Black Sabbath

At first i thought this album was not exactly my cup of tea but more and more i listened through the album i really liked it. The riffs and guitar works in this album was wonderful and reminded me of early led zeppelin. My favorite track from this album is warning.

Dark, heavy, iconic

The birth of heavy metal, 10/10 album.

honestly not loving it so far. Liked the 2nd half of Wasp.

Idk it was fine I guess. Some cool guitar riffs but just not really my jam. 2, maybe 2.5 stars.

Favorite Track: The Wizard

From the opening sounds of the rain and thunder, this is a perfect listen for Halloween. Truly establishing the foundation of metal to come.

The perfect album for Halloween, dark, brooding, and powerful. There’s a bit more of a blues rock feel similar to bands like Cream than there is on later albums, but this album still feels very original and is an impressive opening statement for a band in the process of inventing a whole new genre.

Whether or not this is the ‘first heavy metal album’ is a vexed question, but it certainly has a strong claim, deviating significantly from the standard blues-rock crowd with its heavy, downtuned guitars, lyrics filled with occult references, and doom-laden atmosphere. These features are most noticeable on the excellent first side, particularly on the title track and ‘N.I.B.’, the two best songs. Side two is definitely not as strong, containing two serviceable covers and with long jam sections that aren’t always the most inspired. But overall it’s a good start for Black Sabbath, and arguably a new genre.

uhhh yeah was good

Overall pretty good, and I liked it pretty well, having never heard it before. Not nearly as muddy/sludgy as the sound they achieved on “Paranoid”; I’m guessing they were still searching for their sound a bit here, since this was the debut album. Can see how Christgau might compare them unfavorably to Cream, as it does sound like they were mining some of the same territory here. Enjoyed reading in the background info how their bassist figured out the lines he wanted to play, and enjoyed reading about how Tony Iommi had to make some pretty major changes to his guitar stringing to accommodate a significant hand injury. Knowing their history, seeing what they were intending, and seeing where they eventually got, I can comfortably award this four stars.

PERFECT TIMING!!! Halloween is in 2 days. One of my favorite bands. And this is the album that started it all. Not just for them, but for metal in general. I have always found side 1 to be better than side 2. But it’s still a perfect record overall that changed music forever. And that title track might be the best album opener ever

Nostalgia for 1970 England

Solid, a little heavy for my taste. And Eddie may have a unique voice and all but I don't reallt feel that I want to listen to more of it.

Maybe my favorite from one of the greatest metal bands of all time. The self-titled track is still absolutely insane. Like a horror movie in song form, replete with those great wails of fear from Ozzy. The rest of the album is nowhere near as “scary”- rather, things turn towards catchy hard rock/blues. “The Wizard” is a gem featuring an awesome harmonica performance, once again courtesy of Ozzy. “Evil Woman Don’t Ya Play Your Games With Me” is a classic pop tune, certainly foreshadowing their later chart success with the singles from Paranoid. “The Wasp/Wall of Sleep/N.I.B.” amps up the heaviness with several iconic Iommi riffs to guide the way, but absolutely keeps the catchiness going. As Zakk Wylde wisely once declared, the song is “the cat’s pajamas.” “Wicked World” expertly combines an early metal riff with a psychedelic solo and more great vocals. Overall the album is chock full of awesome songs and you still get a sense of the band’s groundbreaking sound 50+ years since it dropped. Large part of that is one of the greatest vocalists of all time and the riff-meister making their debuts.

Ah, my childhood!

Not for me

jam band or metal?

you da man, Ozzy

4.5/5. Whether you believe this album started metal doesn’t matter (even if it totally did), it just rocks. So much gloom, atmosphere, and raw darkness is present in this record. Iommi’s riffs range from doomy dirges to bluesy rockers, but they all have that underlying sense of evil. Geezer’s bass is haunting, and Ward’s swing really sets the apart from other hard rock outfits on the bluesier numbers. And how can you not love Ozzy. That man sells every song, leaving you both afraid of him, but also rooting for him. Not their absolute best, but it’s still amazing. Either the US or UK versions are great. Every song is great or at least fun.

birth of Heavy Metal…. !!!!

Enjoyed this old ass Metal album more than I thought I would!

Pioneering. Walked so paranoid could run. You can feel the start of something big being born across this record

Good.

bubu dont like. anaar kinda liked.

The atmosphere is SO interesting

Will: 4/5 Hello this is my first review and I’m voice memoing it in. I like the album. Even though it doesn’t sound super loud and their playing is pretty sloppy, for the time that it was recorded and how young they were it’s pretty ridiculous. You can see how a lot of bands are inspired by them for example Alice In Chains. Ozzie’s voice is silly good and listening to the album really made me wanna see them at a gig in Birmingham in a dingy little room and I wanna know what Aussie is doing during all the bits where he’s not singing, which is most of the album. Love youThanks for reading. JJ: 3.5/10 . seminal, first riff based album. What is this out? My review? Seminole first riff based album you’ve got that bit okay we’re going further on… There’s a lot of guitar solos almost in some kind of weird jazz way. I don’t think that was intentional but you can hear how it shapes the future of heavy music for sure, pretty-important. thanks love you bye Side note from both: second album is done in the same year 7 months later and sounds insane how the funk did they do that.

great, but i like some of their other albums better

Incredible bass playing on this, with satisfying and spooky ambiance. I am not big on long tracks, even if I mostly liked the music. I also can't help but compare this to Paranoid, which was a no skips album for me. This is a skips album.

Rather dated but an important album. I particularly like “The Wizard”, a nice bluesy track unlike the rest of this rather pedestrian album.

Album #315 Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath My favourite song on Black Sabbath’s debut album, Black Sabbath, has gotta be “Black Sabbath”. As someone who has barely listened to any metal, I’ve always considered Black Sabbath to be my favourite metal band, simply on the strength of Paranoid alone, but admittedly my knowledge of their discography is pretty scant. I really do like the atmosphere and texture of their debut; it certainly does have a sinister, cultish feeling to it, which is best seen on the opening track. But honestly, the music doesn’t feel too ‘metal’ to me; if anything, it bears more of a resemblance to some Led Zeppelin-esque blues rock. Of course though, that isn’t a bad thing, and I ended up enjoying the album a good deal. In the risk of sounding basic and simple, it was no Paranoid; I mean, I get it wasn’t trying to have the fast-paced bangers in the same way, but some of the songs here definitely prioritized creating an atmosphere and in my opinion that led to them dragging a touch. Overall though, a pretty great debut and a very fitting album for the Halloween season. Best Songs: Black Sabbath, N.I.B., The Wizard Worst Song: Warning Score out of 10: 7.5

Not quite as good as Paranoid (which was released just seven months later!), but this was where it all began.

Exceptionally awful.

I really enjoyed this. Somehow I've managed to never have heard it in the last 56 years.

Short and sweet

This was a fine album, entertaining certainly and it kind of did fit the theme of the upcoming holiday, it was very halloweenish you know? But I wasnt super impressed overall, there was a couple decent tracks but mostly it didnt strike me all that much. It wasnt bad either however, so a three feels fair.

okay

Widely considered to be one of the first true metal albums, Black Sabbath is heavy, melodic, and catchy as hell. Heavy and pulsating, this is a fantastic introduction to metal music, and something I didn't think that I would like as much as I did. 8/10.

Of all the Black Sabbath albums, this sure is one of them. The next two albums are way better.

(For reference, I listened to the American release) Black Sabbath has been one of my favorite bands for a while now (despite only having heard two albums of theirs...), and this record is no exception. It's a perfect blend of blues rock, some jazz chops, and a bit of heaviness. Importantly, it's not too heavy for my liking (I'm really not a huge fan of metal in general). The riffs are simple but effective. The songs have enough movement to keep you interested. Tony Iommi is among my favorite guitarists, and Bill Ward might be my favorite drummer (although Bill Bruford might have him beat). I love the harmonica on "The Wizard," the bass solo on "Bassically," and the spring at the start of "A Bit of Finger." Side note, why is that spring there?? It almost makes me laugh whenever I hear it but it's still so good... Anyways, great record. It's Black Sabbath. If you like dad rock you'll like this. ----- #0028 Heard on: 20 Oct. 2026 Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (48 / 349) Favorite track: Wasp / Behind the Wall of Sleep / Bassically / N.I.B. Least favorite track: Wicked World

classic, simply a classic most favorite: The Wizard least favorite: Evil Woman, Don't Play Your Games With Me

Who knew Black Sabbath were good? I didn't know Ozzy was brought on as a vocalist, I thought the whole thing was his brain child

Don't let your kids listen to this, they'll become satanists. But also how cool would it have been to experience this album when it first came out and it's like nothing you ever heard before.

I will always play games.

Apparently N.I.B. was named after the drummers beard, which looked like a pen nib. TIL

Top albumish

Мого улюбленого Master of Reality з якоїсь причини тут немає. Цей альбом мені не так сильно подобається, але все одно це кайфовий альбом. Тут є одна з моїх улюблених пісень Wizard з гармонью і просто топовим програшем (з якої ще DJ Muggs зробив феноменальний біт для We Ain't Goin' Out Like That). Класична пісня N.I.B. Вплив одноіменної пісні теж, мені здається, складно переоцінити. Супер класика, яку я іноді із задоволенням переслуховую.

Супер класика, хз що тут писати. Напишу історію з дитинства. Памʼятаю колись я вийшов у двір гуляти, а в нас там була прям музична тусовка така, в тому числі один з тіпів, який сильно угорав по старому року. І він такий мені каже - а ти взагалі слухав блек саббат? Я такий - та хз, щось чув. Він таку відповідь не прийняв, побіг додому, виніс плеєр з касетою, на якій був цей альбом власне, і поставив мені NIB. Я дуже кайфанув тоді, та і це був перший раз коли я справді уважно послухав майже повністю альбом блек саббат і я памʼятаю що я був справді вражений.

Not really my style and I don't like the mixing. Riffs were great tho

Really interesting listen

All timer and still bangs

So glad this album was my introduction to the band! I love the album’s dark and sinister tone/vibe made with uncanny vocals, guitar riffs, and drums that carry a heavy and dark atmosphere. Some fave songs were: Black Sabbath and Wicked Wizard! ^^ Overall a 5/5 album and will be checking out more of their albums! :)

Very long songs. They just kept going. Instrumentals didnt shock me much. Bass was pretty cool. For 1970s it is kinda revolutionary i think so thats cool i guess

Absolutely rocks. I don't know about your streaming platform's recommendation algo, but I'd recommend just letting it roll after the album finishes. For me, it started right into a playlist full of the modern descendants of Sabbath -- Kyuss, Mastodon, etc. -- and the influence was all the more apparent. These guys are pretty famous, so I'll skip talking about Ozzy's vocals or Iommi's guitar work (both still great; prominently evident, here) and go to the rhythm section. Butler is a very competent and often very melodic bass player but I want to zero in on the *sound* of his bass. He's really carrying forward that late-sixties psychedelic tone, usually only slightly fuzzy, heavy in low-mid saturation and smooth, overall. It is, incredibly, related to the sounds of Paul Simonon's bass from the Clash, which came out of reggae influences. It fills a lot of space in their soundscape. More importantly, I think Bill Ward on drums is frequently overlooked. His kit sounds a great deal like the jazz and swing greats that heavily influenced him and you can *hear* him bringing big band sounds into this proto-metal doom soundtrack in a couple of places on this record. It's always there, but it gets *explicit* during 'Wasp' and 'Wicked World'. There are only four members of the band and they're famous enough that calling anyone their secret weapon is a stretch but, if it's anyone, it's Bill Ward. It's brilliant. You can keep singles like 'Paranoid' and 'Iron Man', I'll take this all day long. (Apologies to 'War Pigs', it'll never tire.) 5/5 essential listening; at once much more chill than modern heavy metal and yet just as heavy -- the throughline is obvious.

ブラック・サバスのファースト。この時から、すでに自分たちのサウンドを確立しているように思い、それらを拡張したものが後のParanoidや master of realityに受け継がれている。 思っていたよりは重く暗い感じはあんまりなかったけど、それはParanoidを想像しているからかな。 周りがみんなサイケとかやってる中で、これをやろうとして成功してんのはすごいよなたぶん。

I dont like it sue me😬

not for me

Première fois que j'écoute un album de Black Sabbath, et j'avais peur que ça soit trop heavy metal pour moi. C'est pas tout à fait ce que j'écoute mais ça reste pas mal avec des musiques que j'ai bien aimées comme "Black Sabbath" et "Behind the Wall of Sleep". 3/5

First metal album of all time, simply a classic and one of the most important albums ever in music.

Enjoyed this much more than I anticipated. It's incredible that something so new could be so well developed and strong already at its introduction

it kind of fizzle out towards the end but the first 3 tracks are one of the strongest introductions an artist could have

C+

I had no idea that Ozzy played harmonica (pretty well, too). In 2026, this sounds like typical early heavy metal...but when it was released, it was unlike anything else. It's like a Zeppelin or Jethro Tull album with everything but the very heaviest bits distilled away. 3 stars for historical importance and Geezer Butler's creative bass lines, not because I'll likely return to it often.

I haven't purchased this one yet, but I'll be adding it to my collection soon enough. Yes, yes - this is the start of Heavy Metal, Doom Metal, etc. and so on. But there are still all of the elements of the blues-revivalists here - from the guitar riffs to the honking harmonica. The occult themes may seem shocking, but Robert Johnson (who was discovered by the blue-revivalists in the the early 1960s and inspired them greatly) was singing about the devil back in the 1930s - he just didn't have 100w overdriven amps and effects (studio, pedal, or otherwise) to drive the point home. Don't get me wrong I love the first 4 Sabbath albums and am just as amazed as anyone at how good this run of albums is AND how heavy this debut is. But I think that it's short-sighted to think that this album and it's sound just came out of nowhere and shocked everyone. It's hard for a debut album to achieve that. Rather, Black Sabbath takes the sounds of Blues Rock and Psychedelia and mashes them together to great effect largely due to the talents and innovations of each of it's members. The result is cathartic, but that catharsis is a bit outsized because of it's retrospective nature. I was scared of Black Sabbath as a kid, or more precisely, I was scared of Ozzy. But I do love this album - just as much as I love LZs debut or Pink Floyd's output from this period, or hell, even Funkadelic's debut. But to think that anyone picking up an album titled Black Sabbath with a witch-looking lady of the cover and un upside-down cross in the gatefold didn't know what they were getting into... All that is to say that this is essential listening, and easy to call the first of this or that genre etc., but Black Sabbath were far from the only ones with this approach and sound at the time - they were just the best at it. 5 stars.

Monstrous.

Man, I really love the song "Black Sabbath" by the band Black Sabbath from their debut album Black Sabbath. But for real though, this is a great album! Not as good as Paranoid, but I think it's better than Master of Reality. This album does have my favorite guitar performance from Tony Iommi with the crazy guitar solo(s) from "Warning". Yeah, great album! It's a high 4

I really enjoyed “Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath off Black Sabbath. The rest of the album was good too I guess

Decent debut made more interesting with the backstorys

Solid debut before they really found their sound

The title track is iconic. Love Black Sabbath, but I prefer their later heavier stuff. Still, its impact on heavy metal is undeniable.

The birth of metal and being spooky scary in rock and roll.

The cover alone

Ozzy es una locura, sigue sin ser lo mejor que tiene pero ese sonido es una cosa muy propia

My first black sabbath album. what I expected and i loved it

Tolles Album, definitiv der Grundstein für Metal. Die Songs Black Sabbath und N.I.B. sind grandios! Der Rest ist aber auch stark, insbesondere die zweite Hälfte des Albums. Tolle Riffs, düstere Stimmung und Ozzys Gesang machen das ganze definitv zu einem sehr guten Album

Not as strong as Paranoid, but still an all time classic. NIB is my favorite Sabbath song!

Älskar Sabbath! Paranoid är ett av mina absoluta favoritalbum, så det är svårt att mäta sig med det, men även detta har det mesta man kan önska sig av metal.

3/5

Better than I was expecting but still not my bag. It doesn't really say anything I want to hear.

I loved this. Dark, heavy and really well performed. Revolutionary for 1970.

My recollection from listening to this a long time ago was that it felt like undeformed version of Paranoid. But wow, this really feels like a fully formed band just emerging. NIB has to be one of the all time great heavy metal songs and the title track and opening sequence are an amazing way to kick things off. Not a weak track here and helped to define a new genre of music so this is one of the few albums that it's impossible to segue shouldn't be here

This album has been in regular rotation for years. Not only is this an excellent album, but it's interesting as well. While Black Sabbath is widely considered to be a heavy metal act, this album has more of a dark blues sound than a heavy metal sound. The riffs and vocals are impeccable. There really isn't another album that sounds like this. Even Black Sabbath's following albums don't sound quite like this. This will remain in regular rotation for me.

While classic and iconic metal, there have been better black sabbath albums.

One one hand, I thought this album was so and (somewhat) boring at the start. On the other, it starts to pick up and has some decent songs, especially for the influence it had on the genre. Rating: 6/10 Favorite Song: NIB, The Wizard, Wicked World

The classic hard rock sound.

I am so excited that this album was generated for me on a day in October when it finally feels like fall! Yes, I know I've been shitting on metal this entire challenge, but Black Sabbath to me is the only exception. Especially because this one absolutely leans in a more stoner rock direction, which is a genre that I've fallen in love with over the past few years. Anyway, back to the album - all I can say is that it totally rocks. Ozzy's vocals are excellent, the drumming is superb, the bass lines are funky, and the riffs are hard as hell. And a little harmonica action too? What's not to love? Insanely impressive for a debut. Favorite tracks: I mean, there are only 5 tracks…so all of them? (If I had to choose one, it would be The Wizard)

This wasn't bad, but it wasn't my cup of tea...

High 3 so I rounded up, personally not as good as paranoid but still a great listen.

Immaculately dark vibes just ooze from the whole album. The bass lines are forceful adventurous in the best way. The distortion is glorious. The use of slow tempos, some of the slowest I can recall in rock, just keeps me sucked in. The vocal sound has become iconic. And don't get me started on the fantastic guitar solos.

Sufficiently rocks. I do think they came into their own later, but this is intensely influential. Rip iommi’s fingers of course

I preferred Vol 4 but this was still just about a 4/5 for me

Eternal.

Impossible to overstate its influence or overvalue its importance. This is the big bang.

i did listen to this whole thing, it’s not awful, just too idk….nothing i would listen to casually

I much preferred Paranoid, but this album no doubt carries some of that artistic and revolutionary tune. I didn't like the start, I thought the harmonica in The Wizard was definitely not for me and the opening song wasn't my vibe. That being said, as you progressed through the album, black sabbath's unique sound began to emerge in full force and I soon LOVED IT. I'm surprised the most popular songs were the first couple when I felt NIB and Warning were prog rock masterpieces. Were there an excessive amount of riffs? Yes, but that's BS for you.

Classic meta-metal, the album that started countless genres and subgenres

i love the instrumental

Como le hicieron para inventar un sonido tan original???

I only know the more popular songs from Black Sabbath but this was enjoyable

Mange bangers