Unitron Sabbotage

Wish they kept that working title. To many people, Sabotage is the last of the great Sabbath albums. For me, Sabotage is the band getting back on track after what I see as the mediocre Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and producing one of their best albums ever. Sabotage acts as a perfect continuation of Vol. 4's experimentation and soulful songwriting, and is brimming with anger at managers and labels screwing the band over.

There's the fistful of power that's Hole in the Sky, which swaggers so hard that it could've left them in a power strut forever. Symptom of the Universe switches between proto-thrash shredding and super chill folk rock vibes but with a real swing. Supertzar is ominous and majestic, the combination of doom riffs and choral chants just makes sense. The finale The Writ kind of reprises Supertzar's great riff but extended and without the choral arrangement to give full stage to it.

Sabotage wasn't the last great album, the creativity continued on the following two albums, and despite increasing inner struggles between the band members they'd knock it out of the park a few years later.

Unitron For the most part, the albums made by the original Black Sabbath lineup are considered untouchable legends in the world of rock and metal, that is until Technical Ecstasy. There's this idea that they just went straight from hot shit to just shit, no gradual decrease of quality, just a complete 180. To each their own if one believes that, but I think a combination of the reputation Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die get and coming from the wrong place to listen really neglects how good these albums sound.

Sabbath was already getting a bit more experimental on Sabotage, and this just continues that on a grander scale. Opener Back Street Kids is maybe 70's Sabbath's most hyper and pumped up song, sounding closer to the faster and more melodic direction metal was going in. It's Alright is the first song Bill Ward sings on, and it's a nice unique song in the band's catalogue. It has a laidback rock vibe in the vein of The Guess Who, in contrast to the incredible energetic drums that open up the following Gypsy. Honestly Bill Ward was on fire on these last two 70's Sabbath albums.

The funky All Moving Parts (Stand Still) has such a great groove, and there's something about funky songs from heavy bands in the 70's that's just instantly addicting. Rock 'n' Roll Doctor is another ridiculously catchy groove, and is the best boogie rock out there. Usually the highlight of the album is considered to be the closing Dirty Women. Personally I'm not a fan of some of the changes in sound it goes through, but the middle section is maybe Ozzy's best vocal performance ever. He has this rough and gravely tone that I've never heard him do on any other song, and hearing him almost roar "Oh dirty women, they don't mess around" over this heavy ass riff that sounds right out of the breakdown in Jethro Tull's Minstrel in the Gallery is one of the coolest sections of any song.

So yeah, it's pretty damn good. The next album would be even better though and my favorite Ozzy-era Sabbath album. Also that cover rocks, more albums should use Rene Magritte-esque surrealism.

SilentScream213 An absolute tragedy of an album. So much potential, almost all of it wasted.

Here we have all the ingredients for a great album. While most of these songs are pretty unconventional for Sabbath, they end up being some of the most unique and interesting they have ever written. The music here is great - the riffs, the atmosphere. Easily up there with Sabbath's best. Unfortunately, the production is awful. That isn't enough to completely ruin the songs, but it is not raw in an endearing way; there was a mistake in the studio apparently, and it shows. This was a mess.

Then, we have Ian Gillan. A fantastic vocalist, sure. But he just doesn't fit Sabbath. Ozzy isn't a great singer by any means, but he definitely has an ear for music, and his wails really fit Sabbath's style. Dio, there's really nothing that needs to be said; he can do just about anything. Both those vocalists wrote lyrics a little differently; Dio's lyrics were occasionally out of place in Sabbath, but his delivery was always on point, so it's forgivable. Ian has none of that. His lyrics are terrible; mostly about sex, getting drunk, rocking out, etc. On top of that, his delivery does not fit Sabbath at all. In Disturbing the Priest and Born Again, he does manage to sound somewhat menacing, but the rest of the time, he just sounds too damn happy. It doesn't fit at all.

Let it be said that there are no bad songs here, and one great one even in the title track. But the album could have been a masterpiece if handled better, and instead it's a mess full of unrealized potential.

SilentScream213 What a mixed bag. I had already heard, and now agree, that Sabotage contains some of Sabbaths absolute best material, and some of their most lackluster. It starts very strong, with an A-side that is unyielding save for a weak acoustic instrumental track. Some of Toni’s best riffs accompany Ozzy’s most impassioned vocal performance yet.

The B-side isn’t bad, not at all. It’s just so completely inferior to the A-side. Mostly hard rock tracks lacking either memorable hooks or riffs carry the listener through the second half in minor disappointment. However, nothing can be said to overstate the comeback that is the final track, “The Writ.” “The Writ” blew my mind when I first heard it. Unmistakably, I recognized that track as the birth of true Doom; in contrast to the Traditional Doom sound Sabbath coined, this track was very moody, very slow, very heavy. It was melancholic, and passionate. Somewhat progressive and eclectic. This track, I believe, is what birthed melancholic Doom Metal as a separate style to the slow but epic style of Trad Doom, and consequently, led to Death Doom and Funeral Doom.

UMUR "Black Sabbath" is the eponymously tited debut full-length studio album by UK, Birmingham based heavy metal act Black Sabbath. The album was released in Europe through Vertigo Records in February 1970. It saw a US release through Warner Bros. Records in June 1970. The US version features an alternative tracklist to the original European version, replacing the Crow cover track "Evil Woman" with an additional Black Sabbath original titled "Wicked World". The tracklist change makes sense as the band were never that happy with the inclusion of "Evil Woman", but they were pushed by their then manager to include the track, as he felt the album otherwise lacked a song with commercial appeal (and if he was shooting for a radio hit single, he was probably right).

The album was recorded in one 10-hours long session in October 1969, and it was predominantly recorded live in the studio, with lead vocalist Ozzy Osbourne recording his vocal tracks simoultaniously with the recording of the instrumental tracks. The band then spend a few hours doing some overdubs (a few vocal overdubs, the bells, thunder and rain sound effects opening the title track, and the double-tracked guitar solos on "N.I.B." and "Sleeping Village"), and then the album was more or less done. Although the contemporary music press was largely unenthusiastic about the album, it was a commercial success for Black Sabbath and after its US release, sold more than a million copies.

"Black Sabbath" is in retrospect THE seminal release which started the heavy metal movement. Although at it´s core it´s pretty much a really heavy blues rock album, there is a dark occult atmosphere to the album (which is further enhanced by the creepy cover artwork and lyrics about Lucifer and other dark themes) and some very heavy distorted riffs and rhythms, which were more extreme than similar features on the output by other contemporary heavy rockers like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and Uriah Heep. The most heavy and dark moments on this album simply transcend the term rock and belong to the then new born genre heavy metal (which it probably wasn´t labelled back then).

The album opens with the dark and doomy title track, which for contemporary ears must have been an extremely heavy track. But "The Wizard", "Behind The Wall Of Sleep", "N.I.B.", and "Sleeping Willage/Warning", are also quite dark and heavy tracks. Listening to "Evil Woman" it´s understandable the band didn´t feel it fit with the rest of the material, as it features a less heavy and lighter mood. "Wicked World" is arguably a better choice, featuring a similar heavy impact and dark atmosphere to the other tracks on the album. The album is packed in a dark, heavy, and organic sounding production, which suits the music perfectly. This one is not only a classic, it´s a great album featuring high level musical performances (real persons playing/singing, warts and all), a well sounding production, and powerful and creative songwriting. A 5 star (100%) rating is deserved.