Vol. 4

Liked this more than expected! Rip ozzie

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

What would the world be like had there been no Sabbath? Supernaut is a great track.

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

This is now the second time that our non-random RIP disc has been a middling album. All the elements seem to be there, but there was no song that really knocked me out. But may his memory be a blessing all the same.

rip ozzy but not one of my fave black sabbath albums

Not for me

Favourite tracks - Changes, Supernaut, Snowblind

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

temazo changes

nem todo mundo sabe mas eu sou 100% fã de black sabbath desde criança foi meu primeiro show de vdd, a primeira banda que eu parei pra escutar TUDO que foi feito, o motivo pelo qual eu enchi o saco dos meus pais a comprar uma guitarra pra aprender a tocar (e ficar puto pq não era uma SG que nem a do iommi), e a banda que me fez querer procurar outras coisas não tão famosas em busca de uma sonoridade que eu curtia a fundo ou seja, esse é absurdamente bom, como todos os outros da era ozzy (NA MINHA HUMILDE OPINIÃO) rip ozzy

eu acho lindíssimo o cover de changes desse album. a voz do ozzy encaixa bonitinho. mas eh isso né. li esses dias pra trás que vc só pode confiar em vc mesmo e nos 6 primeiros albuns do black sabbath e eu acho que eh bem por aí mesmo. da era ozzy, esse eh meu segundo preferido. fortíssimo e até meio psicodélico as vezes. é um 4 estrelas, mas pela situação, darei 5. que deus o tenha (ou o diabo sei lá)

Kill yourself

Pre-listening thoughts: I know we only got this cause Ozzy Osbourne died but man we literally JUST got Black Sabbath. Ugh Post/during listening thoughts: hmmm. I'm not the biggest fan of this but I certainly don't hate it as much as I thought I would. As with most metal, most songs are a little too long for my tastes. I also don't love the singing style here, I just can't do so much high pitched yelling. Sometimes when it slows down it's good though. 4/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: no Fav tracks: Changes Least fav tracks: FX (????? what was this)

Favorite Track: Snowblind

Ozzy's voice is so pure on this album. It's great to hear this album on this day (the day after Ozzy's death), considering I know Black Sabbath, but don't know this album. Liked Songs Added: Changes Snowblind Cornucopia

L’ho rivalutato

After their first 2 albums that were ground breaking this one doesnt seem to be equal altough fucking amazing

Somethings go better with Coke. Great album. Popped up on the day after Ozzy passed. Should’ve appreciated him more while he was alive.

First off RIP Ozzy, you went from this hard core dude who bit the head off of a bat to an animated Trolls character, really solidifying yourself in pop culture. This album is actually pretty good to me. Metal hard core rock can at times be a bit much, but Black Sabbath manages to merge the loud guitars, yelling lyrics and random anger in metal into a palatable experience for a main stream audience. Could 'hardcore' metal fans say this means they 'sold out' sure, but I always have a hard time with people getting mad when others create music that can be received by the masses....are you mad or jealous? This album makes me want to listen to Black Sabbath more and maybe learn more about the genre in general...isn't that good? Solid 4 to me

Black Sabbath are masters of groove metal. Props to some great guitar riffs and awesome drumming. And respect to Ozzy for his legendary voice. Overall, I especially liked the first songs of the album more than the second. With the exception of FX, which is just some wankery incindental bullshit. But only serves to function in the listening of the album as a whole by creating an intermission piece before kicking into Supernaut which is a pretty awesome song. One thing I like about Sabbath is their willingness to do something unexpected like Changes or Laguana Sunrise, a mellow guitaring instrumental. I seriously hope they opened a few shows with this song because it would be the kind of opener to give you chills. As for the second half of the album, St. Vitus Dance is pretty rocking. "The title comes from Saint Vitus (290-303), the Christian patron saint of dancing. “Saint Vitus’ Dance” or Sydenham’s chorea is a disorder brought on by bacterial infection in the brain, named after the Saint. It results in uncontrollable muscle spasms in the hands and feet." - But the lyrics are actually just Ozzy giving some friendly relationship advice about giving a girl another chance.

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!

Am playing catch up and following Ozzy's sad death I thought to tackle all 3 of the Sabbath albums on my to listen list. Had not really listened to much Sabbath before and had previously found Ozzy to be a bit of a clown. Was therefore really surprised how much I enjoyed each of the three albums (Black Sabbath, Paranoid & Vol4) - the rhythm section in particular is really tight with some great hooks and riffs. Dug a little deeper and was fascinated about Ionni's missing digits and how he had to adapt his playing style and how this influenced his way of playing. Fascinating to see how influential these albums were in establishing metal and all its various sub genres. I do not particularly like heavy metal but I do really like Black Sabbath - so will score all albums a 5 - with Paranoid being the stand out.

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

I thought this a really interesting take on their menace-laden heavy rock that's so effectively done on previous albums. 'Cornucopia' and 'Under the Sun' bring the doom, a link back to the eponymous first album. But there are different angles here, with some pastoral touches ('Laguna Sunrise') that mirror some of what Led Zeppelin was doing. There's the batshit bonkers and frankly superfluous ('FX', which I think by their own admission was a joke, or so they say now anyway). There's balladry - the excellent 'Changes', which really is very heartfelt. And amongst it there's the.ability to continually crank out great riffs, like the sensational 'Wheels of Confusion' and 'Supernaut'. It's easy to see why Sabbath are held in the highest esteem with metalheads - surely the blueprint for heavy melodic rock everywhere.

Y'know, I say this with no disrespect to this album, or to imply that I think it's bad, but... Why is VOL. 4 here? Before re-listening to this album, that was the question I had to ask myself, 'coz, like... If you were to tell me there were three Black Sabbath albums on this list, I would've been able to correctly call the first two (their debut and PARANOID), but as for the third... I honestly would've assumed it was MASTER OF REALITY? Let me explain quickly. BLACK SABBATH, that's obvious: it's the long accepted birth of metal. It's the first album where you couldn't call it heavy psych or blues or hard rock or anything else — it's just metal. Meanwhile, PARANOID would take the foundation their debut laid down and set the standard, with classic song after classic song. Seriously, side one alone of that album is **stacked**, with "War Pigs", the title track and "Iron Man", all stone cold iconic. It would only seem natural to me, then, that MASTER OF REALITY would come next. On top of further refinement to their sound (as if they needed any), it was the first album where they downtuned their guitars, an important move for many different subgenres of metal. Plus, "Children Of The Grave" is an all-timer, so... But, no. Instead, we jump straight to their fourth album, VOL. 4. And once more, I meant no disrespect to it whatsoever in my pre-listen question; it **is** still a part of their first six albums, which I've always figured was their best run. Frankly, honestly, it's just that it hasn't had the same run of being called "ICONIC" in critical circles that the other three have had. That might sound like a dumb reason to you, I'unno, but it **was** honestly the reason for my question, so... Well, now that I've given this album another listen and dug into it a bit further, I think I understand why VOL. 4 is here. Take it: if BLACK SABBATH was the birth of metal, PARANOID was the solidification, and MASTER OF REALITY was the further refinement, then VOL. 4 was the expansion. VOL. 4 sees Black Sabbath reaching past metal to experiment more than they had on any previous record and incorporate whole new sounds. Just check out the soul-inspired breakdown on "Supernaut": nothing else they'd done to that point sounded like that. There's an orchestra that shows up in the last minute of the cocaine ode "Snowblind" — and orchestra! I love that kind of stuff! And they later appear on the song "Laguna Sunrise", which is this wonderful little neo-classical instrumental. If anything they've ever done sounded like a sunrise... And on the note of "Laguna Beach", this is probably where I should also point out the biggest deviation from the band's usual sound. Everything else, even with the expansion and experimentation, is still firmly rooted in the classic heavy metal tradition. But then there's "Changes". Essentially, it's this album's version of "Planet Caravan" or "Solitude" (y'know, the break between heavier songs, as a change of pace), though with a big difference. Where "Planet Caravan" and "Solitude" lean more into relaxing psychedelia and space rock, "Changes" is straight up tender. It's a piano song! Heck, a **ballad**! You could play it on soft rock stations and no one would guess besides Ozzy singing it. And it's an amazing song, so, y'know, all the credit in the world to Ozzy, Toni and Geezer. And, hey, if you want some classic, untainted metal from Sabbath, that's still here, too. "Wheels Of Tomorrow" is a crazy, heavy track, and a hell of an opener. "Cornucopia" does the job, and I mean that in the best way... And "St. Vitus Dance" has this little Led Zeppelin bounce thing going on, so that's neat. Like, for real, I'd say pretty much all of it works. The only thing I'm not super big on is "FX", which is a goof track anyway... But, yeah, I can totally see why this is here over MASTER OF REALITY. MASTER OF REALITY may be more "traditional" heavy metal, this list already has PARANOID for that. VOL. 4, although not as iconic as MASTER OF REALITY, still has all the heavy as hell riffs, crashing drums and classic Ozzy vocals you'd expect from a Black Sabbath album. The heaviness is here, just paired with some new tricks and sounds that keep things interesting. And on a list like this... I suppose that's ultimately more worthwhile than just another strong album. Still, regardless, none of the first six Black Sabbath albums are to be missed. Like I said, it's the singlest strongest and longest run they'd ever have in their long, long career. And while I wouldn't say this listen through has convinced me to put VOL. 4 over PARANOID and MASTER OF REALITY (maybe their debut), I can say for certain now that it's absolutely not one to miss. [ RIP Ozzy Osbourne ] (1948 — 2015)

RIP Ozzy. Solid 5 Stars.

I’m at a 5. Arguably a 10, but I think that might be the events of the day skewing me just a little bit. Eh, fuck it, I’m at a 10. Ozzy deserves it. I’ve been sitting here for like… 5 minutes in silence, just letting that album soak in. Stellar stuff, across the board. No words I could type can do the music justice; if you somehow haven’t heard it, just go listen. It’s a perfect blend of what would become heavy metal throughout the decade with little tinges of jazz & piano throughout, including a beautiful instrumental in “Laguna Sunrise”. Quick shoutout to “Changes” for giving me a “this is THAT song” moment. It’s not the same thing as their self-titled was, but it’s just as good. If nothing else, when this fucking rips on the guitar & drums, I felt just as in sync as I did listening to that debut. That’s a feeling that’s unmatched at its very best. In all, it’s 45 minutes of some of the tightest 70s rock / metal I’ve ever heard, with great lyrics & vocals to boot. If “Paranoid” is even better (and I’m pretty sure it’s got a shot, given that tracklist), then I can’t fucking wait to get there. I will say, I knew the randomizer would give us something related to Ozzy, similar to how we got “Pet Sounds” after Brian Wilson’s death. Going into this, I wasn’t really thinking “Why THIS album in particular?”, but after listening to it, I think I can answer that, even if it didn’t pop into my mind beforehand. This is an album where Ozzy Osbourne quite literally admits he’d rather live life in a way where he can reach his highest creative potentials than give up the sources of that creativity, no matter how much it might be killing him. That’s the entire point of “Snowblind”. Most of this album revolves around that general central idea of living life in that way, and I can think of no better painted picture of Ozzy Osbourne. It’s not glamorous, not by any means, but I’ll be damned if it’s not inspiring, in its own weird way. By all accounts, the man should’ve been dead long before July 22nd, 2025, but… he lived. He lived one of the most full lives you could possibly imagine. He believed in himself. He didn’t have to pretend. He didn’t let the empty people try and interfere with his mind. He lived his life. And now, he’s left us all behind. It’s a 10. Let the Prince of Darkness rest in whatever paradise he ended up in.

Lot of shredding all the tracks except Laguna Sunrise, which was a welcome change of pace. Low 4.

7/10 - It was pretty good

Really liked this. Unless I’m forgetting something this is my favorite metal album we’ve had thus far by a lot, really good

could i write poetry to this? y

The fact that we got this album on the day that Ozzy died is either a tragic coincidence or a tribute to his mastery of the Dark Arts. Either way, it's impossible to be objective during this period of mourning. Five stars. But can we just appreciate for a moment that Ozzy pretty much invented the "Metal Ballad"? He wasn't just the creator, he was the master. Throughout his career, he dropped emotional, soaring ballads that added real weight and depth to his recordings. Without this album's "Changes", we wouldn't have heard Beth calling, found our way home sweet home, realized that roses have thorns, and a sweet child wouldn't have been ours. Thanks to Ozzy, even the Metal kids had something to slow dance to. Rest in peace, you bat-eating madman.

Talk about timing. 😢

I feel bad not giving a 5,but it's just not as good as some of their other albums.

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

foundational in almost every way. riff making is tony iommi's legacy (for better and worse depending on where you look in modern metal). ozzy is the quintessential tortured scene maker messy rock star. this one even has the out of character balladish departure in the middle and the song about cocaine! all of the heavy music in the world today walks on roads paved by black sabbath. this is probably the best and tightest sabbath album that doesn't indulge in too much extended wankery (or maybe the wankery it engages in is just good enough to justify itself).

4.5

sounds like black sabbath alright

RIP Ozzy, you goddamn legend...what a strange coincidence this pops up. I have never really delved into Black Sabbath other than I know what their "mainstream" stuff is. This album offered things I completely expected would come from Black Sabbath and others that left me shocked. Wheels of Confusion, Supernaut, and Snowblind are the highlights of the hard rock/metal anyone would anticipate when listening to Black Sabbath. Strong guitar riffs and Ozzy's vocals had me banging my ahead along. Then along comes Changes, which catches you completely off guard and puts you on your ass (metaphorically). It's a beautifully sung, piano-forward anthem. I mean...how have I not heard this song before? It is wonderful, deep, and the last thing I would have expected on a Black Sabbath album. I also read the backstory behind how they created the song Changes and it's INSANE. Apparently the guitarist taught himself to play piano while they were recording and they built the song based on a riff he was doing. And they wrote the lyrics based on the drummer's ongoing divorce. I mean, what a story and you feel that emotion in Ozzy's singing. Just brilliant stuff. Another song that caught me by surprise was Laguna Sunrise, which was a light and soothing instrumental. It's fitting that both this and Changes are in the middle of the respective sides of this album. I was not expected to be blown away by this. I thought I would just be rocking out for 40+ minutes. Instead, you get this wonderfully complex album that you can also jam out to for most of the time. And they made this while insanely coked out the whole time (in case the meaning behind the song title Snowblind was ever in doubt). This is solidly a 5-star album. I was genuinely shocked by how much I enjoyed this. I'll probably come back to this a bunch over the next few weeks.

RIP Ozzy. Far from my favorite Sabbath record, but happy to rip this one today. This is far less sludgy with a more refined air to it than its predecessors, with some more "tender" offerings within -- looking at you Changes. Things kick off with multi-part opener in Wheels of Confusion / The Straightener. First part is great, but The Straightener is a straight ripper through the conclusion. Love the fretwork and whatever the hell gives the tone in the background. Never been the biggest fan of Changes in an isolated environment, but listening to it now, it is really hard to deny the simple beauty of it. The synth warble lends a ghostly undertone to the sparse piano arrangement and Ozzy's vocal delivery is nothing other than solid. FX serves as a nice sonic interlude as we transition back into the space of Metal proper with Supernaut. Snowblind ranks among the great rock odes to cocaine. Love the intro riff on Cornucopia -- so ominous. Kind of wish it stayed so sludgy, but its a great song regardless. Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes is just a fantastically satisfying closer. As I said in the intro, not my favorite from Sabbath, but plenty to love. This is a soft 4 for me.

Funny how the first track starts like they were in the middle of the song when they hit record. Changes reminds me of Bigmouth, didn't realize it was a Black Sabbath song. Laguna Sunrise was great. High 4 for Volume 4!

I just read the other day that Ozzy took so much acid before writing this album that he stood in a field for hours until a deer came up to him and told him to fuck off, and that is why he stopped taking acid. Not super familiar with this one from Black Sabbath but it sounded super raw and just straight metal. Snowblind and Under the Sun were the top songs on this for sure. Excellent album in a vacuum but in terms of Sabbath it was not in their top tier for me. Very high 4 still

Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener is a fuckin JAM. Tbh I haven't really dug into Black Sabbath besides what we've heard through this project, but I gave the first 2 albums solid 4's! This one is trending there right now. Never realized Changes was sampled on Eminems song Changes. That's a pretty heavy chorus, well done Ozzy. Supernaut and Snowblind both kick ass. What rockin jams. I know Ozzy is the huge draw, but damn these instrumental songs are pretty damn beautiful on here. Went and listened to some other Black Sabbath today and it all slaps mf'in hard. But this album ebbs and flows like a 5 star album to me. You get the rippin tunes and then cuts with some beautiful stuff, compared to the past albums we listened to which just shred your knocker off. Beautifully heavy. Surprising 5 for me here I was all ready to go in on a 4 but the instrumentals really solidified it for me. I've listened to it like 4 times in the past 24 hours and I'm loving it. Don't care if I'm appeasing to Ozzy dying 2 days ago, this album just straight rocks.

Heavy metal because of Tony Iommi's cut finger !!!! Powerful end expressive

Heavy metal, but nothing spectacular

5/9

-changes

Awesome

Liked it but would not buy.

Awesome album. Also crazy that it came through the week of Ozzy's passing. Happy to have it run across my desk and be able to reflect on his music. Great listen.

damn no1gaf if hes dead

Awesome doom metal album. So many hauntingly beautiful riffs and solos on here. Fascinating that tomorrow's dream was picked as the single. I like supernaut under the sun and especially snowblind all better. Changes as the soft ballad of the record also works for me. Great record!

RIP Ozzy

Another great album that I've heard some of the songs but didn't know who sang them. And especially special and melancholy with the passing of Ozzy Osbourne.

Nice guitar, quite good, not a 10/10 though.

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!

RIP OZZY 4.5

Oh sick, everybody's covered this.

This is the first I've listened to a full Black Sabbath album. I was expecting heavy metal for the whole album and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety. I can see why they're a beloved band

I just not much into this type of music

Thoroughly enjoyed. Also loved that there were softer moments to balance out the whole vibe.

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

RIP Ozzy.

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.

Rocks hard, and occasionally simple and beautiful

I got this album the day after Ozzy passed away. It is a Black Sabbath album that I not listened to before. I knew Changes and Snowblind but the rest were new and it was good. Not amazing like some of the previous ones but good non the less.

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 kinda love the direction this went in. Sort of less heavy, but more stoner metal. Changes is a treasure, but Under The Sun, Supernaut and Snowblind also kick ass.

Even though I like rock and hard rock music, I hardly expected this album to be anything I’d like. I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite good, balanced and satisfying to listen to.

Solid metal, very enjoyable

Once again, tragedy strikes, and the generous host of this site, SidledsGunnar, responded in kind. With the passing of the legendary singer and metal icon Ozzy Osbourne, everyone was treated to a Black Sabbath album if they hadn't gotten all of them already. This will be the last Sabbath album I need to cover for this journey, and it feels good to end this chapter on a high note. I found myself listening to Vol. 4 in its entirety, and I couldn't find anything to complain about here. This is astounding as the band continued to experiment with their heavy sound into new avenues. Whether it's the piano ballad "Changes" or the funky percussion of "Supernaut" or the doom-and-gloom closer "Under the Sun", the variety in style and tone on this record is well-varied and executed. Hell, I even enjoyed the eerie guitar delay echoes of "FX", and that interlude came about from the boys fucking about with throwing objects at Tony Iommi's guitar. It's amazing how much quality, influential music they churned out while high on cocaine, a sentiment they fully embraced on their ode to the drug, "Snowblind". There ain't much else I need to say here, as Vol. 4 is such a phenomenal record. While it can be argued that this album is not as essential to listen to before you die compared to the self-titled debut or Paranoid, it was still a banger of a time. Long live the Prince of Darkness.

8/10 changes and supernaut are the reason this album is among their best. 7-31-2025

RIP Ozzy! Thanks for all the great music! This is not my favorite Black Sabbath record, but it is definitely a great listen. The early days of Black Sabbath were their best, but they continue to rock after all these years. I was lucky enough to see the original lineup in the late nineties, and again in the mid-2000s, but without Bill Ward on drums.

5/5

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.

This album being the one that was generated a day after Ozzy died: OUCH 4/5

And, like clockwork, this comes over the transom the day after Ozzy dies. What's really fascinating to me is that once I listen to a seminal album like this -- I hear echoes of it everywhere. "Supernaut" would have been an awesome song for the Allman Brothers to cover. Iommi's riffs play just as well with ZZ Top and Skynyrd as they do with heavier stuff. It's fucking brilliant.

The timing on this album coming up is either intentional or an amazing coincidence with Ozzy passing away yesterday. This opening track is amazing. I never gave this album a proper listen. I remember reading about the recording of it in Tony Iommi’s book. Changed has always been my least favorite Black Sabbath song. Now it’s growing on me. “FX” is clearly the band having a good time in the studio. 😂 “Supernaut” is such a great tune. All this time I didn’t think I knew the song “Snowblind” and now that I’m hearing it, I do know it. I never knew the title. Watching the final sabbath show where all the bands covered a sabbath or Ozzy tune, I started realizing I know more of the sabbath catalog than I thought, I’m just terrible with names. Cornucopia is new to my ears. I’m really digging this song so far. I think I need to get at least the first four albums on vinyl. These are great records. I’m listening to Laguna sunrise. What a beautiful song. There is so much to these guys as musicians. St virus dance is not what I was expecting. Still good. “Under the sun” is so heavy.

I used to think all those kids in high school wearing Alice In Chains shirts were tougher and cooler than me but now I know they really just had bad taste rock. Age really has a way of disarming you.

klassisch schön

RIP Ozzy.

Got this one 2 days after Ozzy died. Long songs, great riffs, passionate vocals. Would listen again

Rip

First time I listened to it I did not like. I listened to it again in the morning and it's been playing nonstop!

Alright, now this is getting a little weird. I get this record the day after Ozzy passes? This is the second time this year this coincidence has happened - the first being "Pet Sounds" by The Beach Boys the day after Brian Wilson passed. This is a fantastic record. "Changes" is such an important song to me and resonates so loudly with my being. The entire record certainly hits a bit different now that Ozzy has crossed over to the other side, but it does not objectively devalue its beautiful composition. Even the engineering and mixing is so impressive. Such a variety of moods on this record compared to another one of their classic records such as "Paranoid." This is truly an album that we should all listen to before we die.

7/23/25. Glad to finally dive deeper into Black Sabbath, R.I.P. Ozzy Osbourne. Feel like this lays the groundwork for a lot of later stoner/desert rock bands that I like, the guitar tone is incredible.

Ozzie dies and the next morning this is my album of the day. So I'm not entirely unsentimental in this moment. But I do love this album. The elements are sophomoric but somehow the whole is exquisite. There is something so honest and unpretentious in the collective musical expressions presented here; like they now know exactly how they want to sound and don't care what anyone thinks about it. They take heed of JP's model - add a little light to the heavy - and produce an album that reflects the true spirit of rock and roll as well as any.

OK. 2/5

RIP to a legend. Ozzy will be missed. I enjoyed this album but it's not my favorite Sabbath work. Changes is so different from what I expect that it delights me every time I come back to it. Apart from that gem, Under the Sun was the only other stand out for me. The rest where good not great.

Great sound. I got this album the day after Ozzy died - spooky!

I'm sure everyone has a Sabbath or Ozzy record today. Such a loss yesterday. Whether or not you're a fan of heavier music, Ozzy's influence and contributions to music in general are undeniable. My first thought listening to this album today is that it's incredible that this is from 1971. It's pretty heavy even listening to it now 50+ years later. I would imagine when this came out it was kind of like that line in Back to the Future: 'I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.' When this was released I bet most people couldn't really even fathom what they were hearing. It was so much different from even the harder rock at the time. I mean Led Zeppelin IV came out that year too but this just kind of hits different I think. And actually now looking at records from 1971, that was a great year for music - Hunky Dory, Who's Next, Maggot Brain, Sticky Fingers, Fragile, What's Going On. Damn. But still, this is a little different from all of those. This is a great album. I don't like it as much as Paranoid, that's an absolute fucking masterpiece. This album has a couple slow spots on it for me - Changes isn't my favorite, and the weird 2 minutes of random sounds kind of takes you out of it. But then you come back strong with Supernaut and that's a banger. And I feel like Bill Ward doesn't get enough credit - that guy was a monster drummer. Really good drums on this record. 4/5

RIP Ozzy

# 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

Look, Vol. 4 isn’t a bad album. It just followed three of the greatest albums ever made in a row.

This one didn't grab me very much. Can see them exploring the more darker tones on this album, but nothing exceptional as far as songs go. Pity

I was expecting a theatrical 70s mess, but holy Prince of Darkness, Vol. 4 rocks harder and cleaner than a band with a cocaine line item in their budget has any right to. "Changes" was a my favorite, a tender, piano-laced left turn that somehow didn’t feel out of place. But what in Lucifer's fresh hell was "FX" all about?

RIP Ozzy. Tuli aika sopivasti tää levy nyt Ozzyn kuoleman jälkeen. Vähän tuntemattomampaa Sabbathia ja jopa yllättävän iloista. Ei siltikään mikään Sabbathin paras levy. Perus hyvää Sabbathia kuitenkin. Parhaat: Changes, Snowblind, Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes

Still so tedious.

One of the great things about this album is the diversity on display. You might expect a relentlessly heavy kind of thing, but it’s actually really melodic and quite surprising. You know straight away on the first track when it segues into that kind of vibey, mellow musical breakdown. Then obviously ‘Changes’ is a real change of pace. But of course this is a rock record, and there’s plenty of great riffs and good guitar work on here. I love Snowblind which has a bit of everything.

This album should remind folks that Black Sabbath wasn't just a bunch of two chord musicians and Ozzie wasn't just biting bat heads off and screaming into the mic. RIP

It's the day after the Prince of Darkness passed, and maybe this brief review is written with Ozzy-tinted glasses. While Vol. 4 isn’t my favorite Sabbath record, it might be the most Sabbath Sabbath ever — messy, heavy, and weird. "Changes" and "Laguna Sunrise" stretch the emotional range, while “Supernaut” into "Snowblind" is pure as the cocaine in the speakers. The rest shows how casually great they were, even while falling apart in real time. Flawed, but monumental. Five stars.

RIP Ozzy

Não é o melhor álbum deles mas tem Changes e mais duas tracks animais, Iommy revelando-se um ótimo produtor, a banda estava em forma...a capa (!!!), merece 4,5 estrelas

Well this is timely since Ozzy just died yesterday. I’m not really a Sabbath fan, but Paranoid has some really good songs on it. So how does this album stack up to that? Not as many iconic, undeniable songs. But also it’s way more of a psych rock sound, which I like more than metal. So on a personal level I enjoyed it a lot

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.

The first time we visited Australia – February 2004, I think – I visited a newsagents on Rockingham foreshore. A locally-produced copy of Kerang! magazine had a double page spread on Australian “emo” bands. I’d been listening to Finch, Brand New, The Used, Glassjaw, maybe Taking Back Sunday (I think I might have gotten their debut only after that holiday, though) so had my attention immediately piqued. Nestled among the sections on Something With Numbers, IKTPQ and After The Fall was a paragraph about Love Like … Electrocution. It would’ve said something about them being a fast, frantic screamo band (and proper screamo, I hasten to add 21 years later) but it was the last sentence that stayed with me long enough to encourage me to finally, when I had the chance a year or so later to check them out. (By ordering their LP in at 78 Records no less! I got some incredible stuff that way: Cursed, Curl Up and Die, Capsule, Converge – presumably some records by bands not beginning with “C” too.) That line was something like: “And any band that starts their album with a song called ‘We only fuck to Black Sabbath Vol. 4’ is fine by us.” The coolest sentence I’d ever read at that point in my life, in short. (And wow oh wow was it worth the wait; Love Like … Electrocution are still one my favourite bands ever, even if proper screamo is deeply unfashionable and they barely exist on the internet.) Anyway, it’s likely that not a single one of those bands I’ve mentioned would have existed without Sabbath. And the debt of gratitude I feel weighs particularly heavy with the passing of Ozzy Osborne, he who brought so much charisma to the “dark side” that he transformed culture entirely and forever. What of Vol. 4? It’s great. Some of the most batshit brilliant drumming ever recorded, massive bloody riffs, chugging bass and Ozzy’s commanding, driving, cackling style (here refined in a way that belies the professionalism that accompanied his debauchery) – a voice that often on the record feels big enough to fill an entire universe. Which, really, it did. I’m tempted to say it’s Sabbath’s universe, we’re all just fucking in it. I’ll settle for thanks, Ozzy.

I got this the day after Ozzy died. it was pretty great.

By Vol.4 the pioneers of metal have perfected their sound and begun to experiment with acoustic tracks “Changes” and my personal favorite on the record “Laguna Sunrise”

Right of the bat, I liked the start of this album more than paranoid. The mix is better and as a huge fan of corrosion of conformity, it's very easy to hear to the influence that black Sabbath on them! Very experimental and I was surprised to hear so many unconventional song structures from Black Sabbath. I will admit that I've definitely blown them off, historically, due purely to the fact I've heard some of their songs (iron man) a million times without seeking them out. I am glad to say that my pre-concieved opinion of them was wrong and that they're are quite enjoyable. I never understood what it was about them that made people absolutely love them, but I am starting to understand....

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

I don’t have to listen to this one today…as I already have. RIP Ozzy! Was wearing this shirt earlier today

Listening day after Ozzy’s death. Album a bit all over the place but fantastic! Snowblind tells it all. Gorgeous surprise to me Laguna Sunrise.

Pica pra caralho F Ozzy

Great Album

Great album all the way through. RIP Ozzy.

RIP Ozzy Osbourne first of all. Paranoid was pretty good, but I need to listen to this another time.

no notes, goodnight sweet prince

Belting rock classic; highlights were Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener and Changes. RIP Ozzy

Nicht gehört

RIP Ozzy - can't believe I started listening to Black Sabbath the day he passed.

This is the second Black Sabbath album I’ve listened all the way through, and it marks two times I’ve learned that I might be a BS fan. Great listen.

RIP. DESCUBRIMIENTO BRUTAL

Not really my flavour

Surprisingly solid - no a Sabbath fan, but some very good songs here.

Favorite Song: Snowblind

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.

Pretty solid album, I always love me some Sabbath. Not quite as good as their debut though.

not my favorite Sabbath album but still good.

some good classic heavy metal, which i like

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

The best Sabbath album I’ve listened to so far. It starts with two great tracks, Wheels of Confusion and Tomorrows Dream, before the unbearable dirge that is Changes begins playing. Changes appears to be the most popular track on the album and I’m not entirely sure why - who listens to Sabbath for ballads? The song doesn’t fit Ozzy’s voice or style at all and sticks out like a sore thumb in the midst of the rest of the heavy riffs present on essentially every other track. Thankfully, the album improves drastically on Side 2, with the crazy run of Cornucopia, with a quintessentially Sabbathesque dark and moody sound, through to the album closer, Under the Sun. Overall, it was an album I incredibly enjoyed listening to and definitely see myself coming back to in the future. 8/10

RIP Ozzy

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

yup

Liked it more than I thought I would, especially St. Vitus’ Dance.

Yes yes yes!!!!!!!!*******

RIP Ozzy. Good to hear some of their more experimental tunes.

Amazing album, as good as paranoid. Rip ozzie

Tú qué sabes de rock chamaco pndjo

I was surprised how secondary the lead vocals were in favor of the guitar work. The guitar riffs are amazing. There is some variety to the record which makes it a satisfying listen

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

Surprised myself by enjoying this album that I resisted in my teen years :)

Today’s album was one I’d heard a bunch, as I’m a huge Sabbath fan. Ir may be my favorite Sabbath album, tho they had a great run early on as their first 5 albums are classics. Vol. 4 was released in 1972, which blows my mind because it’s just so heavy. It was also the first album the band produced themselves. This was also one of the most drug-fueled albums they’d recorded at that point, see Snow Blind. All songs were credited to the band and bassist Geezer Butler wrote all the lyrics. The album was critically acclaimed when it was released. And there were no real singles released because A. Black Sabbath was not a singles band, 2. most Black Sabbath songs were too long for the radio and III. they scared mom and the kids. The most intriguing thing about this album, besides being great when everyone who made it was super-high on coke, is that at points it’s the heaviest ever and then you get a song like Changes, a slower, piano-driven ballad. Or you’ll get a very melodic bridge in the middle of Tomorrow’s Dream. The standouts on this album for me are….all of them. This is almost a perfect album. Even tho Sabbath had the same vibe on each record, this one has several curveballs, like Changes, the very weird FX and the amazing Laguna Sunrise. My personal fave is Snowblind. I’ve loved that song since the first time I heard it. It’s heavy and it’s about cocaine. Two things a young kid from the rural south is fascinated by. Black Sabbath Vol. 4 is a must listen in my opinion.

I listened to this yesterday at the news of the passing of Ozzy. Glad to get this today as a tribute. I think this one is my least favorite of the big BS albums. You can practically hear the cocaine in it which I find to be a good effect on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, but here, it's a lot less focused. Obviously there are some bangers- Snowblind, Supernaut, Changes, among others. But there's some experimentation that, while commendable, ever so slightly misses the mark for me. Still, I love it.

Not my type of music. 1 Star.

Good, not the best

Classic.. awesome

Snowblind

Rock ass

One of Ozzy’s best. RIP!

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

First time hearing this album. It’s raw, nice flow of tracks from start to finish. Would listen again.

8/10

Who doesn’t love Black Sabbath!!!

Love Supernaut, but the rest was not as good in my opinion. Maybe if I listen to the previous three albums, I'll appreciate this one more.

Fan of Ozzy, but not of Black Sabbath

Slower than I thought it would be. Great Album

Incredible

Not really my thing. Glad Ozzy got his tribute while alive.

It's Black Sabbath, it's getting 5 stars. Ozzy passed yesterday too, which makes this a bit of sad timing. Strangely enough despite listening to metal for over 20+ years, this is my first time listening to this album in full. It is not my favorite of theirs and doesn't have as many instantly recognizable bangers as the first two but still is full of sick riffs.

I think I like Ozzy more as a solo artist.

Heavy metal is not really my thing.

not my favorite

Iconic Black Sabbath, shows great range with Changes

Not bad! Liked it more than I expected. Free Gaza though.

Rip ozzy! Really important album, and just crazy how early in the timeline of metal music they were writing this stuff. Personally i really enjoyed listening to it again - doesnt have any weak points, and has some really great songs, and incredible riffs (supernaut!!). Wish i could give a 4.5 out of 5 for the rating, as it definitely sits between 4/5 and perfect for me. But have to go with a very very strong 4/5.

While I don't love Ozzy's vocals, the guitar, bass, and drums go so hard in this album. It's hard not to enjoy the music. This is 70s rock at its best. Favorite track: Snowblind.

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

Great rock album

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

Me salió este algún al día siguiente que murió Ozzy. Increíble

Ok

Drums, guitar riffs, vocals all high energy and stand up and shout worthy. Loved the back in the day and still Great album. RIP Ozzie

Kickass album

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.

Ozzy was the master

Nice surprise. Pound for pound, my favourite Sabbath album. Groove, heaviness…and at the top of their game. My first ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating..

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.

This slaps

Ah, the super random album selection today is... huh. Well good call because any Ozzy is good Ozzy, and I've actually never listened to this one! Which is a shame cuz it fucking rules. I don't have much to add to the billions of words being written about the legend, suffice to say the legend is accurate. RIP to a metal god.

Good dirty metal fun

Bängää

Este album significa mucho para mi junto con Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Son los primeros discos con los que realmente empecé a escuchar a Ozzy Osbourne y Black Sabbath y han seguido conmigo desde la adolescencia. Tienen un sonido crudo, medio apagado reflejando la oscuridad y el paso del tiempo. Aun asi sus temas son atemporales. Vol4. incluye una de las baladas mas reconocidas, Changes, con la que, si no me equivoco, Ozzy pretendia tener su propio Imagine.

still sounds fresh

rip OZWALD

Absolute classic

A stunning, heavy metal record with amazing vocal performance and insane guitar riffs. A surprising mixture of heavy metal with softer and deeper cuts like Changes. Ozzy will be missed, and his influence on Metal can't be overstated

Music history!

Inte Paranoid bra, ändå mysigt för att vara hårdrock!

A classic.

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.

1. Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener - 9 Solid vocals paired with an absolutely massive lead guitar. Great riffs are paired with a solid drum that leads the track between the pleasing verses and great instrumental segments. This is a double track, which Wheels of Confusion being the shining song of the two. Having said that, The Straightener is a purely instrumental part of the song and it's brilliant with an awesome guitar solo. 2. Tomorrow's Dream - 8 Solid track. Great good vocals and a great guitar sound. The percussions on the drums sound excellent. Overall a pleasant sound. 3. Changes - 11 Brilliant song. I heard the Charles Bradley cover and it's just as good. Lyrically it's an unbelievable song. Instrumentally it's just as strong. Incredible piece of music. 4. FX - 0 Pointless piece of music. 5. Supernaut - 8 Solid song. Mostly instrumental but they're very good outside of the bridge which I find a little bit dull. Lyrics, when they are there, are great. 6. Snowblind - 9 Incredible guitar right at the halfway mark of the track and again in the outro. Absolutely amazing sound. It tone changes twice in the track which one the second one comes a bit without warning but it eventually builds back into the great sound we've come to love from Black Sabbath. 7. Cornucopia - 6 Another song with a tone shift half way through. Song instrumentally just feels too all over the place. Can't really get into it because all the tempo and beat changes. Leaves you exhausted with it by the end. 8. Laguna Sunrise - 7 Pure instrumental but a great sound. Acoustic guitar sounds really nice alongside the strings. 9. St. Vitus' Dance - 7 Lead guitar is so nice on this track and leads the song well. The lyrics leave a little to be desired in the first verse, but overall it's a decent track. 10. Under The Sun - 8 Decent song. Really great drum line on it but the octave of the lyrics is really off-putting in the middle part of the song. Almost reminds me of a track on the SNES game Uniracers. Ending sound on the guitars and drums is really good. It's a solid way to conclude the album. Average Rating: 7.30 Adjusted to a 5-Point Scale: 3.65 Rounded Up: 4 Stars

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

Man, Sabbath had such an incredible run of Albums between 70 and 75. I think Master of Reality is probably my favourite. Vol. 4 is also awesome. We'll miss you Ozzy. Peace out.

Great

Peak Sabbath. The fourth record in their unimpeachable five album run it’s a perfect distillation of once they’d settled into being stars and started hovering up all the coke in the world, but hadn’t let any of that destroy them yet. Supernaut is a phenomenon

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.

First of all, RIP Ozzy, absolute legendary mad man. This album fucking rules. While it may not be thematically as cohesive as Paranoid, it’s an evolution of a band that is exploring avenues outside and adjacent to the genre they helped pioneer.

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.

Heavy but also catchy. Some classic OG Heavy Metal here.

A true classic and a banger front to back, RIP Ozzy

Not the best by Sabbath, but a classic. RIP Ozzy!!! Fav: Supernaut

RIP Ozzy

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

Wow, what a blind spot on my part. Could’ve convinced me this was Zeppelin when I first started learning about them. Favorite(s): “Snowblind”; “Cornucopia”

Second Black Sabbath album (presumably this time because of Ozzy) This was super good RIP

Well, it’s nice that the generator shines a light on recently deceased artists. First up was Brian and now it’s Ozzy. Interestingly enough, I could’ve gotten the more famous records such as Paranoid and the debut, but I was given Vol. 4. From prior knowledge, I knew the song Changes (from Big Mouth, sadly), so a lot of this was new to me. Overall, I had a good time with it. The songs that are actual songs (and not odd sound effects) move me in a direction that I like for heavy metal. Early heavy metal is dark, gloomy but doesn’t go to the extreme. The lyrics are dark, the vibe is intense and the energy is incomparable. That’s something I can go for: just some great hard rock. What Ozzy did for music with Sabbath and by himself is something I have to praise. I’m glad that I got a moment to honor him today (8/10, 4/5 on this scale)

R.I.P Ozzy

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

Ozzy Osbournes Black Sabbath is one of the most important bands in Heavy Metal, this album shows you why.

Excellent

I've spent my entire life avoiding Black Sabbath mainly due to the myth (Not entirely interested in a band that bites heads of bats) and because "Hard" metal wasn't my thing. Happy to say this project forced me into listening to my first Black Sabbath record and it was...pretty good. Excellent musicianship and the lyrics were surprisingly insightful. I look forward to digging into more of their work.

RIP Ozzy. Not as complete an album as Paranoid but that Supernaut riff makes we want to run through a brick wall.

To receive this album following the death of Ozzy Osbourne was such a treat and great way to sit with, and truly think about, the legacy he left behind. Every song on this album is simply fantastic. Great musicianship with some of the best solos I've heard in rock & metal music. The lyrics and vocals are impactful. All around fantastic album. RIP Ozzy Osbourne, THE Prince of Darkness

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

Another one with crazy timing, I was assigned this the day after Ozzy died. In fact, I listened to this very album yesterday in tribute!

The classic status of this one depends solely on what you think of Changes. Personally, I find it very moving, especially in the wake of Ozzy’s death. It isn’t their greatest, but it’s one of the all time great cocaine albums.

Ozzie died yesterday 7/22/25. RIP Prince of Darkness

R.I.P. Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness. The story behind this record is that it was really difficult to get done because everyone was jacked up on cocaine—they were having it smuggled in via speaker boxes. They were going to call it Snowblind but Vertigo Records thought that was too edgy, so they changed the name and album cover at the last minute while Black Sabbath was on vacation. It’s got two of my favorite Sabbath songs on it: “Changes” and “Supernaut” are the songs that I think shine particularly bright, but the whole album is cohesive. It’s the first Black Sabbath album that Lester Bangs had anything good to say about. While I like Master of Reality and Paranoid a bit better, the first five Sabbath records were all so wonderful and worthy of high praise, no matter what Lester Bangs said.

Typically I prefer Ozzy’s solo stuff over Black Sabbath but I quite enjoy this album.

From the first second, this is definitely my favorite metal album I’ve ever heard. I’ve always enjoyed the descendants of metal more than metal itself. This album is changing that for me. I never realized how talented ozzy really is. And the tones on here man. All that from cranking a Marshall stack. RIP Ozzy. Thank you for everything you did for music.

Heavy, loud, emblematic. Another of Black Sabbath's best with the original lineup. Essential to any collection.

RIP Ozzy

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.

Fuck Yeah RIP Ozzy

RIP Ozzy. One of the great pioneers of music. Sabbath are known for the heavy stuff, but honestly even their less heavy stuff like Changes are still excellent. There's definitely an element of experimentation in this album. FX is literally just sound effects.

How timely. Not only an album I grew up with but just 2 days after his death.

Very good

It is the day after Ozzy's death. Rest in peace Prince of Darkness. This is my final Sabbath entry on this list. Yet another masterpiece of rock music out of this group. They dropped 6 straight amazing albums from the onset without a single bad tune. This work shows the depth of music that they had in their back pockets with songs like Laguana Sunrise highlighting thier softer side. A legendary work and one that will live in infamy for kick ass human beings for centuries to come. Monumental. 9/10

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.

Great.

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.

An astonishing record in a run of astonishing records.

Home run album. Fast and slow. RIP Ozzy!!!

Gestern ist Ozzy Osbourne gestorben und heute gibt‘s ein Album von Black Sabbath. Zufall?

RIP Ozzy \m/ frankly it's a miracle he lasted as long as he did, based on the sheer amount of drugs he consumed during the making of this record alone. But the end result speaks for itself.

Love that I got to listen to this right after ozzy’s death. Focusing on this record, it’s not one of my favorites but it’s still great. I always an enjoyed little interludes like Laguna sunrise to offset the sludginess. Great album closer in under the sun…ozzy is an icon

Sabbath kicks ass. Spooky and pretty funky.

im going through changes! what a beautiful song. RIP to a legend

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

A solid album

RIP to a legend

RIP Ozzy not my fav Sabbath tho sorry

I don’t particularly want to be drawn into eulogising Ozzy Osbourne, although he was obviously a character - a showman, a strangely effective and affecting singer. It’s probably fair to call him a shaman, in the limited, superficial way we mean it when we say Jim Morrison was a shaman, but Elton John isn’t. Just accurate enough to explain the magic of the music. Last night, after the announcement of his death, I put on Black Sabbath, Master of Reality, and Blizzard of Ozz. Proof positive that Ozzy with the rest of Sabbath is better than Ozzy without. The shaman needs his drum circle, his magic book, his eternal drone. Okay, I don’t really know anything about shamanry, but Ozzy Osbourne benefits from Ward and Butler’s elastic rhythm section - so distinct and sensual compared to everything that metal would later offer. He communicates through Geezer’s bizarrely flat yet cosmic lyrics; he is staged by Iommi’s slow, powerful, dumb riffs. They are a group held together by their childhoods together - therefore timeless - and the work is held together by childish concerns: monsters, fairies, God, the devil. And, as childhood friendship becomes stronger if it endures into adulthood, so too do the themes: the devils become warmongering industrialists; the evils are capitalism and politics. With perverse intent - showing that there is no randomness with this generator - we are asked to think about Vol. 4 today, the first album where the bonds of the band come under strain. Iommi takes over production. As director of the music, he starts to stretch himself: some faster riffs, some piano, some mellotron. The structure is weird - “Changes” slots in nicely as a surprise third track, but “FX” is preposterous at four. Later, maybe, it would work as an exercise, but at four, it’s a cul-de-sac. Towards the end of the album, he returns to the slow murkiness of Master of Reality in “Cornucopia,” “St. Vitus Dance” (no wonder the Seattle sludge band took the name), and “Under the Sun.” But what is happening with that chaotic, atonal run in the last song? It’s less like Vol. 4 than a slate of options for Vol. 5 - Iommi dragging the rest of the band to several uncertain destinations. It could just be the cocaine, though - the drug of confidence without clarity. And while there are shamans somewhere who sniff coke, it’s not so magickal or penetrative as booze, dope, acid - the drugs that influenced their earlier albums. Thus, the lyrics are less of an invocation. Some of the horror elements remain - “Snowblind,” a horrible description of addiction as intense as The Revenant; the black wizard on “Under the Sun” - but it’s a work of gnosticism, a demystifying. Illusions and delusions are torn away in “Wheels of Confusion” and “Cornucopia,” revealing the world as evil - even on the tender “Changes,” “the world will have its evil way.” Faith is lost in wizards and priests both, because the world is a corruption, a trick, a trap. This is true on the metaphysical level, but also on the material - we are slaves to the boss, eating “frozen food in a concrete maze.” Working-class gnosticism. The system isn’t broken - it was built this way. You don’t transcend it; you crawl out of it, blinking, half-broken. Things are made no better by success. Ozzy certainly had his battles with success. And life was not easy for him. If you had told me that he would be the first member of Black Sabbath to die, I wouldn’t have been surprised. That he was the first to die at the age of 76 - well, that’s the surprise. Vol. 4 is the disenchantment of Black Sabbath. Breaking up their trademark mood, pulling in different directions, dispelling the magic that made a world of the first three records. It succeeds from time to time - “Tomorrow’s Dream,” “Supernaut.” It surprises - “Changes,” “Laguna Sunrise.” “Change” may not have drums or guitar, but it has the band altogether: Iommi's music, Butler's lyrics, Ozzy's performance, and Bill Ward's grief – it's about the dissolution of his marriage It's all falling apart though. And it’s a little disappointing to hear them so human. Similarly, it’s disappointing to see Ozzy humanised by death. Unnecessary, even. Thankfully, they played their final show together only weeks ago, not far from the childhood streets where they grew up together - mythologising and reenchanting the band and their music before the humanising could take it away forever. 2.5 Rest in peace Ozzy Osbourne. I have never listened to a Black Sabbath album before, to my recollection. No particular encounter with any of their big songs has driven me to investigate further. There are things I like about them - the loose, groovy drumming; the warm, fuzzy double-tracked guitar sound; Ozzy’s trebly voice cuts through nicely. In the last day or so it has been moving to read the many testimonials from fans in the wake of Ozzy’s death (including those from musicians I admire) about how much Sabbath has meant to them. I would like to have had a revelation today about all I’ve been missing with Sabbath and join the chorus of rapturous celebration about this musician. Alas, it didn’t happen for me. The warm fuzzy guitar sound is cool, but the riffs are naff and the solos instantly forgettable. The lyrics…I know a lyricist never really has apologies to make in the metal genre but really, the stream of bastardised common-metre nonsense and laughable nursery rhyming never lets up on this album. ‘Mary had a little lamb’ would slot seamlessly into Cornucopia, notwithstanding the literary superiority of Mary’s story. There is nothing even to offend a delicate sensibility here; the criticisms of religion and materialism are mealy-mouthed at best. Whatever poignancy ‘Changes’, a sweet little tune, took on today, it remains an awkward, rather dry account of loss. Credit to that track, all the same, for sticking out like a sore thumb amid all the fuzzy nothingness. 1.5/5

Absolute classic. RIP

I was very impressed with the depth of sound and variety of melody and instruments that shared space adjacent to metal

If I'm going to have to listen to metal, this is what I want to listen to. Hell of a voice, great guitar tone, surprising highs and lows. Ozzy is a legend. RIP

this was pretty decent. still not exactly my thing but i could appreciate it for what it was—it was much more dynamic and blues-adjacent than other heavy metal, to the extent that i don’t even know if you could really call this heavy metal. but what do i know…

hey that was pretty good. idk this worked for me more than other heavy metal, i guess because i liked his delivery better and felt like the music ebbed and flowed in a way that felt more interesting and varied to me than just pure consistent volume (which is how a lot of other metal sounds to me).

This album is fantastic. I mean that in a real overall sense. Yes, Ozzy died yesterday and that sucks. But that is NOT why this album is great. It is great because they set the stage for everything and everyone who would parallel the punk movement with a darkside twist on the establishment. They were no more satanists than pet rocks, but they dared play with the roles, Also the band is fantastic and Ozzy.. .well, yeah, he has the voice so it is one of those matches made in ... Heaven? No. It is not r e a l l y classic rock, it steps too far out there and dares too much that what we call classic rock. Again, it is like punk done metal. And it really is brilliant!

Some good heavy metal. Liked what was going on the whole time. RIP Ozzy, poetic that this album came up the day after his death. Probably won't seek out again, but still good nonetheless.

Nothing to complain about here. Slightly generic as well.

this album has it all - from long energetic blues influenced metal epics to piano driven ballads. It sounds like the group was struggling heavily at the time with falling into further addiction while simultaneously producing their album by themselves for the first time in the career. However, in the words of Ozzy, they had never been tighter on an album. The reckless drug use coupled with the constant fear and anxiety of getting caught and arrested led to a really deep and emotional album that had a ton of classics.

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!

A well timed album in honor of Ozzy and a fun listen. Not familiar with any of the songs, strong finish with St Vitus and Under the Sun. L = (2.4*s) J = (2.7*s)

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.

RIP Ozzy - this album rocks.

Rip Ozzy. This album goes hard, although I don’t feel like there are many recognizable songs on here. Just Going Through Changes which is kind of a weak sabbath song. But the rest on this album are dank

Rest in peace, you god damn legend. Damn, when Changes came on, I actually got pretty emotional...wasn't expecting that

Changes

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

no está mal

Great

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

This is my first Black Sabbath album and I enjoyed it way more than I was expecting. I thought I would get tired of his voice or the heavy sound, but this album does a nice job breaking things up with calmer, melodic tracks like "Changes" and "Laguna Sunrise". RIP, I’m gonna snort a line tonight in honor of the Prince of Darkness. Favorite tracks: - Wheels of Confusion / The Straightener - Changes - Supernaut

Pretty awesome album! Ozzy is a legend!

rips

Supernaut is one of the absolute bangers of all time

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

The album where Ozzy gave up taking acid after talking to a horse for an hour and the horse told him to Fuck Off.

Not sure if it's 5 instead of 4 since I'm listening to this about 12 hours after Ozzy's death was announced, but it's a fantastic album either way 🤘🤘🤘🦇🦇🦇

I'm not a huge Black Sabbath fan but I have to say, almost every song I hear from them just meets a baseline of "this is great" and even though it's not 100% my thing, if any one of the songs on this album came on in my general area, I'd be fine.

Favorite song: changes

Excellent. Had some variation between songs, vocals and drums were impressive.

I liked it more than I thought

Absolute fucking classic!! RIP Ozzy!

I'm starting to realize I should've been listening to Sabbath a lot more all these years.

I listened to a fair amount of Ozzy solo in my youth, he was hard to avoid when you subscribed to multiple guitar magazines in the early 90s. Black Sabbath not so much, and I'm now wondering why their music was not played on the classic rock and hard rock stations, outside of Iron Man every once in a while. Also for some reason I thought Changes was an Ozzy song from the 80s/90s this whole time. This stuff is great.

👋🏻❤️

Glorious album with surprising range. Rip Ozzy

Shocked SHOCKED that there was a Black Sabbath album today. It was better than I remember. It's probably a 3.5 but again, we don't have that and so remembrance and numerology, this nets a 4. Top Tracks: "Changes," "Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes," "Laguna Sunrise"

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.