Black Sabbath - Studio Albums (1970-1986, 12CD) RE-UPPED

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

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Musicians:

Vocals : Ozzy Osbourne
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward

Produced by Rodger Bain of Tuesday Production for Tony Hall Enterprises.
Engineer - Tom Allom & Barry Sheffield.

Track List:

01. Black Sabbath [6:20]
02. The Wizard [4:23]
03. Behind The Wall Of Sleep [3:38]
04. N.I.B. [6:06]
05. Evil Woman [3:26]
06. Sleeping Village [3:46]
07. Warning [10:30]

Paranoid was not only Black Sabbath's most popular record (it was a number one smash in the U.K., and "Paranoid" and "Iron Man" both scraped the U.S. charts despite virtually nonexistent radio play), it also stands as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time. Paranoid refined Black Sabbath's signature sound — crushingly loud, minor-key dirges loosely based on heavy blues-rock — and applied it to a newly consistent set of songs with utterly memorable riffs, most of which now rank as all-time metal classics. Where the extended, multi-sectioned songs on the debut sometimes felt like aimless jams, their counterparts on Paranoid have been given focus and direction, lending an epic drama to now-standards like "War Pigs" and "Iron Man" (which sports one of the most immediately identifiable riffs in metal history). The subject matter is unrelentingly, obsessively dark, covering both supernatural/sci-fi horrors and the real-life traumas of death, war, nuclear annihilation, mental illness, drug hallucinations, and narcotic abuse. Yet Sabbath makes it totally convincing, thanks to the crawling, muddled bleakness and bad-trip depression evoked so frighteningly well by their music. Even the qualities that made critics deplore the album (and the group) for years increase the overall effect — the technical simplicity of Ozzy Osbourne's vocals and Tony Iommi's lead guitar vocabulary; the spots when the lyrics sink into melodrama or awkwardness; the lack of subtlety and the infrequent dynamic contrast. Everything adds up to more than the sum of its parts, as though the anxieties behind the music simply demanded that the band achieve catharsis by steamrolling everything in its path, including its own limitations. Monolithic and primally powerful, Paranoid defined the sound and style of heavy metal more than any other record in rock history.

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Musicians:

Vocals : Ozzy Osbourne
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward

Produced by Rodger Bain for Tony Hall Enterprises.
Engineers - Tom Allom & Brian Humphries.

Track List:

01. War Pigs [7:59]
02. Paranoid [2:53]
03. Planet Caravan [4:35]
04. Iron Man [5:59]
05. Electric Funeral [4:53]
06. Hand Of Doom [7:10]
07. Rat Salad [2:30]
08. Fairies Wear Boots [6:15]

With Paranoid, Black Sabbath perfected the formula for their lumbering heavy metal. On its follow-up, Master of Reality, the group merely repeated the formula, setting the stage for a career of recycling the same sounds and riffs. But on Master of Reality Sabbath still were fresh and had a seemingly endless supply of crushingly heavy riffs to bludgeon their audiences into sweet, willing oblivion. If the album is a showcase for anyone, it is Tony Iommi, who keeps the album afloat with a series of slow, loud riffs, the best of which — "Sweet Leaf" and "Children of the Grave" among them — rank among his finest playing. Taken in tandem with the more consistent Paranoid, Master of Reality forms the core of Sabbath's canon. There are a few stray necessary tracks scattered throughout the group's other early-'70s albums, but Master of Reality is the last time they delivered a consistent album and its influence can be heard throughout the generations of heavy metal bands that followed.

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Musicians:

Vocals : Ozzy Osbourne
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward

Produced by Rodger Bain for Tony Hall Enterprises.
Art Direction: Mike Stanford. Design: Bloomsbury Group.

Track List:

01. Sweet Leaf [5:06]
02. After Forever [5:27]
03. Embryo [0:28]
04. Children Of The Grave [5:17]
05. Orchid [1:31]
06. Lord Of This World [5:27]
07. Solitude [5:02]
08. Into The Void [6:14]

Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 is just a cut below its two indisputably classic predecessors, as it begins to run out of steam — and memorable riffs — toward the end. However, it finds Sabbath beginning to experiment successfully with their trademark sound on tracks like the ambitious, psychedelic-tinged, multi-part "Wheels of Confusion," the concise, textured "Tomorrow's Dream," and the orchestrated piano ballad "Changes" (even if the latter's lyrics cross the line into triteness). But the classic Sabbath sound is still very much in evidence; the crushing "Supernaut" is one of the heaviest tracks the band ever recorded.

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Musicians:

Vocals : Ozzy Osbourne
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward

All arangement by Blac Sabbath. Produced by Patrick Meehan and Black Sabbath.
Engineers: Colin Caldwell/Vic Smith. Recorded at Record Plant Los Angeles.

Track List:

01. Wheels Of Confusion [8:03]
02. Tomorrow's Dream [3:13]
03. Changes [4:46]
04. FX [1:44]
05. Supernaut [4:39]
06. Snowblind [5:34]
07. Cornucopia [3:55]
08. Laguna Sunrise [2:56]
09. St. Vitus Dance [2:30]
10. Under The Sun [5:53]

Many consider Black Sabbath's 1973 release, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, to be the original lineup's last true classic album. Drug use and alcoholism were beginning to overtake the band (leading to Ozzy Osbourne's eventual departure by decade's end), yet they were still firing on all cylinders. While the casual fan may only be familiar with one selection (the storming title track), Sabbath Bloody Sabbath follows in the tradition of its predecessors, delivering a consistent set of songs from beginning to end. Tony Iommi's riff for "A National Acrobat" remains one of his best and heaviest, while other highlights include the strangely uplifting "Sabbra Cadabra" (which Metallica would cover 25 years later for their Garage Inc. compilation), the cautionary tales "Killing Yourself to Live" and "Who Are You," plus the sci-fi-tinged "Spiral Architect." As with past albums, a tranquil selection is included as a break from all the metallic fury; in this case, it's the gorgeous yet melancholic instrumental "Fluff." Sabbath Bloody Sabbath remains one of Sabbath's all-time best albums.

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Musicians:

Vocals : Ozzy Osbourne
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward

Produced by Black Sabbath for Excellency Production.
Engineered by Mike Butcher. Coordination by Mark Forster. Direction: Patric Meehan.

Track List:

01. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath [5:44]
02. A National Acrobat [6:13]
03. Fluff [4:10]
04. Sabbra Cadabra [5:54]
05. Killing Yourself to Live [5:39]
06. Who Are You? [4:10]
07. Looking for Today [5:05]
08. Spiral Architect [5:32]

Years of constant touring, alcoholism, and drug abuse finally began to affect Black Sabbath around the time of their sixth release, 1975's Sabotage. While it's not a bad album (in fact, it's one of their most underrated), you can sense that the magical chemistry that made such albums as Paranoid and Vol. 4 so special was beginning to disintegrate. But guitarist Tony Iommi again comes equipped with an arsenal of sturdy, ultra-heavy riffs, as evidenced by the raucous album opener, "Hole in the Sky," as well as the drug-induced anthem "Symptom of the Universe" – both tracks coming as close to garage rock as Sabbath ever got. But the album's biggest surprise is the melodic, synth-laced "Am I Going Insane (Radio)," which is more akin to '70s power pop than to the band's patented doom metal (although the lyrics are what you'd expect – detailing a person's downward spiral into dementia). Although often overlooked, Sabotage remains an interesting and challenging release.

www.allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Ozzy Osbourne
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward

Produced by Black Sabbath with Mike Butcher.
Engineered by Mike Butcher and Robin Black. Tape Operator ans saboteur - David Harris
Recorded at Morgan Studios, London and Brussels. Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York.

Track List:

01. Hole In The Sky [4:00]
02. Don't Start (Too Late) [0:49]
03. Symptom Of The Universe [6:29]
04. Megalomania [9:42]
05. Thrill Of It All [5:56]
06. Supertzar [3:44]
07. Am I Going Insane (Radio) [4:10]
08. The Writ [8:19]

Black Sabbath was unraveling at an alarming rate around the time of their second to last album with original singer Ozzy Osbourne, 1976's Technical Ecstasy. The band was getting further and further from their original musical path, as they began experimenting with their trademark sludge-metal sound. While it was not as off-the-mark as their final album with Osbourne, 1978's Never Say Die, it was not on par with Sabbath's exceptional first five releases. The most popular song remains the album closer, "Dirty Women," which was revived during the band's highly successful reunion tour of the late '90s. Other standouts include the funky "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" and the raging opener, "Back Street Kids." The melodic "It's Alright" turns out to be the album's biggest surprise — it's one of drummer Bill Ward's few lead vocal spots with the band.

www.allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Ozzy Osbourne
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward

Recorded at Criteria Studios, Miami, Florida.
Engineered by Robin Black, assisted by Spock Wall Mixed at Criteria Studios by Tony Iommi and Robin Black.
Mastered at Warner Bros. Studios, California, by Tony Iommi and Bob Hata.

Track List:

01. Back Street Kids [3:50]
02. You Won't Change Me [6:38]
03. It's Alright [4:02]
04. Gypsy [5:11]
05. All Moving Parts (Stand Still) [5:03]
06. Rock 'N' Roll Doctor [3:31]
07. She's Gone [4:56]
08. Dirty Women [7:14]

After going their separate ways for a brief period following the emotionally taxing and drug-infested Technical Ecstasy tour, Black Sabbath and singer Ozzy Osbourne reconciled long enough to record 1978's Never Say Die! — an album whose varied but often unfocused songs perfectly reflected the band's uneasy state of affairs at the time. Even the surprisingly energetic title track, which seemed to kick things off with a promising bang, couldn't entirely mask the group's fading enthusiasm just beneath the surface after a few repeated listens. The same was true of half-hearted performances like "Shock Wave" and "Over to You," and there were several songs on the record that sound strangely disjointed, specifically "Junior's Eyes" and the synthesizer-doused "Johnny Blade" — as though their creation came in fits and starts, rather than through cohesive band interaction. But when it came to wild, stylistic departures, one's disappointing realization that the lurching, saxophone-led "Breakout" came from — and then went back to — absolutely nowhere was easily offset by the stunningly successful oddity that was "Air Dance." Arguably the most experimental song in Black Sabbath's entire canon, this uncharacteristically mild-mannered and effortlessly evocative ballad saw Tony Iommi's normally bullish guitar giving way to simply mesmerizing piano flourishes performed by leading session keyboardist Don Airey. If only it had represented a bold new direction (albeit one that die-hard fans would never have accepted) rather than just another sign of the band's quickly fraying sense of identity, Black Sabbath's original lineup may have found a way to save itself — but Never Say Die!'s incoherent musical aggregate in fact betrayed the harsh reality that it was indeed too late. So even though those same die-hard Black Sabbath fans and completists will likely find some redeeming value in Never Say Die! after all these years, the original lineup's final gasp will hold little interest to the average heavy metal fan.

www.allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Ozzy Osbourne
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward

Engineered by Dave Harris, assisted by Spock Wall.
Recorded at Sounds Intercharge, Toronto, Canada.

Track List:

01. Never Say Die [3:51]
02. Johnny Blade [6:29]
03. Junior's Eyes [6:43]
04. A Hard Road [6:03]
05. Shock Wave [5:16]
06. Air Dance [5:17]
07. Over To You [5:23]
08. Breakout [2:36]
09. Swinging The Chain [4:16]

Many had left Black Sabbath for dead at the dawn of the '80s, and with good reason – the band's last few albums were not even close to their early classics, and original singer Ozzy Osbourne had just split from the band. But the Sabs had found a worthy replacement in former Elf and Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio, and bounced back to issue their finest album since the early '70s, 1980's Heaven and Hell. The band sounds reborn and re-energized throughout. Several tracks easily rank among Sabbath's all-time best, such as the vicious album opener, "Neon Knights," the moody, mid-paced epic "Children of the Sea," and the title track, which features one of Tony Iommi 's best guitar riffs. With Heaven and Hell, Black Sabbath were obviously back in business. Unfortunately, the Dio-led version of the band would only record one more studio album before splitting up (although Dio would return briefly in the early '90s). One of Sabbath's finest records.

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Musicians:

Vocals : Ronnie James Dio
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward

Produced and engineered by Martin Birch.
Music written and arranged by Butler/Dio/Iommi/Ward. Lyrics by Ronnie James Dio.

Track List:

01. Neon Knights [3:53]
02. Children Of The Sea [5:35]
03. Lady Evil [4:25]
04. Heaven And Hell [6:59]
05. Wishing Well [4:07]
06. Die Young [4:46]
07. Walk Away [4:26]
08. Lonely Is The Word [5:51]

1981's Mob Rules was the second Black Sabbath album to feature vertically challenged singer Ronnie James Dio, whose powerful pipes and Dungeons and Dragons lyrics initially seemed like the perfect replacement for the recently departed and wildly popular Ozzy Osbourne. In fact, all the ingredients which had made their first outing, Heaven and Hell, so successful are re-utilized on this album, including legendary metal producer Martin Birch (Deep Purple, Whitesnake, etc.) and supporting keyboard player Geoff Nichols. And while it lacks some of its predecessor's inspired songwriting, Mob Rules was given a much punchier, in-your-face mix by Birch, who seemed re-energized after his work on New Wave of British Heavy Metal upstarts Iron Maiden's Killers album. Essentially, Mob Rules is a magnificent record, with the only serious problem being the sequencing of the material, which mirrors Heaven and Hell's almost to a tee. In that light, one can't help but compare otherwise compelling tracks like "Turn Up the Night" and "Voodoo" to their more impressive Heaven and Hell counterparts, "Neon Knights" and "Children of the Sea." This unhappy streak is finally snapped by the unconventional "E5150," a synthesizer-driven instrumental. Then, the unbelievably heavy, seven-minute epic "The Sign of the Southern Cross" delivers one of the album's best moments before unleashing the roaring title track. Side two is less consistent, hiding the awesome "Falling off the Edge of the World" (perhaps the most overlooked secret gem to come from the Dio lineup) amongst rather average tracks like "Slipping Away" and "Over and Over." Over the next year, the sh*t would hit the fan for Black Sabbath, and Dio's exit would mark Mob Rules as the last widely respected studio release of the band's storied career.

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Musicians:

Vocals : Ronnie James Dio
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward
Keyboards : Geoff Nicholls

Produced and engineered by Martin Birch.
Recorded with The Recrods Plant L.A.

Track List:

01. Turn Up The Night [3:43]
02. Voodoo [4:33]
03. The Sign Of The Southern Cross [7:50]
04. E5150 [2:50]
05. The Mob Rules [3:16]
06. Country Girl [4:03]
07. Slipping Away [3:46]
08. Falling Off The Edge Of The World [5:04]
09. Over And Over [5:31]

The idea sure looked good on paper, but when former Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan joined Black Sabbath for 1983's dreadful Born Again album, the grim reality was that Gillan's bluesy vocal style and oftentimes humorous lyrics were completely incompatible with the lords of doom and gloom. Widely deemed the band's creative nadir (although a few later efforts like Cross Purposes and Forbidden give it a run for its money), Born Again also featured one of the worst album covers ever (it's been voted!), and the subsequent world tour was so troubled and tragicomic that the band's Stonehenge stage set wound up serving as inspiration for the ultimate rock & roll spoof movie, This Is Spinal Tap, when it was discovered to be too large to fit inside most venues! Born Again's equally atrocious "production" leaves one with the distinct impression that, in a misguided attempt to record the heaviest album ever, Black Sabbath came away with the muddiest instead. Among the smoking ruins that pass for its songs, one might find it possible to appreciate Gillan's trademarked double entendres on "Disturbing the Priest," pick out a decent melody within the messy title track, and get down to some mercifully straightforward headbanging with "Digital Bitch" and the album's lone classic, "Trashed." But the remaining detritus, composed of embarrassing numbers like "Zero the Hero," "Hot Line," and "Keep It Warm" and pointless sound effect interludes "Stonehenge" and "The Dark," is simply beyond painful. By comparison, even the barely-recognizable-as-Sabbath material found on 1986's belated comeback, Seventh Star – originally planned as a Tony Iommi solo effort, to be fair – sounds pretty damn good. But by then, Black Sabbath's greatly anticipated association with Ian Gillan had gone down as one of heavy metal's all-time greatest disappointments, and nearly killed the genre's founding fathers in the process.

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Musicians:

Vocals : Ian Gillan
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Geezer Butler
Drums : Bill Ward
Keyboards : Geoff Nicholls

Recorded at The Manor Studio, Shipton on Cherwell Oxfordshire, England.
Produced by Robin Black and Black Sabbath.

Track List:

01. Trashed [4:20]
02. Stonehenge [1:58]
03. Disturbing The Priest [5:56]
04. The Dark [0:45]
05. Zero The Hero [7:40]
06. Digital Bitch [3:44]
07. Born Again [6:41]
08. Hot Line [4:58]
09. Keep It Warm [5:39]

An often misunderstood and underrated album, 1986's Seventh Star was never intended to be a Black Sabbath release, as the band had effectively broken up following its disastrous 1984 tour in support of career low point Born Again. Instead, Seventh Star was conceived as guitarist Tony Iommi's first solo project, and it was only record company pressure that forced him to resurrect his longtime band's moniker at the last minute. With this in mind, one can better appreciate both the record's more blues-based, often un-Sabbath-like songwriting and the contributions made by journeyman singer Glenn Hughes (ex-Trapeze, Deep Purple, etc.), whose incredibly emotive and soulful vocal style was completely at odds with the deadpan delivery of Sabbath's most recognizable singer, Ozzy Osbourne (a discrepancy that would spell his quick exit when the necessary classics were wheeled out for the ensuing world tour). Still, within the unique circumstances of Seventh Star's creation, Hughes' fiery tunefulness made aggressive hard rockers like "In for the Kill," "Turn to Stone," and "Danger Zone" uncommonly catchy, and gorgeous ballads such as "Angry Heart/In Memory…" and "No Stranger to Love" all the more heart-rending. Tellingly, his efforts fell resoundingly flat on the bluesy aimlessness of "Heart Like a Wheel" and the gothic menace of the title track, making it possible for keener observers to foresee the troubles ahead. Yet, in light of the even more traumatic difficulties that preceded it, Seventh Star – for all its uncharacteristic sonic qualities – actually represents the turning of a corner for Black Sabbath's lengthy career, which steadily regained momentum in the years that followed.

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Musicians:

Vocals : Glenn Hughes
Guitars : Tomy Iommi
Bass : Dave Spitz
Drums : Eric Singer
Keyboards : Geoff Nicholls

Produced by Jeff Glixman.
Originally mastered by Greg Fulginity at Aristan Sound Records.

Track List:

01. In For The Kill [3:43]
02. No Stranger To Love [4:30]
03. Turn To Stone [3:03]
04. Sphinx (The Guardian) [1:12]
05. Seventh Star [5:21]
06. Danger Zone [4:25]
07. Heart Like A Wheel [6:38]
08. Angry Heart [3:07]
09. In Memory… [2:34]