Black Sabbath

Imagine: It is 1970. The heaviest thing you'd ever heard was Jimi Hendrix, maybe a little Blue Cheer if you were really spicy. You're browsing in the record shop and see this spooky looking album with a grainy picture of a woman in a field on it. You buy it out of curiosity, and bring it home. You pop it on to your record player, and are greeted with the sounds of rain. And then, suddenly, thundering guitars, playing an evil riff, with a man yelling at a satanic figure giving him nightmarish visions. Nothing could prepare you for this. It was unlike anything else at the time. And it STILL holds up today.

Black Sabbath - more like Slack Babbath

yess, instant 5/5. first heavy metal album in history.

On a monday morning, looking at this album cover, I wish it was October. This is the perfect spooky album opening up quickly with a mention of Satan as this evil vile woman stands in the wood ready to curse an unsuspecting bloke...or maybe she already has? Is she the Wizard? We can't be sure, but the vibe Sabbath put out on this album is insane. The distorted guitar, the harmonica (a devil in disguise type instrument), and I just heard "lucifer" as I write this. I can't imagine how the young and old of America took this album when it came out. Were they scared? Were they repentant? All I know is I'll be coming back to the altar to listen to some of these hellish hits. And in fact, I did, listening to this album again with my brother. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to keep the Sabbath holy.

The birth of heavy metal. Still finding it's way here but they were blazing a trail afterall. I find Black Sabbath's music to be delightfully heavy and thoroughly enjoyable. Some of the most infectious riffs ever. Love the interplay of guitar and bass. Love the tones. Perhaps the greatest example of a band taking a theme and unintentionally turning it into a whole genre. They tapped into something people didn't even realize they were hungry for. Critics hated it at the time and shit on it. Look at the original reviews of their albums from Rolling Stone and then look at how they then have to flip and eat crow and give their albums like 5 stars and include them in their top albums of all time lists now. To me heavy metal is like comic books, an art form that at the outset was seen as juvenile and crude but has gone on to mature and gain more respect over time (hell, you could say the same if rock and roll itself). And like comic books, I think if you don't get into heavy metal in your youth, it can be harder to find your way into it later in life. Black Sabbath are easily my favorite heavy metal band and the key to unlocking all that came in their wake.

When you order Led Zeppelin from aliexpress.com.

One of the greatest collections of riffs known to man. I don’t have a bad word to say about this album. The highlight for me: Geezer Butler’s intrepid bass lines. This album does not give a fuck what you think about it. Too much reverb? No way, no such thing! Another tempo change? Sure, the more the merrier! Two guitar solos at the same time? Fuck it, why not?!

“You can only trust yourself and the first six Black Sabbath albums.” -Henry Rollins

The first heavy metal album of all time and it's by the Prince of Darkness. All-time great. \m/

More grooves and toons than I expected but mostly riffs, riffs, riffs, riffs, riffs, riffs, riffs. Not bad in theory but in practise led to me zoning out, making this background music with pretensions. Some humour, musically speaking. How much Ozzy's voices adds to the mix is up for debate. Not so the lyrics. They're dumb as all hell. I'm being stingy with the rating. I feel I've got to protect that second star.

Finally some Sabbath! I actually haven't heard their debut before, but of course I've heard "The Wizard." The lore behind this thing is fascinating. Recorded in twelve hours, with Tony Iommi's plastic fingers forcing the guitar into a dark dimension. Every track on here bangs, I'm stupefied. The jazzy drumming that opens "Wicked World" blew me away. I also love that the version I'm hearing mashes songs together, like someone just found these recordings in a collapsed garage and tried to piece it all together. Not sure what else to say, this is a perfect album. Favorite tracks: The Wizard, Black Sabbath, Wasp/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Bassically/N.I.B. Album art: Love the text, love the colors, and this picture genuinely scares me. I was looking at this last night on my phone and it terrified me, like I was going to see this woman take a few steps toward me or something. 5/5

Standouts: "The Wizard," "NIB" (my favorite Sabbath track), "Wicked World" Lyrics- 3/5 Vocals- 4/5 Instrumentals- 4/5 Vibes- 3/5 Overall 4/5 Black Sabbath is iconic and I do enjoy listening to them, while not being overly familiar with their discography. This album has some great tracks, but what really stands out to me are the instrumentals. They just resonate so well, they sound grimy in a very calculated way. Fuzzy in a very precise way. Ozzy when compared to other vocalists is not the best, but his voice is instantly recognizable and iconic and fits perfectly with the vibe that Black Sabbath cultivates on this record. I do think though that this record is weaker than some of the other stuff I have heard from them. However, since this is my first full Sabbath record I am keeping an open mind.

Снова ситуация, когда нам дают альбом не за проверку временем, а за его инновативность на момент выхода. в целом я не против, но опять же, если уже есть параноид, который мелодичнее, тяжелее, более цепляющий и просто лучше - так ли важно знакомиться с зачатками всех этих качеств на дебютнике? ИМХО - нет. Для себя на данном альбоме ничего нового не услышал, эпохальныхриффов не завезли, те что есть - немного сырые и неубедительно сыгранные. звук отстроен странно - в первой песне почему-то гитара одна и отведена влево (хуевое решение, право всегда более тащит), но в остальных вполне себе присутствуют стереопара с двух сторон, ну то есть они знали, что так можно делать, че в первой-то забили. В песне N. I. B., вероятно, самый годный риффак и охуенное бассовое интро, но при этом когда оно заканчивается и начинается дисторшн-басс - он звучит просто отвратительно, как зубами по жестяному ведру. Тексты какой-то херковский дроч на гот-эстетику, ничего информативного и бесконечного-вечного не несут. Каверы - это отдельная тема. Evil Woman звучит, конечно, прикольно, но ощущается полнейшим рассинхроном с основным тоном пластинки, непонятно нахуя оно здесь вообще (на параноиде, кстати, больше бы зашло наверн, там и сама заглавная песня чем-то похожа). А Warning - это продолжание традиций ебучих Кинг Кримзон, которые были уверены, что имеют право на студийном альбоме останавливать песню и 5 минут вяло ковырять свои инструменты, издавая рандомные унылые ноты. Хронометраж в 10 минут абсолютно не оправдан, хотя где-то в ядре композиции находиться вполне себе годный песняк. ну я лично оцениваю такой экспириенс в 6/10, не думаю, что каждый человек обязательно должен это послушать

2 Incredibly boring for how famous it is But gotta give it credit for being "the beginning of metal" or whatever. N.I.B is great. Triumphant. Nothing else really feels doomy as it should, but just kind of compliant and boring. Nothing feels dirty and scary like the cover, which is amazing btw.

Love

This is what I wanted from this whole experience, to discover total GOAT classics. That was awesome and I love Ozzie’s voice. Super cool.

Another iconic album that has been in my collection for many years. The debut album from Black Sabbath, an album many credit with creating Heavy Metal (TM). Unquestionably iconic. That said, this is not my favorite Sabbath album, and I never owned it on vinyl. I think they were still developing as an entity at this point, and their next 4 albums are objectively better. But that just means “really good” instead of “outstanding”. Overall, it’s just not as “tight”, as their latter albums, which is supported by the reports the whole thing was recorded in a single 12 hr session, with virtually no overdubs. Evil Woman is the only cover version in the Sabbath catalog, and it strikes me as an A&R man’s addition is search of a hit. I’ve often wondered how much better this could’ve been with a bit more care in the process, a bit more faith from the record company. But this is the first, the one that defined (not redefined) heavy music. And there’s a several great songs. This is a solid album, groundbreaking. But I’ll still prefer Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, or even Vol. 4. All of which I owned on vinyl since the 70’s. Another solid 4/5

I have no time for heavy metal and I’ve never really listened to Black Sabbath. I assumed it would be noise for about +40 minutes. Couldn’t have been more wrong. They clearly have their own sound, but what happened to metal after this. So much sh*t!!

If this list has taught me one thing, it’s that Black Sabath A-sides, have nothing in the B-sides. This is absolute carnage and chaos, but controlled in such a delicate, precise manner. Rock and fucking roll, man.

A young band had an idea. What if we make music that’s…scary. The rest is history.

I somehow missed Black Sabbath in my early teens when I listened to a ton of hard rock. I don't really understand how and why I did, but, hey, it happened. Anyway, listening to them now, I hear how great they were and the major role they played in a whole offshoot of rock music. What's particularly interesting to this album, at least the way I experience it, is how it doesn't sound stuck in time to me the way so many albums from the past can sound. I read the Wikipedia entry about how it was recorded, and I honestly believe that played a very big part in helping the album not to sound too much like the year in which it was recorded and produced. The band went into the studio and performed their live set, recording the whole thing in about 12 hours. Not much at all was done to the tracks in production. I just can't shake the feeling that had they gone the usual route with lots of overdubbing, effects, and so on, it would've been fine but would very much sound like a rock band in 1970 than what it sounds like to me. Fantastic.

Excellent album - always forget how bluesy early Sabath is - good introduction to Black Sabath for those who aren't massively into heavy metal.

Amazing. One of the most influential albums of all time

Looking back I wish I’d given Paranoid 5, especially in light of all the awful metal that we’ve had subsequently. I love the portentous storm and bell ringing sound effects leading into the title track. Like the Paranoid album it treads the fine line between silly and serious (or stupid and clever), being both enjoyable and pompous at the same time, and the song is great, swampy and heavy and then galloping, all propelled by excellent drumming and bass playing. The lyrics are also good - whereas later metal bands used satanic imagery to try and shock in an adolescent edgelord way, here the story is more about the religious fear of evil. The Wizard in the same vein is great too, and everyone is happy when the wizard walks by. Little bit of Led Zep to Behind the Wall of Sleep but some nice bounce in the bass. NIB is great, some excellent bass again and I like the riff. I didn’t realise that Evil Woman and Warning were covers at first. I don’t know the originals but I like these, they fit the whole vibe well. And Sleeping Village is excellent, a nice bluesy groove, and the slightly middle easter riff is great, and it gives a slightly different feel to the album. I don’t think it’s quite as good as Paranoid, it definitely feels like the precursor to that album (which in a Beatle-esque manner came out only 6 months later), but it’s still an excellently enjoyable bit of heavy rock, with excellent bass, drums and guitar. If Paranoid should have been a 5 this is an easy 5. 🖤🖤🖤🖤 Playlist submission: Black Sabbath

I surprised myself by giving Paranoid top marks. Black Sabbath are a great find I.e. I obvs had heard them but hadn't listened. They blow away subsequent 'heavy' rock, thrash rock/doom rock/torture rock/pain rock/injury rock, out to the furthest fucking reaches of the universe. First half powerful - second half loses structure and its way. That all comes together in the next album.

The first real Heavy Metal album: Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath featuring the song Black Sabbath. Even for the simple start of the genre, it does feature some very heavy riffs with some strong Doom Metal sounds sprinkled throughout. But for the most part, it is the early Heavy Metal and Hard Rock blend that Black Sabbath was and is known for. Even if the album in its entirety isn't the most perfect collection, the fact that the first ever album of a major genre is this consistent and great overall, is very much to appreciate. The sounds of thunder, rain and a chruch bell start the album with an ominous sound of Nature Recordings that transition abruptly into a Heavy and dark sounding atomsphere that back when this released must've sound straight up scary and disturbing. Although the song is much slower and more sombre than what most Metal will later become, it still is an absolutely incredible track. It slowly transcends you into a nocturnal and psychedelic nightmare that swings from one explosion to the next while in between it is fill with mystical lyrics that only strenghten the ominous feeling of it. The second part which picks up more speed almost feels like a chase before exploding into even bigger and greater soundscapes. If this song doesn't make feel uneasy, I can't help you anymore... This is perfect. 'The Wizard' goes more into the direction of Heavy Psych and Blues Rock with Ozzy pulling out his harmonica and giving us a Bluesy riff that is replaced by a Heavy guitar riff. If I'm being honest, this is what early Led Zeppelin tried to be but failed. It is heavy but still sounds entertaining and is extremely fun. While it isn't as perfect as the title track, it still shows as an incredible track full of great moments. I mainly prefer the more Metal songs than the ones that go more into Hard Rock. A more Psychedelic Rock touched sound finds its place on 'Behind the Wall of Sleep' which mostly shines with the weird and echoed vocal effects. The song itself starts too slow and doesn't really have enough to really work in that sense. The riffs and the guitar solo is alright but the album does much better. But I do think that the vocal performance saves this enough to still be considered a really good song otherwise... not so much. The albums best known song is probably 'N.I.B.' which, in my opinion, is like a better version of Sunshine of your Love by Cream. The riffs sound very similar but this song pulls the thing much better off. It is catchy, it is heavy, it has some great performed lyrics that match the whole aesthetic of the album and it just sounds good. The guitar solo is pulled off incredibly and no single second is wasted or out of focus. Easily a perfect song although I still think that 'Black Sabbath' is a superior Metal track. The albums second side is started with 'Evil Woman' (originally titled 'Evil Woman, Don't Play Your Games With Me') and although the chorus is really catchy and great, the vocals are mixed a little bit too quiet to fully work and show what energy is actually behind the loud facade. I also think that there isn't mearly enough heaviness on this track. It just sounds a little bit pale and except the chorus and a couple moments here and there, it's just an okay song. Good but not too good. 'Sleeping Village' returns to the Heavy Metal but before doing it starts with another ominous intro that is mixing aspects of Folk with a Jew's harp that very fittingly works here to create that ominous feeling. After the heavy sound returns we get a mostly instrumental Heavy Metal Jam that has some aspects of Blues and complex structure sprinkled throughout. The song is really great even when Ozzy isn't shining here. It then transitions into the 10 minute 'Warning' which also closes the album with a mix of Heavy Metal and Blues Rock in the form of an even longer Jam that adds even more complexity at some points that it's nearly Prog and has other moments that get close to Doom Metal. It's an incredible closing track although some moments do feel a little bit out of focus and washed out but luckily not enough to hurt the song in a major way because it still slaps. favourites: Black Sabbath, N.I.B., Warning, The Wizard least favourites: Evil Woman, Behind the Wall of Sleep Rating: decent to strong 8 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

This is a surprise to me. I though black Sabbath was all hard core rock. There is some swing in here that I was not expecting. The vocals are good too. I will likely listen again! 4/5

Prefer Paranoid, but solid record. The cover is pretty cool.

Iconic album

The birth of a new genre is always something that should be celebrated and listened to. 4.5/5

Like Cream, but way better!

Jeez. This is fine, but I don’t need Black Sabbath singing white mans blues about baby mama drama.

Birth of a new world here, glad I listened to it. Never going to listen again though.

not the type of music id listen to casually, but its great

I really keep going back and forth on this. I like how it’s bluesy, it’s interesting to listen to this knowing what Ozzy becomes, and I did have a good time listening to it. That being said some of the things this album does is objectively boring or flat out bad. Overall, did you know Tommy has no fingertips?

Groundbreaking, sure. It’s also dumb, drowsy, disjointed. Tastes like Cream, only twice as heavy and half as fresh. Standout Tracks: Black Sabbath, N.I.B.

The G.O.A.T of Heavy Metal lp’s…period!

BLACK SABBATH. This is the best album here so far. Damn I've listened to some songs here, but not the album fully. This is a blessing toy ears. Last 4-5 albums were so meh, that I started to dissappoint. My faith has restored. Now this is the birth of heavy-metal here, one best albums oat. Trully an album to listen to while alive. Songs saved: all.

Like it or not, first metal album of all time is vital. Fortunately, Black Sabbath aren’t only the first, but one of the best.

duroo

92% Best: Black Sabbath; Wasp / Behind the Wall of Sleep / Bassically / N.I.B.; Wicked World Must-Hear? Yes. Every track is killer.

My least favourite of their first six albums but that opener and NIB. The Wizard and Evil Woman are fun too. The Wizard especially probably deserved to stay in their set longer.

4.5 - Great

Which version, the one I grew up with didnt have Wicked World? Doesn't matter, it's still great.

Really impressive, perhaps not surprising. I like some metal, but never took a deep dive into the past. I should have. I can only imagine the fear the establishment and parents had when this came out. Thanks BS, for ushering in a new era of music for us all. Five dark pentagrams.

10/09/2025 I've only ever listened to classic Sabbath songs before, but i enjoyed this.

This album is fantastic. Has been a top album of mine for years and years. It's rare you get so much talent in one group. It's a classic metal album. Arguably the "First". And the influence of all that came after this 1970 classic is incredible. easy 5/5

Sickest album ever

Fantastic

dit is hoe een debuut plaat moet klinken... boenk erop van eerste tot laatste noot...

Even on a Monday morning, this album gives that laying between two giant speakers, stereo at 10 feeling. 5 stars or A-.

One of the greatest albums of all time. Created and defined the whole Metal genre. Iommi's innovative approach to electric guitar has inspired five generations, and his influence shows no sign of fading. This album was my musical awakening. I bought it the first time I saw it on the shelf, and it has never left my stack of favorites.

Before this, I had mainly just known War Pigs and Iron Man, and while I enjoyed them, I never felt the need to dive deeper into their discography. I'm glad I got this album, because it really solidified in my head what Black Sabbath was and why they were great. There were no bad tracks, and it took me two listens to even pick a favorite. I ended up going with the last track, because it most exemplified my favorite parts of the album. Favorite Track: A Bit of Finger / Sleeping Village / Warning

Oooooh shit. The guitar on this slaps. Am I a Sabbath fan now? I guess so

A very powerful sense of dread

One of my favorites. The one that started it all. My friends and I would listen to this album in the dark and dig the heavy sound. This one goes to 11.

Ozzy for life

MASTERPIECE 10/10 (warning is only mid song)

Thanks to the Wizard everything started. One of my most favorite albums.

essential

Gear: ZMF Bokeh Artwork: 🏚️👩🏻‍🦱👻 Production (2009 Remastered): 🎧😘🤌 Music: 🖤🌪️🔨🐢💀🔥 Rating: 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇/5

bill ward is such a badass drummer. this is what i consider proper rock and roll. ozzy's vocals are so underrated. he's got the range of bono but actually making good music. changed the course of rock and roll and also holds up today 55 years later as being heavier than the current hits while also still being accessible.

So cool to hear how they were figuring things out. Paranoid definitely benefits from this experimentation. So much harmonica! And jaw harp?!? LOL.

You can only trust yourself and the first four Sabbath albums Half an hour that changed music

This is the first time I've listened to this album in its entirety!! I loved it!! I need this in my collection!!

Banger

fuck yeah. i can hear so many other rock songs that this stuff could be an influence of, no wonder they call him the godfather of heavy metal. Warning, what a ballad!

Yes, yes, yes! You just have to hear the opening and you'll know what it's about. The church bells, the thunderstorm, the riff, and then the cover, all perfectly arranged; "Black Sabbath" begins. Brilliant.

One of the best debut albums of all time.

This is about as good as it gets when it comes to debut albums. I'm coming to find out more and more that there's something about Black Sabbath that scratches my brain in all the right places.

Always enjoy listening to early Sabbath. This album is a good showpiece as to how tight a band Sabbath were. All stand out tracks for me and in particular enjoyed, behind the wall of sleep and NIB this time around.

I like black sabbath by black sabbath on black sabbath

I think this might be the first and only time I give an album a 5* rating halfway through! :) It has been foretold. Utterly brilliant, I forgot just how much I love this first album and how great it sounds. Thank you 1001 :)

Fucking awesome

Arguably the first metal album ever, and what a banger it is. Still a unique sound 50 years on. It does meander a bit in the latter half but still.

godinhos

HERE COMES HEAVY METAL! \m/ well, what... can i say? here's where everything starts. although it's still not as good as "Paranoid", i may say. but still a 5.

Killer album. The noodling gets a bit masturbatory in the last two thirds of the album, but it's a damn good album.

It’s Black Sabbath. The beginning of Heavy Metal starts here!

I love u ozzy

Not much on notes, this was great, and for the 70s? Speechless with how good was this

Thanks Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill for inventing heavy metal, the greatest music genre known to man.

Onhan tämä mestariteos. Ehdottimasti kyseisten veikkojen parasta antia! : ) 5/5

Great album, so ahead of its time and influential while still having a classic bluesy sound

gr8

Great guitar

I like the heavy blues sound

Wow. Never heard this album before and it was brilliant! So many great riffs and guitar solos, right up my street.

My #10 GAOAT! (10) ★★★★★

Best debut album ever Stupendous

I reviewed this in another project I have running in parallel. I gave it a 5 then, I’m giving it a five now. ‘nuff said!

This album is roots for so much and just pure gold.

And now we are back to the albums that define my musical taste. This album never gets old. Absolutely brilliant. Ozzys fresh voice and doomish start for this album make me still go goosebumps.

This is one of my most listened albums of all time, so I'm very partial to it. It's at #80 in my albums top 100 according to last.fm, which doesn't have any listening data from 80's or 90's, starting at about 2004.

Such an incredible and groundbreaking album that, fortunately, still holds up so well today. The atmosphere this album creates is like anything before it and went on to shape music forever. The riffs are amazing, the bluesy songs are great, and most importantly it remains one of the best doom albums to this day. I don't know where this would rank in my overall Sabbath rankings but it is something I come back to often. Metal has changed significantly since this but Black Sabbath still stands on its own today.

you can't go wrong with any of the first six Sabbath albums. their 1970 debut is arguably the first metal album in history so, once again, we're seeing history play out in the listening process! the late '60s were a bit of a mad dash to see how loud and heavy blues rock bands could play before the music they made took on a new identity. while Black Sabbath is, for the most part, a blues album, Tony Iommi's particular use of distortion sends the whole band into a different echelon. (his guitar tone is incredible, by the way.) while Cream had pushed the boundaries of this heavy blues sound just a couple years prior, Sabbath played much harder and even louder. the most obviously metallic song in the bunch is the title track, with its famous tritone riff and slow, ominous tempo. beyond that and the brilliant "N.I.B." (which also has some of the best metal riffs of all time), I think you're better off approaching this as a blues album. that's not to say this isn't metal; since the tropes of the genre were still being established, it just doesn't sound like metal as we think of it today. Paranoid, released just 7 months after Black Sabbath, is a brilliant evolution in approach that I think more truly signals the beginning of heavy metal proper. that being said, one never would've happened without the other, and this debut (their live set at the time, recorded in a single 12-hour session with minimal overdubbing) is an excellent showcase of Black Sabbath's raw talent. decent 9/10.

Classic Loud gloomy doomy listen Perfect album

I don’t there’s ever been a better statement of intent than the storm sounds at the start of this album. I sometimes forget that this album was released the same year as Let It Be. That storm lets you know that a change is coming, and over the next 8 tracks an entirely new genre of rock music will be birthed, kicking and screaming. This is up there with the greatest debut albums of all time and it still feels fresh and exciting to this day. Even the cover is mysterious and sinister in a way that makes you want to listen to is. Geezer Butler doesn’t get enough credit for absolutely carrying this whole record (and band) on the back of his bass lines.

Makes me want to headbang and play air guitar. One of the coolest first records a band has released.

The birth of Heavy Metal. One of the most iconic, influential albums. Masterpiece! Nothing more to add, ignorance is the only route to less than 5 stars.