Review Summary: From the first strike of thunder, the boys invent something absolutely vile.
It's always astonishing when a band releases two masterpiece albums within a single year, and Sabbath definitely managed to pull this off in 1970 with the release of their debut and
Paranoid. Many people see
Paranoid as being better, but in all honesty, the debut gets my vote as to which of the two is better. From the very first sounds of a funeral bell and thunderstorm opening the record to the jazzy drumbeat of "Wicked World", this album enchants you with a charm (or a curse?) dragging you in with its hypnotic melodies and making you addicted to the sweet symphony of the birth of our savior--heavy metal--.
"Black Sabbath" is still the darkest and most evil-sounding song released in the history of rock 'n' roll, with Tony Iommi taking use of the devil's tritone, and Ozzy shrieking of a "black figure" telling him he is the chosen one, while the band plays the most bone-chilling, hair-raising riff known to mankind. Originally it was conceived by bassist Geezer Butler by playing the notes of "Mars, The Bringer of War" by classical composer, Gustav Holst, and if you listen to the song and compare it, you can definitely hear the influence. It's simply brilliant the way these boys went with this. "The Wizard" is one giant Tolkien reference similar to stuff Led Zeppelin's done, but its a very fun journey. The harmonica and slide guitar go insanely well together and it's a definite treat to the ears. "Behind The Wall of Sleep" features a unique switch-up from the main riff in the beginning to the structure of the rest of the song and works quite well with lyrics that flow from the tongue of the snake and ooze danger, while "N.I.B" is one of the best songs ever created, an insanely good bass solo that opens the composition before the song explodes into a silly song of the devil falling in love. This is perhaps one of the bands most iconic songs, and has a pulsing drumbeat that matches perfectly with Iommi's wizardry.
The rest of the album definitely shines as well, with "Sleeping Village" being one of their most unique head-bangers, and "Warning" being one of Ozzy's best vocal performances; he absolutely kills here and the song has one of Iommi's greatest solos that was initially much longer but got trimmed down by Rodger Bain because he felt the solo would "make the record too long and confuse listeners."
Congrats, Bain, you're one of my least favorite people ever now! "Wicked World" wasn't on the original release of the album, but was added on since rereleases and therefore, I shall count it. It almost sounds like a jazz band and I mean that in the best way possible, with Iommi making one of his greatest solos ever with use of bends and quick movements that would make any beginner dizzy. Ozzy's vocals cry out in desperation of a broken world and the lyrics still ring true to this day. The only letdown really is a cover of "Evil Woman", which is a chore to sit through and even the band hates it. It doesn't fit in all too well with the rest of the album as well, making it quite a heavy case of whiplash after everything else.
Besides that, its a perfect record from start to finish, and perhaps the single most important record to the metal genre as a whole. If The Beatles are the most influential band within the genre of rock, then I'd go on and state that Black Sabbath are basically
The Beatles of metal music. This gets my vote as the greatest debut album of all time, and yet still isn't even their best album as they went on to release even bolder, grander music!
Track By Track:
1. Black Sabbath: ★★★★★ 🎖️
2. The Wizard: ★★★★★
3. Behind The Wall of Sleep: ★★★★
4. N.I.B: ★★★★★
5. Evil Woman: ★
6. Sleeping Village: ★★★★
7. Warning: ★★★★★
8. Wicked World: ★★★★★
