Black Sabbath

15 Pages 3659 Words

ke one album wasn’t enough, 1970 was intense yet highly satisfying year for Black Sabbath, as their first two records saw release. In January, their first eponymously titled record, Black Sabbath, the most blues sounding one, was released, and half a year later, Paranoid (see discography below), was released and with it, Sabbath enjoyed a Billboard top 10 single 1970 (it was a top 10 hit again when it was re-released in 1980) and they performed a gig on Top Of The Pops alongside with Engelbert Humperdinck and Cliff Richard. This exposed the group to a far wider audience than earlier, many young fans who often were to young to frequent the sleazy clubs where Sabbath had built their reputation. In this essay, I have chosen to concentrate on the Sabbath records during the Ozzy years and exclude the greatest hits albums.

Paranoid is considered the best album by many experts and fans, including myself and it contains the bands most enduring material, like War Pigs, Paranoid (recently voted the best riff of all time), Fairies Wear Boots and Electric Funeral. The record was named War Pigs, but Sabbath’s American label Warner Bros. felt that the title would be distasteful to Americans, as the embarrassing Vietnam war (which some of the songs deal with) was ongoing. Thus, the title was changed and everybody was happy. It is clear what Sabbath felt about Vietnam and war in general, for example the lyrics in War Pigs and Electric Funeral shows the bands disrespectful attitude towards war. The Americans, of course, wanted to profit from such a huge hit as Paranoid and could not do so if the title remained unchanged. However, the title change came late and thus the artwork remained the same with a blurred, futuristic warrior, swinging a Japanese samurai sword and wearing a police helmet, symbolizing someone who fights an enemy he can’t see, disillusioned he swings his sword at everything and everybody.

“ - Reflex in the sky warn you yo...