 |
|
Black Sabbath | 
| Artist: Black Sabbath
Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $11.98
Buy Used: $4.99
You Save: $6.99 (58%)
New (33) Used (22) Collectible (3) from $4.99
Rating:  264 reviews
Sales Rank: 3350
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 075992718523
UPC: 759927185238
EAN: 0075992718523
ASIN: B000002KB8
Publication Date: 1970
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Expedited shipping is not available for this item.
Tell A Friend
Add to Wishlist
Add to Wedding Registry
Add to Baby Registry
| |
| Tracks:
| ⋅ | Black Sabbath | | ⋅ | The Wizard | | ⋅ | Wasp/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Bassically/N.I.B. | | ⋅ | Wicked World | | ⋅ | A Bit of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: BLACK SABBATH
Title: BLACK SABBATH
Street Release Date: 04/26/1988
Domestic
Genre: HEAVY METAL
Amazon.com essential recording
Some might claim that this 1970 debut is the definitive Black Sabbath record. While the gothic overtones of the opening track, "Black Sabbath" (thunderstorms and foreboding church bells introduce Ozzy Osbourne's howl and Tony Iommi's sludgy guitar), and the raucous defiling of Cream on "N.I.B." were thrilling then (and remain so now), there is too much wanking here to really qualify the collection as the must-have Black Sabbath record. (That prize would have to go to Paranoid.) But the blues-heavy riffs of "The Wizard," the soon-to-be-famous chord-progression stylings on "Wasp," and the grunge-boogie of "Wicked World" allow it to stand as a solid testament to the deep and lasting influence the band has had over the years. --Lorry Fleming
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 259 more reviews...
 Often imitated, never duplicated December 23, 2008
Michael J. Tedone (Rochester, NY)
This is the album that birthed Heavy Metal. Dark, loud, fuzzed out, scary, and impossible to forget.
1. Black Sabbath - beginning a long-standing tradition of metal bands doing a song title of the band name on the self-titled album. Opening with a soft falling rain and a distant church bell tolling and a little thunder rolling in; at the 0:37 mark the riff hits. THE riff, completely overshadowing the thunder in the background Iommi, Bulter, and Ward blast Heavy Metal into existence like a sledgehammer. This song sets the tone for a lot of Sabbath tunes to follow: varying tempos, time changes, dynamics (loud as hell then soft as a mother's touch), with Ozzy's signature banshee wail, and a lyric about how there is real evil in this world & you should be very afraid of it. Four & a half minutes in the tune changes to a galloping, driving force rumbling to a close.
2. The Wizard - Opening with Ozzy's slow harmonica riff the rest of the band joins in for a bluesy rocker with a nice guitar & drum flourish early on. The verse structure settles into a simple guitar and bass line driven non-stop by Bill Ward's fluid yet powerful drumming. The title character walks the world casting spells and causing general discomfort for evil things around. The lone hero, "never talking, just keeps walking, spreading his magic".
3. Wasp/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Bassically/N.I.B. - Due to some record company stipulation, a band got paid more if a record had at least 10 tracks on it, so for the first few albums the boys slapped some extra titles on intros & outros and threw little instrumental bits in here & there. Thus, "Wasp" is nothing more than the 30-some second intro to "Behind the Wall of Sleep" and "Bassically" (yes, two S's) is a Geezer Bass solo intro-ing "N.I.B.". "BtWoS" has a groovy, laid-back riff and a lyric about opium. "N.I.B." (my personal favorite Sabbath tune) is a love song from the point of view of the Devil himself fallen for a human woman. Like tons of other love songs throughout the ages the song promises all sorts of unearthly delights and gifts, "the sun, the moon, the stars; all them I seal". Of course, being the Devil, Lucifer ACTUALLY has the ability to provide these promises. The song bops along at a good pace with a slower break at the "going to feel" bridge. Classic.
4. Wicked World - Opening with a jazzy drum line and a speedy little riff the song settles into a well-paced bluesy rumble. Lyrics once again about real evil in the world: single-parent families struggling to survive, politicians starting wars, etc. The song slows to a halt to let Tony throw a little solo around. The rest of the band pops right back in and comes to a squealing close.
5. A Bit of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning - This suite opens with a guitar and Jew's-harp-sounding quiet intro with a couple lines about a "Sleeping Village". For those of you that don't know, "Bit of Finger" refers to the industrial accident Tony suffered in which the tips of a few of fingers were sliced off his right (fretting) hand. Thus, completely changing the way he played, tuned, and strung his guitar; forcing Geezer to make changes, and ultimately resulting in the down-tuned, signature Sabbath sound. Anyway, "BoF/SV" turns into a rollicking little instrumental at about the minute mark. Lots of change-ups, with Bill seeming to direct where we go next. At 3:50 the "Warning" kicks in and Sabbath take fellow British blues rocker's "The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation's" 3-minute tune from 1967 and stretch it to 3 times it's original length. No extra lyrics are added, but Ozzy must have left to go grab a sandwich (from 7:05 to 13:25) and the boys just left the tape running as Iommi, Bulter, & Ward take us to blues-rock school. Wonderful.
6. Evil Woman - A bonus track on Japanese releases of the album and on the Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath-and-the-kitchen-sink-for-good-measure 8 CD box set. Anyway, a cover of "Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games With Me)" from Minneapolis' "Crow", originally released in 1969. A good blues rock tune.
So, there you have it, while America was awash in peace, love, and flower-power, four working-class dudes from Aston, England shows us that things sucked and you'd better say something about it. Still influencing rockers 40 years later.
The first album June 22, 2008
Albert James
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Black Sabbath's first album, Black Sabbath, is a great album. Here is my track by track review.
1.Black Sabbath-10/10 Classic riff. It starts slow with church bells, and a thunderstorm followed by a monster riff by Iommi. Ozzy sings slow lyrics. It evantually speeds up.
2. The Wizard- 9.5/10 Cool song. Ozzy plays a harmonica. It is a little short, but a fun and interesting listen. Cool lyrics by Geezer.
3. Wasp- Behind the Wall of Sleep- Bassically- N.I.B- 10/10 My favorite on the album. Wasp is an intro to Behind the Wall of Sleep, and Bassically is an intro to N.I.B. Its pretty much 2 songs in 1. The effects on Ozzy's voice are cool on behind the wall of sleep. The left headphone has an echo while the right headphone is his normal voice. N.I.B is one of sabbath's best.
4. Wicked World-8.5/10- Not awful. Not my favorite either. Its just not as good compared to the other songs. I listen to it ocassionally.
5. A Bit of Finger- Sleeping Village- Warning- 9/10 Not much singing. Mostly Iommi's guitar playing with a HUGE solo. Fun to listen to.
This is THE one... June 10, 2008
bombedzombie (PSL, Florida)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Paranoid may be more even and have some of the best songs. The Kinks may have one of the first "power chord" songs. The MC5 and Blue Cheer may have been metal "forerunners" predating Sabbath. Steppenwolf may have coined (or at least recorded) the phrase that describes it. Deep Purple and Zeppelin may have been as musically heavy (at moments) at almost the same time (debatable, but I'll give it to you anyway...). But, THIS IS THE FIRST.
The first heavy metal record by the first heavy metal band. Know why? All arguments and scholarly "but the Kinks..., but Blue Cheer..., but Zeppelin..." aside...
It's the DOOM.
Simple as that. No other band, bluesy as they still were (and this album is very bluesy compared to following Sabbath offerings) were simply as gloomy and oppressive as Sabbath were. This ain't no hippy B.S., this is the real stuff.
If you don't know this album and every note on it, you don't know metal.
Changed Everything March 3, 2008
G Money (Md usa)
I was 11 years old when this came out. The spooky cover, the sound of evil coming out of the speakers. LOVED IT!!! If you think Ozzy is famous because of his tv show you have a lot to learn childrens. This record, Paranoid, Master of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, are all part of the education. Get them all now.
|
|
|
| |
|
