book....need it
Sabotage and Vol 4 flip flop as my faves...Hole In The Sky might be the heaviest track ever...Wasn't it KEZE out of Spokane?
When I first got into Black Sabbath as a teenager, I didn't think much of Sabotage beyond Symptom of the Universe and Hole in the Sky. As I've gotten older, I appreciate it a lot more, songs like The Writ, Megalomania and The Thrill of It All feel like they were some of Ozzy's best vocals with Sabbath. I wouldn't rank it as my favorite, but I wouldn't object to anybody calling it theirs. I'd say it's probably in my top 5, but at number 5, I've gone through different phases with Sabbath where Paranoid was my favorite when I first got into them, for a while I was really into Volume 4 and I went through a phase where I loved the Debut album and a phase where I loved Mob Rules.
Paranoid (Because Hand of Doom is my favorite song)
Volume 4 (My favorite lyrics of any album in history)
Mob Rules (Favorite Dio Album)
Black Sabbath
Sabotage
The ones I don't love as much as the rest of the fanbase typically does are Heaven & Hell, Master of Reality and Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath.
Master of Reality and Heaven & Hell somewhere in the 6-8 Range, but I could take or leave a lot of the stuff on Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath.
Hand of doom is one of my faves too, I did an episode of LW rain train where I ranked my top 10 sabbath songs and my top 3 were snow blind, hand of doom and fairies wear boots
@@thecontrarians2438 all solid songs.
Thanks for these videos. If nothing else they make me revisit great music. When it comes to Sabbath Im very much in the Paranoid camp. Although I can take or leave Rat salad. Sabotage is a great album as well. Although Don't start too late ... like why ? Symptoms is the template for thrash. Sabotage where they really pushed the musical boundaries. very proggy in places. Less jazzy swing of the early albums. Going insane is so out of place. But for those first 6 Sabbath albums pick your favourite child. Then you have Dio's first two albums. The only thing they lacked was that great gatefold sleeve double live album.
ya, i even count TE and NSD , as i love those too, but really i think if i try to be objective Paranoid comes out on top for me, i also like Vol 4 a lot and ive seen people kind of put that one down... and I'm also a Dio/Born again fan too, i havnt dug too deep into the era after gillan and dio other than 13 and Dehumanizer, but I like Headless cross even. glad you enjoy the videos!
Sabotage ages like a fine wine.
The more time you give it the more you end up getting out of it ! Which I think is kinda true of everything from Master of reality through to Sabotage .
They kinda spin off with Dio for me and while adore those albums as well (later on Dehumanizer has its moments , and the Devil you know is arguably the reason I like Dio having only seen him live once and it being on that tour ) they’re very different, so I tend too reach for Ozzy or Dio and tend not to mix them .
I completely get why people bang on about Paranoid though it’s “the hit factory “ and was my favourite when I was getting into them .
I love Master of Reality and i recently (marco) guested on a show called LeBrain Train where we did our top Sabbath tracks and I realized in preparation how many songs from MOR really are top Sabbath songs. I like every single track from MOR.
@@thecontrarians2438 it’s like the secret hit factory you only discover when you’re fully invested in the band .
I’ll check the Lebrain train episode out , always keen for more Sabbath content
@@megaduck7965 awesome thank you!!
Sabotage ages like a fine wine and I've been drunk for decades. :D
@@marcbenigni Yeah man , monster of an album !
Everything that Sir Popoff said about the content of Sabotage is accurate. The reason I can't give that album the top spot in Black Sabbath's discography is that it is almost too clever of an album for a band that is supposed to embody 70's heavy metal. As if one can hear that Queen was blossoming around the making of this album. Something that can also be heard on Judas Priest's Sad Wings Of Destiny.....
If I had to propose solely one album to represent their sound and the musical template they are known for I would probably go with Master or SBS because those albums still possess the immediacy of the Paranoid album in catchiness and song-length but they both also feature the beginings of Iommi's musical exploration that carries on and stops after Born Again.
Vol.4 is also a solid contender but it is an odd album. Something about its sequencing is off. Exemple: Changes, great ballad but it appears way too early on the album (we know that Martin is not into ballads!!). Face B is arguably stronger than Face A. Very good album though not as peak-inducing as Sabotage.
I agree that Technical and NSD both contain some hidden gems. "You Won't Change Me" and "Junior's Eyes" respectively come to mind.
All that being said, Black Sabbath's sixth full-length is definitely their most ambitious and advanced release. Possibly their best sounding mix/production from the original lineup. Ozzy's vocals on it are at their "most-metal-sounding" and Megalomania has to be one of the band's greatest compositions BUT if one is trying to introduce a casual listener to the creators of heavy metal, Sabotage might be a bit too proggy and intellectual to best represent "the Sabbath sound".......and imagery. Let's face it, that front sleeve is embarassing....especially after Sabbath Bloody Sabbath!!!!
Wow great points, I totally agree on a lot of what you said, however I think Master but also Vol 4 (based on how heavy it is) are probably the closest albums that I wouldn't have too much of a problem with, if someone told me either album was their best. they're some of the heaviest and contain some of Sabbaths biggest staples. Aside from Master and Vol 4, I would have more of a problem with every other pick.
My own personal opinion is Sabbath is probably in my top 3 bands ever and I love every 70's release almost like children, so it's hard for me to pick one over the other especially depending on which day of the week it is. However when I come into these debates I try to use things that are Objective rather than subjective, and the facts are that Paranoid and the songs on it are the most popular things they've done, have sold the most, are on the radio more frequently, have popped up on compilation releases and live setlists more often, etc. So it's hard to argue against it based on someone's subjective opinion on what they prefer to listen to... even production quality wise.
I know someone who thinks 80's Sabbath with Dio and other eras of Sabbath blow the 70's Sabbath out of the water.
On the other hand, I love Never Say Die! and I often see other RUclips personalities (Pete Pardo from SOT being one) who put down Never Say Die!
Another thing I hear about the argument against Paranoid that I dont think is very fair is the "Ive listened to it to death" argument. I have that problem now a days with the Dio era, I've listened to Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules soo much, and ignored Dehumanizer for so long that lately, Dehumanizer sounds so fresh and intriguing to me that I would typically prefer that one over the other 2 if I'm having a listen session, but does that make it the best of the 3?
Anyway now that ive rambled on lol, yes I dont disagree with Martin about the brilliance of Sabotage, I just really think its hard to pick anything they did over Paranoid as objectively the best Sabbath album. Thanks for the comment!
I agree that an album shouldn't be penalized for being overheard and that Paranoid's popularity is undeniable but does it make it their best release....?
Same goes with the Black Album which I consider to be Metallica's best sounding and most accomplished album even though I always pick Lightning or Puppetz as their ultimate release. Same argument is probably applicable to Back In Black or British Steel.....meaning more sales does not necessarily mean better.
I agree that the 80's Sabbath is generally more advanced than the 70's Sabbath but I also think that the Dio albums are overrated. Yes Ronnie's voice will always be one of the best in the genre but H&H and MR both contain several songs that force me to use the skip button!!
As for Pardo.....he prefers several Tony Martin albums over some Ozzy-era albums so we have to take his opinion on Sabbath with a grain of salt....hehe. SOT is a great channel though!
I would agree that Paranoid is better representation of "the Sabbath-sound" than Sabotage but I still wouldn't be comfortable saying it's the best thing they ever put out.
@@jml8238 Ya you're right, and I actually play both sides of the subjective/objective argument depending on if im in the hot seat or not lol.
I actually argued against back in black in our ACDC episode and i picked Flush the Fashion from Alice Cooper.
You're totally right about Metallica, Black album is a beast yet any metallica fan will pick one of the aforementioned albums over it, and the same applies for other bands, like Sabbath.
In Sabbath's case for me, its objective AND my subjective opinion is that Paranoid is probably the best one, its so hard to argue against Hand of Doom, Fairies, War Pigs, Electric Funeral like the more I think about the track list the more i'm baffled that people are actually kind of down on the album, like i said, almost like its paranoids fault for having the most popular (over played) songs on it. Production might be better on Sabotage... anyway im proabably going in circles now lol i could talk about sabbath all day... I will say though, to be honest, though i stand by my argument, i probably spin Never Say Die! or SBS more often these days than Paranoid... but just the other day i got sucked back into the self-titled and thought man this is heavy and progressive and bluesy and cool and dark, but anyway lol like i said tomorrow i might have a different opinion those albums are all so close for me.
@@thecontrarians2438 Don't get me wrong, I love Paranoid too. I just rarely listen to it nowadays. Check out Zakk Sabbath's "Vertigo"....super solid re-recording of the self-titled album. They also put out their version of "Under The Sun". I hope they re-record ALL the Ozzy-era albums!!
@@jml8238 very cool I will check it out!!
I love Dehumanizer. Along with the two solo Dio albums that followed it, it has Dio's most menacing, evil and angry vocal delivery of any of his Sabbath albums. It's far and away better than his last outing with Sabbath where he sounded tired and his vocals had significantly deteriorated.
Dehumanizer has been getting my attention so much more than Mob and Heaven recently, I practically like every song off it and agree, it's heavy and doomy too. I've never listened to the Heaven and Hell album Dio made with Sabbath in the 2000's though I saw them live twice in 2006/7, maybe i should finally go listen to it.
Very nice show. Tx, guys
Thanks for watching 🙏
The Cardigans would play Supertzar as their opening music before they took the stage. I saw them open for Beck in 1996. I think they may have done a few Sabbath covers in the studio.
Great episode! I’d pick Vol 4 as my fav, but sabbath bloody sabbath is right there! I think sabbath has 6-7, 5 star albums! I for one don’t care much for the tony Martin era albums,that said I own all them and listen often! The Dio era is right with the Ozzy era for me! Born Again is also right there! 3.5-4 star album! Yep; dig me some sabbath lol!
Ya love vol 4, ive seen lots of people (including martin) criticize vol 4's production but for me its one of the more heavy and doomy Sabbath albums
Mr. Popoff is correct, of course. Sabotage took the band one step beyond SBS, itself an amazing and accomplished album.
yep they progressed every step of the way, and Martin is right, from Paranoid to MOR to Vol 4 Sabbath is more dark and clanky, but SBS and Sabotage are more polished and orchestrated for sure.
You guys mentioned Dehumanizer. Talk about a contrarian opinion, Dehumanizer is my favorite Sabbath album. In fact, it ranks in my top 10 favorite heavy albums ever!
I Love Dehumanizer! I go to it more than mob rules and heaven and hell these days, probably the heaviest of the three.. After All, which predates god is dead by like 2 decades is a cool doomy sabbath/dio song (reminds me of god is dead from 13), computer gods is incredible, the song "I" showcases Dio's vocal power, TV Crimes is a wicked tony thrash song.. im right with you!
@@thecontrarians2438 Glad there is someone else who gets it! I'll never forget seeing Heaven and Hell's reunion tour in 2007 and they opened with After All (the Dead) and I was absolutely stunned that they started the show with such a deep track, but it was incredible. That is one of the few albums I consider to be perfect. I love every song on it. Both Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules have that one song that I think falls below the rest, but Dehumanizer is consistent from start to finish.
@@keviniles8748 Yep, i saw them twice on the heaven and hell tour, i think once in 06 and once 07, alice cooper opened one show and Megadeth/down opened the other!
I consider myself an expert on sabbath too..ive seen them 6 times and have been listening to them since the late 60's..everyone has their own opinions.writing a book(s) doesnt make you an expert..the real fans are the experts.
We’re fans too!!
I'm one of those who think Heaven & Hell is the best Sabbath album followed by Sabotage. Symptom Of The Universe & Megalomania are my 2 fav Sabbath songs.
You are not alone!
well - similar age to you and Sabotage is my fav BS - since about 1981 (I was 16 when discovered it) - and Thrill of it Alll is one of my fav songs of ALL time from ALL bands - probably played it 10,000times... I've only met one other person who love it as well.. but perhaps no one like me.... (btw, Am I going insane is just crap).
Sabotage... God damn right... If you cant get down to this record then add more acid and weed... Square nerds need not apply
Master of Reality. Lean, mean, all killer no filler.
ya i bounce around a bit but Master of Reality is always in my solid top 2
Agree about Headless Cross, the title track is pretty much the only good part. One of Tony's top 5 best riffs ever.
Black Sabbath have probably created more stone cold classic albums then any other band on this planet. The first six Ozzy albums and Heaven and Hell are clearly brilliant. Plus there are the "hidden" gems i.e Technical Ecstasy, Never Say Die, Mob Rules, and Born Again. What a great, great band.
I love all those albums you mentioned as hidden gems!
I never would have thought of Mob Rules as a hidden gem. I suppose Heaven and Hell got more air time, but I always guessed they sold about the same number of copies. (Emphasis on "guessed".) I actually prefer Mob Rules over Heaven and Hell: Voodoo, Falling off the Edge of the World, Country Girl, Sign of the Southern Cross - the album is just incredible.
To be honest, Martin, Sabotage doesn't need justification as their best album. P.S. love the series.
Thank you for the compliment!
Top notch album,favorite of mine by far
I would take Sabotage over Paranoid. I'd definitely take Marco too! (if he were single)
haha nope, im all snatched up, thanks for the love though!
3]
AM I GOING INSANE is probably for me the song that most seems to encapsulate Ozzy Osbourne. It's one of the few lyrics Geezer Butler didn't write and it doesn't sound like him either. In fact, it sounds like Ozzy trying to tackle a Geezer type subject and while it sounds lightweight in comparison, it's a heartfelt lyric to a really good song and given Ozzy's activities over the next ten years, not entirely unfounded. When Geezer originally wrote PARANOID, he didn't actually know what the word meant, hence the word not appearing in the song; being one of the songs the band did dealing with the instability of the mind, by '75 Ozzy was actually able to sound knowledgeable and use it in its correct context. Their early mellotron/synthesizer experiments are mixed, but good to listen to and have held up well.
I've noted quite a bit of flak regarding Bill Ward. It seems that there are those that feel that he was the shittiest drummer in heavydom and that his sound and technique was truly crap. It's all a matter of taste and opinion I guess, but I have to totally disagree. I like loads of different drummers of different genres and personally, for me he was without a doubt one of heavy rock's most inventive drummers. I don't know whether he was influential but whether or not he was is irrelevant to me. He's such a musical drummer, he provided something that was unique and his often deft and intricate bits were probably too subtle for a lot of ears. That he managed to be so delicate within such a barrage of metal as well as thumping and rhythmic and fast is remarkable. He may have been an alcoholic drug addict but he sure was a thinking man's drummer. His playing at the end of THE WRIT is fantastic, energetic, forceful, compelling. The song itself is almost part two of MEGALOMAMIA, one of the best of theirs IMO; a bitter, not well disguised tale of hassles with management, it's a classic. Like on some of the serious songs from earlier albums, it's hard not to laugh at Ozzy because of that voice. I always see his face when I hear that voice and I just crack up. But his vocal performance carries with it the requisite sting and it's a convincing outpouring. The song is a grand ending to a belter of an album.
I've never thought of this or any other Sabbath LP from the first five years as heavier or not heavier; to me they were just heavy like much of 'Physical Graffitti' was, to me, heavy. They did have delicate and sensitive moments and they played these off well against the crush.
wow amazing! Thanks for the thorough comments! I absolutely love Thrill of it all as it is one of my favorite Black Sabbath songs. Am I Going Insane is probably the weakest on the record. I did a write up like this a few years ago comparing every song from TE to every song from Never Say Die! I should try to find that. Thanks again very interesting read!
My favourite Sabbath album with Ozzy is 'Sabbath,bloody Sabbath', of the non Ozzy era I say it's a tie between Headless Cross and Dehumanizer...
Love Dehumanizer!
Yep, the best imo , when they were up against it the first time and going through loads of mgt bullshh*t!....worst cover tho 🤭🤘🏻
Technical ecstasy much maligned, I love it too
Paranoid is great. But, I think Sabotage and Volume Four were more creative and sophisticated. Another great video here though 😀
Thank you!!! Much appreciated!! I agree, Master, Paranoid and Vol 4 are all like 1A,1B and 1C
Sabotage is also a great song by The Beastie Boys and a film by Hitchcock.
VOL 4 !!!!!
#1 !!!!
Hi, it’s a good album. Maybe just below the first 5 albums which are all really good. Sabbath bloody sabbath probably the peak of the band and my favourite. Miles ahead of the next two bizarre albums. Band had brief return to form 80-83 and again with Dio after that. Thank You
Thanks for your comments!! I kinda like the 2 bizarre albums lol maybe that could be an episode?
That we be a really good topic for an episode, I think not great albums and not bad albums, technical ecstasy and never say die. Could also talk briefly about the album before and after, would make a great show.
@@iancocks9408 I wrote an essay comparing the two records years ago, I should try to dig it up, it would basically be a script!
Sabotage and Black Sabbath are my two favourite Black Sabbath albums. 2) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 3) Masters 4) Paranoid 5) Vol. 4 6) Mob Rules 7) Heaven & Hell 8) Headless Cross 9) Never Say Die 10) Technical Ecstasy. The worst song they ever recorded might be Swinging The Chain.
"Proggy, strange, druggy, and a little scary" . My high school bio.
Master of reality my fave as it has the greatest riffs.
i love all the 70's records, but i kinda lean more towards the paranoid-master of reality-Vol 4 era, so im with ya
The Writ is a masterpiece. A really solid album, very dark and aggressive
martin excellent choice its also my favorite!!!!!
Thanks for the comment! We're really splitting hairs on any of the first 6 Sabbath albums
I love how Martin always says Megalomania is 11 Minutes long. It's actually between 9 and 10.
i'll call him on it next time he brings it up!
@@thecontrarians2438 By the way, keep it up guys. I really enjoy you two and your discussions.
@@j.j.4150 Thanks Josh! we wont let you down!!
I listened to Paranoid to death when I was younger and now I can't listen to any of those songs anymore, it has become one of my least Ozzy-era-Sabbath favorite albums. Love Sabotage. My favorite Sabbath are Vol. 4 and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.
Ya and thats a common complaint Martin will have with certain albums from bands, but the fact that an album got played to death is one of the points i like to argue of why it was so good. I hear ya though! I've gone through phases with bands where I listen to their clunkers a lot more because they're fresher, Like Dehumanizer has grown on me a lot recently whereas I feel Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules have become a little played out. Thanks for the comment.
@@thecontrarians2438 Yes, good point. For me, what makes a record my favorite is the test of time. I have listened to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath for more than 30 years and it still amazes me. There are not many records like that, that keep kicking ass through the years and never wear off, but there are.
Not my favorite, but I can understand why people would list it as their number one. Some great songs. Very different from the previous stuff
its great but ya i like some other stuff a little bit more, its kind of like a fave to those who love prog.
I love Ozzy-era Sabbath. Can't stand the Dio stuff, and as for Born Again...I don't like Sabbath minus Ozzy, and I hated Deep Purple, but for whatever reason (likely sheer perversity) I dig it.
Born again is pretty dark and ominous, actually very solid album
Sabotage is the bomb
my favorite sabbath albums are Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, Headless Cross and TYR
Born again too?
@@thecontrarians2438 Honestly I love all the albums!
@@Dehumanizer3000 Im in the same boat, i have a friend who is ozzy or nothing, and i have another friend who this the dio album blow away anything they did with ozzy... me i kinda like everything
@@thecontrarians2438 each album offers something different, we ain't getting more sabbath albums, its a good thing Iommi was consistent with his writing and guitar work
Hole in the Sky. 👊👊👊
Sabotage is Fantastic, no doubt!!!! Except for Am I Going Insane and Supertzar, it's all gold. Paranoid is the best, unless you're just sick of hearing several of the songs. Fairies Wear Boots and Electric Funeral are so unique. I like it the best because, to me, it is the blueprint of the Sabbath style and sound; great riffs, great bass lines(up front in the mix), great drums, and Ozzy's vocals. the 1st album is unique sounding and there is nothing like it. Paranoid was a step ahead with more modern tones. Master of Reality has a fantastic tone that inspired the entire stoner metal sound. It always seems odd that Sabbath would never revisit that sound. 4, to me is very harsh sounding(the guitars especially). Good songs, good vocals, not my favorite. SBS sounds like Paranoid 2, with its great songs, except for that damn synth song(Who Are You). I think Eddie Trunk can be thanked for the popularity of Heaven and Hell. I like Mob Rules better myself. Anyway, I love Sabbath with Ozzy and Dio.
Ya I agree, Paranoid is the gold standard, and I think most people would admit it drops on their list because of being over played (which in itself shows how great it was). MOR is another close fav of mine, but to be honest I really like all the original Sab/Ozzy albums and they are almsot neck and neck for me. Sabotage has some cool gems on it.
Master of Reality was my favorite for years. Then Sabotage entered my collection and it quickly became my all-time Sabbath album. I love Ronnie's first two albums with Sabbath but, even those two didn't hit me the way Sabotage did. The creativity was off the charts on this album. I agree that Am I Going Insane was the worst track on the album and I'd go so far as to say that it shouldn't have been released Ever! Having said that, The Thrill Of It All could be one of the greatest vocals ever recorded! As far as Paranoid goes, I loved that album so much that I played it out of existence. I can listen to those songs if they come on randomly but, outside of Fairies Wear Boots, I never play them intentionally.
Thrill of it All is one of my top songs ever, for Paranoid, Hand of Doom is in my Sabbath rotation too. I get what people mean when they say an album is overplayed, but to me that just means it was that good!
@@thecontrarians2438 Hand of Doom is still good for me too. Electric Funeral is still listenable as well but, Fairies Wear Boots is the only other track I can consciously choose to listen to from Paranoid. My first few bands played a heavy dose of early Sabbath too so that contributed to the overplaying of the album too.
@@patriotpizzaman
I like every track, Planet caravan is one of my top mellow sabbath songs, electric funeral has the crunchiest ozzy vocal and wicked solo, bills playing on the instrumental, Paranoid is basically a greatest hits album.. you're not wrong though I just listened to Martin and Pete Pardo list their top Sabbath albums on Guitar Hack and none of them put Paranoid in their top 3!!
@@thecontrarians2438 Quick choice: Falling Off The End Of The World, Sign Of The Southern Cross, or Lonely Is The Word?
@@patriotpizzaman Hmm... I think Falling off the Edge of the World
Now you:
Computer God
Eternal Idol
Born Again
Martin +1, in my book! Sabotage!
ALWAYS loved Sabotage...but the recording quality leaves a lot to be desired, IMO.
Go back and listen to The Devil You Know, if you stopped listening to it. Its great.
I'll check it out! Thanks for reminding me!
Master of reality is 1. Sabotage is very uneven.
I love Vol 4 too!
It's a hard pick but I'd have to say Sabotage is my favourite these albums aren't far behind Heaven & Hell, Masters, Paranoid or Mob Rules.
Best sabbath album