Vol. 4

First time really listening to a Black Sabbath album. The album is heavy and at times intense, but there are some really beautiful moments at times as well. I also found that I resonated with a lot of the lyrical content much more than I anticipated I would. I'll make sure to check out more of their work in the future.

About as heavy as it gets. Nothing beats that opening riff in supernaut

Monolithic, hard as granite and thick as sludge hard rock/metal album. There are some softer moments (with some nice mellotron action) to let you catch your breath, but for the most part 'Vol. 4' slaps harder than your mum.

70's Black Sabbath is unbelieveably good. Sludge/stoner metal is a genre I can't get enough of, so this recommendation fell on happy ears! The album starts off with the +7m30s musical journey of "Wheels of Confusion / The Straightener", which shows those pretentious prog-rockers exactly how this sort of thing is supposed to work. Following that is the far more straight forward verse/chorus/verse growl of "Tomorrow's Dream". And then a ... piano and synthesized strings!? "Changes" is a beautiful departure from the general feel of the album, which is mirrored on the other end of the album by "Laguna Sunrise". Both offer a moment of calm, to catch your breath from all of the rock in between. And then the album ushers you out, the same way it welcomed you in, which the medley of subtracks brought together in "Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes" For those that have never looked into Sabbath, or that might've been turned off to the band by tracks like "Crazy Train", I think "Vol. 4" is a much better album to form your opinion on. Regardless, I appreciate the album both for what it is and for what it represents in the evolution of rock and metal. Super glad to see it on the list!

Debatably, Black Sabbath laid the groundwork for various subgenres of metal with individual songs from their early catalog, exploring cosmic psychedelia on one track, symphonic accompaniment on the next, and sludgy, downtuned riffing on the song after that. If the theory that Sabbath forecast a great deal of metal to come, Vol. 4 represents the earliest ancestry of doom metal as one of the band's darkest and most confused early documents. The three albums that came before 1972's Vol. 4 weren't short on dread and doominess, but the band's increasingly heavy mutations of blues-rock were kept from the brink of collapse by relatively streamlined production and aspirations for pop accessibility. By the time of Vol. 4, the band were certified rock stars, indulging in drugs and partying on an accelerated level. These excesses are reflected in the overall murky sound of the album, lyrical themes of a slippery grasp on reality, and weird stylistic curveballs that range from an out-of-nowhere soul breakdown in the middle of "Supernaut" (otherwise one of the most intense songs in the band's catalog) to stoned twiddling with delay effects on "FX" to the beautifully placid instrumental "Laguna Sunrise," consisting of Tony Iommi's classical guitar and full orchestral backing. This was the first album where Iommi and the band acted as producers, and their boundless experimentation went hand in hand with consuming ungodly amounts of cocaine, to the point where they originally wanted the album to share a title with its centerpiece "Snowblind," a plodding and bewildered ode to the drug. The record company ultimately vetoed the idea and the band acquiesced. Paradoxically, the scattered mindset and muddy atmosphere of Vol. 4 became its defining factors and resulted in some of the heaviest material the band would create. Ozzy Osbourne's patented wraith-like wails begin to come into their own on anguished rockers like "Tomorrow's Dream" and "Cornucopia," and take on a tenderness that Sabbath had never attempted before on the piano/Mellotron ballad "Changes." It's a somewhat awkward jerk from the tearful sentimentality of "Changes" to the paranoid proto-sludge of "Under the Sun," and many songs have similarly strange quick turns in composition, fumbling mixing choices, or different overall textural quality from track to track. Black Sabbath's collective mental state would further devolve on their next two albums, and by the late '70s they were virtually a different band. Though clouded by substance abuse, Vol. 4 found Sabbath at a creative peak that teetered on the edge of going off the rails completely. It's messy and bewildered, but stands as one of the band's most captivating and influential documents in all of its bizarre, damaged brilliance. [Source: https://www.allmusic.com/album/vol-4-mw0000199950]

You can only trust yourself and the first six Black Sabbath albums. The rhythm section of Butler and Ward are in my top 3 all time. I didn't need to listen to this one again for the millionth time, but I did anyway. A perfect slab of metal.

Laguna Sunrise is perhaps one of the best non-lyrical rock song ever. Changes is a force. This album is a riot!

I've always loved Sabbath's first 3 records, but for some reason I never got around to the 4th. I can solidly say, it holds up to their standard, and more; I think I like it even better than Masters of Reality. Guess the cocaine really worked!

I'm a big fan of everything Sabbath did between Paranoid and Sabotage. This album marks a slight change in their sound, expanding their range a bit. I especially love "Supernaut" on this album for it's unexpected sudden turn into an acoustic/percussion jam like a miniature parade going right through the middle of the song. Sabbath always entertains.

Cocaine is responsible for some terrible things, like Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours”, but it is also responsible for this masterpiece, so we’ll call it a wash.

so, of course i knew OF sabbath - but i really never listened to them. i'd somehow heard Changes before, but that was it - except for supernaut, which is a) easily my favorite on this album, and b) humorously, the least-played track, according to spotify. anyway, this one was so good, i went back and listened to it again, just to be sure. and yeah, it held up. amazing.

100 / 10 The Prince of Darkness will be missed. RIP Ozzy Osbourne

IM GOOOIN’ THRU CHAANGES

An excellent choice to end my 7-day dry patch. Started off a bit underwhelmed but then I turned it up loud, and by the 2nd run-through it was clear that the opening track is a heavy prog masterpiece. After 3 listens most of the songs became familiar old favorites. What a drummer! Looks like there could be a lot of Black Sabbath in my future. Hail Satan etc

Another perfect Sabbath album. Sound is more upbeat and poppy than previous efforts, but still 100% Sabbath. I guess lots and lots of cocaine compared to booze will change the sound a bit. A rare instance where a band's sonic evolution changes from the original sound while keeping up the quality and not stagnating.

You can imagine the cocaine hanging in the air in the LA studio during this recording session. Truly epic guitar and drum composition, mixed with haunting rhythms for Ozzy to lay on a thick layer of buttercream icing onto this devil’s food cake of an album. 5 stars.

Once again, I am very pleasantly surprised by Black Sabbath. I really really love this. It's more psychedelic rock than heavy metal and a few songs barely count as "rock" music: Changes is a piano ballad for crying out loud and Laguna Sunrise could play over the end credits of a Western. I think Lenny Kravitz took some psychedelic funk inspiration from Supernaut when making Are You Gonna Go My Way. There were a few tracks that started out just ok for me but then they'd hit a bridge or a transition or a melody line that made me weak in the knees. The last track Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes is the most like what I would have expected from Black Sabbath and I'm glad the entire record wasn't like that. But there's enough variety here to make that track a welcome ending. I don't know how often I'll listen to this but 20-year-old me would have listened a lot and I'm going to let her give it five stars.

Simply incredible in all its drug-fueled excess. Sure, it drags around the middle of side 1 with Changes and FX, but kicks back with Supernaut and never lets go.

I had their self titled debut on here a week ago, and Vol.4 suffers by comparison, I'm afraid, and that's mainly because of "Changes" (and, I guess, "FX"). They just completely mess up the flow of this album. I quite like "Changes" as a song in its own right, but it makes such a dent in the tone of this album, I dunno, maybe because it's piano based? Fave track - "Supernaut", I reckon, though I have a soft spot for "Laguna Sunrise" too. All the tracks apart from "Changes" and "FX" are pretty solid,

Forget about The Clash, THIS is the only band that matters

My first album is from one of my favorite bands. I'm off to a good start!

Ozzy has such a great rocker voice. This album is great and I love the early 70s metal. Has the right amount of kick and. Ompared to the other sounds from this era, it's pretty intense. Tame today, sure, but the guitar licks sound crisp and creative. There were also some surprising easy going songs that also were nice. My favorites were Wheels of Confusion/ The Straightener, Changes, Supernaut, and Laguna Sunrise.

What a cool album! Such great riffs with a super dark guitar tone. Ozzy’s voice creates such a spooky and haunting aura around these songs. Shockingly, you find sincere and heartfelt moments throughout. You can see how metal was slowly forming in this album, more than a decafe before Metallica made it big.

The best album they made.

Didn’t know Changes was originally their song. I loved this album, hadn’t listened to a full Black Sabbath album intentionally before.

\m/ \m/

Sabbath’s first six albums are hard to match. For heavy metal they bring a groove and listenability that is unparalleled. Vol 4 doesn’t pull its punches from the outset this album means business. The atrocity of Ozzy’s duet with Kelly could easily make you forget how beautiful and striking Changes is, especially given how different it is from their general output. Ditto the majesty of Laguna sunrise. Ozzy is undeniably one of the great frontmen in rock, but my god you cannot overlook the skill of Iommi, Butler and Ward. Sometimes a line-up just works.

RIP Ozzy. This album is the child of a flower girl and a rock guitarist, seamlessly mashes together hard guitars and transcendental visions. The band took over the production here so this is how they wanted to be and what they wanted to be was gods of their genre. They nailed it.

I am very excited about this, Black Sabbath is one of those bands that just lives in my DNA. And while I can play Paranoid and Master of Reality in my head if I think hard enough, its been a minute since I've given Vol. 4 a spin front to back. Vol. 4 is smack in the middle of Sabbath's classic era, and sort of feels like a conclusion to the first arc of their career, it just feels like a conclusion to their artistic evolution at the time. That being said, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage are also both excellent, just more essential for Sabbath converts than a general audience. Anyways, to provide some context, I would like to quickly trace Sabbath's career up to this point. The Self titled is the iconic birth of heavy metal, with a foot still sort of in the '60s, but the Pandora's box has been opened. Paranoid is a galvanization and expansion of the metal sound, and an absolute classic, it served as something of a launch pad for Sabbath's contemporaries including (to my ears) the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that was coming over the horizon. On Master of Reality, Sabbath rocket past just about everything else happening at the time, this is plodding, thick and *heavy* and is more or less the formal birth of doom metal, a genre whose existence would finally catch up to this in the late '70s and early '80s. And finally, we have Vol. 4, on which Sabbath both once more double down and make some of their heaviest songs yet, and radically expand their sound. At this time, Black Sabbath were a *fantastic* band, the rhythm section is in perfect lockstep, Geezer Butler anchors this music and Bill Ward can throw fills with the best of them. Not to mention Tony Iommi's fantastic guitar work and truly iconic riffs. Ozzy Osbourne sits atop all of this, and establishes himself as one of the greatest front-men of all time with his charisma and distinct wailing. This is all on display on Vol. 4. The compositions here are among Sabbath's most intricate, these songs twist and turn through plodding chugs and spidery runs and on Supernaut, even an unbelievably groovy rhythm break. The lyrics here are also shockingly good, where previous Sabbath albums had very literal, often narrative lyrics, here Ozzy looks more inward, writing compelling songs about addiction and psychological torment. Some of the best songs here are among Sabbath's best ever, songs like Snowblind, Under The Sun, Cornucopia and Supernaut. These are all exciting, blazing and again *heavy* tracks even today. Some of the shorter songs, like Tomorrow's Dreams and St. Vitus Dance have been consistently growing on me as well. Most interestingly, even the more experimental songs here pretty much all work. Laguna Sunrise is a beautiful and lush instrumental piece, and FX seems kind of inessential, but I think it is vital as a transition between Changes and Supernaut. Speaking of Changes, it is truly fascinating, it is a bona fide ballad, and it is actually really good. I will say, that it feels a little odd tonally, but the more I listen to this album, the more everything seems to slot together. I don't want to be hyperbolic, but I *love* Black Sabbath, and this is a super exciting listen, with many of their best songs ever. Any complaint I have almost seems to work as a "more than the sum of its parts" thing, this whole album is just spectacular.

i anticipated something like this... rest in peace man :( i should revisit the first 3 Sabbath albums and see if i like them more now that a few years have passed. i have more of a taste for heavy rock music of this era and style than i used to. when this album rips, it rips. i do think a lot of the slower folky songs are a bit meh though deserves to be one of the 1001? eh I would rather have Master of Reality but there are less deserving artists with three albums on here anyway

I enjoyed this. A good album with some great songs. You can hear the echoes of influence it has had on future bands.

Shaking my head at all the five star reviews. There's not much great about this album. I was an Ozzy fan back in the day, but this falls short of greatness and just a smidgen better than cow poo. Heavy sound but a lot of senseless noise with no direction.

R.I.P. Ozzy

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the Beatles Ok. Lets have this conversation. I'm sure it's no coincidence I'm getting this album the day that Ozzy died but in general I've been steeping myself in Black Sabbath the last month or so. I want to put to rest that The Beatles are the greatest/most influential band of all time. I've never agreed with that but listening to more Sabbath lately has truly proven it to me. The Beatles created/influenced the boy band and mid tier pop. Black Sabbath created and influenced dozens of sub genres of rock and metal including, I dare say, they created the very genre of heavy metal. All while having not just one, but at least two of the greatest vocalists to EVER do it. As well as some of the most talented musicians ever to be in the band including the extremely iconic original lineup. Now, I'm not saying Black Sabbath is the greatest band of all time but I do think they deserve to be in the conversation more than the band the wrote We All Live in a Yellow Submarine. This band, this album in particular, are incredible masterpieces the likes of which we'll probably never see again. All praise the prince of fucking darkness.

I'M, GOIIIIIIN' THROUGH CHANGES

Vol. 4 Wheels of Confusion is a banger, superb sludgy riffing, it feels like it’s slightly behind the beat, giving it a great loping groove. Great sound on Iommi’s guitar too and The Straightener coda part is excellent with the mellotron adding a nice texture. I didn’t realise that Changes was a Black Sabbath song, I thought it was just a generic song Ozzy and Kelly did. I didn’t much care for it, but I love the version here, the piano and string-sounding-mellotron is brilliantly evocative and mournful. And Laguna Sunrise is a similarly lovely, delicate piece of music and another great, atmospheric departure from their standard sound. But their ‘standard’ sound is fantastic, Tomorrow’s Dream, Supernaut, Snowblind, Cornucopia, Under The Sun (love the booming, ominous bass) are all immensely enjoyable bits of riffy, bluesy metal, as on the other albums we’ve had the rhythm section is superb, lots of swing, groove and melody. And I really like the folky-boogie-metal of St Vitus’s Dance, close to Down Down in places but with a great hulking riff. Even with all the riffs and heaviness, it never feels like they go down a moribund, boring, harder and faster for the sake of it, musical cul de sac, they incorporate other influences and meld the muculent brilliance of Iommi with the swinging excellent of their rhythm section to make an extremely listenable sound. If I should have given Paranoid a 5, and Black Sabbath was a 4, this probably sits between the two. I’ve really enjoyed listening the last few days, and I’m keen to come back, so I think it just nudges to a 5. 4️⃣4️⃣4️⃣4️⃣4️⃣ Playlist submission: Wheel of Confusion/The Straightener

Wow...I had never heard of this Black Sabbath album before, but it is sooooo good. "FX" was the only song I didn't love, but it's kinda like a short interlude (only 1.5 minutes). This album is heavy with some kick ass riffs "Supernaut", has some melodic peaceful parts "Changes", and just about everything else in between. Tony Iommi is sooo talented. I Ioved this. May be my favorite Sabbath album. Maybe a 4.75 because of "FX" Liked Songs: The entire album minus "FX"

I wish the production/mixing was a little better, but despite that, this is yet another certified banger from Black Sabbath.

Wow, I didn't expect a lot from Black Sabbath. I've heard their debut album before in this challenge. It was good and an important piece of rock history. But 'Vol 4' blows it away. There's so much going on in this album without being overly indulgent or too much to process. It's just a great rock album with heavy guitars, furious drum breakdown, and simple minimalist ballads to balance it all out. The experimental 'FX' is maybe a little pointless but it doesn't overstay its welcome. The addition of the mellotron adds so much with so little. It gives it an unearthly feel that the music desperately needed. What a great surprise this one was.

OH MY GOD

They set a precedent for other creators of the genre. It's what you want from Black Sabbath

Amazing. Great musicality, dynamic range, black sabbath has a lot more variety/talent than I thought before. Faves: Changes, Supernaut, Laguna sunrise, Under the sun

Dynamic, melodic. Easy to see why this album makes a best list. I could do without the beeps and bops in the middle, but it works well as a transition in tone. Love Laguna Sunrise, what a nice breath of fresh air.

Had not listened to a whole album of theirs. More varied than expected.

Great stuff. I want to hear an R.L. Burnside version of Supernaut. Solid album from start to finish. I think their first two albums are better.

Creo que entre las cosas que sacaré de esta dinámica es mi admiración por Black Sabbath. Macizo todo, incluidos los interludes, digamos, instrumentales y hasta con sonido muy distinto a lo pesado de las canciones. No skips, trae "Changes" que sí me parece muy buena y todo bien, suena grande en conjunto (y eso que no es mi género predilecto). 10/10

Early days of real metal 5 star

wheels of confusion: graaf nummer, diepe tekst, lekker depressed, thats what sabbath does best. the straightener: I LOVE MYSELF SOME GOOD SOLOKES. Tomorrows dream: oke nummer, niet t beste hier. Wel weer coole gitaren Changes: Man man man, in het begin dacht ik BIG MOUTH HYPE. maar nu echt al vaak beluisterd, de stem is spooky de rekst pakt en de piano maakt het af. big shoutout naar de OGS for this one. FX: ik voelde hem niet maar als ge op genius leest waar het vandaan komt maakt het het wel echt leuk. Supernaut: een leuke positieve song, steviger en sneller dan de rest. gekke riff en gekke solo. gitaren shredden boyzzzz. snowblind: normaal de titel van het album, maar mocht niet door de obv link naar drugs. nice bridge, riff is niceeeee33333 cornucopia: deeep Laguna sunrise: leuk toch die sunrise st. vitus' dance: die goede storytelling. Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes: weer van die goede riffs en goede teksten. Normaal geen black sabbath fan maar dit was echt de turntables, ga er meer naar luisteren en dit album zeker nog meer luisteren. Zo divers en sterk. Duidelijk een album over drugs en de gevolgen van drugs in hun leven.

Already loved this album!

yaaaaassss

Not my favourite Sabbath.....but still can close my eyes and imagine how revolutionary this would have been at the time

Not as many of the hits that I love but still fueled my afternoon work nicely

I didn’t grow up with Ozzy the metal icon—I met him first as Ozzy the bewildered dad on MTV’s The Osbournes. Born in 1986, I was just the right age when that surreal slice of rockstar domestic life aired. He came across as eccentric, occasionally lost in his own house, but oddly lovable all the same. Around that time, I was also playing his album 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 on repeat—especially 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳, his early-2000s ballad that stuck with me. Not long after, I stumbled across 𝘞𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬 ’𝘯’ 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘭 in my family’s CD collection—a greatest-hits glimpse into his Black Sabbath years. It would take me another 10 years to realize that Black Sabbath had essentially pioneered what we now call doom metal. Normally, I struggle with the dense, aggressive textures of most metal—a gap I’m hoping to close through this 1001 Albums Challenge—but Black Sabbath has always been an exception. Somehow, they’ve always made sense to me. 𝘝𝘰𝘭. 𝟦 may feel a bit disjointed—an album caught between brilliance and excess. And yet, it remains part of a remarkably strong Ozzy era, during which four lads from Birmingham didn’t just invent a genre—they gave it unexpected depth and dimension. Nowhere is that depth more surprising than on 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴, a fragile piano ballad about loss and transformation. Stripped of guitars and thunder, it revealed a different side of Ozzy—vulnerable, emotional, and entirely human. In hindsight, it feels almost prophetic. The real rupture came only after Ozzy’s departure. Everything before that was magic forged in chaos. 𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖙 𝖎𝖓 𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖈𝖊, 𝕺𝖟𝖟𝖞. 𝕸𝖊𝖙𝖆𝖑 𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖉𝖎𝖊𝖘! 🤘🏻

Groupe connu, album inconnu. Par contre j'en connais quelques morceaux (Tomorrow Dream, Supernaut, Snowblind), tous les 3 très appréciés. Comme je l'ai indiqué précédemment, je préfère les albums avec RJ Dio. Les 2 premiers albums avec Ozzy sont vraiment excellents, mais je trouve que les suivants baissent un peu. Dans celui-ci j'ai été surpris par 'Changes' et 'Laguna sunrise' qui détonnent au milieu des autres perles, et qui ne me plaisent pas beaucoup. Donc il n'héritera pas de la note maximale. => 4/5

RIP старина Оззи

Las letras son abrumadoras. El sonido es puro hard rock, con tintes de lo que después se convertiría en lo que entiendo como heavy metal. DEP Ozzy. 7/10

I dig this one, though there's not a ton of recognizable tracks on it. The riff driven musicality of Sabbath shines through, and Ozzy sounds fantastic.

Four whole sabbaths?!?! Call that Black Month

Cocaine is so fucking annoying. Anyone who's ever been cornered at a party between the hours of 12 and 3AM by someone totally lit up on the stuff knows what I'm talking about. That said, this is the one exception I'll make. This record is arguably the best thing that 4 bandmates doing heart-stopping quantities of the devil's dandruff ever produced (... and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours is the absolute fucking worst). I said what I said. Tommi Iommi has always had such a penchant for writing riffs just soaked with foreboding heaviness. Imagine having the terrifying and dark reputation for making some of the most anti-establishment occult rock and roll ever recorded to date and then what? Oh, yeah, go and break everyone's hearts from out of nowhere by writing and recording the incredible "Changes." It's a tall order to make a 70s hesher cry into his 5th can of Strohs but they did it. The rhythm section showed up every damn day to WORK. Osbourne's vocal melodies are sometimes repetitive and follow the guitar rhythms rather than have their own cadence, but when he breaks out of it, some real genius phrasing emerges. Well played, boys. Nearly every song on this album is great, if not incredible. "Supernaut" sounds as fresh, energetic, and vital in 2025 as ever. I wish it didn't fade out though, ugh. I listen to Sabbath pretty regularly, but usually as single selected tracks within playlists. It's another thing entirely to immerse oneself in the record front to back and get taken for a ride the way the band intended it. I would have changed the track order and probably nixed "FX", myself, but it is what it is. I blame the cocaine for this record being almost, but not quite, perfect.

Brings back memories of simpler times in Lincolnshire barns! Good, honest, simple heavy rock, what's not to like!?

For the perfection of pure, heavy riffing, go to Sleep's "Dopesmoker"; for the Platonic heavy, insane guitar noise, listen to Big Black's two LPs. But for the primordial sludge of inspiration and dead ends that minted this kind of slow, distorted rock, smoke this and the preceding two Black Sab records. Most of the songs are three quarters brilliant, with awkward instrumental passages shoved in that suggest the band were glancing at prog contemporaries. When I was a teenager, I dumped Black Sabbath as soon as I got into Sonic Youth et al; there's something stubbornly naff about them. I'm now at an age where I find that charming. The inward groan when "Changes" hit my ears for the first time in three decades was displaced by a mesmeric trance. "I'm going through chaaaaanges...."

Excuse me, when did Black Sabbath get so melodic and soothing? They're supposed to be these heavy metal rockers and at least three songs on this album are soothing lullabys.

Desolate.

Never really listened to sabbath but I like them. Gives me a zeppelin vibe

Music is fine. Voice rather annoying…

Not a fan, this album is not my favourite, but I've enjoyed listening to it. But I won't be coming back to this album and I like a few Black Sabbath songs in general.

Black Sabbath is epic, but this album is not. Maybe it’s the cocaine but they missed with Vol. 4.

I don't understand song #4 on Vol 4. So I won't listen to this more than once per year. I know it's Ozzie and Sharon will probably find me and make me a eunuch...

Come on man, I know this album inside out. One of my favourite Sabbath albums. It’s got Changes on it man, it’s a legendary album! This has to be one of the top, if not my most favourite Black Sabbath album covers. Maybe second best after Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. As an album this would definitely make my top 5 for sure. The whole albums feels like a bridge between classic heavy metal and more exploratory psychedelic metal. Sludgy doom riffs, piano ballads, drugged-out interludes. The album is heavy and intense, but at times it also has some really beautiful moments. Black Sabbath laid the groundwork for so many metal subgenres with the songs in their early catalog, cosmic psychedelia on one track, symphonic accompaniment on the next, and sludgy, downtuned riffing right after that. If the theory is that Sabbath predicted most of metal, then Vol. 4 represents the earliest ancestry of doom metal, as one of the band’s darkest and most confused early documents. The three albums before 1972’s Vol. 4 weren’t short on doom but their heavy blues-rock influence were kept from collapsing by relatively tighter production and a bit of pop accessibility. By the time of Vol. 4 the band were already rock stars, indulging in drugs and partying on an extreme level. Those excesses are reflected in the album’s sound, its themes of losing your grip on reality, and its weird stylistic songs from experimenting with delay, to a beautiful instrumental song built on Tony Iommi’s classical guitar with full orchestral backing. All the tracks are my favourite. I don’t need to list every single one. RIP Ozzy!

That famous record where the cocaine budget was higher than production costs. Black Sabbath were off their tits on the stuff recording 'Vol. 4', but much like marijuana usage fuelled the stoner metal masterpiece that is 'Master of Reality', the heavy coke usage pushed Black Sabbath to expand and diversify their sound further on 'Vol. 4.' 'Vol. 4' was Sabbath's first record recorded entirely in America, and was put together in the backdrop of a Bel Air mansion where speaker boxes of cocaine were a regular sight. But still, Sabbath created their most explorative album to date, with guitarist Tony Iommi handling production duties for the first time. 'Vol. 4' is prime Sabbath. The album opens with the crushing one-two punch of 'Wheels of Confusion' and 'Tomorrow's Dream', and later continues into the epic 'Supernaut' and cocaine anthem 'Snowblind'. All aforementioned songs showcase what Sabbath did best: the eerie shrieks of Ozzy Osbourne, the sledgehammer guitar riffs of Tony Iommi, the unbelievable versatility of Geezer Butler on bass, and the hard-hitting drums of Bill Ward. But there are some surprises on this album that take you off guard. 'FX' is Iommi tinkering with eerie signal-like tones and 'Laguna Sunrise' showcases a pretty Iommi riff that could be symbolic of a relaxing come-down from a heavy night of partying. The biggest shock on this album, however, is 'Changes'. I was simply stunned when I first heard this song and realised it was by Black Sabbath. Beautiful yet melancholic piano and mellotrons played by Iommi and Butler accompany Osbourne's heartfelt, sombre and self-lamenting lyrics. When you hear that "I'm go-ing through changeeees" line, it hits so close to the chest that you cannot help but get all emotional about your own situation. It's honestly up there with David Bowie's 'Heroes' and Pearl Jam's 'Black' for me there in terms of emotional intensity. It's easily my favourite song on this record, and it was the first time anyone saw Ozzy's capabilities as a heartfelt balladier, which would reemerge many times in his solo career. 'Vol. 4' isn't a perfect record, and if I had to pick the weakest record of Sabbath's legendary 'first 5', it's probably this one, but the daringness to try new things and still produce a record of such finesse despite all the coke usage is a testament to Sabbath's undeniable penchant for exciting headbangers.....and the odd touching moment. Best song: Wheels of Confusion, Tomorrow's Dream, CHANGES (in caps, because this song is God Tier), Supernaut, Snowblind, Under the Sun

Nothing else to say

Love this record. Supernaut is a banger

Greatest album of all time. Love this album so much, made me a huge fan of Black Sabbath. No skip album. 10/10

Now THIS is a classic. The fourth in an unparalleled six-album run of masterpieces that laid the groundwork for the entire metal genre, it is packed full of excellent metal songs such as "Snowblind" and "Supernaut". However, it also shows plenty of sonic variation with "Changes" and "Laguna Sunrise" being more mellow tracks that serve to counterbalance the album's heaviness well. "FX" is nothing, but at least it's fairly short.

I think it might be a weird decision to some that this album’s on the list and not Master of Reality. But while I agree that album’s a classic, I’m a little inclined to prefer Vol. 4 over it. Maybe it’s because it’s a little different from the band’s other discography or maybe classic rock radio made me a little sick of Sweet Leaf. The album’s a little disjointed, but it doesn’t matter. I’d fuck with Supernaut and have room for Changes, which might be one of my top 5 Black Sabbath songs. Kind of love how a band considered to be controversial at the time produce one of the most beautiful songs I ever heard. Like Rick James said: Cocaine’s a hell of a drug. It’s really sad I got all the Black Sabbath albums on the list after Ozzy’s death. So here’s one last RIP to a real legend. Favorite track: Changes and Supernaut (they tie) Other hits: Wheels of Confusion, Snowblind, Cornucopia, Under the Sun, Laguna Sunrise

Part of Sabbath's early run of magnificent albums, Vol. 4 invents the entire genre of sludge-infused doom metal. Filled with terrific riffs and Ozzy at his arguable finest, it's a great listen from start to finish and one of the greatest hard rock / metal albums of all time.

Classic metal

First Time Listening To Black Sabbath And Its Awesom

When you look up perfection in the dictionary, this album is the cover photo.

Classic metal, Black Sabbath is always a good listen. This album shreds.

Rock and Roll at its Finest

God they just didn't mess about did they

Black Sabbath 4 doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s a near perfect heavy metal album. They did what they did better than anyone else. Even the sequencing tropes of having one ballad and one instrumental was standard for the genre for years to come.

one of the greatest albums of history

a classic, the beginnings of that well-known raw and hard sound. cornucopia one of my favourite songs by them. a very good listen, would recommend

Classic Sabbath great album

Another great Sabbath album. These guys just put out good tunes. Vol. 4 seems a little less heavy than previous entries but it's no less fun. It starts strong and carries through the whole album. I can't find much to fault on this album. The ambient track "FX" is kinda dumb, but it's so short who really cares? The songs are all catchy, the lyrics are pure Black Sabbath, the band is killing it, it's all great. The piano/acoustic guitars/mellotron are a really cool change of pace and work well with in the slower songs. Standouts were "Wheels of Confusion" - those verses are just, chefs kiss - "Changes," and "Supernaut" Another 5. It's a cool metal album with a lot of nice variance track to track. The whole thing feels well thought out. RIP Ozzman

Rocking album!

RIP Ozzy

🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

I realise, hearing it again after a fair few years, that this album means a lot to me.

I thought that was excellent. My favourite Sabbath offering so far. I enjoyed it way more than the vast majority of 4s that I’ve given. So, although it’s probably a very high 4, it deserves a 5 to separate it from the pack. Can’t wait to review Black Sabbath 23 in 2029.

Rock on brother 🤙It's not quite Paranoid, but even on first listen wow is it close. A lot of nice touches outside the pure heavy metal sound too.

Grungy, greasy, dark, heavy amazing music from the metal masters.

Great workout album!

Great stuff. RIP Ozzy

This was amazing. An absolute 10/10. But in this case, 5/5. I saved “Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener,” “Changes,” “Supernaut,” “Snowblind,” and “Under The Sun/Every Day Comes And Goes”. Every other song that i didn’t favorite was still great.

Favourite Sabbath album

I've already listened to his album (23). Canonical Black Sabbath.

Great