Vol. 4

I got this the day after Ozzy died. Still don't like it very much. He was a great show man, but not that good a singer. The music doesn't seem as important as their other two albums in the book. It's not a huge improvement over Paranoid. Newer bands like Kyuss, Corrosion of Conformity, Torche etc. have done this style a lot better. However, it's not terrible. Favorite song: under the sun.

2.8 Solid songs but nothing spoke to me fr fr

Not my normal type of music, but then there were some beautiful songs like Snowblind and Laguna Sunrise. Would be 3.5 stars

Solid album, makes for good background music. RIP Ozzy

I’ve never actively listened to Zappa. I loved this!!! It’s hilarious and it sounds great and the musicianship is excellent. Stand outs ‘go cry on someone else’s shoulder’, ‘trouble every day’ wowie zowie. So good.

It’s good. Enjoyed the first half of the album more than the rest. Didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d thought I would.

RIP Ozzy. Not my fave black sabbath album but banging nonetheless

*Melodic, soft to medium rock - occasional blips of very light metal. *Lyrics seem to have been written by a 10 year old. *Lots of enjoyable songs though. *RIP ozzy, but still not a fan of his voice. RATING - 7/10

Rating (1-5): ✩✩✩ Higlighted songs: Laguna Sunrise Meh, not my type of music

Way to shove this down someone's throat on the day he passed away. Appreciate it, really. (Intended sarcasm). Anyway, liked the changes song, okay for the rest of album

I had this album curated after Ozzy's death. All around good album and changes is a top tier song

It's not my favourite Black Sabbath album and doesn't have as many "big hitters". However the variation really works nicely. 'Changes' is the main example of this, shifting to a piano base. Then I also felt that it had a strong end with 'Under the sun'.

Gir meg ikke så mye. Forstår at de er viktige for heavy metall. Tilfeldighetene ville at Ac/dc kom automatisk på etter at jeg var ferdig med å lytte til albumet - og da gikk foten 😎

Not my thing, but I can just about see the attraction. Not keen on the advancement of albums where artists have just died btw, bound to skew the ratings.

Surprisingly I liked half of the songs.

čovjek umre jučer i onda mi danas ovo "nasumice" generira, jel. solidno, al ne bih si nikad sam pustio

Not what Id been led to expect out of Black Sabbath. Ozzie Osborne really bit the head off a bat to this music? That story takes on new layers of comedy when you picture it coming during a performance of Cornucopia (too much near the truth they say! Keep it til another day! Let them havetheir little game! Delusion helps to keep them sane!). Otherwise I don't really know how to feel about Vol 4. It's theatrical and a bit ridiculous - how seriously am I supposed to take any of this? But the instruments go pretty hard, I like Ozzie's voice and there's a charm to some of the lofty, pompous lyrics. My ultimate take is that this prince of darkness angle has aged very badly.

I’ve long avoided Black Sabbath. I’ve always found Ozzy Osbourne to be a bit of a repulsive figure. Imagine my disdain to learn the band is actually pretty damn good. I’ll give credit to Ozzy where it’s due the most: his performance in Changes challenged every preconceived notion of what I had always made him out to be as a singer - and Sabbath as an act. It’s soulful, considered, and poignant - and incredibly, not even out of place on this album. Really, a beautiful song. Second shout has to go to Tony Iommi. I always knew he was a talent. But man, he brings the weight to these songs like few people in the genre ever really have. What impresses me is how he’s able to create such a distinct, heavy, sound without having to rely too much on overdubs. I like this. Eager to give more a try. ✨

3.5

I’m not sure what the chances are I got Black Sabbath on the day of Ozzy Osbourne’s passing. But they gotta be real low. RIP Ozzy. In terms of the album though, my gut tells me this not really Black Sabbath’s most notable work but it does make me excited to dig deeper into their catalog. I just feel like it’s probably not a great thing to fall asleep to an album especially if it’s a metal album. Feels like it goes a lot against the genre. Honestly good stuff though.

3.5

I found this surprisingly listenable. But I will probably never do it again.

rip ozzy but not one of my fave black sabbath albums

This kinda how I like my metal - not too metal, just heavy rock. RIP Ozz.

I always forget that, even though they're basically the progenitors of heavy metal, Black Sabbath can get really psychedelic at times. This album is all over the place, it's got some great stuff but also some real left- field, why is that there nonsense - Supernaut is fantastic, but after a ballad and a series of non sequitur sound effects, leaves you thinking "what the hell was all that?" There's definitely tracks here i want to come back to, but as an album not so much

L’ho rivalutato

I really like the song Changes, and the first track gets pretty awesome towards the end. Overall though, I felt like this album was keeping me at arm’s length somehow. It’s just wasn’t something I felt connected to. RIP to Ozzy the legend though!

This was fine. I'm not a huge fan of Ozzy's voice (RIP) and it felt a bit samey same.

sounds like black sabbath alright

-changes

RIP Ozzy!

Messy and seems long.

Has Big Mouth theme song + RIP to Ozzy. Not necessarily for me but still strong album. 7.2/10

Gevarieerder dan ik dacht. Ik vind het verder lullig om te zeggen, nu-ie gisteren is overleden, maar de vocals van Ozzy verpesten het een beetje voor me. Geen fan, sorry!

Random album - yeah right. the other person I am doing this with also got Black Sabbath the day after his death. still very much wanky big hair classic rock with those cliche rock riffs, but at least there is a little bit of variation. nothing god awful, but nothing amazing. also amazed with all the 5 star reviews. I guess my disdain for classic and heavy rock is not shared by many people, or are most of the reviews influenced by his death. who knows. 3 stars

Turns out I don't like Black Sabbath as much as their legend suggests I should. Some big, fat riffs but I'm left a little cold.

Le hasard fait bien les choses comme on dit… Le 22 juillet, le "Prince des Ténèbres" a tiré sa révérence et le 23 juillet, le système me propose d'écouter un album de Black Sabbath. Comme quoi, ça devait être écrit 😀 Donc le quatrième album de Black Sabbath, "Vol. 4" est le son d’un groupe au sommet de sa gloire, mais aussi au bord du précipice. Enregistré en 1972 à Los Angeles, loin du gris industriel de Birmingham, l'album transpire l’excès, le soleil californien et, surtout, une ambition nouvelle qui, malheureusement, se perd parfois en chemin. Ce qui frappe d’abord dans "Vol. 4", c’est le son. Il est radicalement différent de la production plus nette de "Paranoid" ou de la lourdeur maîtrisée de "Master of Reality". Ici, le son est cru, presque sale. On sent la chaleur des amplis, l’énergie brute des sessions d’enregistrement. Cette authenticité est la plus grande force de l’album. Sur un titre comme "Wheels of Confusion", qui ouvre l’album, on est happé par une énergie live, une sorte d’urgence qui capture parfaitement l’état d’esprit du groupe à cette époque. C’est puissant, viscéral et sans compromis Cette puissance atteint son paroxysme sur des morceaux emblématiques. "Snowblind" reste un monolithe de heavy metal, avec son rythme rampant et son atmosphère chargée. "Supernaut" est une décharge d'adrénaline pure, un riff d'une efficacité redoutable qui prouve que Tony Iommi marchait sur l'eau à cette période. Ces chansons sont des réussites totales, des moments où le chaos créatif du groupe s'est transformé en or. Cependant, le principal défaut de "Vol. 4" est que ce chaos prend trop souvent le dessus sur la direction artistique. L'album donne l'impression d'être un fourre-tout d'idées, un collage d'expérimentations qui peinent à former un ensemble cohérent. Là où les précédents albums avaient une vision, une couleur sonore unifiée, "Vol. 4" part dans toutes les directions. L'exemple le plus flagrant est la juxtaposition de pistes qui n'ont rien à faire ensemble. Comment passer de la brutalité d'un "Cornucopia" à la douceur presque mièvre de la ballade au piano "Changes" ? Si la chanson est touchante sa place dans l'album est incongrue. Elle brise totalement l'élan et souligne le manque de fil conducteur. De même, l'instrumental acoustique "Laguna Sunrise" est une jolie parenthèse, mais elle ressemble plus à une esquisse, une note de carnet, qu'à une pièce maîtresse de l'album. Cette dispersion se ressent aussi dans la production. Si la crudité du son est parfois une qualité, elle dessert souvent les compositions. La basse de Geezer Butler, si proéminente et géniale sur les autres disques, est parfois noyée dans un mixage confus. La voix d'Ozzy semble parfois lutter pour exister au milieu du mur de guitares. On sent que le groupe s'est auto-produit pour la première fois, avec une liberté qui a mené à des choix audacieux mais aussi à des erreurs techniques. En fin de compte, "Vol. 4" est un bon album mais il est aussi décevant à cause de son manque de finition, sa structure éclatée et son son parfois brouillon. Un album imparfait qui finit avec un 3 sur 5.

I wonder if everyone that hadn't already revealed this album got it today. RIP Ozzy. Album was fine. Good even. Not one of the 1001 best albums of all time. Certainly shouldn't be on this list over Paranoid or Black Sabbath.

Rip

# 530 : Vol. 4 This album is heavy—definitely one of Sabbath’s weightier efforts. The production’s a bit rough, but it kind of adds to the gritty vibe. There are a couple of tracks that really hit, and overall it’s a solid listen. Not totally my style, though. Some songs dragged on a bit, and “Changes” felt out of place—too mellow and kind of broke the flow. That said, Supernaut was an absolute standout for me. Killer riff, great energy. I’d definitely spin this again. If I had to pick one: Supernaut Listened: 24/07/2025

Classic groovy heavy rock

p257. 1972. 3 stars. Well done but generic 70s heavy metal. Not their best work. As for random generation of albums - this came up the day after Ozzy Osbourne died. Coincidence? I think not ;)

A bit slow and swampy for my taste, but I admire it all the same.

Groovy opening and closing tracks, good vocals, bit long in the tooth, drags in the last third.

Nicht gehört

Decent. Not a huge metal or sabbath fan but good. Not as enjoyable as their earlier records for me but it was still a good listen.

An obvious choice to mark the passing of Ozzie. Black Sabbath never been my fave but good to hear some of their classics again

RIP Ozzy

Something in a bar at at 23:32 to hype up the crowd then they all do cocaine

Pretty good. I’m so used to Paranoid, it’s hard for this to even come close. RIP Ozzy

Good, not the best

Rock ass

Ozzy fan, but hadn't really delved into Sabbath albums before now. Really cool!!

Fan of Ozzy, but not of Black Sabbath

I think I like Ozzy more as a solo artist.

Heavy metal is not really my thing.

not my favorite

I'm a bigger fan of their older stuff. A lot of this feels phoned in. Too much filler.

Ok

It's kind of unfair to try and review this album the day after Ozzy died. I like Ozzy better than Black Sabbath. As the name clearly states, Black Sabbath is very dark. Too dark for me.

I think I'm just not an Ozzy Fan outside "Crazy Train". RIP, Ozzy, you laid the groundwork for music I love, and for that I will always thank you.

Never listened to Black Sabbath before but I'm aware this is a classic. The guitar solos are really good and the songs are OK. Although metal is not my cup of tea, I might give it a listen more times.

Not a big fan of Sabbath, but maybe it's the album.

More varied than the debut. Plenty of rocking here like before, but there’s also a piano ballad and a song with some unexpected Latin elements. It’s less gloomy English countryside and more of an LA romp. I don’t know if this is really my thing, but I can see the appeal.

They wrote changes! Whoa! Fun album, great vibes

Good fun album to listen to. Good music, just the sound quality was a problem during a few songs.

Just doesn’t have an iconic song that you’d expect.

Sabbath hits have always been great for me to listen to, never sat with a whole album though. It’s good, not great. I’ll come back to this though and give it another chance.

Ozzy just passed away yesterday, so I am sure that’s why I am reviewing this one today. I’m just not a big fan of heavy metal, but I enjoyed this one for the most part. I had previously reviewed two other Black Sabbath albums, Black Sabbath and Paranoid, and I certainly preferred this one over those two. Again, I am not a big fan of the genre, but I will give this one 3 stars plus.

Oddly this comes the day after "Paranoid" was teed up for review, and the same day Ozzy passed away. Vol 4 can't hold "Paranoid"'s jock strap but it has a few classics in "Tomorrow's Dream" (listen to "Fairies Wear Boots" afterwards), "Changes" & "Snowblind". It's a good hard rock album but it doesn't break any new ground for the genre or the band. They missed the mark for me on "Supernaut" & "Wheels of Confusion", just not great songs. 3 stars, it's good not great.

Black Sabbath is firmly the best of these metal bands in terms of melody and range. Found this release a bit uneven but enjoyable.

Nothing to complain about here. Slightly generic as well.

I used to own a first pressing record! not the best sabbath but I was still pissed it was ruined in the flood from hurricane Helene. Good thing my husband still has a copy!

Black Sabbath is a band I should have given way more attention to in the past. They continue to surprise me with their albums. Vol. 4 still brings solid metal rock with good guitar work and dark vibes but also shows a lighter side. Never knew it was a Black Sabbath cover but "Changes" by Charles Bradley is a great tribute. Pretty sure we'll see their 3rd installment on the list as well. RIP Ozzy...3.4 stars.

I've come to realize that I've unfairly overlooked early heavy metal and am glad to continue to have reason to delve into it further. It's no wonder Black Sabbath were huge and Ozzy was such an icon if these are the releases they were putting out. Vol. 4 has all the pieces you need to take you on a ride and keep you entertained. RIP to the Prince of Darkness. We lost a legend a couple weeks back. 3.13 stars

RIP Ozzy Met dat uit de weg, ben ik benieuwd of dit album qua rating opeens omhoog gaat schieten. Het is een heavy metal album, maar dat zou je eigenlijk alleen nog weten door de scheurende gitaren die er soms op een nummer bij zitten. Veel nummers vind ik juist heel erg melodieus en hoor ik bij Changes nu alleen een piano? Mooi man, ik ken natuurlijk de Charles Bradley(RIP) cover ontzettend goed, en vind die wel nog steeds mooier. Maar dit valt me alles mee! Sowieso is de stem van Ozzy goed passend bij de muziek. Later op het album word de muziek wat steviger, maar eigenlijk nooit echt herrie ofzo. Er zit een duidelijke melodieuze basis in en die waardeer ik heel erg. Als je dit dan vergelijkt met punk of, god forbid, noise rock is dit echt veel beter te doen. Er zitten heerlijke riffjes/loopjes op een aantal nummers die ik ook een beetje headbangend luister. Eigenlijk waardeer ik het beter dan ik van tevoren had gedacht. Dit album is best heavy, scheurende gitaren enzo, maar veeeeeeel minder schreeuwzingen dan bands als Guns n' Roses of Aerosmith. En dat trek ik ook een stuk beter. Vibes, prima te pruimen dit album. FAVO: Changes, Snowblind, Under The Sun/Every day comes and goes

A decent record from a band I grew up with. This has a couple of classic Sabbath, "Changes", "Supernaut" and "Snowblind", but the rest are just okay.

Rock AND Roll, strong but not bullish. I liked it

no está mal

More geeeetar

aight

3.5 Likte veldig låta Changes

Good timing on this album coming up (even if there was some manual intervention to do so). I really only know the hits from Black Sabbath and they aren't on this album. I feel like Vol. 4 is a move away from their metal sound and has a wide range of genre's in here. Changes being a good example of a ballad-esque track that works well. Still, there are some good old Black Sabbath tracks like Tomorrow's Dream and Supernaut that I really enjoyed. Solid album, RIP to the Prince of Darkness. Favorites: - Supernaut - Snowblind - Changes

Never listened before, and I think Spinal Tap ruined stuff like this for me; I just can't take it seriously.

Favorite song: changes

I liked it more than I thought

Fun album! Near genre mix, and great use of horns. Like the Whale Ad, but a record.

--Wheels of Confusion...takes a while to get going but once it does watch out --Tomorrow's Dream...this is some good sludge --Changes...I honestly didn't know this was a Sabbath song. I prefer the Charles Bradley version --FX...just remove this one, guys --Supernaut...hmmm, I like the guitar but the mixing is on the other instruments is muddy --Snowblind...good not great --Cornucopia...another track that takes a while to get going. Seems to be an issue with this album --Laguna Sunrise...nice interlude. I hear Zeppelin's Rain Song in here --St. Vitus Dance...meh --Under the Sun/Every Day...this kicks

Good record, quite alot of musical variety here which was interesting. This came on my list the day after Ozzy decided to go on his way.

Not my thing, but I like that the “random” generator paid its respects to Ozzy, and there was more diversity to the music than I was expecting.

This is a big slab of proggy metal by a band that paved the way for so much of the music I grew up obsessing over, but even in my most metal-devouring years as a young teen, I never fully clicked with Black Sabbath. I ‘get’ them today but this isn’t an album I find myself turning to (I’ll take Sabbath Bloody Sabbath though, or Master of Reality). I find a lot of the stuff on here to be a bit stodgy for my tastes, and ‘Changes’ and ‘Laguna Sunrise’ sound like they’re on the wrong record. I love that Black Sabbath existed, but I can take or leave this one.

Given recent news apologies if this seems a little irreverent but to me Sabbath have always been a spotty teenager in denim kind of band. I am sure they were forerunners etc.but I don't feel it has aged well. What first strikes me is how slow and long the songs are. There are Black Sabbath songs I quite like, but they aren't here. Revisit?: unlikely

RIP Ozzy. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It isn’t as drone-y as their last album we reviewed - it has a nice variety. Definitely a psychedelic flavour to this. My mind is kind of blown that Changes, of Big Mouth theme song fame, is a originally by Sabbath. It feels very poignant today.

Sigh. I found this album kind of underwhelming. I went in with the hype of Paranoid bouncing around in my head, an album that took me completely by surprise. I love that album. Add to that the hype from looking up "best Black Sabbath albums" and seeing Vol. 4 at the top of almost every list. So I was expecting something even better than Paranoid, which I gave a 4. And to add even more to that hype cocktail, the passing of Ozzy. I really wanted to his "best" work as a way of honouring him. Sooo ya, my expectations were high going into this album, and it just doesn't live up to the hype. Sigh. Maybe I ruined it for myself. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. And the worst part is... *whisper voice* I think Ozzy is the weak link. He just doesn't deliver many memorable vocal melodies or lyrics throughout the vast majority of this album... except for one notable exception that i'll get to in a minute. Weirdly the rest of the band totally kicks ass on this album. The riffs are iconic and heavy and familiar in that they've been ripped off by 1000 other bands. The song structures are full of those rave up sections I loved so much on Paranoid (i still think fast Sabbath is better than slow Sabbath). There's a solid amount of instrumental variety. A folksy acoustic song (Laguna Sunrise). A dramatic piano ballad (Changes). A weird ambient noise cut (FX). All fun and welcome asides to the hard rock/metal that fills the rest of the album. The production is great, much more polished (which I like but I'm also a sucker for scrappy, lofi production so i'd probably prefer Paranoid, but I understand that on paper this is better). It feels like musically they have really pushed their original sound to its apex, and finally realized it (I bet this sounds like it sounded in their heads back in Birmingham when they were nobodies). I just wish Ozzy delivered a more memorable performance on top of all this badass instrumentation. Outside of Changes, which I'll get to in a minute, the only other memorable vocal melody I can think of is on Snowblind (which if i'm not mistaken is about the mountains of cocaine they were doing while recording this album). Maybe the cocaine was not helping him focus on the lyrics and melodies... but whose to say. Compare that to Paranoid... you've got War Pigs, Paranoid, Iron Man where half the planet knows the words and lyrics to at least one of those 3. Then you have the deep cuts with great, interesting vocal lines like Hand of Doom and Planet Caravan and more. Other than Changes, this thing doesn't even have a hit on it. Not that that means it's a bad album. But it's a symptom of the greater issue, that vocal performance is very underwhelming... again, except on Changes. And the piss off is... you know he still has it in him to craft hooks and good lyrics, he still hasn't written Crazy Train yet when this album is released and on this damn album there's the song Changes which has this absolutely incredible, heartbreaking, iconic chorus. It is by far my favourite song on this album. I love the simple lyrics, the minimalist piano, the synthesizer strings... and at the centre of it all is the wonderfully sad performance by Ozzy. It made this album worth checking out. I had no idea this was a Black Sabbath song. I only knew it from the Charles Bradley cover that's also the theme song for Big Mouth. Such a great song, both the Sabbath version and the cover. I really wish Ozzy had put the effort into the rest of the album that he put into Changes. The rest of the tracks are underwhelming in comparison. Sigh. This is a 2.5 for me, but in honour of Mr. Osbourne (and the effort the rest of the band put into this album), i'll round up to a 3. "You can do it Ozzy, bite his fricken head off" RIP.

Not the best but some good songs. Rip in peace

crazy coincidence listening to this album today

Very timely. Pretty solid.

Not my favorite Sabbath record but it’s got some good songs on it.

RIP Ozzy. Not a big fan of this genre but Black Sabbath/Ozzy does stand out as being one of the better examples of it. 5.5/10 (2.75/5)

Appropriate choice, random album generator. I listened to a few Ozzy solo albums yesterday but didn't dig all the way back to Sabbath. And I don't think I've ever actually heard this album so I'm interested to see if I recognize any of it. Having read the Wikipedia section about this album's provenance, I'm hoping this cup of black coffee will be enough to put me in the right frame of mind. When "FX" came on, I wondered what the story behind it was, and Wikipedia did NOT disappoint: "'FX' came about unexpectedly in the studio. After smoking hashish, the crucifix hanging from Iommi's neck accidentally struck the strings of his guitar and the band took an interest in the odd sound produced." P.S. - I remember reading about "Snowblind" but otherwise none of this sounded familiar.

Suprinsingly good. Escpecially after reading all the stories about the everest of snow and other substances they blew during the recording. It's my first Black Sabbath and I didn't think they were that old/early relly being pionners in the genre. I guees there's a good algorythm prompting an album after an artist death.

Overall, I prefer this album to Paranoid. I really like its sludge/stoner edge and some grooves are impressive for 72, thanks to Tony Iommi. A miracle since the band was deeply into drugs at that time. But Ozzy’s nasal, limited voice is just awful and somehow ruins what could have been a great album. Now that he’s gone, I can say that his personal success has always been a mystery to me. Was it pity? Was it confusion? The guy had been funny sounding, unintelligible and off-key for decades, and honestly came across more like a tragic pathetic junky clown than a rock icon to me.

Odd timing with ozzys death, but whatever. Will always get at least a 3 from me for supernaut, especially after al jourgenson showed us what a banger it could be.

This album is not as good as Black Sabbath’s earlier albums. I suppose if you’re a big fan you would enjoy this one, but I thought it was mostly standard Sabbath. Not horrible.

I mean, it rocks. It also kind of blends together and I don’t see myself coming back to it. Idk maybe it’s a 3 album day fatigue

Pour one out for the fella but this is not Sabbaths best work by a mile. The start and end of this album are standard fare but I feel the middle drops off as far as my personal taste is concerned. When I think of Black Sabbath I am typically thinking of the groove their music has, I think my lukewarm feelings about the middle tracks are really down to a noted absence of the groove that makes the tracks march along.

Obviously not their best album but clearly not their worst. RIP Prince of Darkness. 6/10 fav songs : Supernaut & Under the Sun

Was never much of a Black Sabbath fan, and this didn't change my opinion. RIP, Ozzy...

Wow. I surprised myself, I can actually say I listened to the whole thing and have a new appreciation for these guys-went and read Iommi's story, amazing-he lost 2fingertips in an accident on his last day of work in a factory-to still play made a prosthetic !? and started playing lefthanded

Solid album. Each band mate is at the top of his game.

Given Ozzy's passing this week, "Changes" has taken on a new meaning and level of somberness. The Mellotron gave it that church feel. Extra. I like this album, especially "Supernaut". It's funny how dark this type of metal seemed decades ago. Now, it feels thoughtful and introspective.

I've always liked Ozzy but never got too deep into Black Sabbath beyond the radio songs. I am impressed. What's funny is, mixed in with all Ozzy's antics and craziness, the guy can actually sing. This album has catchy melodies . I don't know why, but for some reason it just didn't strike me that Ozzy could really do this. I was also struck by how much Soundgarden has pulled from Black Sabbath. I find Iommi's guitar work to be really cool also. All the musicians are strong actually, and it seems like Ozzy was actually lucky to be able to front a band like this. RIP Ozzy. His music and persona will be missed.

Not as good as paranoid but still good music. Changes was a standout

RIP Ozzie (they gave us this album the day after he died)

Didn’t go as hard as I thought.

he ich bin am autofahre gsi bim lose, au scho ufmerksamer gsi. changes isch super. susch au eaaaasy geili sache aber cha nüm sooo viel gnaus sehe. het meh afoch guete rock aber nüt wo mi meega umhaut. e starchs 3.

On my newly-discovered scale of angsty teenage boy music, for which Slipknot is the actual, literal bottom, this rates pretty well. I wouldn’t listen to Black Sabbath outside of this project, but I’m not disliking this album. I’d even go so far as to say that I actively like Laguna Surprise. Also, RIP Ozzy Osbourne.

Can’t be a coincidence this album comes up the day after Ozzy dies. The band seems to have evolved quite a bit in the two years since Paranoid. The songs sound more complete, whereas a lot of their earlier songs sounded more like just a heavy guitar riff and Ozzy singing with a lot of space between. Was surprised to hear a couple slow songs which Ozzy can pull off with his voice (especially Changes). Liked it, didn’t love it.3.3

2.9 By far the most progressive effort of the early Black Sabbath albums, but I am unfortunately going to argue I don't really think that it works, the progressive parts felt disjointed from within the songs and didn't feel like there was a ton of flow, song to song. Iommi's guitar work is outstanding on its own and so is geezer's, and ward's. Changes is a cool song, Charles Bradley does an unbelievable cover (especially a live version with George Stroumboulopoulos, even if Charles isn't exactly nailing the lyrics). Still a decent album, but for me the weakest of the first handful of sabbath albums. RIP Ozzy

Nothing was bad, but also nothing seemed particularly noteworthy on this album. This is perhaps another victim of not reading the details in the book that highlight why this album holds a place on the list.

Is the list preordained or is this only because he just died? I confess being an acolyte of the first three and feeling at the time they were starting to pander to new fans (now I would call myself a bitch-ass rock snob), though why did I immediately not revel in the brilliance of Wheels of Confusion/Straightener? Maybe I was confusing polished self-awareness for lack of urgency? That being said, what fool allowed Changes to be recorded? There are a couple more lapses but all in all they are at the height of their powers.

Well, how apposite for this to turn up on Ozzy’s death day. Not a fan but I was strangely moved today. We’re going through Changes - RIP Ozzy!

RIP. Never been a big fan of his music but an indisputable icon. Snowblind was my favorite on this one - loved the slow solo. The rest was decent. Very consistent sound.

Good hard rock (doesn't feel thrashy enough to be metal to me). Never been a big fan but I liked the album. Changes seems a little out of place though.

I didn't hate this!

Never listened to Black Sabbath. Some good tracks. Quite different than I thought it would sound--not that cheesy hard rock proto-metal at all. 1st one has a bunch of time sig changes. 3. "Changes" chill and somber--I like the reverb I am sort of reminded of Yes, though Yes' bass and drums, i think, ties it all together. With some of these tracks, the guitars' slimy and drifty quality makes everything less solid and impactful. So you got some great tracks, though sometimes the incompleteness takes over. The ideas are there, I just need it to be taken home. Sometimes the singer's voice succeeds in this though, I can't lie. 7. "Cornucopia" hits it pretty good 8. "Laguna Sunrise" another chill song. Great guitar playing, and what seems like violins and strings in the background. Not what you'd expect from a band called "Black Sabbath".

Nothing that blew me away. Solid album nonetheless.

Surprisingly nice, might give it a listen again sometime

3.5/5

Some good riffs but nothing really caught my attention

COCAINE!!!

Was good. No SFX would've been better

If I didn't know this was Black Sabbath's album, I wouldn't have guessed it. Vol. 4 wasn't completely out of the realm of Black Sabbath but was more progressive than you think Black Sabbath could be. At the same time, heavy metal isn't far from progressive music. And Vol. 4 was definitely heavy metal, through and through, but I heard more of the artistic/progressive side of this band. The best part of this album is definitely that guitar, which slayed throughout.

A definite departure from earlier Sabbath, and I'm sure diehard Sabbath fans (I'm not) did NOT like Laguna Sunrise. A soft rock song on a heavy metal band's album!?!?! It's definitely going through Changes (I really dislike that song). 3.3/5 stars = 3.

Not my thing but not horrible!

This lands with full-on, coke-fueled, long-haired-loner rock energy. It's gritty - I always found BS a little absurd—but that's part of the charm. The lyrics do hold up surprisingly well; “Changes” in particular flooded me with the emotion (maybe it was the PMS). But also, listening made me smile - it took me back—summer break at my friend Liz’s house, smoking weed and spinning her mom’s old Sabbath records. We’d belt out the songs in our grungiest deep-metal-dude voices, collapsing in laughter on piles of laundry. Liz was a total chaos queen—one of the messiest people I’ve ever known. Black Sabbath was fitting.

A few head-scratchers, but overall I liked it

Pretty solid record. Enjoyed it, but not sure how much I'd come back to it.

Good not great. More in line with what I originally expected from Black Sabbath than Paranoid.

** 1/2 Well, gave it a try ( again). However, Never been a Sabbath Fan…hasn‘t changed.

these guys ARE METAL. tho it's hard to say it as the guys who kinda made metal into what metal is. cool stuff overall.

It’s Black Sabbath and it’s a really great album. Love it!

I admire the diversity, but the doom songs are too similar. And I swear I started to hear the solo from 'War Pigs' creep in somewhere.

"Changes" is a great song, but the rest are pretty forgettable. I dig Sabbath's sound, and Ozzy's voice is near the platonic ideal for hard rock like this. But most of these songs go nowhere interesting. A star less than the brilliant *Paranoid*.

I enjoyed this more than I thought that I would

Okay, sorry, but this just washes over me. Nothing really sticks, good sounds though.

I can really see why people like it, but it ain't for me!

This is fine. There were a few really great songs on here but I don't think it measures up to their debut. Really had to think hard about how I would feel listening to it in 1972 and that did make it a 3 for me when accounting for cultural impact.

Some good moments and songs but I feel like towards the end it's started tapering off - This however is an album that feels very harsh to rate after just one listen so maybe I will hold off

3.5/5

Standard Sabbath. 3/5

It’s probably really insensitive, but I find Changes by Black Sabbath really funny. I think it’s because the first time I heard it, it was Ozzy and Kelly Osborne singing it together and it sounded awful. Otherwise, this album seems to experiment more with genres than I was expecting (Changes being a prime example of this, to be fair). It was a fun album, but I’m not sure it should be considered an essential one.

Way more lowkey than I expected from the bat biters. 3.5

Personally, not my favorite Black Sabbath album but good nonetheless

Decent album, didn’t connect with any one song but it felt polished. Enjoyed it.

I guess I like Black Sabbath?

Kind of run of the mill, and not even all heavy metal. No standout songs in my not very knowledgeable opinion.

Interesting and at times good, but I also tired of the dude vibe loudness sometimes

Very good classic metal. Maybe it's not the best now but thinking that they are one of the innovators of this sound is pretty amazing. Very ground breaking stuff. Fun to listen to with great vocals and music. I'm sure I will listen to this again.

Another Black Sabbath album. Another album that I think is fine.

there's a few cahnges

Sounds like Sabbath. Good, but peaks after the first song. Tony writes some killer riffs though.

Technically very impressive but not my vibe.

While I’m not a big fan of Ozzy’s voice, and I had always shied away from Sabbath maybe as a result. I remember thinking they were so heavy, and as a young kid I was sort of scared of them. So I never really listened to them. I’m glad I did, this is okay.

3.5 stars. This album has a nice flow to it

Não me pegou tanto quanto eu achei que fosse 😩 Tiveram umas 3 que amei, mas o restante não me chamou muito a minha atenção.

It's giving noise, it's not bad noise it's just making me kind annoyed listening to them one after another. If they were in a mix I'd like them more

3.9 Would be 4 but not their best. Some of their best songs, but not the best album

Solid, albeit a bit disjointed. Back half was more enjoyable that the front half, but this album did push itself past a 3.5.

3+ Stars (9/15)

Quite a bit sharper, more polished, and more upbeat than the first two Black Sabbath albums. I liked it but didn't love it. Doesn't quite capture the fun or creative feeling their earlier work had, and rarely matches the more serious feelings of doom and gloom. It's all very competent and very energetic but I can't help but be slightly disappointed. Vocals are better and with less awkward lyricism, but that was kind of the charm of Black Sabbath and Paranoid. Also a bit too extravagant for my tastes in many areas.

I used to call them grandpa metal. Not because they are only for older folks but because they are metals actual grandpa. Great album, its musically solid, and doesn't feel old. Well worth the time to listen.

Solid album with a heavy and dirty sound that Black Sabbath makes palatable to the listener. The guitar work on this album is the clear standout.

Bra topper men litt ensformig

Not my usual listen but good to break the afternoon up.

Easily one's favorite heavy metal album of all time, which means it might just crack one's top 1000 overall. It's about textures and hooks, such as the bouncy guitar bits toward the end of the opener. "Changes" is a better than a power ballad and "Laguna Sunrise" also a nice break from the noise, if a bit heavy-handed and syrupy on the strings. "Snowblind" is also cool. There's a lack of pretension here that maybe Metallica woulda done well to emulate. Before he became a reality TV joke, Ozzy was kinda cool, no?

Vol. 4 é um sólido album de rock, que, até mesmo para alguém como eu (que não ouve muito Heavy Metal) pode se encontrar entrando na atmosfera das músicas e aprendendo a apreciá-las.

Not my favorite Sabbath album but still enjoyable!

Some of this is just typical hard rock, which I am not crazy about. But some of this is very different and I even enjoyed several songs.

It's alright.

Fine

I prefer the guitar to the singing.

it's something I listened to in the background, but not really my thing.

changes is a lovely slow song

Classic rock

A bunch of stuff I've never heard and some surprisingly good songs!

To be a fly on the wall when this album was made.

good album don't have much to say to it

I had Black Sabbath on The Sabbath! Yikes! Anyway, this is classic metal. Definitely an album which lacks big hits, but fun nonetheless. Favorite Track: "Under The Sun".

I had a boyfriend in high school who was into Black Sabbath. I just didn't understand the appeal. Of course, he didn't understand my love for post-punk either. Listening to them now, I understand the attraction a lot better than I did when I was younger, and I actually rather enjoyed this. This wasn't as "heavy" as I remembered it being. Best track is Snowblind.

Aight

Pretty underwhelming compared to their previous albums. Changes is a classic, though. The engineering behind this album seems good, drums sound nice, but it's Sabbath; it should be heavier.

When I think of Black Sabbath, this is pretty much the sound I imagine. I wasn’t expecting a rock balled or acoustic interlude to be on here (“Changes” and “Laguna Sunrise”, respectively), but I was pleasantly surprised by them. Overall, I would say the album wasn’t anything special, but I did think it finished strong with “Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes”. 3.5 Stars

Vol 4 is the 1st doom metal album. If you like that genre, this is like the firing gun of the genre. Doom Metal is a very low pitch sounding, riff oriented genre, dark lyrics, slow tempos and wailing solos. Is not my favorite Sabbath album, and I don't know if I would consider it as one of the 1001 albums all time. But the credit for starting a genre, must be given. Even maybe just one song, "Under the Sun" could be considered the one that defines the genre. The production could honestly be a little better, Some guitars are out of tune "Snowblind" , "St Vitus Dance", Others "FX" and "Laguna Sunrise" are filler tracks. It is an uneven record. I consider myself a Sabbath lover (from 1st album to Heaven and Hell), but I wouldn't call this their best album. On another hand, the album cover is iconic.

I forgot that Sabbath isn’t as dark and gloomy and satanic as I always perceive them to be. This is very sludgy blues. Heavy lazy sounding guitar and drums with a vocal delivery that, as I said, reminds me of the blues. Choice cut: Changes

Good, patches of very good

Some really good guitar solos!

Solid. Guitar goes crazy.

Solid metal album, not to my tastes but Changes is a standout.

I want to give this a 3.5 but can't — generally super great album but not spectacular enough for me to want to continue to reach for it.

This is metal?

i’ll admit i’m not the biggest fan of classic metal but this was fun

Aside from changes this was just a middle of the road album. None of the other tracks really jumped out at me.

It was only two days ago when I was served up a Libertines album that I was grumbling on about the lifestyle of musicians affecting how I viewed their music negatively. In the case of Pete Doherty the music was crap anyway but there are many drug fuelled albums around which are all time classics and which I love. This Sabbath album according to what I read was conceived from sea of white powder of varying types. So is it one of the aforementioned classics which I must turn a blind eye to? Yes and no. Leaving aside role modelling issues there is a lot of Sabbath music I do like and there is plenty on this album. But as with other Sabbath albums the constant riff after riff guitar in your face nature of their music, I begin to tire of it after a while. As regards musical excellence it is head and shoulders above the likes of The Libertines and compared to Ozzy Pete Doherty is a pussy cat. The clincher is of course the fact that Tony Iommi is the glue which keeps this album together. A great guitarist and as it turns out a good producer as well. 3/5 24/3/25

Some of this was a lot mellower than I thought it'd be. Still not completely my thing but I liked it more than I thought I would.

This was fine. Better than I expected, honestly!

Goes hard, good fun. Favourites were actually probably the slower tracks like Changes and Snowblind. (3.5 stars)

Alright album, nothing too stand out, preferred their other album more.

In my mind I always think of sabbath as this really heavy heavy band, but this just doesn't feel that heavy. It's good, but not like heavy and its probably better for that

Scruffy, fun. Full of good riffs and sections. Funny looking back how Satanic etc they were seen, as this sounds by nowadays ears like a good time blues band, not particularly dark at all.

Some Sabbath bangers on here, but I'd say not a strong album. I'm afraid, and that's mainly because of "Changes" (and, I guess, "FX"). They just completely mess up the flow of this album.

"Heavy" is the word here. If you like metal, it's not going to get much better than this.

Matige 3

Definitely not my favourite Black Sabbath album, but then they can't all be perfect. Changes is a great song. Snowblind is definitely my favourite song about cocaine. The rest of the album didn't live up to either of these tracks.

I thought was okay. No complaints, some nice guitar work and drum licks throughout. Nothing much to say about it honestly.

It was okay hut I like the radio hits better.

Day 92 - March 7th, 2025 I want to eat a bat. 3/5

Starting to think I low-balled PARANOID. Still, quite nice to see Sabbath pushing the boundaries of the genre they established. Just not sure if I’d put this as a top album for ‘72

It was fine. I like Changes. The album exceeded my expectations (which were not high), but it wasn’t just the hard rock I anticipated. More to the lyrics than i expected.

I’m mixed on this one. It’s energetic and impactful, but I find the vocals to be generally too shrill. There is some sweet shredding as well. I laughed when the third track turned out to essentially be an Elton John song. Standout tracks are: “Laguna Sunrise” and “Wheels of Confusion”

I was expecting to hate this but it’s was actually listenable. Standouts : “Changes”, “Supernaut” and “Laguna Sunrise”. also FX was a nice surprise. Lows for me was “Cornucopia” just too low pitch droning for me. Another pass is “Under the Sun” Also don’t like the vocal mix so buried in the mix on the whole album.

Liked this way more than I thought I would. Some of its still too heavy for my taste but some gems in there.

Music from a different time. It's fine, I get why it's on list, but not for me.

Black Sabbath were one of the artists going in to this that I was excited to hear more of, but none of it really sticks for me. Same as their first album, some really great songs mixed in with meh. Their drummer is great, though.

Raw, good guitar sound and great vocals from Ozzy, but didn’t have many standout moments for me.

Black Sabbath with cocaine. Not their best work. But that's okay, still a Black Sabbath album.

Rating - 3.4/5. >i listened to 2014 remaster idk. (EDIT it is with further inspection that i realized i listened to the wrong one but i dont give a gaf). i dont like his voice sorry im so picky w the actual singers. First track instrum was rlly good. Esp nearing the end after he STOPS singing. I hate Changes and i didnt know this was THAT song which i figured was a cover. FX is weird. I liked Supernaut and the lil guitar parts. I liked Snowblind too. Laguna Sunrise was nice :) . >thumbs up: supernaut, snowblind, laguna sunrise.

pretty good sad I'm not going to back to the beginning:(( doesn't stand out amongst their other albums fave: snowblind

6/10

This is the third Black Sabbath album about a fifth of the way through the project. I generally like them but this one didn’t stand out especially.

wheels of confusion/ the straightener- 5 tomorrows dream- 5 changes- 5 fx- yeah those are some sounds. 7 because its a good collection of sounds supernaut- 7 snowblind- 5 cornucopia- 6 laguna sunrise- 5 st vitus dance- 5. bauhaus did it better under the sun/ every day comes and goes- 5

i am always paranoid but this is not "Paranoid" at all. 3/5

I appreciate the jamz but not quite my cup of tea

Love the vibe of the album. Some great riffs, with some nice changes of pace like Laguna Sunrise.

Good stuff. Solid Rock.

This is like lunch at Olive Garden: Super friggin' heavy.

One of Sabbath's most confusing outputs with Ozzy still in the band. The album is mostly good, albeit the listing seems out of place with the gorgeous Changes and FX killing all momentum from the first two tracks. Still good, but not their best. Best Tracks: - Changes - Snowblind - Supernaut Worst Tracks: - Tomorrow's Dream Rating: 6.5/10

Hard Rock, 1971 -> 3

There is so so so much 70's Boomer rock on this list. Do we really need to listen to 4 Black Sabbath albums before we die?

More experimental than "Paranoid," that's for sure. Just really, really funky and weird music. Nice guitar riffs. Not my thing but I get the appeal.

Decent but it’s all a bit samey

Not bad or anything, but not my type of music

I don’t usually like metal but this wasn’t that bad tbh.

It had a very strong "dad rock" or "enthusiastic kids rocking out in their garage" vibe especially at first - which is not bad, just not exactly my cup of tea. I found the guitar-bass work kinda lazy at some points, but I've got used to it and even started liking it.

- war okay-ish irgendwo etwas unter dem Album Black Sabbath

Decent

Para amantes del heavy. Su canción más escuchada es una basura

An enjoyable hard rock album. Based on my tastes, my clear favorite here is Changes. The rest is very listenable for me, even if it isn't a particular favorite genre of mine.

it’s ok…idk, wish it was better

Until this exercise, I did not know I liked Black Sabbath.

Klassiker antar jag, lite trist nu förtiden möjligen?

Never been a fan of this style. Credit though, it's actually pretty good. Heavy and tight, and the vocals are fantastic. No idea what the songs about, but enjoyed the interlude with Changes, and Fx was just a bit of playtime.

Pretty much what you'd expect, some songs a bit too long for my liking, but it's enjoyable rock. I didn't know any songs on this album, but then again I think I know about two Black Sabbath songs anyway. I enjoyed it.

meh

NGL, didn’t focus on the lyrics. But musically, I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. I’ve generally avoided Black Sabbath just based on the name - not going to apologize for judging, as they picked the name knowing it would provoke strong reaction. So, I’m thankful this was listenable and enjoyable.

Not really my style, but respect! Obviously iconic. Quite a moment in cultural history (70s SoCal).

Fav song: Supernaut Interesting mix of production styles on this one, but some sound objectively bad (Cornucopia for example). Overall done classic sounding guitar tones, great riffs and awesome vocal takes from Ozzy.

This doesn't feel like the most important Black Sabbath album at all and will forever be in the shadows of more deserving Black Sabbath albums. Maybe a bit deserved.

It's good but uneven.

It’s Black Sabbath, so of course it’s foundational and amazing but the earwigs are just not as wiggy as I would expect. I don’t think that I was as impressed with the dub-sounds as others were in 1971. That’s the foolishness of 50yrs of time talking, I guess. Supernaut is the exception on this album - as in exceptional.

Decent listen and kept interesting throughout, changes such as great song. High 3 on first listen, likely higher if I went back to it

6/10

Changes was great

i really like black sabbath. thanks, dad.

Fine. I never really got into Deep Purple. As a place to start this album doesn't have the classics like "War Pigs" or whatever. It's okay. I should probably like it more because I love Led Zep and like Deep Purple. It could be a case of "not liking the sound of the voice" or it could just be that I only have a need for so much heavy rock... Yeah. It's alright. Sure.

Not my favorite Sabbath album, leaning a little too jam band for my liking. I will say that the guitar riff at the beginning of Supernaut is simply epic, and the fact that they wrote a whole song full of snow innuendos for cocaine is sooo Sabbath. Also, Changes was such a refreshing reprieve from the heavy/doom/thrash metal that's so characteristic of Sabbath. Really enjoyed that song.

Rating: 3.5 stars Favorite Song(s): Tomorrow's Dreams, Changes and Supernaut Least Favorite Song: Laguna Sunrise I really enjoyed the middle of the album.

A classic Rock band. Long songs with long periods of just straight music jamming and no lyrics. Dad music 100%. Wheels of Confusion was eh. Liked Tomorrow’s Dream. Liked Changes. FX is just crazy I felt like I was in a fever dream. Supernaut was a banger. Snowblind is good. Cornucopia is aight. Laguna Sunrise is pleasant and calming, a welcome reprise in the midst of the chaos of the rest of the album. It reminds of me of something that would play in the background of a Legend of Zelda game. St. Vitus Dance is aight. Under the Sun is a good end of album song but just aight on its own.

I think it's a couple steps below 'Paranoid' and 'Master of Reality'. Still super solid all around, though I miss the blues influence you could hear on their previous work.

me gustó en general, muy divertido, buenos riffs bastantes buenos temas. Total del álbum: 78

Solid hard rock. Some self-indulgence, but that’s expected.

Decent metal album! 3/5

Supernaut?? More like super-mid!!

Not as good as the two proceeding albums, but still good. "Changes" is a cool departure. 3.5 stars.

Some rocking highlights but Changes is a pretty dopey ballad and back half of the record is a bit of a slog. Snowblind is probably the best song here but Snowbound by Donald Fagen is more my thing. Black Sabbath Vol 3.5.

Having really enjoyed the earlier Deep Purple selectiom, was Wondering if I was really a closet heavy Metal fan. However, I engaged with this one much less...

good, some are eh, maybe 3.5

nice tunes actually

Not the type of music that I usually listen to, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. “Changes” was my favorite song in the album.

Black Sabbath has some hits with Ozzy but I'm more of a Dio Sabbath fan.

There are some really cool moments from Black Sabbath on here, whether that be the orchestral instrumental, “Laguna Sunrise,” or the jaw-dropping outlier, “Changes,” but overall, I don’t feel like their more traditional hard rock cuts end up being all that special compared to some of their best ones like it on previous albums.

This album was made in 1971. Way ahead of its time. Supernaut alone gets a Star. Much of the rest is fun to listen to but definitely not their debut or Paranoid. 3.5

This was kind of a…nice Sabbath album (?!). I quite liked ‘Supernaut’ and ‘Under the Sun/…’ (the original “Killing in the Name”) as classic BS songs, while the others variously sounded classical to, dare I say, tinged with the alt-country vibe of a lot of the rock’n’roll of the time (I’m trying to incite Jon into reviewing just to rebut me). An oddly anomalous (yet enjoyable) collection of songs for a band better known for pooping onstage than for these sorts of stylings.

nothing that remarkable, good for working though

Dark rock badassery. Makes me want to buy a motorcycle and fuck some shit up. Ozzy’s pipes add needed color to pedestrian guitar that actually manages to find good grooves regularly.

Admittedly I didn't listen too attentively to this one, but it was alright. Nothing awful, nothing spectacular that stood out to me.

Interesting to read the wikipedia notes about all the drug and alcohol induced havoc involved in the recording sessions. The album is solid. The popular song, Changes, is a ballad, which stands out in an album that is otherwise mostly hard rock (apart from Laguna Sunrise, which is also good). Some of Ozzy's later albums also had this play (e.g. Mama I'm Coming Home). I also dig some of the high energy tracks, like Supernaut.

Much more chill than expected. Ozzy is surprisingly good. Surprisingly varied. Instrumentals.

Meh

Forgot I’d be listening to Ozzy Osbourne here and I groaned a little when he first started wailing on but actually this was musically very good, and once I got past Changes, I stopped feeling irritated by Ozzy’s voice and generally enjoyed the whole thing

Pretty good, it’s hard rock where they clearly just play for parts of the album and enjoy themselves instrumentally. I thought it was okay, tolerable but not the best.

Good album

Robert Dimery: "We really ought to include a Black Sabbath album. The people want Sabbath." Assistant: "Makes sense. I assume we’re thinking Paranoid? Maybe their debut too?" Robert: "Yeah, those are essential. But add Vol. 4 too." Assistant: "Vol. 4? Why that one?" Robert: "Because they were so coked up recording it! Total chaos. It’s brilliant." Assistant: "Sure, but is it really their signature sound? Vol. 4 is when they started shifting away from that dark, doom-laden vibe for something a bit more... upbeat." Robert: "Exactly! It'll rile people up, spark debate—more discussion, more sales." Assistant: "True, it does show Sabbath experimenting and evolving. But three Sabbath albums on the list?" Robert: "Let Ozzy answer that: ‘I feel something taking me high’." And so Vol. 4 lands on the list—an album of reckless, drug-fueled ambition. It’s not as tight as Paranoid or as dark as their debut; instead, it’s Sabbath off their nut and at their most unpredictable. This isn’t one for casual listeners. Vol. 4 is rough around the edges and veers off the rails at times. It’s good—enjoyable, even—but best left for true fans. Did/Do I own this release? No Does this release belong on the list? No Would this release make my personal list? No Will I be listening to it again? Unlikely

I think this album is on the list for the fact that it feels like someone won a bet. Something like, I bet you can’t produce an album if you consume inhuman amounts of cocaine and still be recognizable and listenable. It is fine musically, but just not in my wheelhouse.

Enjoyed

I hate heavy metal but don’t dislike Black Sabbath albums, the inventors of heavy metal. I really do contain multitudes.

would have been an interesting time to be a Black Sabbath fan coming of age in 1972. Two years after the dark moody eponymous album Paranoid and Master of Reality. I wonder how I would have judged this album. They're still an album away from not being completely boring but it definitely starts here.

This one is fine, not as great as the band's first two records. I didn't find the songs to be generally as memorable, but stylistically they were definitely on par with their earlier material. "Changes" does stand out like a sore thumb, but I find the idea of having an Elton John-style song in the middle of a metal album quite funny. Key tracks: Changes Snowblind

Ja, lässt sich hören. Abwechslungsreich.

Sounds like the other Black Sabbath Album. If it weren't for "Changes" and the amazing Wikipedia-Article about this Album, I would have given less stars. But like I said I'M GOIIING THROUGH CHAAANGEEEEES.