Reviews (page 13 of 15)
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.
Really liked Changes (hadnt heard that before) and the rest of the album seemed pretty much like Black Sabbath -- killer guitar solos and wailing vocals from Ozzy. Good album
Not sure if it's the remastering or what it is, but this sounded a bit flat to me. It has got some really cool guitar riffs, and the drumming is not too shabby. Overall it is a pretty good album, but the sound is a little bit too flat to my tastes. Maybe the "remastering" is to blame? As it so often is. I also learned that Snowblind is not a System of a Down song, which is pretty damn cool!
I feel like I’m supposed to like this more than I do.
Ágætis bárujárnsrokk en ekki góð vinnutónlist. Þéttur hljófæraleikur, kraftmikill trommuleikur. En þetta sírenusöngvaragól á engin önnur kynslóð en boomerar að þurfa að þola, þau tóku út þjáninguna fyrir okkur hin. Eins og að vera fastur í eilífri rokkóperumatröð. Hvað Under the sun hefði t.d. getað orðið flott með almennilegum söng. Changes sleppur einna skást frá þessari misþyrmingu. Black Sabbath - Ozzy = 3 stjörnur.
i really liked this album, but metal and rock aren't exactly my fav genres so i'd give this like a 7/10
Fun to listen to Black Sabbath songs that aren't the hits. Solid listen, the instrumental songs like FX are pretty bad. Snowblind was a heater though.
Classic and good heavy-ish metal.
This is a good album overall, but it suffers by comparison with the other Black Sabbath albums on this list. The production is much cleaner here, but in a way that doesn't really help their sound. They should be gritty, Black Sabbath is better when it sounds like they're crawling out of the grave. Still, there's very little else to criticize here. The elements that make their other albums great are here as well, it just doesn't feel as inspiring as on the other albums 3/5
felt appropriate spooky for halloween season. probably closer to a 3.5 but i can't do half stars.
This was decent. I like the sound. I especially liked the really proggy opening track and some of the more subdued songs. By the end of the album, though, songs were starting to kind of blur together and I was getting exhausted of the sound.
Changes❤️
This is now the third (and it appears final) Black Sabbath album in this collection, which feels like two too many. In many ways, I wish our Black Sabbath exposure had started and ended with "Paranoid"; that album leaves you wanting more, while this album and their debut makes you (or at least me) question whether even "Paranoid" was all that great of an album. And it is/was. This is not. It's not horrible--and "Supernaut", "St. Vitus dance" and "Under the sun" are solid BS songs--but much like their debut album, it's just not all that distinctive or memorable, even with Ozzy's fantastically distinctive voice and Tony Iommi's distinctive guitar style, and the somewhat odd interludes interspersed throughout the album. And that doesn't even touch all the crazy substance abuse and demented behavior during recording. I'm just glad they survived the experience, honestly. I don't feel like I can ding Black Sabbath for this, but I just discovered that there are *no* Ozzy Osbourne albums in this collection. This is almost inexcusable; how can we have so many truly mediocre albums (and I'm on the fence whether this album should be included in that category), and we don't get the pleasure of (at least) "Blizzard of Ozz"???? Bizarre, and so very sad. I try to accept what we get in this collection, flaws and all, but this is the closest I've come to feeling like the "1001 albums" collection has jumped the shark. I mean, millions of sports fans can't be wrong about "Crazy train", after all. :) (Not to mention the tragedy of living your whole life without hearing "Mr. Crowley" even once.)
A pleasant surprise from this project is how much I like Black Sabbath. That said, this isn't their best album, though it's pretty good. I wish the recording was a little sharper.
Eh. Better than I expected. Not Ozzie screaming and yelling.
not my type.
Great storytelling, compelling and profound lyrics! I liked it overall
Not hugely for me, but I can see the appeal.
Jao! 😁 Okej, kužim, sve pet, ali stvarno ih ne volim. Nikad mi nisu legli, čak ni u mojoj tvrdoj fazi. Jedine stvari tu koje su mi dobre su Wheels of Confusion i naravno legendarna Changes (tu stvar iskreno volim). Nema mi čak ni nešto zanimljivu priču iza albuma kao svi dosad, osim da su se rokali kokom i jedva snimili, how rock'n'roll of them 😅 Ne znam koliko trojki mogu podijeliti u iščekivanju Godota 😁 3 (5.5).
"Supernaut". What a great riff. If you combined this album with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, you'd have an absolute stomper. Here, we have Changes, as well, which is a superb contrast to the other tracks. All told, this is a solid album - but it lacks the punch of their earlier work, and lacks the refinement of its successor. "Supernaut" almost lifts it into 4-star territory, but unfortunately, it still falls short.
Never really got into Sabbath, but this is decent. Shows an interesting, more refined side of the band that I wasn't previously aware of.
It's meh
Very nice little album, great guitar work on most of the songs. I haven't heard of any of the songs, and the one that I had - Changes, I didn't know that it was theirs. I can't really give this album 3 stars because it is good, but at the same time, I wish there were middle ratings, so this would be 3.5 and other slightly better albums would go for 4.
I DON'T CARE FOR THE BASIC BLUES But this was decent. The non-metal songs (Laguna Sunrise and Changes) are the best ones here tbqhfam. I just don't find the overreliance on I, IV, V, tritones, and stepwise motion terribly interesting... plus Vanilla Fudge and Blue Cheer generally did this style with more action and attitude. Blablabla not much variation in the phrasing and chords blablabla- oh the solos are too triadic and/or pentatonic and uninteresting too, but that's not terribly unheard of for this kind of music.
A cromulent album. Changes is the standout on this record for sure. It’s a welcome change out pace on the album.
na enkele kopstoten zijn onze vriendjes aan het verzwakken...
Solid but not spectacular. I thought the whole story behind "Snowblind" was interesting. Would not have wanted to party with Black Sabbath in the early 70s.
Not terrible, but not my favorite.
01) Wheels of Confusion - 8,0 02) Tomorrow's Dream - 7,5 03) Changes - 9,5 04) FX - 3,0 05) Supernaut - 8,0 06) Snowblind - 8,0 07) Cornucopia - 7,5 08) Laguna Sunrise - 7,5 09) St. Vitus Dance - 7,5 10) Under the Sun - 7,5 TOTAL: 7,40 (74/100) Current ranking: 154/291
Track 1: sounds like metal 🤘 Track 2: sounds like rock 🎸 Track 3: most listens on Spotify. Super boring ballad. Maybe it's a grower not a shower 🚿 Track 4: cool sound FX! Track 5: we rocking again Track 6 / 7: more of the same Track 8: awesome acoustic interlude Track 9: same old Track 10: finally another metal song and it slaps. Best track on album
-I come from a long lineage of Black Sabbath enjoyers (my dad) so I’m pretty familiar with the style even though I haven’t listened to one of their albums in full before this. it’s pretty cool tho, the guitar makes the entire album -Favorites are Wheels Of Confusion, Snowblind, and Under the Sun
there's a hilarious picture of black sabbath performing in the gap between heavy metal music appearing but before people had worked out the heavy metal visual aesthetic, so they're still in full on flower power, folk music uniform, looking like they should be singing Build Me Up Buttercup. ozzy is singing under a rainbow with glittery silver boots. tony iommi doesn't have a moustache. this album's ok. too much cocaine in this one (or not enough, cf bowie's station to station)
Better than I thought and a little more diverse.
Caveat: three BS records is at least two too many for this list but one can't be bothered to sort out which is best (or least worst), though this seems less tedious than so much of the genre as a whole. Starting in media res as they do on opener is cool (in a statement-of-intent sort of way). And overall, BS delivers the good on basically every cut – with the goods being indisputably heavy-sludgy-bombast throughout. Certainly one prefers Ozzy's work with BS to his silly and execrable solo outings. "Changes" breaks the drudgery early and is surprisingly affecting, if beyond simple musically (Nigel Tufnel's piano fugue "Lick My Love Pump" would be the Spinal Tap comp for those keeping score at home.) "Laguna Sunrise" does the same toward the end of the record and it's fine, but less credible, with strings beyond syrupy. They probably couldn't have done any more of this variety, if only because they weren't Led Zeppelin. And anyway their fans woulda soon got massively bored. One likes that BS stays within a middle register, not trying to play set land-speed records for soloing (which keeps thing somewhat coherent to people less than fully fluent in metal) and instead working out and extending their hooks to build heavy vibes, as on "Snowblind," probably the best cut here (and an obviously better album title), and on the more than decent closer. Indeed, the end of the record rather recommends it. But all the usual hazards of metal apply here (e.g., sameyness of sound, pomposity, utter tedium). Fans will love it. Non-fans will either loathe or be utterly indifferent to it. Put one in the latter category, apathy division.
The older I get the more I can lean into Sabbath and abandon the pearl clutching of the boomers who scared so shitless of this band. It sounds more aligned with Led Zeppelin to me now than as some death metal or whatever they labeled it. Really it is a lovely and well paced album. Enjoyable rock.
They sure were going through “Changes.” Some of this boilerplate Sabbath, but then they mellow out and show you their softer side, and then throw some random sound effects at you. The heavy stuff not only works, but blazed trails and inspired many. However, there were too many other detours and distractions on “Vol. 4.”
This album starts in what feels like the middle of a guitar solo. A few too many "Changes" from their classic sound on this one (e.g., Laguna Sunrise was not an unpleasant surprise but it was not identifiable at all as Sabbath).
FX was unexpected, really cool, Changes was bad. The rest was better than their earlier albums, more variety in melodies, which I like
Reminds me very much of Iron Maiden. Too bad I didn't know much about this band (only the typical stories about the bad and others) at that time.
This is a solid album, not quite as good as their earlier 'Paranoid', rated a few months back. Love the Tony Iommi sound!
Ok - I preferred Paranoid
They’re n Kyuss
It’s ok
I’ll be the first to admit that I had much lower expectations
Good not great
Changes is a five star song but overall not really our thing. Paranoid is the best Sabbath album by far.
I'm not a metal fan but this seems like a high water mark for this type of music. The reviews talked about heavy and dark music, but I found it to be surprisingly tuneful and hook laden. Maybe metal has moved on in the intervening years and a lot of Nordic black metal and industrial noise metal raised the bar for what is considered heavy in this era. But a listen through I found this to be almost mainstream. Good song writing, recognisable hits and lots of fun to be had.
Way more melodic than I was expecting. ‘Changes’ is a standout.
I enjoyed the longer songs on this one. Actually a lot calmer than I was expecting with my small teensy tiny little knowledge of Black Sabbath, especially with the two instrumental tracks. Not too shabby for the lads.
solid, but not sabbaths best
Enjoyed the whole thing, I didn't really personally connect with it that hard though
Ma non erano metal? mi ricordo un altro gruppo? Paiono i Queen in versione da camera
Surprisingly I enjoyed it, I even prefered the more energetic over the quieter
It's fine, I see why this would change your world if you were 14 when it came out.
Pretty good
My son enjoyed this one more than I did, which I'm considering a win. 3/5
Solid album, not nearly as good as Paranoid or Master of Reality. Never realized "Changes" was a Sabbath song.
It's firmly in the OK category.
Production: 4/5 Lyricism: 2.5/5 Sound: 4/5 Enjoyment: 3/5 Overall: 3.3/5
I almost want to give this a 5 just for Supernaut one of the most fun songs I've ever heard. Ultimately there was a lot of just empty space imo, very enjoyable album.
Disappointingly underwhelmed, reading the other reviews first probably raised my expectations higher than they should’ve been
I like black sabbath and this was a pretty decent listen
vantar sjarmann og riffinn.
I love Sabbath, but this album isn't their greatest. Some good tracks but quite boring and forgettable overall.
I liked it okay, it is pretty repetitive but I like the changes song.
Decent
Some really beautiful songs (changes), unexpected but broke up nicely and kept a balance… keen to listen to the one with purple writing
This album is good, its Sabbath, so obviously really good. But it's not great and it's not as good as their previous 3 albums. So while I'm glad I listened to it and I enjoyed it a fair amount, I don't really see why we needed this one on the list (assuming the self titled, Paranoid and Master of Reality are already on the list). Other artists have 1 or no albums on here but yet this makes at least (probably) four sabbath albums. Whatever, cool album anyway. Fav songs: - Wheels of Confusion - Changes - Snowblind - Under the Sun
Not super exciting to me, pleasant and has good moments, but overall found it a bit boring. Under the sun is a highlight for sure. It's grown on me on second listen and it's a pretty solid background listen, but I probably won't revisit it much. 3/3.5
Ok.
Missing a lot of the darkness and rawness that I love in the very early Sabbath. This is trending a bit more in the direction of Les Zeppelin, which might be good for some, but not for me.
Fairly enjoyable. Interesting how stuff which was supposedly unfeasibly heavy at the time in retrospect seems quite tame.
I like this Black Sabbath album. It is not nearly as hard as I thought it would be
Great album, some super heavy stuff here. High 3.
basic
They were going through Changes.
Wheels of Confusion 3.7 Tomorrow's Dream 3.8 Changes 3 FX (instrumental) 2.7 Supernaut 4.2 Snowblind 3.8 Cornucopia 3.6 Laguna Sunrise (instrumental) 3 St. Vitus Dance 3.4 Under the Sun 3.5 Score: 3.47
Good album, but a bit uneven in quality. It has my favorite Black Sabbath song of all time ("Snowblind"), and some bangers such as "Changes" and "Supernaut", but it isn't as solid as the previous Sabbath albums.
The guitar is the main character here. Ozzy's doing a solid job on vocals but there were so many times I wanted him to be quiet and just let the guitar go off. Thankfully, there's plenty of those moments on the album. Changes was a weird one to listen to, not because it's bad but because Eminem sampled it on Recovery and that song is bad. I do think the first song was my favorite on the album.
lots of guitar and drums and then you get Changes... pretty big change but I actually liked that one the best!
Fairly familiar with Black Sabbath already, but somehow this album flew under my radar. It's not as good as I thought it would be, but still pretty good.
Meh
Good
good riffs, not blown away though
Less “metal-y” than I would have assumed Most songs sound great Didn’t know Changes was by them Overall good sound, pleasing to listen and move to 66
I feel like 5 stars is a bit of a blunt instrument for this one, for me. It sits somewhere between 3 and 4 - the best songs are a 4.5 and the worst probably a 2. I’m going 3 because there’s more Sabbath to come and I don’t want to be locking myself into a 5 star rating if I think it’s better than this one. Dilemmas!
Surprisingly good.
The production is terrible, even on remastered, and does the music no justice so I’m knocking a point off. Would be much better live
classic sabbath
It almost feels like heresy to rate this a 3 because it's fucking SABBATH, but I didn't really get much from this album. Only a few of them really spoke to me. The first half of Wheels Of Confusion was a little repetitive - which fortunately meant that The Straightener knocked me over when it kicked in (I listened to the deluxe edition.) Wish I could've gotten more from this album.
Works best on the riff-heavy tracks like Supernaut. I quite liked most of this. Wasn't so sure about the slower tracks. A pretty strong 3
this is not what i was expecting. I thought black sabbath was like heavy metal not "I'm going through changes"
Never realized changes was originally Black Sabbath
It ight. Not my thing
Underwhelming
After listening to Paranoid recently, I feel like Sabbath sort of lost their "ahead of their time" attitude with this album. This is from the 70's and it very much sounds like it. I was trying to figure out if I'd actually heard any of these songs before and I have, especially "Changes" which is actually the worst song on the whole album! It sounds more like the worst of Ozzy's solo stuff than Sabbath really. "Supernaut" is the standout for me and it shows that the sound did develop from their previous albums in to something more complicated and less sludgy. Whether that's good or bad is subjective really. The latter half of the album is heavier except for "Laguna Sunrise" which sounds like a Zeppelin track (not a bad thing, just strange to hear). Overall it's pretty good, definitely a "put it on while drinking beer and doing something else" album.
The best parts of this one are the parts where they’re just kind of jamming and Ozzy isn’t singing Don’t think I’d ever play this album on purpose
Grew on me as it went along.
Whatever, it's fine.
I've never listened to black sabbath before so this will be my introduction 1. Wheels of confusion / The straightener : Cool Vocal timbre with very repetitive guitar riff. Second section of the song is very cool with punk drums and goes into cool vocal slide of some kind. Goes into third section with much better riff. The guitar solo in this section if sick. The song is way to long. 2. Tomorrow's Dream: Really like the drums and aux percussion. I like the guitar a lot better on this song then that start of the last one. Its still repetitive though. Guitar solo with some type of synth getting higher and higher sounds really cool. Lyrcis are cool 3. Changes : Woah lol, Very different song. WTF. Way more slow and mellow. Not metal at all. Piano in this song for accompaniment. Lyrics about love not working out and the regret that he feels. 4. FX : Very cool start. Don't know what sound that it is. Some electric thing. Ope. Just realized how short this is. This is the whole song. welp. 5. Supernaut : Back to metal, Pretty catchy guitar riff. Drums are cool at start but get kinda boring. Guitar solo pretty good, not to catchy. Drums have some cool parts when on its own. Really cool percussion part with an acoustic guitar or something 6. Snowblind : Really good start, guitar line is awesome. Chorus is fucking awesome with really really good guitar solo after. I think its about a person in denial. Best song so far 7. Cornucopia : Fucking hard guitar riff at start of song. LIttle bit different song than the rest. Second part of song has these cool cymbal parts. 8. Laguana Sunrise : Has Acoustic guitar. Sounds very cool. A little spanish? I dont know, Im stupid. String parts come in. Very peaceful song. Contrasts with rest of album. Very Pretty. Sounds a little western. Like an epic cowboy duel is about to happen. No vocals on this track 9. St. Vitus Dance : Back to metal, more rock and roll than the rest of the album. Also has metal parts. Switches between the two styles. Tambourine gives the rock and roll sound 10. Under the sun / Every day comes and goes : Much more metal than the last song. Really good guitar riff. Kinda repetitive though. Lets go DRUMS!! Second part of the song has more energy. Don't know how I feel about the guitar for most of this song. Woah just changed a lot with weird transition. This parts much better. The guitar solo is actually pretty good in this part. The last part of this song is a good conclusion to the whole album. Whole album was pretty good overall. Some of the songs were really similar and repetative. But the songs that deviated from that like changes, Laguana sunrise and snowblind were really really good. I give the album a 7/10
Not my favorite
I expected to hate this and I didn’t! It was far less screamy than I thought it would be. I love “Changes” but admittedly didn’t realize the original was by Black Sabbath. Probably won’t be adding the album to the regular rotation, but liked it well enough.
Would I buy or download it? - no. Would I listen to it again? - possibly, it wasn't a complete assault of my senses but long guitar riffs are not really my thing.
Not for me. Don’t hate the vocals though and see the influence they brought to this genre. no hate if you like it.
Gotta love going from Al Green to Black Sabbath. Not really sure if I have heard this album, at all. Always like listening to albums I wanted to but never have. So far, through 5 tracks, I have not heard any of these, besides Changes. Which I thought was performed by other artists.
Hard rock, not my fave
Not as hard as I expected, pretty guitar focused
Pretty good. Better than I was expecting having really only listened to their hits in the past...
I enjoyed this album more than I thought I would. I did not appreciate Black Sabbath’s musicianship. Really enjoyed Changes and Laguna Sunrise.
Never been a huge fan of Black Sabbath. They’re ok, just not great….and I like great. So there are a lot of other bands I’ll listen to before BS.
Tbh I wasn’t expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised
If you want to live in their dark and hazy world for a bit, it’s a damn cool place to visit, but maybe a bit unmemorable. Oh, also, why is the bass guitar buried on this thing?
Solid album that falls off after the first three songs. Oddly mastered however the 2014 one seems to have the best depth.
Cool but oddly no bass. Less heavy than I expected
Listened to the 2021 remaster and also found the mud of the low end noteworthy. Wasn't blown away by the album but liked it. Changes slaps (and OO's voice shows some real quality and dynamism on that track). Also, a guitar style I find myself enjoying these days is "people who can play technically tight, but choose to play loose af".
Doesn’t quite match up to their first 3 albums, less inspired/innovative. Still a couple bangers though. I didn’t realize the Big Mouth theme song had its origins from this album.
The worst of the two Black Sabbath albums I’ve heard. But it’s not bad at all. 6.5/10 Top 3: 1. Wheels of Confusion / The Straightener 2. Snowblind 3. Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes
Good album, not as heavy as I expected. Ozzy sounds good. Not a lot of guitar solos
Slow, heavy, and enveloped in a thick fuzz, but enough about me! Badoomtish. A bit disappointing since I love the first three Sabbath albums. This one has never stood out to me even though I know it has a big reputation, so I was eager to give it a close listen. But, I was right. Vol 4 is a bit samey and the production isn't great. It sounds a flat and doesn't have the huge sound you'd want from a stoner metal album or the high energy you'd get from metal later in 70s/80s. This album also doesn't have the terrifying sense of dread and foreboding they captured on their debut. There are some great riffs though, Iommi rips some sick solos, and Ozzy wails all over it...but still, kind of Sabbath-by-numbers. It's like they woke up from a binge and forgot how to play Master of Reality, heard it once, and then had to recreate it. I'd take that album over this one 100% of the time.
Wasn’t too bad, couple of decent tracks
Lately the algorithm has been giving me a lot of potential “Father’s of Heavy Metal” Blue Cheer, Deep Purple etc… they are not the ones. Black Sabbath are the ones. Vol 4 is a surprisingly dynamic album, from the originals of Metal to a changes. 7.5/10
this is mid zepp. on the soft side.
Decent album, many new songs. 3.5/5 rounding down as I don’t think I would seek it out
3 out of 5
Honestly, didn’t get this one. Love sabbath but this record didn’t do it for me
Loved how the first track ramped up from strung out to excited. FX felt ahead of its time (no synths, I assume). Much less satanic than the name suggests.
I kind of thought that a Black Sabbath album would be a little more memorable. Most of the songs blend together. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but nothing really stands out. The only song that stands out to me is "Changes", and that's because it's the intro song in the Big Mouth.
It's good, but nothing really stands out to me as much as on some of their other albums
I really expected to hate this, but I don't! I'm not a fan of metal but this works for me. Granted, I'm not at a show getting pummelled with drums that are too loud in the mix (typical these days and possibly back then.) Listened to at a reasonable volume, it's pretty good! It also breathes, likely beause it's not recorded with a click track which I believe wasn't customary in 1971. I need space in my music. The vocals are really good. The distorted guitar sound works well here, and it's not so full of annoying pyrotechnics, i.e., trying to cram as many notes in as possible to prove the guitarist's dexterity. Sometimes there are cliche riffs, but not too many. Drummer is great! Grooves vary from song to song. Laguna Sunrise - what a lovely surprise. OK then, 3 stars. Not bad for a band I expected to abhor.
3.5/5. Good. I like Paranoid more, but I enjoyed this as well.
Black Sabbath, schon wieder? Diesmal aber besser wenn auch immer noch etwas lahm.
Supernaut and Snowblind fuckin rip, and Under the Sun is real solid. The rest I can take or leave (ESPECIALLY Laguna Sunrise).
This is decent, without ever hitting a real high. Starts off OK, then you hit Changes (which is the most famous song on the album, but really really doesn't work here if at all) and then a 2 minute instrumental with none of the pace, energy, or guitars that most of the rest of the record has. Then it picks up again, Supernaut is one of if not the best track on the album, and the rest is exactly what you'd expect from Sabbath; plenty of oomph, nothing earthshattering in the lyrics. Final track is a bit more sophisticated and even a little proggy. Overall gets a 3/5.
What's with the Blue Man Group percussion interlude?
I appreciate how impactful this sound must have been when it came out. I won't listen to it again, but I'm happy I heard the songs I did not know.
Tommy and Geezer are great. Ozzy not so much.
Good Album, I liked it def not the strongest or weakest album tho.
This was alright, listened to it on the way home from work
3.4
Great Album. Love Black Sabbath.
Can't remember much, but solid
Nowhere near as seminal as the last one, but still a decent listen. Safe to say that this version of Changes was significant better than the duet Ozzy did with Kelly
Pretty good. It's no Paranoid that's for sure.
good "generic" rock. I know the only reason it sounds generic is because I've heard every derivative work from it. no strong emotions for me on this first listen
The first album I ever heard from Black Sabbath was Paranoid, which is hard to match.
Is good. Never really vibed when this era of metal, but I can respect it for what it is.
This was a fun listen! Only downside was the random slow songs every now and then which switched the pace of the album
It's a little hardcore metal for me, but it's still a good album.
Changes and Snowblind are my personal highlights. Definitely has a lot of more slow/beautiful tracks and a great record
Enjoyed a few of the tracks more than I expected
Rock with some lazy rhyming
Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Quite a lot of the Black Sabbath sound, but some very different, unexpected tracks.
First listen to a Black Sabbath album. Most of the songs were kind of what I anticipated hearing in a classically early metal vein, but a few were surprises - Wheels of Confusion sounded a little more Led Zeppelin-esque and Changes was a straight ahead piano oriented song, and Laguna Sunrise was an acoustic number with Mellotrons (!). Of the more classic Metal sound I liked Supernaut the best, with Snowblind and Under the Sun standouts as well. Tony Iommi has some solid riffs!
Maybe I listen it again one time, but for now it's not my favourite
Rock on 🤘🏻 Changes was pretty good
great stuff
Can't say i loved it, but i didnt hate it either.
Too much filler instrumental, did not like changes
Not my best listen but is better than their other record on this project
Classic Black Sabbath sound. But the tracks that are outside of their normal sound like Changes and Laguna Sunrise give them more dimensionality and elevate the album for me.
Was surprised to hear “Changes” was a BS song. My favorite of the album. Otherwise it’s kind of a generic 70’s rock album.
some of my fav drumming ever. so timeless.
Changes is so good That kinda shows where my music taste is at rn. Still better than AC/DC I think Actually way better Insanely solid 3 here
Fantastic musicality. Ozzy’s voice and timing are impeccable.
Very decent rock album, worth listening to if I the mood for the genre
Heavy metal. Ningún megahit. Ni fu ni fa.
Early 70's metal, which was honestly better than I would have expected except for the track "FX" which is annoying filler noise.
There were very few moments on this album that felt like they were made by one of the pioneers of metal. Their characteristic stoner sound is present, but it just doesn’t feel as polished as some of their other albums. Obviously, if it were too polished it would lose its charm, but maybe something more sonically appealing would be nice. Outside of “Changes” it really isn’t very memorable either. Overall, it’s not bad, but if I saw it in a record store, I’d pass. Best track: Changes
A perfectly ok album that's not really my taste in music.
Better than I expected
Pioneers of hard rock, headbanging rock. Hadn't listened to a whole album before. Not bad, but not really my thing.
Ehhh, it’s some heavy metal with a few softer cuts sprinkled in. Can’t say I was super impressed by too much of it, but I did still really enjoy Ozzy’s vocals. 5/10
Changes- big mouth theme song This album is exactly what you want it to be
Fine. The tone on the guitars plus Ozzy’s voice kind of make every song sound the same. There are brief movements away from that - like Laguna Sunrise and FX.
Tandon Scale Rating: 3.25 Best Songs: Wheels of Confusion / The Straightener, Supernaut, Snowblind Foot Notes: 1 Ozzys voice was made for heavy metal (stolen from Tad) this album is for sitting in the garage type listening 2 (also stolen) someone described BS as sludge rock and I don’t know what that means but I totally agree 3 Still lots of shredding even if this isn’t there most iconic album Would I Listen Again: Only some songs
Loved Changes. FX put me in a bad mood. Snowblind goes crazy. Album grew on me, but still not my style of music. I think I'd need to be listening to this outside on a speaker. End riff on Under the Sun made it a 3. I wanted more of that throughout.
Harde rock/Metal is niet echt mijn ding. Had wel een paar mooie ballads, “Changes” en “Laguna Sunrise”. Ozzy is een leipe gast maar wel met een goede stem.
Laguna Sunset was not a song I expected, bit I really enjoyed it
Hit the post on getting a 4, just lost the run of itself at times but very solid. That's 2 now they've surprised me with. Am I becoming a fan?
Some good tracks here and there but ultimately it was forgettable. Highlight was their cover of changes.
I like the reengineering but the songs are all monotonous
Typical good heavy metal
Ég hef aldrei verið mikið fyrir Black Sabbath. Mér finnst tónlistin frábær, gítarriffin og allt það, mér finnst textarnir skemmtilegir en mér finnst Ozzy bara svo leiðinlegur í flestum lögum. Það eru einstaka lög sem henta honum, t.d. Changes sem er á þessari plötu en annað bara dregur ánægjuna niður.
In my opinion, only the first 3 Sabbath albums belong on this list. This one was OK, but nothing special.
not as bad as I thought it would be. some good melodic spots.
Yeah it's alright
A+ for the guitars. F for the vocals and lyrics. If only this band could find a competent singer... someone with a short, catchy last name... someone American perhaps... I bet they'd move heaven and hell to find someone like that. Ah well, best not get hung up on "what if's". Take these three devil's horns for your efforts. 🤘🤘🤘
6/10
Not really my kind of thing, but gave it a listen
Listened to while completing the annual photo album. I continued thinking "this is pretty good"; the songs that stood out to me were: Wheels of Confusion (the guitar at the end is so good) and Changes.
3/5. A metal album from a metal band that refuses to fit into that stereotype. With songs like Laguna and Changes, Black Sabbath really try something different and sometimes it works, and other times it doesn't. Any of the heavier songs are some of the best in their discography (Supernaut, Snowblind), but also some okay ones like Dream and St. Vitus that bring it down. And many people say Laguna is one of their favorite Black Sabbath songs but just because it's different than what they normally do, does not mean it's good. That is the worst song on the album, so annoying. I appreciate them branching out but don't think it works all the time. Still a great album but nowhere near perfect.
Good, but sometimes a bit to progressive
Oh yeahhhh I thought this was pretty fun this was my first sabbath album I like how it’s clearly heavy but not overbearing and still is more psychedelic than metal. Enjoyed
Surprisingly good. It's not something i would have chosen to listen to, but more fool me for having preconceived ideas.
Has that classic Sanbath sound. Not what I’ve been into lately so I enjoyed the instrumental and piano tracks best during my listen.
Sounds like the birth of Paranoid. A simple soundscape with surprisingly tender tracks.
3.5
I can appreciate the foundation Sabbath laid for future heavy rock, but it’s just not my thing. Changes is a great song.