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.

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?!

When you order Led Zeppelin from aliexpress.com.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Love

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

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

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!

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 very first metal album of all time! Revolutionary and amazing!!! :)

Düster, hart, handgemacht.

This probably isn't a 5 star album, but I'm sort of giving up on objective ratings for the day. It was just sort of what I needed to discover and listen to today.

I would love to time travel to 1970 and witness people putting this on for the first time. Album created an entire genre and influenced every metal head going forward.

GOAT, this album created the created music genre of all time and inspired so many amazing bands/artists.

What a debut album! Heavy, melodic, influential and just great.

Hard rock/heavy metal seldomly holds my attention for more than, say, thirty seconds, before it falls apart under its pretenses, inanities, tediums. Zeppelin and Sabbath are the formidable exceptions. It must be that the music Bill War, Geezer Butler, and Tony Iommi orchestrate is authentically blues-inspired, regularly funky, always improvisatory. It doesn't even feel particularly 'heavy,' at least no heavier than its progenitors - congrats to them for that. I can listen to Sabbath's enduring riffs often and gratefully.

OK, so... Indulge me for a second here... ==< [...] >== It was a dark and stormy night — and one with a particularly strong emphasis on the "dark" part. No matter how closely you move your hand to your face, you just can't make it out. In fact, if you were to mose it any closer, you'd be covering your face. Not that that would matter. Besides the occasional crash of lightning trying to pierce through the thick forest covering to light your surroundings, you were basically wandering blind. Trapped in a void that would threaten to swallow you whole, if not for the one thing guiding you: a distant church bell. Every now and then, it would toll, just barely audible above the pounding rain. You weren't sure if this was leading the way home or not — a doubt that continued to grow like a weed in your mind as you approached — but as they say, "Any port in a storm." However, very slowly, you come to a stop. A chill runs down your spine — noticeably, one that seemed to have nothing to do with how you were freezing in this rain. Something, you could just tell, was wrong. Through a large hole in the forest canopy, you could see another bolt of lightning flash, lighting up the forest and the cloudy sky. As well as... Something standing off in the distance. You couldn't tell what it was; it was too far away, shrouded in blur and a silhouette... But you could gather one thing: it was big. Very big. The church bell rang in the distance. Lightning flashed again, and the shape in the distance seemed to have gotten... Bigger? The wind picked up to a sharp howl, which forced you to shut your eyes to keep them from stinging. You rubbed your arms, trying to keep yourself warm, but it was like trying to light a match underwater — good luck with that. The church bell rang in the distance. The wind died down as soon as it picked up. Slowly, you were able to open your eyes again, just in time for lightning to strike once more and... Wait. Through squinted eyes, you wondered: "Did the figure get bigger again? Or... Maybe not bigger, but..." The church bell rang in the distance. As if on cue, a hellishly red fire rose in front of you. It didn't seem to shed much light on your surroundings, but it did reveal this — this **thing** was standing right in front of you. This towering, imposing figure, maybe ten feet high. Like before, it was completely cloaked in shadow, but thanks to the fire raging behind it, its exact shape was even blurry and less clear. One thing you could tell though, and you didn't know how you knew this — it was smiling. It spoke. It was in a language you'd never heard before, but somehow, you understood perfectly well. It spoke of you how you were the chosen one. How you were meant to bring an end to it all. How the figure was there to guide you. You started to laugh. You didn't understand why. You just began to. It was maybe all you could do in the face of this. The figure continued to speak, but you could hardly hear it. Quickly, your laughter was growing louder, overpowering the figure and, shortly, even the rain around you. The figure's grin grew wider and it began to laugh along with you. It spread its mighty wings wide and reached out a clawed hand to take you. By that time, you didn't know if you were laughing or screaming. The forest was dark. Rain poured down in a seemingly endless torrent. The wind whipped around the trees. The church bell rang in the distance. ==< [...] >== Alright, so apologies for all that. Typically, I'm not 100% about the whole "Pitchfork writer who clearly can't wait for his own time to creative writing" mode of reviewing. Like, sure, I like seeing creative writing based on music, but if I come for a review, I come for a review, y'know? However, in this instance, I feel like writing all of that was maybe the only way I could really relay the reverence I have for this album. 'Cuz whatever I actually think about the contents of the album, I'll always hold it up as one of the most important releases in music history, for being the album where metal was born. Like, as far as I'm aware, the history of metal splits into two periods: pre-Sabbath proto-metal (think "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles), and then post-Sabbath. For sure, it's probably way more complicated than that, and I have a whole-ass book to confirm that, but that's just the legend that's been relayed to me, and it's one I've always believed. 'Cuz you've had heavy acts before like Led Zeppelin and that one Blue Cheer album, but nothing compared to even how this album opens. A slow, doomy, detuned riff, crashing drums, lyrics about a nightmarish figure that drives the singer mad, and an outro with a ripping solo. It's incredible. The title track alone and they've already got a masterpiece and cornerstone of an entire new genre. The album hardly lets up from there. And I'll admit, before re-listening to this album (which was my first time in a while, actually), I had the lingering thought that I'd come to discover I was overhyping the sound of this album to myself. Y'know, that it'd turn out that this album outside of its opener is just heavier-than-usual blues — and it's not **not** that. I'll say, I do prefer their follow-ups for refining their sound away from English blues. But make no mistake: this is **heavy** blues. You only need to listen to the sound of Tony Iommi's guitar. You hear that distortion? That menace? Heck, just how big it can sound? Not even Jimmy Page had a guitar sound like that. The magic it turned out you could get from playing a right-handed guitar upside down as a left-handed one. And I know we've all been living with Ozzy Osbourne and his singing for years now, between the wacko locomotives and telling his mother he'll be returning shortly, but we just hafta appreciate what a voice he has. It works so well with the dark subject matter he ends up singing about. Seriously, the way he wails "OH, PLEASE, GOD, NO" on the title track — it legit sounds like he's begging to not be driven insane by whatever dark forces are confronting him. And, jus', ahhh, that one vocal melody on "N.I.B.", it's so good. Let's not forget to give it up for Geezer and Ward. Metal's got great vocal and guitar histrionics (ooo, big word), but they'd be nothing about their rhythm sections. Watch me make that case especially when my group gets MASTER OF PUPPETS, but yeah, seriously, give a hand to Geezer and Ward for holding all this together. I've always loved the sound of Geezer's bass, I gotta say. Jus' got this... I'unno, "plomp" to it sometimes. That's a made-up word, but it's as close as I can get to how it sounds to my ears. And would you believe that this whole album was recorded in only twelve hours? Yeah, they pulled recording this off in less time than it took The Beatles to make PLEASE PLEASE ME. That's just crazy, right? Sure, I can't hear anything on here that sounds like it should have taken more than twelve hours, but if they can just bang out a record like this in that short of time, you can only imagine how much better the rest are when they had **more** recording time. I could go on — really, I could. It's hard for me to not gas up this album, even though, like I said, I prefer the two follow-ups more. It's a mandatory must for anyone interested in metal, just to hear the most commonly and widely agreed-upon point where the genre started. I mean, just for how so many bands that I love might not exist if this thing hadn't come out, I hafta give it respect for that alone. And all that, on the top of the fact that it rocks like hell? Are you hearing these **riffs**? I'm just saying, it's something when my only gripe about it is that the North American release jams a bunch of tracks together into large medleys. Would you even be surprised if I said this thing is a 5 to my ears? If you somehow missed the number at the top, the tone of my writing would probably give it away. And sure, there's probably gonna be other metal albums (even besides PARANOID and MASTERS OF REALITY) I'm gonna be way more positive about, if you can believe it, but I don't think any of them would inspire me to gush at length like this one did. Or inspire me to write **short-form narrative fiction** to open a review. I won't deny that its legacy and legend plays a part in why I like this album as much as I do, but, oh, what a legacy. What a legacy.

Metal in its purest form, nothing more and nothing less. Solid 5 Stars.

I’m at a 10. It just fucking rocks. What else am I supposed to say? This is my first full Black Sabbath album, and my first full album of anything involving Ozzy Osbourne – I’ve heard singles before (War Pigs, Iron Man, Crazy Train, etc), but never a full album. I figured this one would be good, given the international success of everyone involved, but I wasn’t expecting it to be that good. Wikipedia mentions that this is generally considered to be the first true heavy metal album, and I can hear it – that opening track feels unlike any other atmosphere from an opening track on any other 70s album. It’s cool as shit, and sets a perfect tone for the rest of the album. After that, this thing breezes by – the harmonica at the start of The Wizard clicked perfectly with my sensibilities, and the entire soundscape just ruled. Behind the Wall of Sleep & N.I.B. are both sick as hell; the guitar solos during N.I.B. in particular are some of the best I’ve ever heard. Wicked World is oddly jazzy, with a bit of a Ram Jam - Black Betty type of vibe. Sleeping Village is pretty cool, before closing out on the blues-driven standout that is Warning. I hesitate to say “Ozzy Osbourne sounds kinda like Muddy Waters”, but it was the first comparison that came to mind vocally, and the instrumentation throughout is just spectacular. I could try to go deeper into the intricacies of what I liked about every track here, but it’s an experience much better served for the ears to hear, with headphones in, and full attention to the melodies being played. It’s surprisingly not as “heavy” as I thought it would be, at least for my modern standards of what’s considered heavy metal, but I’m not complaining at all. It’s a sick fucking album, I loved every single second of it front to back, and I’m a bit annoyed at myself for never listening to this until now. On a first pass, the charisma this album holds is simply undeniable (unless you REALLY fucking hate anything to do with Satan), and I have to imagine more of this album will reveal itself the more I come back to it. It already feels like a landmark album, and it’s just an easy, easy 10 for me.

The founding document for a new genre. A stone cold classic.

Arguably the greatest album cover of all time and arguably the most influential album of all time. Easy 5 stars.

I can't imagine what it must have been like to hear this album for the first time in 1970. And it still is great. Personal enjoyment: 5/5 Relevance to this list: 5/5

My intro to myself!

Yeah this was great.

This was fun. I realized I’ve never just listened to a Black Sabbath album all the way through.

Can’t help but jam to this one

Wow, this is great. I’d give this album 4.5 stars if I could, but its vibes are just so good I’ll round up to 5. No song on here feels like a 5 star song, but everything together just works so well.

You can’t argue with the “first” heavy metal album being on this list. Especially such a good one. The next two albums of theirs are better, and I prefer Master of Reality. But this band was great. Did they have a three album run of five stars?!

Track One, Side one - five stars, job done. Perhaps 4.75 over the whole album, but can't have less than five stars.

I really liked this, so amazing considering this is right at the beginning of heavy metal. Love the use of ambient noises and instruments you wouldn’t expect. So good

Sucks that every other heavy metal band that came after them saw this and thought “whoah.. loud guitars and dark lyrics” and not “whoah.. you can make an album that sounds badass and has a harmonica and a jaw harp” (don’t worry, I like metal, but y’know sometimes some more weird stuff would be nice)

10/10

I've always respected Black Sabbath, loved Ozzy, and put on Paranoid a fair few times but never given them a proper listen, and now I wish I had done so sooner. What a great debut album, I love the operatic, show off sounds of here literally the birth of metal. Opening an album with the sound of rain and then it then going into an eerie slow, funeral march with Ozzy crying out to you - what more could you want?? Then you go into The Wizard and we have the harmonica! Obviously a band who started out loving the Blues and this is heavily present in this album, with what sounds like it could easily be a forgotten Led Zep album in places. What I noticed most when listening to this album was how I found myself being impressed by every instrument at different times which I don't always do. The drumming is out of this world (I don't often find myself impressed by drumming but it stood out to me so so much in this album, just wow) and I love how often the rhythm changes in a number of songs, obviously the guitar riffs are wonderfully metal (I did I'm afraid get a bit tired of the guitar solos by then end of the album but love the ambition) and Ozzy who I always thought was a rubbish singer, I take it back completely and am embarrassed I ever said such things. He is a great metal singer and can actually sing a great melody that doesn't sound easy with a lot of accidentals thrown in. I'm not sure how much you're meant to listen to the lyrics, if they are just a filler or have a deeper meaning that has passed me by but having Lucifer thrown in is always fun.

Ah yes, the first ever metal album. Even 50 years later this is a timeless masterpiece. It's amazing to see how well this holds up in comparison to the even heavier death metal that exists now, that truly is telling of how ahead of its time this album was.

Classic.

Great songs. Tons of tracks I was already familiar with but the ones I didn’t already know were great as well.

Listened Before? N I really love this album. Stripping what Sabbath would become down to their roots. The atmosphere, the art, the guitar work, the lyrics. It's all top notch. No polish here and no polish necessary. An absolute metal classic. Added to Library? Y Songs added to playlist: N.I.B.

Great debut

What a truly unsettling album cover. The opening and title track matches it perfectly. It starts off with rain and church bells with ritualistic drumming when suddenly a thundering guitar plays a simple yet evil riff evoking scary images of a "figure in black which points at me" which is perfectly sung by Ozzy before letting out a distressing scream. My dad used to play this when I was very young and I didn't get it, it bored the life out of me. How wrong I was. Despite this being regarded as the first heavy metal album (which I do agree with), it's very much deeply rooted in blues and finding its feet. Whilst the guitar sound and riffs are very heavy in places and the drums bludgeon away, you can still hear the bluesy sound and they wouldn't fully lean into the heaviness just yet. Bill Ward is on the drums who is so close to taking the MVP spot if it wasn't for the guitar work by Tony Iommi. The album is packed with memorable riffs and solos. Ozzy, despite not being the best vocalist of all time, sounds really great here too. Before the rock lifestyle took over he was a very good metal singer and his voice is iconic. His vocal melodies are very catchy and he fits the music perfectly. I think the album quality dips slightly on side two, but the first half is as good as metal gets. 'N.I.B.' has the best riff on the album. It's so distorted and sludgy. A truly landmark album in music giving birth to a whole genre and when Sabbath are good, they are up there with the greatest of all time.

great album

Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath is a monumental album, and one of those few albums that transcends its status as an album and is just a defining moment in music history. It marks the ushering in of a darker, heavier world of music that hadn’t really been seen to date and, remarkably, it’s opening track in particular still sounds darker and heavier than a lot of metal being released today, over 50 years since I am of course talking about Black Sabbath from Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath, whose toe-curling, earth-shattering, doomy central riff conjures up images of summoning demons even before the lyrics do, and prove that these four lads from the Midlands are not here to fuck around. And then that’s followed up by a quaint harmonica-led tune about a wizard. The album is a bit all over the place tonally, but the songs still slap for the most part. N.I.B is a gnarly hard rock banger; Sleeping Village begins with this lovely acoustic finger picking but quickly gets very eerie and then suddenly very heavy - it sounds like three songs slapped together into one but is a lot of fun; and Warning is a truly epic closer with another monster riff that descends into some chaotic free-form soloing. The only song I don’t really care for on here is Evil Woman which is just a pretty basic and forgettable blues track, but doesn’t exactly drag the album down. I was considering only giving this a 4 as it is a little inconsistent and because Sabbath released a stronger and more cohesive album in Paranoid just seven months after this, but on a relisten I just enjoyed the hell out of it. Sometimes I’ll hear an album that supposedly started or defined a genre and you can hear the roots of it but it does feel like a stepping stone to far more assured and impactful work when they or artists ironed out the kinks - but there aren’t any kinks here. Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath is bold, brutal, and it’s bloody great.

Totally brilliant

It's always a good sign when an album leaves me wanting more, and that is certainly the case here. From the mysterious album art to the haunting guitars wailing like banshees, this is a great package. Favorite track: "Wicked World," but it's a tight race.

Best album ever

As a metalhead, I say that every single soul that likes or plays metal should be grateful for this record! Everything related to metal exists because of this band and this record. Starting the record with one of the heaviest riffs ever written to this day, and continuing with genre-defining songs. In 1970, this was completely groundbreaking, and even now it is cited by metalheads all around the globe. This marks the beginning of a never-ending era.

This album rocks so hard now, I can only imagine how mindblowing it was in 1970.

Perfect. Can’t imagine listening to this for the first time in 1970. Started an entire genre of music

No explanation needed.

Classic Sabbath.

Jimi Hendrix vibes. Great album.

I’m a sucker for Black Sabbath and this one is no exception. This album is more rooted in the Blues than their later albums, including a cover of the Aynsley Dunbar song Warning. Chock full of classics like N.I.B., Evil Woman and Black Sabbath. Every song is a joy.

HELL YEAH

The original

One of the best debut albums of all time. And what an impact it must have had! As it was released before my time, I can't even imagine how the opening track must have felt for the unsuspecting public. Pure evil, and it still sounds great today. The unmistaken Iommi-riffs, Butler's prominent bass lines, Ward's tight drumming and Ozzy's better-than-you-think vocals (he reaches really high notes!). I'm not too fond of Behind the Wall of Sleep, but the rest of the album is top quality. Just to rub it in, they recorded it in less time than it takes Metallica to tune their guitars. Not a dead set 5-star album, but the quality of the best tracks, along with the album's historical significance, takes it to the top.

Beautiful album. Love Izzy’s voice.

Great album

It is not hard to hear why many despised Black Sabbath when it came out in 1970. What was once the blues had become bastardized, transformed into an art form so ugly it needed no real justification for its existence. A singer sounding so out of tune, and out of whack, with his band behind him noodling endlessly throughout whole songs which would last as long as fifteen minutes in its medley forms. And yet, there is something quite modern about Black Sabbath, given what we know now. It could be passed for something that could have been released yesterday, given the despair and slow as molasses feeling it achieves. This is essentially the Sixties dream taken to the industrial landscape, dragged and beaten down by life and given an execution-style shooting. All in the span of almost forty minutes. Black Sabbath, the album and the band, became the blueprint for many other soon to be called heavy metal bands to emulate and, with that, an entire new musical landscape had been paved.

Le metal n’aurait pas pu mieux commencer, c’est vraiment un beau petit bijou macabre et profondément lourd qui n’a pas pris une ride (on pourrait pas dire la même chose pour Ozzy). C’est aussi un album sans no1 hit, ce qui rend l’écoute fraîche et pleine de redécouvertes lors de la seconde écoute.

Really innovative for 1970. Enjoyed so much more than I thought I would. Diverse musicianship and lyricism. Really big fan and no weak tracks as far as I’m concerned. Rare 5 stars.

The rise of black metall!

If I could give it a 6 I would. The OG Kings of Metal. I’ve always loved this album.

Classic Sabbath.

It’s so refreshing to listen to a band doing something completely unbeholden to prior conventions. This could have easily been another blues rock snore-fest, but the way they focused on riffs and tone gave it a completely unique sound that spawned an entirely new genre. Every member of the band is playing at max capacity on their instrument, and Ozzy’s unique voice is like the cherry on top.

Fantastic

A rare five from me.

10/10

The epitome of metal. This album is in the top five of all heavy albums

Fantastic album and great start to the Metal movement. Heavy Blues Rock with some fantastic themes throughout. Loved it so much I had to get it on Vinyl day of.

Possibly the first true heavy metal record? This album still hits hard 50+ years later. It's etched in to our music DNA and is a classic.

Heavy Metal's Ground Zero!! Today was the day to dust off another CD from my collection and listen to this masterpiece! I confess that I don't know how to listen to Black Sabbath in moderation because when I listen, I play 3 or 4 consecutive albums. That's what happened today. I started with the first one, then I dusted off the Paranoid CD, then I pulled out Master Of Reality... My speakers were burning out! It's not every day that I listen to Black Sabbath, but when I do, so my neighbors! hahaha Anyway, today was a great day, it was good to remember these wonderful albums!

I have listened to this album 100s of times. Always great.

the birth of a genre. sabbath defined what metal is before going on to create some of the most important seeds for all kinds of sub genre's on their following albums. the importance of this album is not to be understated

It’s crazy that they made music too hard to be called hard rock and invented a whole genre. This kicks so much ass. The riffs are tight and the lyrics are dark. I listened to the US track list as I prefer Wicked World to Evil Woman.

One of the great albums in the history of rock and metal. Of course the music sounds so different to todays but still an important landmark in the history. Something you can always listen to.

epic ground breaker

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath Black Sabbath! I'm so torn, this is a 4.5 if I'm honest. The quandary is whether we round up or down. This album is unparalleled in many ways. Black Sabbath invented a whole genre with this very album. Metal music didn't really exist before this record was released. The Beatles and the Stones and some others experimented with some fucked sounds but this is THE album. Black Sabbath isn't only the defining album of the whole genre, but Black Sabbath is also among the best opening songs ever. It's not followed by tripe either, it keeps pushing the boundaries of Rock & Roll and Blues music. This should be a 4.5, but it's so delightful that I'm choosing to round up on this occasion. Ozzy Osbourne shouldn't expect to be called delightful often, but it's an extraordinary enough occasion that I feel safe in my justification

Most of the music I listen to goes back to this in some way.

The first 5* review for me. This was fantastic.

My first Black Sabbath album! Loved it!

The album that launched the band catalogue that launched an entire genre, safe to say this one does not disappoint. Super heavy but retaining many blues-rock influences, this is a perfect album from start to finish as it clearly illustrates how unique these 4 men were in their field. Iommi lost fingers and melted bottle caps onto his fingers, detuning his strings to accomodate for his lessened ability to push them down. This resulted in an even lower tonality to his playing. Not one to hang in the back, Butler's basslines are prominent and carry a ton of the melody, further relying on low end. Bill Ward's interweaving drums are impossible to ignore while least forgettable of all are Ozzy's vocals. Name another vocalist like him, especially one that pulls it. off so well. Then you have the lyrics about Wizardry and Witches and such... really you got lyricism rallying against dark forces alongside heavy sounds. It surprises me how many people associate Sabbath with Satanism when really they were acknowledging a belief in a Judeo Christian God while denouncing evil and Satan figures.. seems pretty clear to me. Kind of like Motley Crüe's "Shout at the Devil".. it's not "Shout WITH the Devil" they're shouting AT the dude.