Black Sabbath

Are you ready for some transitional rock?

could i write poetry to this? n

It was so short

I liked it more than I thought I would.

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

Innovative in its time, pretty cheesy now

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.

a decently cool groundbreaker

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.)

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.

Meh. Not my favorite.

Top 3 Songs: 1 - N.I.B. (4) 2 - The Wizard (2) 3 - Black Sabbath (1)

First listen and wasnt expecting to like it...but, I really enjoyed this album. 3

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

Better than I thought

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 ⭐️

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.

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.

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.

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

Alls ekkert svo slæmt.

The musicianship of Black Sabbath can get lost in the hype. The lyrics and subject matter are the weak link, for me.

Kinda got it, Kinda didn’t

Nothing for me to be afraid of!

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

Powerful riffs /sounds to close out album

It was nice listening to their earlier stuff. Solid, but nothing really outstanding to me.

I like the drama in his voice and the guitars are pretty slammin’

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

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.

A good album, I liked The Wizard and N.I.B.

again, I was unable to listen to 2 of the 8 songs on Spotify.

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 first heavy metal album, but certainly not the greatest. Also - not my jam.

not as good as paronoia imo, but still a decent album.

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.

Good album - few nice tracks here.

"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.

What an album opener. Bring a big fan of metal, I would have loved to have been there at the time when this album came out just to experience the title track, having heard nothing of the sort before. Easily one of the best doom/stoner metal songs of all time, and it arguably was the first one to exist. Sadly the rest of the album doesn't live up to these lofty heights. Sabbath would go on to achieve greater things in their next two albums, but the rest of this album is a bit meandering. The wizard is ruined by the harmonica imo, and Evil Woman was an unnecessary cover inclusion which is sounds like the band didn't even want on the record. They recorded the album in less than 12 hours and mixed it in one further day, so I can't help but feel if they spent more time making it tight rather than practically a live album it could have been an all time classic.

Not my cup of tea, but inventing a spooky genre is pretty cool. Ozzy’s voice earns points for uniqueness and power. You can definitely hear the blues influence. 3.0

One can hear early heavy metal, but it's more bluesy than I was expecting. It's pretty good and Ozzy does a good job. 3.2

Much much better than I thought it would be

Love hearing some bluesy sabbath. Found a new song or two I liked.

Possibly the best song the band made was the self-titled opening track, but overall, this album gradually loses steam as the tracklist progresses

Just don’t dislike the world, or myself, that much

Three Stars

This is actually pretty good stuff, fun and listenable despite the dark themes and attitude. Nice variety of sound and some very good guitar work. A great start for a band, but for Ozzy and the group, it's all downhill from here to the Osbornes.

Ozzy is a funny geezer and everything, but these lads have never really been for me. A bit much, just chill out a bit. Having said that a 2 would be harsh. Simpsons: Yes

it was good the rain was cool i got a bit bored towards the end

nice

Solid album to rock out but no particular song grabbed me

Another one that changed my expectations. I thought Black Sabbath were more metal than this. Great riffs

Its ok

solid classic but kind of background noise. no standout tracks for me but that is the nature of 5 long tracks. The most interesting part of the album is the history of it being the first true metal album

Great Black Sabbath sound but first album is not great like later albums.

The voice surprised me on the first track. I appreciate the “heavy” but still slow start. It makes the sound spooky. Second track got country feeling with the harmonica. Third track I enjoyed the least. Fourth track Wicked World felt more bluesy. Final track was alright just pretty long but I did get into the groove later in the song. Overall solid and I respect what it was doing at the time. I think I’d return to the album but not on a frequent basis. Also I consider 3 to be a solid rating

Listening to this album made me want to eat a bat

Solid one for me

Interesting start to the heavy metal era. This kind of sounds like led zeppelin but a bit heavier. They really developed the sound for paranoid, this is...dare I say... A little dull. In the context of it's time it's revolutionary, doesn't really hold up in 2024 for me though

it's got good quilters and beat. ozzy isn't my kind of singer but I do enjoy the classic ones

Not bad. Who knew?

I’m impressed! I totally thought I wasn’t going to be be able to stand at… But it was good to have on!

Obviously a very important album, birthing heavy metal and all. But they massively improved on everything here on "Paranoid", which is a much better album. The first half of this is great though;

Enjoyed listening to it - oh no is this a sign of aging? Familiar. Had to rate it 3 as first album picked!

A much easier listen than the first couple of albums, but I just am not a fan of the popular vocals of the 60’s and 70’s

It is what it is, a bit hard rock, a bit dark, a bit fun.

Pretty cool, interesting to see how close to blues it got at times

Solid album.

heavy metal . NO molesta.

There's a few really good tracks on here, but honestly the fact it takes 4½ minutes of the first track before it becomes interesting is really not on. I get whiy the album is here, but it is not as easy or as fun to listen to as, say, Deep Purple.

It's inventive, but like what happens so often with this list, it's a debut album and not as good as other Black Sabbath albums. 3/5

Good guitar riffs. Not my vibe, but I understand why people like the album.

Classic Black Sabbath, but I prefer the Paranoid album

good drums - 3.5

fun

Absolutely great metal album. Super spooky, in the horror sense, like what they were going for at the time.

Another one I’ve listened to many times. Hoping to listen to some albums I haven’t heard before soon.

This album doesn't have the same number of hits as other Black Sabbath albums but still gives us the classic Sabbath sound and icon Ozzie vocals. Some songs drag on a little so we'll dig for that.

It's a cool vibe, no issues with this. It's a debut that definitely feels like the band has an idea of what they want to be, but haven't yet figured out or settled into their personas. It's obvious they're working on the recipe, but haven't discovered the exact makeup of their secret sauce just yet. I'm not a Sabbath fan specifically, but I've been a classic rock radio listener all my life so I know the hits. I can confidently say that I've literally never heard any of these songs before. From what I know of the band, this album feels like it was very much a vehicle for a shit ton of Geezer's occult and fantastical lyricism. They're onto something, but this isn't a wow moment for me.

El pilar fundacional del heavy metal, en sonido y estética. Está bueno aunque sin una dirección clara todavía.

Not too bad, a little doom and slow at times, but a decent record. Definitely influential. 3/5

interesante aproximación al heavy para un no aficionado.

Liked it better than expected. Not a fan of Ozzy's singing (I know some really are), enjoyed the drumming. More interesting than most of, say, Deep Purple (though Ian Gillian was a fantastic singer). Innovative, obviously, and held my interest.

First time I've listened to an entire Sabbath album. It was a pretty fun experience, it's held up well. Loved the doom elements. Back half lost me a bit tho. Fav track: Black Sabbath 3.5

Surely iconic, but not fully a style that I align with my favourite category of classic rock. Something about Ozzy's voice also, although it's legendary, kind of grates with me. Two and a half. Fave track: Black Sabbath

Atmospheric album but not my favourite. Pretty good though, high 2/low 3.

Good album. Spotify did not have 2 of the songs available. 3.5 stars.

Positiivinen yllätys! Ekat biisit hyviä, loppua kohden ehkä vähän lässähti

Det er meget bluesy i forhold til senere Sabbath, men mærkeligt nok ikke på en fed måde for mig. Talte ikke rigtigt til mig

metal mmmmm yeah

Love the music! Especially the low guitar sound. Very talented musicians. The super dark lyrics caused me to knock a few stars off the rating.

Very good album. I'm not sure if I have ever actually heard the whole thing before. I would listen again. Very revolutionary for the time period.

ersts metal album time. sehr moody, aber seehr bluesy. feeets solo tommy respekt hobla. the wizard isch meeeega zeppelin mit de harmonika und so. behind the wall of sleep. geils riff. huere hend die da alles i eim take ufgnoh. effekt uf de stimm isch geil. NIB bass intro geeeil. song selber au recht cool. Evil Woman. frau bös bösi frau. sleepong village goht recht hard riffs sind super. warning. achtung achtung metal time achtung achtung de bassist heisst geezer butler so en geile name. ok do ischer etz chli am noodle de tommy wicked world mega tempowechsel time. finds sehr doom metal mässgi mengmol mega prog und allgemein huere kreativs album. ozzy singt bluesiger als ichs vo ihm erwartet hett und de tommy spielt seehr geil gitarre. zum teil sind d gitarresoli chli genudel und d riffs nöd soo spannend aber es guets album.

An interesting listen to what was probably THE first heavy metal album. it was full of doom and gloom, and heavy thunderous rock. Lyrics were uncharacteristically dark for the time, but by todays standards, you wouldn't even bat an eye at. Overall a cool album to listen to, and so weird to think that Ozzy Osbourne is singing. Best: N.I.B Worst: Sleeping Village 3.5 Stars

Proper devil music, classic

Beter dan verwacht

Hard

I certainly enjoyed but I don't think i'll be coming back. 3.5/5

3.5

So funny to listen to know. This supposed album of darkness and terror, while still an interesting album, does not hold the fear of its initial release date.

With this album, Black Sabbath started heavy metal. They forged a hard, driven version of blues and rock with elements of psychedelia and ample use of distortion. Tony Iommi's technical guitar riffs connect Black Sabbath's music to both rocks' and blues' traditions of guitar driven songs. Ozzy Osbourne's unique, strained vocals pushed their music into something outside of those traditions. Sabbath's associations with the occult has plagued hard rock throughout its history.

NIB, evil woman

I used to be a huge Black Sabbath fan and loved the album years ago. But it's a lot of "guitar" music and isn't as great to me anymore.

Better than I expected. Always was turned off by the scary looking stuff but it wasn't terrible.

3/5 intersting one but not enough

Jag gillar ju inte hårdrock så en trea på denna måste ju göra Ozzy stolt.

Solid heavy metal album that helped pioneer the genre. Great riffs, but Ozzy grew into a better singer as time went on.

Pleasantly surprised.

Das waren Pioniere! Nicht meine Musik aber sehr stilprägend

Agree with Jack: the vocals / lyrics sort of put me off. They arent terrible, just not always delivered very well. Borders on the cheese at times. Music wise, its very good. Can totally see how they influenced the entire stoner/desert rock scene. Has that nice blues influenced sound to a lot of the guitar riffs; and there’s some canny little bass riffs too. Doubt I’ll be back; but glad I heard it.

Musically this album is really good and while Ozzy's singing isn't the best but it didn't annoy me too much. Glad I listened to it but don't think I'll revisit this album. Highlights: The Wizard NIB Warning

The first track aside, this was much more blues rock sounding than I expected. Not convinced by the "doom metal"thing. I get that this must've been something really innovative and shocking in 1970, but does not have the same impact now I did enjoy it largely, but I really don't like Ozzy's voice and it detracts from the music for me NIB, the wizard, evil woman and warning were the highlights 3 feels generous as I gave paranoid a 3 and I don't think this is as good.... Although I did like the more blues sound here I've listened again and it's growing on me... Think I prefer it to the later stuff we've had from them already. The guitar and bass are brilliant, it's just the vocals I have an issue with... 4

Done

Strong Led Zeppelin influence. Very original riffs. Black Sabbath, Wizard, N.I.B bangers!

Not my normal music, didn’t dislike but didn’t grab my attention much either

Helt ok - inte rätt tillfälle att lyssna på men låter som Black Sabbath.

Too bad there wasn't a Heavy Metal tribe on Survivor: Cook Islands (aka Survivor: Race Wars). Maybe Billy could've won. Sleeping Village was interesting I guess?

Very distinctive, atmospheric. You can tell it's foundational for metal but maybe not metal itself because a lot of the album is just heavy blues stuff, close but not quite there, and honestly kinda monotonous. I wouldn't put this on it again but I liked a good amount of it. Best song: Black Sabbath

Interesting hearing early Ozzy. Good album but didn’t love it.

Album that laid the foundation for all metal and rock bands after it from deep hardcore metal to desert/stoner rock. Not their best album but still very important to music history.

I enjoyed it but not that much

Liked it more than I expected

Good in places, but not my favourite Sabbath album. 3.5*

Thoughts before listening: Good one although I've never owned or listened to this. I know it's Sabbath's debut and typically called the first heavy metal album. I know Paranoid and the greatest hits albums much better than this one, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Review: Yeah, I enjoy this. Its definitely different than what would become known as heavy metal, with this feeling more just like a slightly more abrasive form of British blues rock ala Cream. It's really good though. The Wizard is my favorite song on the album, and I also really enjoy the opening self titled song. 2nd half meanders a bit and this definitely is not their best album.

Fav song: The Wizard

Crazy that this album was released in 1970. Almost gave this a 4 but I’m still not sure if I would put this on randomly to listen to.

Impressive. This album is impressive, for a 50 year old offering, it stands up incredibly well. Listening today it sounds like classic rock, but it was like nothing else at the time of release and far ahead of its time. I appreciate it more than enjoy it, that's why I only give it 3. It's not an album I'll liten to repeatedly with my present musical tastes, but it deserves all the love it gets.

nib

Very slow and plodding album that is overrated in my opinion

The Wizard was a pleasant gem. The rest was fine as well — better when bluesy, like The Wizard, than when it was metal-y. I liked it less than their second album.

6/10

Nothing memorable about this album. 8+ minute songs with no clear direction or familiarity.

Heavy metal. Muy lento. Ni fu ni fa.

heavy metal . NO molesta.

It’s a good record but not as awesome as Paranoid - it’s definitely an interesting listen. I find it hard to not rate it high intellectually but emotionally it’s a 3. I’ll have to go with my gut on this one.

1970! Much respect. Will never listen to you again, but I did enjoy hearing a bit of the through line from Jimmy page‘s guitar to Kiss all the way to Pearl Jam and Live. I think my favorite thing is how they break expectations of what the shape of a song should be.

i’m trying to give it 3 and 1/2 starts but idk how but cool album must listen for all playboi carti fans

3.5/5 Good and very important album. But could use a little more black and a little less Sabbath.

Decent album with a unique heavy metal sounds to it

I liked it, spooky intro song, but not really for me. ‘Evil Woman’ and ‘NIB’ stood out most.

I was expecting a lot more doom and metal than I got. Basically, nothing lived up to the title track, which is the first track of the album. It’s fantastic, it’s heavy and full of darkness and gloom. The riffs are enthralling, the vocals are cold and feel possessed everything about it lives up to the expectations set by the discourse around the album. NIB is another track that is fun and the riffs are great. Apart from that, it borrows a lot of blues influences into their sound. I liked it a bit here and there but I wasn’t blown away by it. The riffs weren’t as memorable and the vocals were also not as great as they were on the title track. Overall, it’s a decent album and I respect it for what it pioneered but I don’t think I’ll be coming back to most of the tracks on the album.

ihan ok mut ootteko kuullu alle 10min biisestä joissa on sanat ?? niiku i see why this is iconic ja hahaha black sabbath by black sabbath on black sabbath mut ai suatana ku alko hytisee päässä tätä kuunnellessa

I have never listened to Black Sabbath previous to this so forgive me for the comparison but this album feels like a college band who wants to be Black Sabbath. It's good, don't get me wrong. It's just not that memorable. 6/10

Not something that appeals to me very much, but I enjoyed listening to it. Sounds like a foundational work for the genre. Weird devil, evil themes are problematic for me. I am trying to be good and do good.

One can hear early heavy metal, but it's more bluesy than I was expecting. It's pretty good and Ozzy does a good job. 3.2

Man, people’s heads must have exploded when listening to this album for the first time. 50 years later, I can certainly still appreciate what Ozzy and Black Sabbath were trying to do. That said, I very much prefer their later work, after they “found” their sound…. dare I say. My favorite things about this were the guitar solos and also the bluesy sound of some of the tracks, a common ancestor of a lot of modern day music, including Ozzy’s metal🤘🏽

I can understand why those just a few years older than I am were in love with Black Sabbath it was ground breaking for the times. I don't know what came first wizard murals on vans or Black Sabbath, but I am sure there is some correlation.

The original heavy metal, ala 1970's. Ozzy!

I understand how influential Black Sabbath to my favorite genre but I don't love their music.

Not my favorite Black Sabbath record.

I like: The Wizard N.I.B.

Much more interesting than Deep Purple, but not something I’d normally listen to. Ozzy’s voice is powerful, and the band brings it hard. Still contains elements of hard rock, with a few guitar solos that felt a little out of place. I can imagine people hearing this when it released and wanting more music in this style.

Blues Brothers with the addition of a heavy metal axe. Some very tame lyrics for heavy metal, mostly drawing on the blues side of things, or as best you'll get with Ozzys vocal style. Aside from the Black Sabbath well known hits, I had never listened to an album of theirs, and found it quite enjoyable, I'd maybe even pick out one or two tracks for a relisten. All in all, not too shabby for 1970.

Spooky, a little boring, good vocals, giving halloween

Suits my taste more than vol4

Solid, classic

I’d give this a 3.5. It’s a cool album. Parts of it sound like Jethro tull or cream, parts of it are heavier

Very solid

This is the definition of 70s metal to me. Hard to believe that this was once considered the hardcore version of music.

High 3s first heavy metal album isn't as hevy as I thought

Classic sounds, enjoyed the listen.

Good, but nothing stood out for me.

Not crazy about this one, but I’ve never been an Ozzy fan. I always felt like his music could be better. With that being said, I would listen to it again, under the right circumstances.

some familiar sounds.

I am very familiar with Black Sabbath and their place in rock/metal history but this is my first time listening to an album- good stuff!

This is the definition of Heavy Metal. Not my favorite Sabbath album, but enjoyable. Never been a fan of their vocals. If this was an instrumental album, I would love it. Warning is a hell of a song.

The debut album. I enjoyed this a lot as a historic pick. The longer form songs were a nice surprise. Ozzy has a cool voice and geezer (who I believe is the guitarist) seems to be inventing the idea of metal riffs. These songs are fun!

I liked this now!

Not bad at all. Few songs too long.

title track is classic but for the rest I think they've done better

Inferior Sabbath, but still fun. I like that they recorded it in one day.

Good. Not the best Black Sabbath album IMO. 3/5

Sabbath did some great stuff and this album is good but not great, it has just too much 60-style influence in it for me to really enjoy, especially considering they released Paranoid less than a year later and that is a genuine all-timer. Still, good Sabbath is better than most other music.

Actually much better than I anticipated

Excellent rock album. I can certainly remember parents being super worried about kids listening to Sabbath as a boy and that it was creating super scary satanic worship. So laughable now where it basically sounds like a rock album and not even all that hardcore by today's measures. Really enjoyable and talented. What an entrance to the music scene this was.

I've definitely enjoyed hearing the albums that essentially pioneered new subgenres in rock music, and "Black Sabbath" definitely fits that mold. The sounds that would steer two decades of heavy metal are threaded throughout, but what surprised me most was how much blues rock was mixed in. Terrific guitar work by Tommy Iommi, and Ozzy Osbourne's voice shouldn't work, but it does.

Strange to think this is the album that kicked off heavy metal and resulted in much pearl clutching, I expected it to be more intense. Mostly it just sounds like a bluesy rock album with some kick ass guitar solos.

Not really my cup of tea but Some good riffs and guitar solos

First time I've heard this but it's clear from it why this is seen as where metal started. Nothing sounded this heavy before. The blues scale has done plenty of good work in popular music. As always, the lyrics are batshit, but Ozzy is a one off. I enjoyed this. It's also sounding good with the more or less live studio recording under the remaster .

Editors are right that this is "basic" and "bludgeoning" and upfront about its inclusion being based primarily on its influence. Really, it's not worth it. Yes, it's ominous but not really too darkly evil or devilish – for what has the devil to do, ultimately, with Britishized Delta blues? Mostly seems put-on and silly today, though perhaps one is being a bit smug here.

Features one of my favourite songs of Black Sabbath: N.I.B. Pretty good album, I like the “old” song quality. They have better albums though.

They're ok not amazing, can see these tunes would be better live

Enjoyed this one.

This was okay. I didn't like it as much as the previous Sabbath album and it felt a little long for my enjoyment levels.

Peu impressionné par cet album. Y'a du bon riff de guit dans la place, mais je bounçais moins les cheveux que pour certains autres albums de metal.

heavy metal . NO molesta.

Highlights: "N.I.B.," "Black Sabbath," "Evil Woman" Similar feelings to their sophomore: they keep it simple but tight, with a caveat for the panned overdubbing of guitar solos that's still to good effect. Drop-C tuning would have sounded super fresh, and strong vocal performance here too. This doesn't have the same studio gimmicks as Paranoid to spruce it up, but the lyricism is a little stronger here if just because it trades in horror cliche without so many egregiously dumb rhyme schemes. May be a little more bluesy, like they haven't quite found their voice yet. Still a strong debut for some working-class guys. Good for them.

I mean, it's a debut right? Nothing too crazy tbh but not so boring it's forgettable.

mucho ruido

I liked this more than I expected to; it was quite bluesy for the most part, and the drumming had a jazzy touch to it that I quite liked

I liked this more than I expected to; it was quite bluesy for the most part, and the drumming had a jazzy touch to it that I quite liked.

The guitar is amazing, but the songs as a whole just aren’t special. The lyrics and other instrumentals just lack.

I liked the opening. The rest was nice enough too, but less memorable. Then I went and listened to Paranoid and I think I liked that album better

Heavy, but not overwhelming. Definitely some bluesy influence

One hears as much prog rock and loud British blues as one does metal – the category would only go down from here. The devil-worshipy vibe seems silly and not at all convincing now – editors are right about the "then-scary, now-laughable" feel to this overall, including, but not limited, to the lyrical content. The guitar riffs are big and jagged, and generally likable and, here and there, borderline interesing, but nowhere near virtuosic or godlike. The muddy and murky production is part of the authentic vibe, a humility, perhaps, that later metal bands would have done better to embrace, rather than moronic grandiosity that they chose. One liked this more than one expected, especially relative to other metal, for which one has less than no time.

Love the Black Sabbath sound, the guitar sound is just so tasty. I also like how they looked more like hippies in the 70s than the super dark edge lords that they turned into later. This album is not their best in my opinion, N.I.B. and Evil Woman are very good tracks but the others don't stand out as much.

entretenido basico

Every time I listen to Black Sabbath I expect it to be way better than it actually is.

De bons riffs

Better than I expected. A lot of the guitar was impressive. Definitely not my thing but certainly understand its presence on the list.

Overall the album is ok. I think some of the lyrics are pretty silly, but that is countered by some truly outstanding guitar playing. The final song/suite really demonstrates that great aspect of the record

Cool tbf

3 Supposedly the first ever heavy metal album from the first ever heavy metal band… though I know there are claims they ripped off a group called Coven who had released an album with a similar occult-ish hard rock sound just a year prior. I don’t know how much truth there is to that or if it was just parallel thinking, so I’m not going to point any fingers, but I do think it’s a little suspicious that Coven had a band member that went by Oz Osborne and a song also entitled “Black Sabbath” (true story - look it up). Anyway, just food for thought, not trying to take the snuff out of this album - there’s definitely a reason that it’s recognized as monumental in musical history and that most people have never heard of Coven, or instead associate the name with that American Horror Story season. So as a first time listener of Black Sabbath’s debut, I have to say… I was surprised by how not that heavy this was? I know that’s not really fair to say considering this is the VERY first of what was to come with metal, but this was wayyyy more bluesy than I anticipated. And I didn’t find that to be bad at all - while there weren’t any particular moments I loved, as a whole I thought it was an enjoyable listen. The 40 minute runtime was perfect - any longer and I think it would have started to lose me. The solos scattered about all went hard and felt like shapes of things to come for the group, a later heavier period that, to be honest, I enjoy a little more. Paranoid is a really solid album and noticeably heavier, despite being released just seven months after this one. I’m not sure exactly what changed in that short of time, but the growth of the band and the evolution of the genre is felt. On a slightly different note, I’ve always thought that this album’s cover is really cool and great at establishing the vibe of the band… though as a confession, I learned only recently it’s a woman on the cover and not, in fact, Ozzy. Whoops ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Another fun fact - the same woman is also included on the cover of Dookie by Green Day. Angus Young is on there too if you’re interested in playing more album cover I Spy.

Primero de Black Sabbath. Es muy heavy para mi gusto, pero se nota la calidad.

This album is pretty average I would say nothing really stood out for me. It feels like Black Sabbath was still trying to find its groove.

I’m not a Black Sabbath fan, but I recognize the historical significance of this album.

Original guitar sounds and great psychodelic atmosphere. But somehow I can hear some repetitiveness (maybe even monotony).

Fine

This is one I’m supposed to worship as a rock listener. To me it’s fine. Not crazy special.

i want to rate this a little bit higher, but i cant. its a great album. probably was a stand out at its time. its experimental in nature, with 14 minute long tracks. the precursor to sludge metal while still toeing the line of run of the mill classic rock. “the wizard” is a standout track. the pieces fit together. there are some bloat solos that, once again, probably were profound at the time but didnt age well (im looking at you last three minutes). they are over embellished and silly, if i must say it. you can also hear the riff style of the guitarist, it wont be the last time we heat similar things (in fact maybe even nearly identica). either way its still worth putting on and getting some history. and it is by no means bad! i did think there were things to like. i would listen again. 3.5 out of 5.

I love early Black Sabbath, and I enjoyed some of this. Some great riffs, but a bit too much noodling and guitar virtuosity for my taste, especially on Warning, which would have been great if they had just stuck to the riff. That bass sound is fantastic though, and I actually love Ozzy's voice here. Not their best, but not too shabby either.

Good album with some classics

Overall a solid entry. Intro is cool. I assumed it was a talkative intro and then the second song was a banger, but it turned out to all be the first song. Second song is a travesty, too much harmonica. Evil Woman is awful. And I should've listened to the song called Warning, because it was a warning for the god awful solo about 6 minutes in... dropped it there. 3/5 at best

Folks still ripping off the first track to this day. It's a cool album but I think Master of Reality is better.

3/20- Driving to school

Heavy metal. Muy lento. Ni fu ni fa.

no es mi sonido

It was okay. Short and sweet. Feels like so need to be high to really enjoy it.

I can appreciate it.

Black Sabbath is a cool doom song - Ozzy's voice kinda stinks. Album is jammy fun time. They're good at the guitar. The album art is garbage.

They love the “call and response” between Ozzy and the guitar. I forgot what a banger The Wizard is. The last track is quite the adventure. I’m not a sabbath guy but this was a pretty cool listen

Definitely an unpolished album. Seems like some guys that have some things figured out but can't quite put it all together yet.

Eh, this was okay. Not a 2 for me. Sitting pretty at 3

The supposed birth of the metal genre as we know it today, and its first song really tells you that. While I do enjoy this more than Paranoid, which I got a couple weeks ago, this still suffers from guitar solos that feel as though they go nowhere and lacking substance. I think there's a lot more to enjoy here, with it feeling more like a metal album than their follow-up album, but I still struggle to praise this too much. N.I.B. may tie with Sweet Leaf as my new favorite Black Sabbath song, however, I really enjoyed that.

Decent listen. Not as bad as expected

Cool riffs but I generally prefer Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio as a vocalist

Meh

Very fun instrumentals, and less heavy than I expected, but still really good. Sometimes I couldn't tell where a song ended, but regardless, it was a nice listen. Fave track(s): N.I.B., Warning

For someone claiming to be Lucifer, Ozzy sure sounds like he's phoning it in on a lot of this, doesn't he? Somewhat related: I don't need the Prince of Darkness playing the harmonica.

An album where my initial reaction is "Why weren't more people making better music in 1970?" But also an album that just...draaaags along.

Pretty decent if not really my thing

Not the Birmingham crew's best album, but music today would not be the same without it

3 stars

Very raw and straight forward but very exciting. Will definitely re-listen to this album. 3.6/5

This album feels like a mix between Black Sabbath's usual sound and Led Zeppelin, which also makes it sound very much from 1970. It's got a classic rock feel and you have progressive moments the second an instrumental part begins playing. The bass sometimes had a gritty sound, and the drums and guitar were positively jamming. And speaking of instrumentals, that album opening is absolutely aces. If an artist's debut album is going to catch anybody's attention, you need to do it like Black Sabbath. Definitely a debut album that's enjoyable, but it felt like something was missing--perhaps because I know some of Black Sabbath's later career. Still a worthy listen. 3.5

This album had the makings of something good, hence the 'first heavy metal album' moniker. There are some interesting and downright outstanding riffs on this album, but I couldn't escape the feeling that this album really does feel kind of half-baked and not quite complete. But that can't really come as a surprise, since Black Sabbath was in the process of birthing an entirely new genre here. That said, this incompleteness is more deserving of a spot on this project than some other things that I have heard. And truly, Black Sabbath's self-titled album walked so Paranoid could run just a few months later.

Certainly a formative album to the genre of Heavy Metal, but the genre isn't really my thing to begin with nor is it particularly exciting compared to others in the genre. Great guitar as to be expected. Not too bad of an album all together though. I did however skip out on the two unavailable songs.

Not my favorite Sabbath album by far, but a classic for sure!

Solid album but nothing I feel the need to ever come back to. Feels like they were trying a little too hard with the devil worship stuff.

Definitely enjoyed certain songs and the rawness of a debut, would probably come back to it, but I prefer some of their other hard rock contemporaries better. This is more like a 3.5 for me, but can’t give half stars so I’m rounding down.

1/16/23: I enjoyed it and appreciate the history of it being considered the first heavy metal album. Really cool that it had all the blues feel to it.

I’m not going to act like I’m better by saying I liked this a lot. I actually listened to and really enjoyed Master of Reality because “Solitude” is a fantastic song, but this didn’t have as much Personality (notice the capital “p”). But this is good music, I’m going to at least give myself that credibility.

Cool, a bit of classic metal, before it got too deathy and too, too heavy.

A foreshadow of what was to come

3.5/5. Good, bit not their best. This album certainly sounded like a debut album. I prefer Paranoid over this.

Sounding dated now, not my idea of a classic.

im not really into metal. load of my friends were when we were teenagers of course, but even as a kid i could sort of tell how cringe it was. that kinda edgelord bullshit. thrashing on guitars and training about how cool lucifer is and how evil women are. i was always adjacent to it but it just was never for me. i do NOT mean to imply that as a teenager i was some sort of culture guru or snob. lmao, NO. i was too preoccupied listening to like, the soundtrack of final fantasy vii advent children, and whatever random unnamed shit i could get from searching 'good rock' on limewire. so yeah, who was really in the right there? having said that, i did enjoy this! really took me back to a specific era. sitting with my friend aubrey in his conservatory, listening to shitty music while he plays world of warcraft and i play pokémon crystal which i managed to somehow emulate on whatever mobile phone i had at the time (i THINK it was a nokia 3310. the sideways one). anyway for that reason it's a 3/5 listen. favourite track: n.i.b. i guess? tbh none of them really leapt out at me as being any better or worse than eachother.

It reminded me a bit of led zeppelin.

A little too heavy for my tastes.

The record that launch a thousand garage bands. This and their second album "Paranoid" were required listening if you wanted to play in a rock band when I was a kid. Filled with power chords and riffs, these songs were like the standards everyone needed to know... or at least it seemed that way to 12 year old me. Not my favorite heavy metal records but worthy of giving a listen and studying. I enjoyed listening to this album end to end but it not one I would typically pick for a get together or road trip. You can put it in the archives for future analysis but most likely it won't be included on my mix tape.

Is that a harmonica on The Wizard? I don’t associate harmonica with heavy metal, but here it is. It was interesting to learn about the modifications Tommy made so that he could play guitar. I guess heavy metal would sound a bit different if he had all his fingers. The fact that this record was done in basically one take is impressive.

Black Sabbath voru greinilega fínir alveg frá upphafi. Greinilegt hvaðan áhrifin koma.

It was a new music genre to me, but good mood music

Not as good as I was expecting it to be. 3*

Good metal music. Not something I would listen to often.

Some groovy cuts, though not exactly my jam.

Very good early Sabbath, 3.5 stars

I like Black Sabbath but I don’t consider this their best album

Didn’t like it as much as Paranoid but it was good

Decent stuff

No impact

I liked this album when it came out (I was probably 16 at the time). Sadly it was the birth of metal music so Ozzie has a lot to answer for. Faux scary/intense emotion with really loud hackneyed guitars - that's all metal not just this album. We'll give it a pass though because it really was one of, if not the, first.

Ähnlich wie Iron Maiden sanfter als erwartet!

very cool sinister vibe but can't get behind the flashy guitar solos, just prefer the moody riffs. Also sounds like Ozzy is singing the same thing on every song - melody and lyrics. Still an entertaining listen!

basically invented metal the songs individually don't pack as much punch but its cool to see how it would evolve from here

oli sillon top 50 albumeissa mukana.... on hyvä tosiaan ensimmäinen sabbath albumi ja metalli genren edelläkävijä.... mutta.... kaukana niiden parhaasta albumista.... hyvä alku mutta ylämäki taivallus tulee tämän jälkeen JA SE ON SELVÄ. N.I.B paras biisinpoikanen... myös suosituin...hävettää että tykkään...

i see the appeal, but it's not for me. i'm already not a metal fan, and i didn't think the vocals meshed well with the instrumentals. regardless, i can't overstate the impact of this album (the first heavy metal album!!) and i do feel like after giving this a listen, i'm walking away with a better appreciation for black sabbath.

Decent saturday, mild social, hang with the HC WC boy, good stuff but be smart

Historic, influential, inventive. Meanders at times but finishes strong.

Started off strong but the second half was a big letdown and the songs got really bland and less focussed on mood and more on blues guitar but the first four songs were great

I do like a bunch of Black Sabbath songs. I think I appreciate this album more than I like it though. There's some really nice rhythmic stuff going on here, some great guitar work, and so on. It's just not maaaassively my jam.

Really like behind the wall of sleep

Context matters a lot here. This is the first heavy metal album, so imagine hearing something like The Wicked for the first time. It's a little too heavy on riffs and instrumentals for my liking, but still cool. Someone else on here said that it veers into background music - which is true, but it's damn cool background music I gotta say. Standout tracks are The Wizard and Evil Woman.

Aged and gritty, but this album STILL stands the test of time. Can't believe it's from 1970. I was twelve years old at the time and just starting to get into hard rock. I wouldn't discover this album until they release their sophomore release - Paranoid. N.I.B. is like a warning signal preparing the world for what they would hear in the coming years. Also love the Crow cover of Evil Woman.

Pretty good I’ve never listened to the full album before but wasn’t anything overly amazing.

Good album, good listen. More keen on some songs than others and can imagine considering this is title album that this isn't their best album. Looking forward to listening to more BS as never listened before

I like the instrumentals but I’m not really a fan of the lyrical content - it’s a bit too “dark” for my liking.

Gothic, not too harsh, relatively tame by today's standards, made me listen to more from them

Ah, now this is what I came for: albums I really should have listened to years ago, but never did. I'm still not sure how I got this far without hearing it, especially after my teenage son started playing the Paranoid album and getting into metal in general and black metal in particular (all kicked off by an "intro to guitar rock" playlist including War Pigs that I made him back when he mostly listened to pop). Oh well, here I am now. Objectively, I don't think this is a great album. I don't think I'll listen to it over and over. Plenty of things to nitpick about. But for the combination of how groundbreaking it was, how influential, and my sheer enjoyment in listening to it for the first time, I'm giving it 3 stars. Possibly another half star for the timeless brilliance of the opening.

Pretty good classic album. The historical birthalbum of heavy metal. The album is revolutionary in its own right, however it didn't really wow me as much as I might have expected. Unfortunately it pales in comparison to their next release which very well might be the best metal album ever made.

Prrrrrrima album. Wel tof om te horen hoeveel invloed deze band heeft gehad.

Ik zal die niet veel vaker gaan luisteren, maar om zo eens een keer helemaal mee te krijgen was het toch best tof. Iets teveel gitaarsolo's en gepiel, maar de grooves zijn toch best lekker!

Ok. A true landmark album. The first (proto)metal album. Side one is brilliant. BS, Wizard, NIB. Side 2 lags a bit. Unwanted covers and the Warning is way too long. All recorded over about 12 hours in the studio live. Love the band but gonna be a 3 I think.

Fun album. I think if I heard this in the 70s, I'd probably like it more. 3/5

This was okay. I’m not really into Black Sabbath but it was interesting hearing what they sounded like on their debut album.

Reminds me a little of “Deep Purple In Rock”, which has some really great moments among duller (technically-impressive) passages. I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to hear the band’s ‘theme song’, oh God HELP ME 🔥

This album is what I was afraid Black Sabbath would be. There's some good work here, of course, but there's a lot more wallowing in the sludge. This isn't nearly as fun as Vol. 4, but they had to start somewhere, so I'm glad they started here.