Let's Rank All The Black Sabbath Albums!

Okay it’s time. I’m beginning this one about an hour after hearing of the passing of Ozzy Osbourne, and I’m sad. Black Sabbath was a critical piece of the soundtrack of my childhood, and have been for my whole life really. I was not the diehard solo Ozzy fan that many were even though I did love plenty of Ozzy solo songs. I’m a Sabbath guy through and through, and I got to see them live a bunch of times with Ozzy AND Bill Ward along with a couple Dio shows during the Dehumanizer era.

I sang Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in kindergarten for show and tell once in Mrs. Copp’s class at Forest Elementary - I’m not kidding. She just passed recently at the age of 98 and I was still in touch with her. I remember when I was 5 listening to that album and wondering what would happen to my Black Sabbath album when I die while looking at that album cover. Maybe I should have had closer supervision (hehe) but my brothers were 10 and 8 years older than me so that’s why I was exposed to that stuff as a child.

I’ve had this ranking on my radar to do for a minute but I needed to familiarize myself more with a few of the Tony Iommi era albums that I hadn’t bought back in the day and didn’t really know that well (he started that phase with the intent to make a solo album and the label made him use the Sabbath name). I don’t like to rank a band’s albums unless I know the entire discography inside and out. I’ll admit I fell off the Sabbath train during part of that era. I knew some of that material but I needed to brush up.

So with that said let’s do this. And as a side note if you want to purchase any of these albums you can click on the cover and be taken to the corresponding Amazon page via my affiliate link - so yes, I could receive a tiny commission on the sale.

Let’s Rank All The Black Sabbath Albums!

Black Sabbath - Forbidden - Rhino Records

20. Forbidden (1995) You are forbidden to waste your time with this. Okay not actually, but it’s not the place to start. Just seemed like the obvious first line for the write up on the last album on this list lol… It’s not as horrible as what’s been said about it over the years and the 2024 remaster gives it a little punch. Kiss Of Death has an interesting arc - cool dynamics and a kick ass riff in there… Having Ice-T guest on the opener just didn’t really work though. And I like Ice-T a lot. But, no. After this album the Sabbath name was put to rest….for a little while.

Black Sabbath - The Eternal Idol - Rhino/Warner

19. The Eternal Idol (1987) The second Tony Iommi Sabbath album and the first with Tony Martin on vocals is more of the same aesthetic that keeps most of these albums (the ones with Iommi as the lone original member) in the a-little-above-average category. Good riffs, overly dramatic and a bit cheesy. Interestingly enough AllMusic.com gushes about this album, but I don’t really hear much greatness here. Nightmare is kinda cool.

18. Tyr (1990) Tyr often feels like goofy dungeons and dragons type stuff. Would my 16-20 year old self have eaten this stuff up had I stuck with Sabbath through this era? Maybe… But now it sounds like it was the band trying too hard to be epic and overly dramatic. But even the worst material with the Sabbath name isn’t all bad, and there are a couple highlights here like the opener Anno Mundi. Lead vocalist Tony Martin has a style that sounds like Ronnie James Dio but to dismiss him as a weak copy overall isn’t fair or accurate in my book. He’s a pretty good and even great-at-times vocalist and has his own distinct sound. Anno Mundi is a good jam with a great rolling riff. Probably the best track - it gets much cheesier at times from there…they’re just trying to be a little too serious. The Sabbath Stones and Valhalla are both pretty cool.

Black Sabbath - Seventh Star - Sanctuary UK

17. Seventh Star (1986) Glenn Hughes and Eric Singer? Sounds like a solid recipe for a hard rock album right? Not supposed to be a Black Sabbath album but pressure from the suits forced Tony Iommi to still use the name. So we have a second Deep Purple lead vocalist singing on a Sabbath album, and Eric Singer would go on to be KISS’s drummer on a couple of solid KISS albums (Revenge and Carnival of Souls) before Paul & Gene eventually put him in Peter Criss’s makeup for endless farewells. So, is Seventh Star a great “Sabbath album?” Not quite but it’s not bad. It was just so stupid to call it Black Sabbath “Featuring Tony Iommi” - like what Sabbath album ever DIDN’T feature Tony Iommi? He’s THE guitarist in THE metal band. The music business is gross. Meanwhile the opener In For The Kill is damn good and Danger Zone ain’t bad.

16. Headless Cross (1989) Things get maybe a little more interesting with Headless Cross but I still don’t think it stands out as essential in any way. That might make some diehards mad but what can I say. When Death Calls is effective - at almost 7 minutes it does indeed feel like an epic. But a song like Call Of The Wild sounds generic and more like Survivor than Sabbath… Sorry, but writing about these bottom five has bored me a little - I’m ready to move on.

Black Sabbath - Born Again - Sanctuary UK

15. Born Again (1983) Okay a change of pace… I love this album despite it being one of the worst-produced LPs in history. It’s not necessarily a masterpiece, but I’d LOVE to hear someone remaster this bad boy - not sure what they are waiting for since Tony has had many of them done in the last few years. One of the more significant entries in the long history of Deep Purple / Black Sabbath intertwining, none other than the true DP lead singer Ian Gillan joins as the front man for Born Again, along with Bill Ward returning to the fold (after not being involved in the previous LP Mob Rules). The band had just come out of the incredible if short-lived Dio era and had still been at a creative peak with Dio, so this makes for an interesting pairing and you know what’s up with the very first cackle on Trashed. So good! “It really was a meeting, the bottle took a beating…” Just some delicious lyrics. Zero The Hero is heavy and menacing - what an epic with that fantastic rolling riff. I like the title track as well. So, while this isn’t really a classic Sabbath album, I like Ian Gillan with the other three original members - it works better than Glenn Hughes on Seventh Star in my opinion.

14. Cross Purposes (1994) Cross Purposes kicks ass. To me it’s Tony Martin’s best vocal performance - tastefully rendered and not over the top. This is the only Tony Iommi / Tony Martin album that has Geezer Butler on bass and you can feel the difference from the others. The album sounds more organic to me, and it comes on the heels of the second go-round with Dio so the band was in good form, and the momentum carried over - they even released a live album from this tour that sounds pretty good. I still listen to this album. The shot out of a cannon opener I Witness is fantastic and signaled to me that this could be different than the others. The next three tracks all kick ass - Cross of Thorns, the chugging, disjointed (in a good way) Psychophobia, and the slow crawling and evil Virtual Death that opens with the Geezer bassline. Back to Eden is a great groove as well - yeah this album is really solid.

Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy - Rhino

13. Technical Ecstacy (1976) The lowest ranking Ozzy album but there’s no shame in this position in the ranking. Technical Ecstacy is still a very good LP. It’s a definite drop off from the first 6 classic albums but it’s not like this isn’t still the classic Sabbath lineup, and even if not everything works and the material can be a bit slight here and there for the first time, I still like it a lot. The opener Back Street Kids is a nice chugging straightforward rocker. You Won’t Change Me has the makings of an epic but, while pretty good, isn’t essential. Bill Ward gets a lead vocal on the mellow It’s Alright which is enjoyable - sounds like a Beatle-esque Ringo song. Gypsy is an example of where the reach exceeds the grasp - goofy and all over the place… All Moving Parts (Stand Still), Rock ‘N’ Roll Doctor and the epic closer Dirty Women which they surprisingly played a lot on the various reunion tours (and which Ozzy borrowed some vocal melodies from a few years later for his solo tune I Don’t Know) are all pretty good.

Black Sabbath - Dehumanizer - Rhino/Warner

12. Dehumanizer (1992) Dio returns!!! And Vinnie Appice is behind the kit, so this is the Mob Rules lineup and I was so hyped for this. It’s the “least awesome” of the 4 full length Sabbath LPs with Ronnie James Dio on vocals, but that’s a pretty minor complaint. This album is fantastic. Every thing from here on out on this list is awesome. Computer God is heavy AF and that little mid-verse bass riff Geezer drops before the first bridge is everything, and then Tony repeats it on guitar the next time through? Hell yeah. Dio is in fine voice (of course) and Tony Iommi had a batch of riffs for this one that kill - even giving a little nod to the song Black Sabbath in After All (The Dead). TV Crimes and Time Machine are the uptempo killers, Too Late the mystical epic, Sins Of The Father the dramatic and melodic flair that is perfect for Dio - there’s a lot here to love, and then this lineup parted ways for the second time.

11. Never Say Die (1978) The band was falling apart and Ozzy left before the recordings started. Lots of drugs going on, and then Ozzy’s dad died which put things on hold at one point and the situation wasn’t sustainable. So the fact that they managed to pull off a great album is a miracle. In another Deep Purple connection Don Airey played keyboards on this one and years later would replace the late great Jon Lord as the permanent keyboard player in Deep Purple. This album ends in somewhat un-Sabbath like fashion with the horn driven instrumental Breakout and the strange Bill Ward vocal on Swinging The Chain (and I still like those). But before that we’ve got 7 really good to great ones in my book, beginning with the well known anthemic title track. Johnny Blade is a great character - an outsider not unlike Iron Man and an epic jam with a nice heavy finish. I also think Hard Road and Over To You are sorely underrated. Over To You has that poignant feel that reminds me of Spiral Architect and would have worked better as the closer - for the album and as it turned out, the era. There wouldn’t be another original song from the original band for another 20 years with the incredible Psycho Man from the live Reunion in 1998.

Black Sabbath - Mob Rules - Rhino/Warner

10. Mob Rules (1981) The second Ronnie James Dio album marked the departure of Bill Ward but Vinnie Appice is a great drummer as well and this lineup released a great follow up to Heaven and Hell here. It’s not as strong as the former but it’s still damn good. The centerpiece here is the sweeping epic The Sign Of The Southern Cross with Dio singing about rainbows, beasts, wonders, and of course sailing away lol. Actually you can make the case that it’s really the sequence of The Sign, the creepy and generally evil E5150 instrumental that then gives way to the ass kicking title track. 14 minutes that is worth the price of admission, and all the other tracks are generally solid.

Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know - Warner

8. (tie) The Devil You Know (2009) The Mob Rules lineup reunites for a second time - this time calling themselves Black Sabbath allegedly to minimize confusion since the Ozzy lineup was still an option that wasn’t done. Officially the band name here is “Heaven and Hell” but I’m sorry, it’s Sabbath. And it’s awesome. Recorded a year before Ronnie James Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer which sadly he passed from in 2010, the man still sounded incredible as a senior citizen and the band turned in an album that is indeed heavy as hell. Where to start? Bible Black is the lead single and has that classic acoustic intro with Dio singing softly setting the stage a la Children of the Sea / Sign Of The Southern Cross / Last In Line / Invisible before it kicks in and slays. Rock And Roll Angel has an awesome riff along with a cool acoustic interlude - these songs are all so strong… The band doesn’t pick up the tempo until the second half of the LP with the awesome Eating The Cannibals and Neverwhere - both perfect mixes of upbeat energy but weighing multiple tons. These guys bringing all of their experience and power to bear. The production is fantastic - the guitars are thick and everything is audible with Dio perfectly in the middle of the mix. Fear and Follow The Tears are both as heavy as it gets. A triumphant way for this lineup to go out, even if they had planned more that they didn’t get to do.

8. (tie) 13 (2013) Not to be outdone, Ozzy comes back for the full Sabbath album that I never thought we’d get. The only serious bummer here is no Bill Ward, and I’ve read that not only was he supposed to be playing on this one, but he almost played on The Devil You Know too… ugh. Bill Ward is one of my favorite drummers of all time if not my favorite. Vinnie Appice was great for The Devil You Know, but who would play on this one? They brought in Brad Wilk - another beast behind the kit from Rage Against The Machine - which might seem like an odd fit but he did just fine. He really didn’t try to bring in any major Rage funk - he just stayed in the Sabbath lane and did a fine job. They made a classic sounding Sabbath album - and whether that was contrived or not, what would you expect? What would you want? I don’t know about you but they gave us exactly what I wanted. The songs are great, the performances strong and Ozzy sounds like Ozzy. I’m also going to take a little liberty here and say that I included the 4 other songs from the deluxe versions in the strength of this album. I might be breaking a rule I enforced on other rankings but here’s the thing: I don’t know who made the final decisions for the track listings and the sequence, but something doesn’t quite make sense to me. Yes 73 minutes would be on the long side for an album if all the extras were included, but there are only 8 songs on the standard version and the only two uptempo songs are missing - and they’re awesome. And they aren’t “b-sides.” They’re just…more. They sound like they were intended for the album - and I don’t know that without them the album drops in the ranking, I just don’t feel this album should be digested without them. Methademic in particular is a killer - awesome riff. There are familiar callbacks throughout the album - you’ll hear a little N.I.B. in Loner, a hint of War Pigs in Age Of Reason, a little Black Sabbath reminder to close out the album with rain, thunder, and bell tolling at the end of Dear Father…and plenty of others that will take you back like the harmonica in Damaged Soul, the slight filter on Ozzy’s voice on the mellow Zeitgeist and even a couple “oh yeahs” and “alright nows”. And the thing is, none of these sound lazy or overly obvious - they just sound…..like Sabbath. Great Sabbath. And that’s all we could ask for 44 years after their debut.

Black Sabbath - Sabotage - Rhino / Warner

7. Sabotage (1975) The last of the classic first 6 LPs and one of the greatest album covers of all time (and not the only one that has been recreated by other bands - this one by a really good but short-lived stoner metal band called Camarosmith). Bill Ward with those red leggings….lol. The banger that seems to have made the most impact over the years is Symptom of the Universe even though it was Am I Going Insane (Radio) that was released as the single and appeared on the We Sold Our Soul For Rock ‘n’ Roll double album compilation. We Sold Our Soul was my initial introduction to anything that wasn’t on Paranoid or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath growing up. Symptom of the Universe is definitely an early thrash influence and one of the faster and more aggressive Sabbath songs from the Ozzy era, but the acoustic funky jam at the end might be the best part. Megalomania is an epic and the other two highlights include Thrill Of It All and The Writ (lyrics by Ozzy on that one - most of their lyrics were written by bass king Geezer Butler).

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath - Rhino/Warner

6. Black Sabbath (1970) A debut like none other really. The scariest and most flat out evil album cover of all time - it still scares me a little to look at it. The opening title track is scary too - the imagery of those vocals had me pretty scared. A figure in black pointing at me and that terrifying “OH NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” from Ozzy? Holy crap. The whole album has this jamming and improvisational approach with the Bassically interlude by Geezer that goes into the classic N.I.B. as a prime example. The Wizard and Wicked World are total classics - The Wizard with the awesome harmonica doubling the guitar riff and Wicked World with its wicked tempo changes. Ozzy serves notice as a new and amazing vocalist on the scene and I can’t imagine what it must have sounded like to put this on for the first time in 1970. The epic medley of A Bit Of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning is incredible - and I wasn’t aware that Warning was a cover…. not sure how I didn’t know that. An air guitarist’s dream as a showcase for Tony Iommi.

Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell - Rhino/Warner

5. Heaven and Hell (1980) The peak Dio era Sabbath album and one of the greatest of all time. I struggled with where to put this. 5th seems arbitrary because it can’t be #1 ahead of all the original Sabbath albums but the point has to be made of how great it is and it can’t just sit beneath all of the first 6. So here it is at 5 and ahead of the bookended classic 6. The band sounds like Sabbath and not at all like Sabbath at the same time. Ronnie James Dio brings a completely different vibe but no less potent and obviously his voice is one of the greatest ever. The title track is an all-timer. One of the greatest hard rock / metal songs of all time. Dio also wrote all the lyrics so the subject matter just sounds different than Geezer’s - but they are no less brilliant: “Sing me a song - you’re a singer. Do me a wrong - you’re a bringer (of evil)…” And of course there is the imagery that would become Dio’s stock in trade about sailing away, witches, dragons, kings, rainbows and the like. The closest you’ll hear Ronnie get to a love song is when he sings “Lord she’s handsome as she flows across the floor. Nothing I’ve seen in my life has ever pleased me more” in the song Walk Away which sounds medieval, cool and actually kind of hilarious. Only Dio could pull off a line like that! There are some who say this lineup shouldn’t have been called Black Sabbath - that it was a different band. I get that, but it’s a moot point. It happened, and I guess that’s a testament to Dio that he created such a seismic shift to a leviathan like Sabbath and took it in such an amazing new direction. As for the other songs, the ripping opener Neon Knights seems like a reference to chapter 2 of the band with a call back to the beginning “Oh no - here it comes again…” and we haven’t even talked about Children of the Sea yet…. “In the misty morning on the edge of time….” Oh yeah. A perfect song. Mystical, beautiful, heavy - pure magic.

4. Vol. 4 (1972) Man do I love Vol. 4. Calling songs underrated or overrated gets into some silliness but for me the opener Wheels of Confusion should be regarded as one of their best and I think it gets lost among the other giants. A lifting, soaring vocal by Ozzy and Bill Ward being extra Bill Ward. IYKYK but if you don’t it’s just that Bill Ward adds fills throughout tracks that make him more of a lead drummer which people always attributed to guys like Keith Moon and Neil Peart (rightfully so). He’s not just keeping a beat - he’s one of the stars of the show. Every member of Sabbath is - especially on the first six albums. People also don’t seem to talk about how PROG Sabbath is either. Not a ton of their songs approach 10 minutes but Wheels of Confusion is typical at 7:47 and with multiple distinct stages and themes. Sometimes they would give separate names to some of those stages but for whatever reason they never seemed to be…..real? Like, is the end of Wheels Of Confusion really called The Straightener? What part of War Pigs is the “Luke’s Wall” part? Lol… As for the rest of this album there are at least three really well known tunes here in Tomorrow’s Dream, Snowblind, and Changes, and Tomorrow’s Dream is my favorite of those three. Heavy but with some groove thanks to Bill Ward - this kind of cowbell triplicate thing he’s doing - for all I know it was overdubbed, I’m not even sure - but it’s so cool. Plus the little breaks for those brief rolling riffs throughout - just so unique in my opinion (and local Detroit band The Muggs did a great cover of it). Snowblind is the fantastic ode to cocaine (which itself is a little less fantastic - I’ve never tried it and never will) and you wonder if the progression from Sweet Leaf on the prior album tells the story of the band a little? From weed to coke…. Stay off the drugs you crazy kids. Supernaut was also given a great cover treatment by Al Jourgenson’s 1000 Homo DJs. Then there’s the beautiful acoustic Laguna Sunrise - and I’m just going to say this: Tony Iommi makes a case for being the greatest guitarist of all time behind Jimi. Think about it - the greatest body of heavy riffs of all time - that’s really indisputable. But the acoustic instrumental pieces are what separates him and not enough people talk about this. I love Zeppelin. As much as Sabbath. But if I was forced to pick I’d take Laguna Sunrise, Fluff and Orchid over Black Mountain Side and Bron-Yr-Aur any day of the week. They’re all amazing but Tony’s have the edge. So yeah, any band would be satisfied to say Vol. 4 was their masterpiece and I can’t even put it above 4 here. Cornucopia, St. Vitus Dance and Under The Sun are also all great. This could easily be my favorite Sabbath album, but it’s not because….

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - Rhino/Warner

2. (tie) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) …this one is. I think. Man this is hard. This was the album that truly captured my imagination as a kid. It’s heavy, it’s trippy, it’s funky, it’s beautiful, it expands the Sabbath sound while keeping it Sabbath… it’s a MASTERPIECE in every way. It’s the second scariest album cover of all time. Even the back cover had me unnerved as more of a representation of heaven to the front cover’s hell. I alluded to this at the beginning of this post. The full on frontal assault of the opening title track is a little deceiving - this isn’t really an exercise in HEAVY metal. A National Acrobat is a top 5 Sabbath song - Metallica has played Hole In The Sky from Sabotage live three times including at Sabbath’s Rock Hall induction and then at the Back To The Beginning Sabbath farewell show. But when they went into the studio for the full length follow up to their covers EP Garage Days Re-Revisited they picked A National Acrobat and Sabbra Cadabra from this album to record as a killer medley. A National Acrobat makes use of the space between in such an incredible way - not sure there’s been another metal band that has pulled this off as well as the Sabs do here, and again it’s Bill Ward that keeps this groove, improvising along the way and allowing Iommi to weave in and out of it with Ozzy’s incredible phrasing over the top during the second of the 3+ parts of this track. Great night time listening. And then there’s the bluesy boogie swing of Sabbra Cadabra that also gives way to trippy and then funky. And a secret weapon shows up here - Rick Wakeman of Yes on synthesizer and piano - what a song. The jam at the end is incredible and I’ve written about it before. In between these two beasts is the aforementioned lush acoustic instrumental Fluff (which if memory serves they would play as the house lights came on at the end of shows the way the Allmans would do with Little Martha). I say lush because of the piano and harpsichord that Iommi adds on it - just gorgeous. The other monster in the middle of this LP is Killing Yourself To Live. The riff at the 2:45 mark where Ozzy whispers “Smoke it….get high….” is one of the highlight moments of the album. It’s a 1:20 segment that many bands would kill to come up with. That’s the thing about Tony Iommi. If he comes up with 24 amazing riffs he won’t rest on that and use them over the course of 3 albums. He’ll use ALL 24 of them on one album. He says he’s got 400-500 more on his phone. Who Are You? is another trippy and unsettling (in a great way) track that is synth dominated with Ozzy singing “Please I beg you tell me - in the name of Hell - who are you?” So good. Looking For Today doesn’t quite rise to the level of the others, but would still be killer for most bands, and the closer Spiral Architect gives the album an uplifting finish.

Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality - Sanctuary

2. (tie) Master Of Reality (1971) Sorry if the “ties” seem like a copout. I just don’t know how to put one of these two over the other. To open an album with a cough from smoking a little Sweet Leaf - on a loop no less? Lol - hell yeah… and the crushing riff that follows. So do you think Sabbath may have had an influence on an entire revival genre that crept up a whole generation later? I’d say you need look no further for the seeds of stoner metal than this one. A true love song indeed. Master Of Reality isn’t a very long album clocking in at 35 minutes, but it packs a punch and is loaded with classics. After Forever challenges non believers head on - not a topic most would immediately associate with Black Sabbath and yet here it is:

“Could it be you're afraid of what your friends might say
If they knew you believe in God above?
They should realize before they criticize
That God is the only way to love”

And then there’s Children of the Grave which would seem to be a great title for a horror movie, and yet it’s about activism - spreading love and peace before we become children of the grave. Lyrical content aside it’s a headbanging classic with a second layer of Bill Ward’s rolling drums overdubbed on top of the beat. Orchid is a beautiful acoustic instrumental as I mentioned earlier, and the album finishes strong. There’s the crushing Lord Of This World, the mellow Solitude with Ozzy singing in a slightly lower register that is very cool - a plaintive Ozzy. And then there’s the herculean closer of Into The Void which was covered by Kyuss, Soundgarden, Monster Magnet and Anthrax at the Back To The Beginning tribute. The dominant riff in the last minute of the original is another of those legendary ones that only lasts for a short time but leaves you wanting more, and that’s a great way to finish.

1. Paranoid (1970) The greatest metal album of all time, and it has transcended genres, eras, generations - it’s THE one. Released on 9/18/1970 the day Jimi Hendrix died - 13 days after I was born. Starting right off with War Pigs. There is no other song like it in rock. Ozzy at his peak and a showcase for the whole band to be sure. And as is often the case Bill Ward is the star with those iconic high hat (pretty sure it’s the high hat) cymbals and drum fills. A cutting anti-war song proclaiming that the politicians who make war just for fun will get their due when their judgement day comes. Geezer Butler with some of the greatest lyrics ever. I also feel the production is incredible - a dry mix that sounds like the band is playing right in the same room as you which is very effective. And of course everyone has heard the songs Paranoid and Iron Man - Iron Man being a favorite of marching bands across the U.S. for decades. Iron Man might have the most recognizable heavy metal riff of all time in it. Right after Ozzy’s “I AM IRON MANNNN” declaration with the evil voice filter and that bending killer guitar chord. So good, and it never ages really. You can hear it a thousand times and it still sounds fresh. This album is clearly set apart by these three all-timers, but once again some of the “lesser” songs are legendary cult classics, more so than on the other Sabbath albums which helps to set this one apart. That starts with the closer Fairies Wear Boots which is just incredible. The free flowing almost jazzy instrumental interludes that set up each stomping verse are so good. The interplay between the players is just peak musicianship. You really can appreciate Bill, Tony and Geezer - those bass lines kick ass. My second band Idle Hands used to play it, and those jams upstairs at the house where our bass player was staying were some of my favorite musical moments of my entire life (we’d go pick corn and squash from the fields in the back of the house afterwards which was pretty cool too - but I digress). Then you’ve got the Bill Ward showcase Rat Salad - a response to Bonham’s Moby Dick perhaps? As a side note, in bouncing around the web for this piece I read that Sabbath and Zeppelin jammed together once and recorded it… The other three tracks here include Planet Caravan (which was covered by Pantera - EVERYONE has covered Sabbath…) a mellow trippy ditty with Ozzy’s voice fed through a spooky filter and Bill Ward on bongos. And then there is the awesome riff that is the basis for Electric Funeral with the terrifying lyrics about nuclear apocalypse…

“Dying world of radiation
Victims of man's frustration
Burning globe of obscene fire
Like electric funeral pyre”

Lastly, let’s talk about Hand Of Doom. Really heavy topic of Vietnam soldiers turning to heroin to escape the horrors they were exposed to. Geezer Butler’s bass line framing each verse of progressive doom, each bridge building on this path until it ends with the veteran overdosing and dying…

“First, it was the bomb
Vietnam, napalm
Disillusioning
You push the needle in
From life, you escape
Reality's black drape
Colors in your mind
Satisfy your time”

Of course Slayer chose this one to cover… And somehow the storytelling element and the surrounding music gives it a groove and a fascination that makes you want to return to it. And that’s really the triumph of Black Sabbath. People love horror movies. They have for over a century. But it’s really Sabbath that made horror music cool. And the heavy stuff, the minor chords evoking the menacing vibe and the evil - it was popularized by these guys. Tony Iommi down tuned his guitar, partly to account for a work accident that severed the tips of two fingers and used a distorted sound that influenced countless bands. With a killer bass player who was also a true showman in addition to being a powerful lyricist in Geezer Butler, and a creative pounding drummer in Bill Ward they had the formula. Add the perfect crazed front man to sell it with that voice? There it is. I’m so happy they got to say a proper goodbye on stage together one last time. And may Ozzy Osbourne rest in peace - Ozzy we will never forget you!

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Doug's Music Snobbery

Let's Rank All The Black Sabbath Albums!

Let’s Rank All The Black Sabbath Albums!

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