Reviews (page 12 of 17)
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.
And on the 8th day, Black Sabbath created Doom Metal. And it was ok in places. I quite like the long, atmospheric moodiness of some songs but it didn't blow me away. Quite amazing that later in the same year they came back with Paranoid, which seems a lot more deliberate and sure of itself, where this debut feels a bit more of an experiment.
The love song of Lucifer is seductive, and it's not until you're under its thumb that you understand who your lover truly is. The seduction does not stop at the Prince of Darkness though but extends to the evilness of women, as well. The metal is all so smooth, so comforting, like a warm blanket. An album to wrap yourself up in, but you've been warned...
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.
The title track is a slow burn, doomy and heavy until the tempo picks up at the end. Hell of an entrance. The Wizard is built around bluesy harmonica and heavy riffing. The guitar tone is insane considering this is 1970. The punishing riffs continue into the long multi-parter next. There's a great bass part about halfway through and then some surprisingly melodic harmonies and soloing on N.I.B. Wicked World is again focused on drilling the bass riffs into your brain. Another multi-part suite to close and it really starts to chug along two thirds of the way through. Geezer Butler's bass is again stealing the show for me. Then we have a bit of a rambling collection of solos but it does come together for one last set of riffs and vocals. As influential as this is, it's also extremely listenable in its own right. I'm not giving 5 stars only because I know there's several albums of theirs I'd reach for first, but it's close.
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!
it's a bit hard for me to give this a rating consciously because over a half of this album is basically in my genetic material now, i can't give an unbiased judgement but the final track is the real highlight holy shit
betra en eg helt
Great debut album. The follow-up to this album was insanely good. This also has great songs and is a good record.
This was better than I expected and my recent harder listening habits have made Black Sabbath more tolerable to me. Easily a 4
The opening of this album is like an entire genre (Heavy Metal) kicking in the door and announcing it's birth to the world. The harmonica in The Wizard serves as a reminder that Black Sabbath was, at its core, a heavy blues band. This is an easy 4 for me. It would be a 5, but it loses steam with the final suite/medley (A Bit of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning).
First time ever listening to a full Sabbath album, and I only know some of their later songs (War Pigs 🤘) - gonna give it to Ozzy and the boys today (especially since my more recent hard rock selections have either been Aerosmith or nu-metal which are considerably less to my taste).
A classic I guess, but not my cup of tea.
2/5
Standard heavy guitar rock. Some decent guitar solos.
This is a "classic", and it's obviously enormously influential (reasonable people can disagree if that's in a good way or a bad way). Somebody's always going to reference "Helter Skelter" or Link Wray's "Rumble" or whatever, but with the benefit of hindsight, this is obviously Mitochondrial Eve for modern heavy metal. But, in a way entirely consistent with that legacy, it's fairly crude and primitive. The recording quality is rough - not bad, just a little rough. And there's clearer through-lines to the blues rock that Sabbath spun off from than you would see in later metal (e.g. the harmonica on "The Wizard", or basically all the licks after the title track). It's more like a hard-blues fish with lungs than a real heavy-metal reptile. And it's perfectly listenable rock, if a little basic. But faced with a choice between eponymous Sabbath and any of dozens of later albums their style evolved into (including several by Sabbath themselves) I'd just never put this on. The POD has a fairly expressive voice, but he's not a great singer, and his lyrical lines are often kind of stilted. The best moments on here are usually instrumental, partly for that reason. It holds up fine though.
con mia somma sorpresa, mi è piaciuto veramente tanto. ma davvero, sono sinceramente scioccata da quanto mi sia piaciuto. quattro stelle senza pensarci un secondo e senza mezza remora. (magari mi sbaglio, ma lo scrivo nel caso qualcuno voglia darmi ragione o insultarmi, ma le chitarre in NIB mi ricordano il riff di Cocaine di Eric Clapton. vi prego qualcuno mi dica se mi sto facendo pure io di cocaina o se c'è un fondo di verità, grazie)
Massi, ce sta Ho preferito di più Vol.4 però, c’erano dei brani parecchio malinconici che mi erano piaciuti assai e che qua non ho trovato
Eh nothing really grabbed me.
I have listened to this album 100s of times. Always great.
Nog een black Sabbath album Niet slecht maar ook nie heel top ofzo
Classic Sabbath
The more classic rock concept albums I listen to from this time period, the more I realize the peak male fantasy was some alignment of heavy rock n roll combined with mystical lyricism. The fellas just wanted to live in a Tolkien-inspired world. Pepper in some honkeytonk, add a smidge of rebellion. And boom. That’s it. Soft 3.
triple title is crazy work 3.5
***An ok album
I'm rating this for its impact at the time of release and not necessary its listening value today. Now-a-days this record is pretty tame and definitely not what the average person would consider metal to be but at the time of release this was probably the heaviest thing a lot of people had ever heard. I personally didn't enjoy this album as much as I thought I would but I can't in good conscience give this less than a 4.
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
Day241 - idk every great band doesn’t need every one of their albums on this list, but that’s just like opinion man
rlly thought black sabbath did metal
Black Sabbath does this really cool thing where they somehow manage to make one of the coolest, hardest, and kick-ass albums you've ever heard sound just okay in comparison to their next few records. This isn't a dig at this album, instead an incredible cudos to everything they did as a band in the early 70s and a genuine "WOW" at how they just keep getting better. Favorite was The Wizard
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.
This album is a great example of what Black Sabbath does well, but also has some elements that I wished Black Sabbath did more of in their later albums, like the harmonica on the second track (if I remember correctly). Ozzy's vocals are not his best, but given it was their debut album, this is no surprise. Overall, I really enjoyed this album. Would recommend.
I’ll give it a begrudging four but I’m getting SICK of these WEIRD BRITISH WHITE GUYS singing about EMO SHIT!!!! WHERE IS THE FUCKING JAZZ ON THIS LIST
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.
Good not the goodest
Younger me is kicking myself for not listening to more Sabbath sooner.
Cool, auch wenn es schon alt ist
epic ground breaker
Not for me
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
I had no idea that between this and the release of Paranoid there has only been like 7 months. That’s insanely prolific even by today’s standards. Solid album. Not sure how, but I feel like I never heard NIB before
I recall a story from an interview where Tommy Iommi told the interviewer that Black Sabbath recorded their albums on first try, in one take. That's incredible, if true. 3.5
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!
not really my style. i liked the wizard but nothing else really spoke to me. i don't really enjoy the sound of the lead singer's voice. some good vibes in there tho for sure
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.
This album is almost a 4 for me, but didn’t quite make it. It was a fun listen though. It sounded almost a little theatrical. And I liked that it was short and sweet.
I forgot or didn't realize how skilled the bass parts are. Also guitar. Lyrics too corny for me but I can see how influential. Really good if not my usual cup of tea.
Meh
This album is an easy 5.
Classic
A song came on and I thought “this one isn’t that bad!” It was Van Halen. Listen, this should be right up my alley. I love this genre of music. This one just isn’t for me.
ja best wel nice
Not a fan, specifically of the messaging. The music's definitely good, and I can see why they were popular, but the satanic shit just doesn't sit well with me.
Metal will never be my thing, but I can appreciate Black Sabbath and what they built for the metal genre. They had darkness and deep vibes that were not just screaming, dissonance and loud. Their lyrics could be heard and understood along with music that didn't hurt the ears but was different, dark and haunting. This album has a sound that was groundbreaking and different.
Here we start off with the song called Black Sabbath on the album Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath. That's hilarious. It's fine as an intro song or whatever. Mass is in session I guess? The album that follows their bell tolling painfully slow opening THEME SONG is okay but not as good as the Paranoid album. Sabbath has sort of a groovy prog rock flavor of metal. Ozzy is pretty unique as far as lead singers go. I mean he's not really a "good" singer and I don't think his lyrics are that great but it all works. It wouldn't be Black Sabbath without him but it's the guitar and bass that I like best about this band. N.I.B. is my favorite on this album and something about the guitar playing on that one sorta feels Hendrixy to me.
This was fine, but it kind of bored me.
A classical album of hard rock with all the atmosphere you would need. I still think the album could've been less bluesy and more prog rock in some parts.
More harmonica and tambourine than expected. A psychedelic rock record that gets heavy in places. Ozzy could sing! but this record benefits from long instrumental stretches.
Black Sabbath’s debut is a cool listen if you’re into the roots of metal, but it’s definitely a bit rough around the edges. The title track has that spooky intro everyone talks about, but it drags for me and has never really been a favorite. That said, “N.I.B.” and “The Wizard” still hold up—both have a great groove and show off what the band was about to become. You can tell they were onto something, even if the full album doesn’t totally land for me. Favorite song: NIB
Not bad.
Top
Would need to be loud!
definitely enlightening to hear an entire genre being created in real time, but they're not quite there yet. the random blues noodling can be really distracting, and the songwriting isn't really as tight as a lot of their stuff from paranoid. they're still figuring it out.
It is very difficult to listen to this and place it in context. I have listened to so much music that has iterated on the sound they developed here that it's hard to give it a fresh listen.
At first I was lke "ah, come on" because I sometimes struggle with "classic rock" and the world built around it. On the other hand by the second song I was more "well, this is actually quite entertaining and well done." After a while Ozzy gets to you and the whole thing feels pretty fresh because the decades of overplayed songs just are not on this early album. Plus, it is not hard to like Black Sabbath as they are varied and interesting enough across the album and not stuck on one riiff, which so often seem to be the case with certain "classic" rock bands. I suppose I need to be more specific in what I am getting sick of, vs just bad mouthing a whole genre. And from now on, so I will. This was actually pretty good and worth a listen even if you question your loyalty to "classic rock."
I know it's the first metal album. But I'm still going with "rudimentary, with laughably simple lyrics"
Not quite my vibe, but had a good time listening to the album. Kind of a quiet album, as in you get what you hear. Maybe clean would be a better way to put it. I remember someone in my family played The Wizard all the time in the car, so it was nice to remember those times. Standouts: Black Sabbath, The Wizard, N.I.B., and Wicked World.
i've never listened to black sabbath in full, and am really only familiar with the staples they play on classic rock radio. i am pretty blown away by this one! i was a led zeppelin kid and listening to this, it is shocking how i never got into this. all the stuff i love about early led zeppelin is here and is even bigger and darker. the attitude and the sinister feel is great, mixed with the rock production of an era that i adore. this is one i will definitely come back to. i sort of always wrote off black sabbath as something i would never be into, and i was sorely wrong!
Always liked Black Sabbath
I don't even need to listen to this to know it gets 5 stars. Black Sabbath are legends. Not my favorite of their albums, though I love it. Definitely more bluesy than later stuff. I do wish they separated songs into individual tracks. There are two versions of this album on Spotify. The one this site links to is missing a couple songs but the other version lumps multiple songs together into single tracks. I believe this is how the album was originally released though, so... whatever, it fucking rocks 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Black sabbath.
am i giving this two stars? yes. would i still rather listen to this than schlager? also yes.
Black Sabbath is the type of music that I enjoy when it's on the radio, but nothing I'd ever seek out by choice
Groupe connu que j'adore ! Album fondateur d'un nouveau style de musique. Je l'ai découvert bien plus tard, après mon premier contact avec le hard rock/métal (AC/DC) dans les années 80. Je pense que c'était avec le Live Evil, avec RJ Dio. A la même époque j'avais découvert aussi Speak of the Devil live d'Ozzy reprenant les morceaux de Black Sabbath ... mais j'ai préféré Live Evil. Tout ça pour dire que Heaven and Hell et Mob Rules sont mes 2 albums préférés de Sabbath (pas dans la liste :-(, et que j'en ai aucun avec Ozzy, même si je les ai tous écoutés rétrospectivement. Je vais réparer ce manque dès aujourd'hui et me le procurer. J'ai bien aimé redécouvrir cet album, mais je ne lui met donc pas la note max. =>4.5/5
Pretty listenable, but first metal album? I think Led Zepp beat them to it
Absolutely love this one. My favorite from Black Sabbath, just ahead of 'Paranoid'. 'The Wizard' was the song I enjoyed most here.
First 2 tracks suck, but it builds as the album goes on. Band is talented, instruments are dynamic and layered well. Ozzy sucks and sounds tinny and muffled and like he was recorded in another room with shitty equipment. I’m sure it was mind-blowing at the time but it’s only okay to me hearing it the first time.
Man this album holds up! I’ve never listened to the whole thing before but have heard some songs. It’s crazy how heavy this album is, like it’s the first true metal album and they just showed everyone how it’s done. Some of the songs are Zeppelin-esque, but most are very much their own sound.
3.5
Are Black Sabbath the best band? Where it all started, this is obviously flawless again. Give me the rest of the first 6 please!
Absolutely insane guitar with the last song. Amazing album. Young ozzy is amazing
One of the greats!
I thought we'd had this already, lol. I must have researched it at an earlier stage, when I was more interested in the story of metal. Little did I know how much nuanced detail we'd be covering it in! Well, I'm glad it exists I suppose (not as glad as Jack Black though). Extra star for Midlands.
Local heroes; impossible to be impartial. That said, this was still WAY more listenable than the one Deep Purple I could bring myself to sit through.
Was ok
Solid Black Sabbath album. Most songs were pretty good but some were dull. That’s all I have to say about that
Really enjoyed it. When it ripped, it ripped.
Really enjoyed the album. The Wizard was my favourite track
consistente e foi o blueprint ne pai
Sonically, I prefer the metal that came after to the metal that started it all. But there is no doubt that Black Sabbath gave us all permission to be spooky with this album and for that they are legendary.
4.25
Eh
Old school heavy metal
I get the attraction, and there were some decent RnB based sections, but ... nah. Just not for me.
Not 100% my cup of tea but soft music
I waited for over ONE HUNDRED DAYS to get another metal album. My last one was Black Sabbath's Vol.4 which I got back in April. Now, I finally got another metal album! And of course, IT'S THE SAME BAND. I can't help but be a bit miffed that I went this long without any metal albums only for me to finally get one that happens to be the same band as the last one. But that negativity didn't last long, as I love Black Sabbath. The band, the album, and the song, are all incredibly important. This album, Black Sabbath's 1970 self-titled debut is, for all intents and purposes, the first metal album ever released. That is huge. This album changed music forever. And I say that that's for the better. Imagine being the average music listener in 1970 and you play this album. When the first song, "Black Sabbath" plays, you're just shocked at what you're hearing because it's unlike anything you've ever heard before. It's very dark and sinister in a way. While that song and, to an extent, this whole album may seem very tame today, this was shocking in 1970. However, unlike other bands that were shocking when they started (cough cough, Marilyn Manson), Black Sabbath is actually good, like really good. Everything I said about Vol. 4 applies here with the added knowledge that this is the one that started it all. Ozzy Osbourne's harrowing vocals, Tony Iommi's fascinating guitar playing, Geezer Butler's flawless bass playing, and Bill Ward's respectable drumming come together to form something truly special. The title track is amazing and dark, but later songs like "The Wizard" and "N.I.B." manage to be slightly lighter and bluesier yet still heavy. Overall, this is an album that changed music for the better by marking the birth of metal. On top of that, the album itself has managed to age remarkably well despite coming before conventions of the metal genre were established. While there are certainly better albums than this, both inside and outside of metal, there's no denying that Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath is a truly magnificent album that deserves all the respect it can get. 5/5. Here's hoping I can get more metal albums pretty soon.
Das ist ja mal eine positive Überraschung! Hätte nicht gedacht, dass mir das so gut gefallen könnte!
Brutal, excellent
Good album. Gets straight to the point. Surprised by how short it was. Still a good listen. 3/5 Might listen again
groovier than I was expecting, the history is awe-inspiring I enjoyed it more as it went on, the second half better than the first
Not as good as Paranoid but still good
THE BEST. Not their best record but a damn great record.
It works for me. Sort of heavy bluesy metal. Doesn't get a five because it's musically quite simple, based on a good guitar groove, usually picked up by the bass too. Ozzy's recognisable vocals. Songs are all quite similar; I like this sound but tire of it quite quickly. But, it does what it does, very well.
Decent metal vibes, could hear inspiration for early Queen
The weird little man sure does make good music.
An interesting start to Black Sabbath. It's a fun album to listen to, but not as good as others in their discography. The third track on Spotify that mixes Wasp, Behind the Wall of Sleep, Bassically, and N.I.B. is my favorite.
a very raw Black Sabbath
Hell yeah this album rocks
The Original, The One and Only. These guys put out the template and opened the door for all that came after and this is one hell of a first outing.
Man, that guitar work is enthralling. The last few moments of Black Sabbath make up for the slow pace of the rest of the song. I got this mental image of a metal cage suspended by a chain, surrounded by claustrophobic stone walls and descending into an abyss. I'm feeling some fantasy elements here. I think it's because of how dank and fuzzy the bass is. The intro to N. I. B. reminds me of Sunshine of Your Love.
Greatness. I loved that it wasn’t so far removed from root rock or jazz, you can feel those influences in this album. This is the font from which all metal flows, and it is awesome.
So cool. Apparently recorded in a day. Interesting in that you can see all the influence and history and still see them doing something entirely new. I like the big/merge/into eachother tracks.
Omfg
This is a God tier record! Marks the beginnings of the heavy metal genre of music, and has influenced everything that has come since then!! Black Sabbath (the song) has a way of scaring the shit out of you. The way they focus on that tri-tone, Ozzy's haunting vocals, and the church bell/rain in the background..... It gives off such a vibe. I love it!! I love the way the tri-tone was seen as bad juju (a way of summoning Satan), so everyone steered clear of it. Sabbath said "What if we just keep playing it" lol. Tony Iommi gave 0 fucks about bad juju! Gonna be hard to pick a favourite song off of this record. The whole thing is gold!! This is one of those albums that needs to be listened to cover to cover. There are literally no misses on it. Such a strong debut! Even the cover of this one is creepy as fuck. N.I.B. is such a strong song! Geezer Butler puts in work!! Such an underrated song! Favourite songs: Black Sabbath, N.I.B., The Wizard, Evil Woman Least favourite songs: Behind the Wall of Sleep 5/5
Stunning
None of the major hits but liked the sound
Are you ready for some transitional rock?
Gnarly
Let's go Planet Sabbath! Bill Ward is a swampy motherfucker
It’s just so🤘🏼
Much better than anticipated. Loved the long song with massive guitar solos. Best Song: Black Sabbath
As someone who's not a big fan of metal, It's difficult to explain logically why I find early Sabbath so pleasing & comfortable. Maybe b/c it's still closely connected to roots rock & blues? Hard to justify but anyway, this rocks.
could i write poetry to this? n
Many consider this to be the first Heavy Metal album. It's hard to argue against that.
One of the best debut albums of all time and it doesn't even scratch the surface of how good they would get
What a great album. Historically would have rated this 5 stars but now rating it closer to 4 stars for the following reasons — The remastering of this and other early Sabbath albums are not as balanced as those versions I bought in the 80’s. Ozzy’s vocals are soooooo forward and amped compared to the rest of the band, like he’s a good +15dB louder. Plus there’s something in the high mids or 2k-6kHz that’s ice picky, and I’m playing through tube stereos that have a little roll-off in the high end. I have to turn down the volume when he sings. It’s like Iommi, Geezer, and Ward are his backing band. This is the Rhino version that was just released (2024). Not sure if this is a Sharon thing to make it all about Ozzy, since my 2016 version of Masters of Reality is the same. Whereas, when I play my copies from the 80’s, Ozzy’s vocals are sitting in with the band better and everything is more balanced. I know it’s the trend right now to have vocals extra prominent and forward for a radio mix, but this isn’t Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, or The Voice TV show. As a result, I would advise others to check out earlier versions of this album where the vocals are not so hyped.
Never really listened to much Black Sabbath. I think the avatar of Ozzie always put me off. But I enjoyed this and obviously sets up everything to come.
Top
Pure concentrated heavy metal \m/
Historic and influential album, though Sabbath’s best work came in the next few. Deep, heavy, sludgy riffs with a stellar rhythm section and Ozzy’s dark and mystical lyrics propel this album along. No really weak tracks, but none that propel to the heights of songs from Paranoid and Master of Reality. A strong start to an critical band along the ascent to their peak.
solid album
It was so short
Masterpiece self entitled.
I wouldn't put this in my top three Black Sabbath albums, and on it's own, I'd give it 3 and 1/2 stars and round down. But given it's historical significance and place in time, I'll round up.
I liked it more than I thought I would.
Nothing here that would make me want to listen to more. Though I did like later albums, I was never a huge fan
I can't imagine how it must have felt hearing that opening track in 1970. The fact that it still sounds so heavy and terrifying now is remarkable. Not every track is a banger, however, and while Tony Iommi is a legend, his lead skills are not enough to sustain the indulgent solos on the penultimate track. A very enjoyable listen. Sabbath laid the foundations of metal, and for that reason this album definitely deserves a spot on the list.
holds up pretty well, found it to be pretty boring at times and incredible at others, much worse than other Black Sabbath albums I've heard but still pretty enjoyable and worth a listen. 3/5
s'aight
Habe lange keinen Rock mehr gehört, daher dachte ich mir das Album wäre sicher nichts für mich. Hat mich dann aber positiv überrascht. Auch wenn ich dadurch wsl nicht mehr Rock hören werde, war es trotzdem mal wieder eine sehr angenehme Abwechslung.
Innovative in its time, pretty cheesy now
BLACK MOTHERFUCKING SABBATH
I'm biased. I love Black Sabbath, I was raised by someone who loved Black Sabbath. There's only 5 tracks on this album, but two of them are 3 or 4-in-ones and "The Wizard" is a metal song with heavy harmonica use. I love this album and you will too.
Classique.
a tad boring on first listen. more interesting when you listen in depth.
Enjoyed the last song the most, how it flows into the separate sections. Interesting that they didn’t just break them into three individual tracks.
Not that great
a decently cool groundbreaker
Great listen on Halloween. 4/5
Great to hear Metal in its infancy , still finding its feet , but pretty good overall . dreadful lyrics though . Paranoid is way better.
Someone once anthropomised Black Sabbath for me as the guy who would re-use a condom to save money. Even thinking about this appals me. Buy it is a very vivid image. (Sadly.)
One of the most important albums of my life. If it weren't for this, most of the music I love also wouldn't exist.
Even knowing the whole evolution of doom, stoner, and heavy metal and how hard and harsh it can get at its peak, Black Sabbath's debut still sounds gnarly and filthy in the most guttural way possible. (didn't even need guttural vocals to achieve that)
Superior to Paranoid in a lot of ways...
This is a great album, and anyone who likes metal or hard rock definitely needs to check it out, along with pretty much everything else from Black Sabbath. While it’s hard for me to get super excited about this album since I grew up hearing Black Sabbath in the background, making it feel like old news, I don’t want to discredit the band or their immense influence on the music industry.
Imagine hearing this album when it first came out. Nothing like this existed before. The dawn of a whole new genre. I’ve never cared for Ozzy’s voice much, but the power behind this album and what it did to music is undeniable.
70’s
This was granddaddy of heavy metal albums before heavy metal was a thing. I'm sure this could have been quite unsettling in 1970, but by today's standards, it's pretty tame. Excellent album overall, but probably doesn't peak past 3.5/5 in the ratings. Can it reach to 4 by the morning? Maybe, but it's unlikely.
This may be a nostalgia thing, but I enjoy this album quite a bit. That low, grungy doom sound is one of my favorite vibes on an album.
Meh. Not my favorite.
This album is incredible. I forgot how cool NIB was. Ozzy's voice is unreal. The harmonica in this sounds evil! The solos are great, drums are great... And what's black sabbath without tasty riffs. I wish the album was a few songs longer... But it doesn't take away from this masterpiece.
Pioneers of occult music.
Punchy, doomy in parts, drums sounding more like a jazz kit than MONSTER BOOMERS. Iommi has a singular timing - nobody sounds like him
Vol. 4 didn't impress me, but this one did. I completely understand why Black Sabbath became a big deal following this debut. The title track is moody and atmospheric and just sounds sinister in a way that you don't really get. The rest of the album doesn't strike as hard as the beginning, but it maintains really high quality.
Classic black heavy metal from which so many things were born. From hell itself indeed.
Not my type of music
Sounds like the soundtrack to a horror movie you can't stop watching. Scared the crap outta me when I first listened to it.
Top 3 Songs: 1 - N.I.B. (4) 2 - The Wizard (2) 3 - Black Sabbath (1)
Estreia não só do Black Sabbath mas também de um dos gêneros mais influentes dos últimos 50 anos, o Heavy Metal. É bom por isso em contexto já que, ao ouvir esse colosso de álbum, fica claro suas raízes no blues e no rock psicodélico da época, mas com os sons mais encorpados e graves, o que, esteticamente, viria a casar perfeitamente com o seu tempo, já com uma derrocada do movimento Hippie, do Summer of Love e com as pessoas cada vez mais cientes dos horrores que os governos imperialistas do mundo, principalmente os Estados Unidos, estavam fazendo, em especial na Guerra do Vietnam. Era um mundo mais sombrio, nada mais representativo que uma banda chegando e colocando, na primeira música de seu primeiro álbum, uma imagética tão forte que causasse medo a um mundo abandonado por seu deus. Embora desde 1970, ano de seu lançamento, a música e os gêneros mais agressivos do rock já tenham evoluído muito além do que se podia imaginar naquela época, o S/T do Black Sabbath é, além de objeto histórico de importância incalculável, um álbum que, assim como um filme de terror clássico, ainda encanta em suas revisitas e surpreende no seu pioneirismo.
First listen and wasnt expecting to like it...but, I really enjoyed this album. 3
This was so much fun!
I'm a big Sabbath fan, have been for weeks now. However, I think this one wasn't a quite in the league of Vol 4. It felt a bit more in the traditions of straightforward rock, rather than the kind of hippyish heaviness that the earlier albums I've had so far offered. Still, they're well written, powerful songs and the quality of musicianship is high.
Wel ok. Ben altijd weer verbaasd over hoe niet hard de muziek is ofzo
Amazing this came out in 1970, it was such a hard turn from the peace and love era. Great album.
Better than I thought
Not of fan of heavy metal. Or even the beginnings of the genre.
Man, I like this album. Somehow more than I did 30 years ago.
Pretty solid debut album, the songs and riffs tend to stick in your head
4.8 Not a bad song on the Album, still holds up today. Hard to belive it was recorded in 12 hours on a 4 track.
Obviously classic but can’t help but wonder what it would sound like with modern amps and recording.
First listen of this album, but I generally like Black Sabbath. It's a privilege to listen to genre defining records, and I can only imagine what it must have been like to hear this for the first time in 1970.
Thought I was going to love this album, but sadly not Songs were alright, bit boring and slow for my liking though. I prefer heavier rock songs. It wasn't bad 3 ⭐️
One of the greatest albums of all time. Is in my top 5.
An incredible, sinister work of art—an easy 5.
So heavy, so, so good. Never realized how much of their sound was taken and recycled by other bands.
Black Sabbath is dope. For a debut album, that also is genre warping and setting, this is pretty dope. It’s almost funny that this was considered metal, considering what the genre has evolved to. Everything kind of just lumbers along, and has a deep sound to it and people freaked out. Enjoyable album for sure, but I think I would give a four on another listen.
The first ever heavy metal album. It’s surprising how well this thing holds up after fifty years of metal music. A fun listen as well. Very cool!
1. Black Sabbath - 3/5, cross between a trucker song and older cousin music. Dislike the vocals, nice guitar though. 2. The Wizard - 1/5, i dreaded the first minute and though about turning the whole album off. The bass is too overwhelming and flat, the harmonica sounds bad. Nice percussion, okay guitar, still dislike the vocals. I'm sorry Ozzy Osbourne, so far the music isn't working for me. 3. Behind the Wall of Sheep - 3.5/5, vocals working better here, loosing it in the second half though so I'm still not liking it very much. It just sounds like a trucker song. Very nice guitar solo around the second minute, ruined by the drums, heavy bass and vocals at the end. 4. N.I.B. - 3/5, nice intermission around the 1 minute mark, kinda ruined by the "Oh yeah!". Better acoustics, again great guitar solo around 3 minute mark, worse melody and rhythm (why does it have a "toot toot" sound made on a harmonica is beyond me). "Your love for me..." sounds strained? Like his throat is sore from smoking a pack before singing. Mixed feelings about this one. 5. Evil Woman, Don't Play Your Games with Me - 1.5/5, starts out very much like something out of "Paradise City" on playstation 2, then the chorus sounds like some weird musical? Has a country feel to it somehow, dislike it. 6. Sleeping Village - 2.5/5, nice beginning (even the vocals work somewhat!), looses its charm when it picks up the pace and volume unfortunately. But god do I dislike those loud bass sounds, they just overwhelm everything without much variety to them. 7. Warning - 3.5/5, great guitar opening, I think my problem with the vocals is mainly about the accent. Looses me completely before the second minute somehow, backs it up to being good after the fifth minute. No overwhelming bass for the most part (why did it show up out of nowhere at the 9th minute, i even liked the solo before); dislike the last minute and a half and the strong bass ending the song & the guitar solo there. 8. Wicked World 2.5/5- again with the loud bass and percussion at the beginning, great guitar though. Vocals sound like they are running through a payphone. Surprisingly liked the bass around 1:20-1:30. Great guitar at 2:20, love it. Very weird opinion about the vocals and general song from the third minute onwards, nice sounding-out at the end. Overall: 3/5, coherent but not surprising at all (due to it's age and popularity - unfortunately overexposure works horribly for me), amazing guitar, dislike the vocals and hate the harmonica, everything else is very average. I'm aware that it was revolutionary when it came out, it just doesn't do much for me.
has cool elements but its a bit heavy for me and also the guys voice is a bit whiny. but the guitar i love
Mad to think that it sounded like this BEFORE the drugs. And… unpleasantness… Still, clearly important if not particularly enlightening in this day and age.
I must have enjoyed this one - 3 straight listens on repeat. Classic Sabbath that I hadn't heard before, not sure why. Proper bostin'
It was great! First track started playing as I backed out of the garage, raining. It was super cool.
Iommi is a monster and absolutely makes this album. Can’t believe it’s taken me so long to hear this one but great album !!!
Not a bad album! It's a 3.5 for me, but I'm rounding down rather than up because no single song really grabbed me and I'd be fine never revisiting this one. The sort of album that I'm glad to have heard but otherwise will probably generally forget. It's interesting that this was recorded the week before Led Zeppelin II was released, because there are some moments that sound exactly like they're about to lead into LZII songs and then they go in another direction. My favorite moments were the guitar solos within "Wasp / Behind the Wall of Sleep / Bassically / N.I.B." and "A Bit of Finger / Sleeping Village / Warning"- really enjoyed a few minutes of those, but again, they just made me think of how much more I enjoy Led Zeppelin's albums from this time.
Vibey
So good. So dark. It's such a consistent album. Each member brings it.
It's alright, the guitar is good but overall it's kinda missing something for me
opzich oke maar niet heel erg onder de indruk
Some brilliant tracks. Filler in the album is a bit raw.
Væri svo gott ef Ozzy væri ekki söngvarinn
Grjóthart. NIB er svo mikið nostalgíulag hjá ungum rokkSel. Fáránlega áhrifamikið sound sem var bara aðeins meira black and heavy en það sem var í boði á þessum tíma.
Alls ekkert svo slæmt.
A total classic, amazing to hear the start of one of my favourite bands. Weird I've listened to so many of their other albums, and I loved 13 so much – and yet had never heard the one that kicked it all off. Thematically, of course, you can hear the influences of Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin but the sound is like nothing else. This is the start of heavy metal. I loved this, and I'll definitely listent to it again. Not Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath or Master of Reality – the best three of theirs – but still a great album.
God I love Black Sabbath. That has been the main revelation for me from the 3+ years of doing this project. Whether that makes up for completely losing track of new music over that period, I'm not sure.
CLASSIC
I mean this in the best possible way: This is a cute album. Really dreamy sound with fuzzy guitars and some cheesy pagan spice.
classic
Better than I expected.
The musicianship of Black Sabbath can get lost in the hype. The lyrics and subject matter are the weak link, for me.
I’ve always felt Black Sabbath was a Zeplin wannabe But this album is about as classic as it gets Started a new genre of Satanic Rock
The original metal album, an absolute masterpiece. Top tracks: NIB, Black Sabbath, Evil Woman, The Wizard
black sabbath a classic
Great riffs from top to bottom.
Kinda got it, Kinda didn’t
This was fun, dark, ethereal Sabbath. A healthy dose of satan in every riff.
Yeah it’s the first metal album. And that’s great. Thing is, I wasn’t there and I can’t be and I can’t really imagine what it was like before this happened. So try as I might, I can’t raise much enthusiasm. Out of context, it’s dreary.
Great album
Black Sabbath The Wizard
Remember when ozzy Osborne ate a bat
Heavy
Nothing for me to be afraid of!
If I were a 12 year old in 1970 I would have been really annoying about this album
classic
Good album. Must listen for Rick/metal fans
3+
Love Black Sabbath, but while this album shows hints of the greatness to come it doesn't quite come together yet. I see reviewers call this the first metal album, but a large majority of it sounds much more like heavy rock (closer Zeppelin or Hendrix than metal) They would become the Sabbath we know and love on the next album
I liked the guitar solo in Warning. The rest is alright.
not my favorite bs album but solid guitar work
First of all, the first song of the first album and the name of the band all share the same name. Confidence. At the 4:40 mark of the song “Black Sabbath” the riff-pattern that Coheed and Cambria has written many songs with emerges and is truly exciting, followed by a ripping solo. I love Sabbath, but I didn’t love the harmonica sound levels on the second song. I wish this had been a longer album.
Surprisingly enjoyed
Sludgy metal goodness, N.I.N probs has my favourite bass solo on the intro too
Powerful riffs /sounds to close out album
Incredible album. I just learned, that they played the whole thing live with minimal overdubs (just some additional vocals and guitar tracks). One day recording, one day mixing. The result was one of the most influential albums of modern (at that time) rock music.
Imagine what American christians initially thought about this satanic shit. British people in the other hand were probably like hehe heavy metal 🤘👀
Not my favorite of their albums - no real stand out hits for me - but I’d still listen again.
Paved the way for metal
one of the greats, there's nothing to be said that hasn't already been said about black sabbath. love you tony iommi
It was nice listening to their earlier stuff. Solid, but nothing really outstanding to me.
This is a tough one. I want to give it 5 stars - foundation for metal, so iconic, great songs, etc. But quite frankly the record is under a half hour long and there are three duds. This deserves a 4. Fuck it giving it a 5.
I like the drama in his voice and the guitars are pretty slammin’
Great album that I’ve listened to for many years. N.i.b is a fantastic tune, also love warning. It would probably have 5 stars if it wasn’t for their album paranoid.
Bangers
I didn't really enjoy this one as much as Paranoid, but it was fine. The guitar work was really good. I think it's a 2.5 for me, but I'm rounding up because I'm not positive that I listened to the best version of it. There are other track listings and the vocals sounded oddly choppy at times, so maybe there's a remaster that I'd dig more.
I thought "Paranoid" was a stronger album, but this one was still interesting. There is very clearly some musical talent in the riffs, which was the standout of the album for me.
Much better than I anticipated. I think later Ozzy probably colored a more negative opinion than would be deserved. 3/5
Really solid, great guitar
Their first album 🤝🏽 My first album from them
91/1001 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
# 230 : I can listen to it, but I'm not sure it's all its cracked up to be. If you have to play this album, listen to N.I.B
Some iconic songs on this album. Absolutely obvious now, but it's easy to see the foundation of metal being drawn out here. Gain-y guitars, dark lyrics, and at times a "creeping" rhythm.
This is so freakin charming... I mean, dark and TWISTED. The DEVIL BABY!
This album deserves 5 stars just for its place in history, but just listen to that bass and those drums, they're incredible. When you add in heavy guitar it creates a sound like no other back when it was released. It's a bonafide classic
Okay, didn’t quite have the punch I wanted.
Oh yea is it heavy. but The Warning is just an extended blues jam. If I want Sabbath, I will listen to another album.
Awesome music! Lyrics a bit silly or haven’t aged well but the music kicks
A good album, I liked The Wizard and N.I.B.
I must have in your collection
again, I was unable to listen to 2 of the 8 songs on Spotify.
One of the best ever.
Unquestionably spectacular. The dark sided themes as well as the heavy influence of drugs and alcohol started to make it hard to be a fan. That aside, this is still something special.
The A-side is 6/5 and the B-side 4/5 so it evens out to 5/5. Dark and gloomy riffs accompanied by phenomenal vocals. Still incredibly heavy and the foundation for heavy metal. This is something everyone should listen to at least ones in their lifetime. It's simply outstanding.
Best metal album ever still the original which started metal. Simply a masterpiece from begining to end. The begining is still scary to hear. Its like if you are sneaking into a satanic sacrifice ritual. There are not many albums still today after 55 years that are this powerful. New generes have emerged and still nothing can surpass this debut album for a band or for a genere. Its a blueprint that will never be equaled and even thou there are a few who have given it a run for the top spot like van halen and guns debut they still lacked something. Ozzy’s crazy pitch and tony’s dark heavy riffs along with geezers baseline and bill’s off-tempo tempo drumming makes this a top 20 album ever. I can only imagine buying this album and listening to that first song my mind would have melted if I were 13 and heard that in 1970. I envy those kids who got to experience that moment first hand. Maybe its a little short but the lable had no clue what thos was and how it would change the music scene and history so probabaly recorded just seven songs cause it was too much too soon to have it been a 10-11 song album.
This is fine I guess. Kinda Zeppliny, kinda Creamy, but mostly this just strikes me as silly. Adolescent boys playing their instruments loudly and trying to be scary and dark. I like rocking out as much as the next guy, but do you have to be so edgelordy about it? Once your band goes spooky I just feel silly listening to you. It’s not Halloween. Ghosts and wizards and devils and witches aren’t real. They’re just something children are scared of. Or very dumb people. I think that is ultimately my problem with heavy metal and thrash metal and black metal and all the rest of it. It all just seems like music for dumb people. More so than mindless pop, more so than bro country, more than any other genre I can think of. Just music for pimply, pretentious, angry, emotionally stunted dumb people. Boo! 👻
None of it was particularly standout to me. Also I was a little confused by the tracklist.
Great album from beginning to end
Rarely have my expectations for an album and the album itself been so out of sync. It feels tame and almost quaint for an album called black sabbath.
4.7. Ozzie in his prime.
The first heavy metal album, but certainly not the greatest. Also - not my jam.
I listened to this record at a friend's house in the late 1970s. He went on and on how great it was, but I really did not enjoy it that much at the time. I think I enjoyed it even less now. N.I.B. is the only song that I can say that I like. I understand why this record is on the list, but it's not my thing.
I forgot how much blues/southern rock influence there is in early BS
YES.
The tritone to rule them all. Still heavy 50+ years after its release. Some lyrics come off as a bit silly but this is the template for all heavy metal that followed.
not as good as paronoia imo, but still a decent album.
50 years later it’s still the one of the heaviest albums ever. And I appreciate Geezer Butler’s playing more and more as the years go by as well as the bluesiness of Ozzy’s vocals. The eponymous track is actually quite a bit faster than I’d remembered it being.
Nothing that came before Black Sabbath was like them, and they inspired everything that came after. Great songs, wish there was a tad more psychedelia to accompany these long solos
It is hard to imagine how disruptive and shocking this must have been in 1970
Classic
I don’t know if we’ve had a triple threat before to have the song Black Sabbath, on the album Black Sabbath, by the band Black Sabbath. Really trying to get brand recognition out there. I didn’t know I was such an Ozzy fan. As the second album from him I really do enjoy his voice and song style. Also another rare occasion to actually have an album that was too short with only six songs. I don’t think their was enough songs to have a truly memorable chorus or guitar riff to give it a four but I still really enjoyed it. It was funny tho I think there were two separate songs that have the starting notes to iron man and I was like oh oh wait is this it??? But then it wasn’t. Sad
With having the song named after the band in the album named after the band, I expected a bit more. Black Sabbath is one of those bands I’ve always been more curious about. I always assumed they would be more metal. This is obviously their first album, so maybe they build up as it goes.
I gotta say, the format of this album is a little frustrating. I get we want to keep the integrity of the original, but can’t we just separate these tracks when it was remastered? Overall, this was a decent album, it just obviously blended together and was pretty brief. Wicked World was probably my favorite song and had the most recognizable sound. Hopefully if we get another Black Sabbath album it’ll have more than five tracks.
I thought this album was just fine until I looked at the release year. HOLY SHIT!!! 3 years after the summer of love and the same year The Beatles released Let It Be, Black Sabbath introduced the world to doom metal. Shortly after that in the same year as this debut album they put out one of the most iconic albums of all time with Paranoid. Black Sabbath was on a different level from the rest of the world at this time. I was thinking giving it a 3 at first, but I might bump it up to a 4 because of it's influence.
Cool intro to metal. Not my thing
Is there anything else that needs to be said or written?
I’ll never understand how this genre became so popular.
Good album - few nice tracks here.
A great album that started one of the best genres of music
One of the greatest opening tracks of all time.
8/10. Very good. Easy to groove to. Instrumental was great but at times a little repetitive. The Wizard made the 5 ⭐️ list for me. Think it was my favorite song on the album.
Really makes you feel like you're starting a riot.
Perhaps the first heavy metal album albeit bluesier then what came after by them.
Favorite so far can't gi wring with old school oZY
Heavy 4/5
Epic hard rock album.. never been a massive fan of Black Sabbath but this one I’ll be playing again. Concise, and rocks all the way through. One of those albums that gets overshadowed by later releases but is great.
The first heavy metal album of all time! Excellent first outing by incredible musicians. 4.5/5
Not as thoroughly fantastic as paranoid, but still a fantastic and hellish listen.
This record wastes no time. The opening notes and the entire first song is based on the nastiest musical interval, the tritone, which has been (appropriately) known as the "Devil's interval" since the Middle Ages because it sounds so ungodly. Perfect. The power of this music cannot be denied. Their goal may have been somewhat juvenile - basically a treatise on raising hell in all its forms - but they nail it so completely you have to respect the accomplishment. No work will be getting done by me for the next half hour and it's taking everything I have to not put on a jean jacket and skip school to have a bad trip down by the river. See you in hell!🤘
"Just like Cream! But worse" (Lester Bangs, Rolling Stone) What a perfect, and fairly accurate, description of a great classic album. To be honest, I would have liked to have had "Paranoid" instead of their debut album, but it's fun to listen to the roots of both Black Sabbath's style and heavy metal more generally, and the Wikipedia article is a good read. (I had no idea that Tony Iommi had lost his right-hand fingertips in a sheet metal factory accident, or that Geezer Butler was originally a guitarist, and how much both of those facts made the band both distinctive, and worse than Cream with all the power chords and simplified bass.) Definitely not their best album, and I'm impressed at how much less "heavy" this album was than later ones, but I loved finding out that they recorded it essentially live, in one day, and before closing time at the pub. And for that alone, it's really impressive.
Love, I can see this becoming one of my car cds where I just listen to it obsessively for a year or two. Much better than I'd thought it would be.