Best Black Sabbath Album

mob rules is fuckin RUTHLESS

"...and an unsubstantiated notion that it is a sub-par Sabbath album."

I've never been aware of this "notion".

Yeah, Mob Rules fucking kills, you gotta get that.

i know loads of people who say Sabotage is their fave album.

I've never been aware of this "notion"

That's because it was my own notion. And, as I say, unsubstantiated. I dunno, maybe it's the cover alone, maybe it's my poor memory of listening to this album at friends' places as a kid -- I just got it into my head that Sabotage was a bit of a clanger. Wrong I was.

Thanks for the Mob Rules recommendation. Will give it a listen.

I'll admit the cover of Sabotage is hilariously bad. A bone-headed idea ruined by terrible execution.

yeah, it's the worst from a series of truly bizarre covers.

I will get behind any of the ozzy/dio era studio albums, personally. was recently blown away by how much I liked never say die, for example.

My eyes are always drawn to Bill Ward's red tights.

def a bold fashion choice

Ozzy's kimono was also a fine example of "out of the box" thinking. And Geezer looks like he just time-traveled in from a 1982 Eddie Money video shoot.

is there a thread for the remasters? the bonus discs are pretty dope

Bill what do you think the worst Sabbath album is

serious question

Seventh Star or Forbidden. Tyr's pretty bad too.

How about you?

Just listening to Vol4. Someone above bemoaned the lack of love for Wheels Of Confusion. I *adore* the beginning of the track, and I love its different parts, but to me all of these parts don't quite work as an ensemble: the song as a whole sounds poorly tacked together (to put it perhaps a little brutally). At one point I even think (probably wrongly) that the timing is off ("lost in the wheels of confusion"). The transitions between the different riffs somehow jar a little.

dunno I haven't heard 'em all! I haven't heard the stuff between Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and the Dio albums. I do dig Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules

"what do you think the worst Sabbath album is"

It's definitely Forbidden. But really there are no good ones that don't have Ozzy, Dio, or Ian Gillain singing. And the absurd awfulness of the others is never to do with the singer. It's just universally bad songwriting and production. The singers are all fine.

the new album is so good

so is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUkwv5yZyhA

Yeah I am really into the new record. Favorite track at the moment is still Follow the Tears. I will assuredly spin that at my Dj gig tonight. The 3-sided LP is gorgeous.

god, "Follow the Tears" is such a monster track ... really dig the bridge part, where Dio goes into "We'll be there for you / I believed and I can tell you it's not true" ... it sounds floaty and psychedelic dropped into the middle of this amazing doom track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ7EBF6IQn4

"Atom and Evil" and "Bible Black" are so good too

sabbath bloody sabbath title track 3:20--4:50 best 90 seconds of metal ever recorded

" I haven't heard the stuff between Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and the Dio albums. "

Forget what you have heard and listen to this stuff because it's great.

Too bad you feel that way about Wheels of Confusion, Duke, that's one of their best songs ever. Sounds like the fucking apocolypse on that "Lost in the Wheeels...." part.

ou-ou-ou-ou, not enuff sabotage luv-uv-uv-uv in them poll results i don't think.

I haven't heard the stuff between Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and the Dio albums.

that includes sabotage! rectify! rectify!

Sabotage is placed about right in that poll.

Sabotage's about three places lower than it should be, I'd say.

And so's Bloody Sabbath.

My personal poll of Ozzy era albums:

1) Master of Reality
2) Vol. 4
3) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
4) Never Say Die (yes, really)
5) Sabotage
6) Black Sabbath
7) Paranoid (Yes, really)
8) Technical Ecstasy

feel free to print that out and toss darts at it.

mine would be:

black sabbath

sabotage

master of reality

paranoid

sabbath bloody sabbath

never say die

vol. 4

technical ecstacy

The four stabs / punches of guitar on "The Wizard" as Ozzy sings "never talking, just keeps walking" are fantastic.

Black Sabbath
Master of Reality
Volume IV
Sabotage
Paranoid
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Never Say Die
Technical Ecstacy

But god I love them all so much.

dudes, how great is this 'Never Say Die' clip ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvVwiE2U9_g

like, the band is so on fire you can hardly believe they would be on the verge of breaking up. Why break up when you can rock this hard?

(also, love Bill's neckbeard and dreads, he looks like some total refugee from No Neck Blues Band or something)

ok, maybe Ozzy was a *little* drunk .... but the performance still holds together quite nicely

Ive seen other songs from this particular show, the band is on, but Ozzy has some issues with his voice. Especially on Symptom on the Universe.

IV winning seems challopsy to me in retrospect

― d20 riot tard (M@tt He1ges0n),

that comment seems challopsy

100% with you on this one, Kerr.

Agreed.

yeah, may not be everybody's first choice ('tis mine), but to imply that so choosing is some kinda wilful warped contrarianism is just dopey.

maybe it's just cuz my vinyl copy of IV is so scratched and thin-sounding, but voting it as the best over what came before is kinda mystifying to me

Pick up one of the numerous remastered versions, you won't be sorry. The groove on Tommmorow's Dream feels like your brain is slowly being melted from within.

Challops would be picking Tyr as the best, not Vol. IV. Also this is crap: "None of them, I don't like Black Sabbath"

Herm, is the thread starter you? Is that an old handle?

yeah tis me, i think that was my 2nd or 3rd handle

usually some variation of pfunboy,the jokey krautrock name came much later, but i ended up sticking with it when i forgot my old pw

i hope master of reality gets voted alltime heaviest album.

as do I, sir. that was my vote.

that would be great, a poll on heaviest ever album, do it bill magill!

im assuming that he meant the poll that you're currently conducting, Herm. I dont have the patience, the time or the technical skills to run a poll, plus my efforts would probably pale in comparison to yours.

i dont mean an email poll, just do an ordinary ILM poll. Ask for nominations on a thread , then poll them.

i'm not gonna say voting for 4 is challopsy because I like paranoid even less than 4, which sounds pretty challopsy. Probably would vote for Master Of Reality and SBS (maybe even the first) over them.