to realize this is a much more sonically developed Ozzy Osbourne then the man who could barely droll out "the world today is such a wicked place!" as if there were no tomorrow. Theres something about this release that feels unique and fresh as it probably did back in the 70s. acoustic-based music. "Paranoid" I hate to even think of placing them on a list, but if I have to, It'll be number three. The whole thing is a masterpiece in the pleasure-pain see saw: the guitars are mixed a bit too loudly and panned rigorously in the last sections, but it's the kind of pain that gives its way to ecstasy and repeated listens. And Geezer matching the riff behind him? The world is a lonely place when you are alone. Come on. Seeing him try was hilarious." 1992's Blues For The Red Sun was the influential outfit's standout achievment, with the then-19 year old Homme tuning down as low as Drop C. Sabbath, in the Californian desert, on even more acid. It's worth a listen if you want to hear Geezer and Tony at their most subdued (which is not necessarily a bad idea), but there really should have been another proper heavy song here, since we already had two very solid moody interludes with Embryo and Orchid. Even the hauntingly beautiful tracks "Embryo" "Orchid" and "Solitude" all fit perfectly amongst the masterful songs that are documented on this great album . About the only good(?) In the year since their self-titled debut, the band had received their share of fame and notoriety for their unprecedented heaviness and perceived 'Satanic' themes. Master of Reality Black Sabbath. Closing Comments It is a foundational. One of the first uses of down-tuning in rock, though far from being an aesthetic choice, this was out of necessity. On this album he shows what an accomplished (and to an extent underrated) drummer he really is. The speed and chugginess of it right after a song like Solitude strengthens the overall heaviness of Master of Reality. This release saw the band exploring more doom metal structures as well as an even heavier sound that would give birth to the stoner rock/metal movement. The music is gentle but brooding, with a melodic and emotional flute played by Iommi. However you have to understand this is a very new genre. The actor's a Slipknot/ Linkin Park guy, but Aemond's all over Black Sabbath. Stand-Outs: "Lord of this World", "Children of the Grave", "Into the Void". My life was empty, forever on a down When Ozzy's voice starts up you can hear the difference in his voice is instantly evident. There is a reason they are the metal godfathers that we know them as today. The combination of light strings and low tunings made for a doom-laden guitar tone that instantly set Sabbath apart from the pack of blues-based English hard rock bands. After Forever should jump out immediately, being the infamous song around Christianity that still doesnt shed much light in the realm. While not being a long record (Master of Reality contains six songs and two interludes, with the total playing time being, roughly, 35 minutes), it is a very cohesive and strong piece, all the songs flowing well together and sounding fresh. I am talking about Into the Void. Well don't listen to me because I'm full of shit. It adds virtually nothing to the track's mood or groove beyond Bill saying "Look what I can do!" After this we return to the heavy chug previously established. Ozzy Osbourne 'sings' it. Lyrical themes are varied. I actually rather imagine this as a continuation of the lyrical themes of Solitude it makes for a rather amusing narrative: The two short acoustic instrumental tracks are very haunting and beautiful. Into the Void "Spanish Sid" (Studio Outtake - Alternative Version) . We were going: "What could we write about?" But its only 28 seconds long, so Ill give him a break. They have been so blindly accepted as good or bad that their caliber, or lack thereof, have developed the honorary but erroneous title of officially good or officially bad and this has led to the following, unfortunate, truth: Otherwise, the real lasting legacy of MoR is just the down-tuning to C# for all stringed instruments from then on, producing a much thicker and heavier sound. The verse riff is fantastic, but the song keeps switching back and forth between these two riffs, and it just makes it feel disjointed for me. Black Sabbath's third album was their heaviest most uncompromising effort yet, and arguably of their entire output with Ozzy at the helm. This song is downright happier than anything else they had recorded at the time, and Ozzy especially sounds more confident than ever as he shouts out his lyrics. Here Tony Iommi began to experiment with tuning his guitar down three half-steps to C#, producing a sound that was darker, deeper, and sludgier than anything they'd yet committed to record. Let me state that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with being repetitive, it is a function of all music, but it is everything that is wrong to be repetitive when moving at a snails pace. In his autobiography Iommi describes the cover as "Slightly Spinal Tap-ish, only well before Spinal Tap". No matter youre favorite genre of metal is, this one is for you, particularly anyone who has any interest in doom metal. They are actually heart wrenching. Although it shares the same style of sludgy riffs and over-the-top occult atmosphere with much of Sabbath's work up to this point, it stands out for its relatively intense rhythm, a gallop that would later be mirrored in Maiden's work. The song "Solitude" showcases guitarist Iommi's multi-instrumental talents, featuring him playing guitar, flute, and piano. (This trick was still being copied 25 years later by every metal band looking to push the . Lord of This World Black Sabbath. The timing of "Solitude" on these pressings is also incorrect, as it includes the first half of "Into the Void", whereas the timings of "Deathmask" and "Into the Void" from the original US pressing should have been grouped instead. The album is also all the more important and imperative as its the band's first trve metal album, abandoning the blues rock from their debut and the hints of it on Paranoid entirely for something wholly original. An ironic sudden shift in tone and style ( la The Straightener, Symptom Of the Universe or Johnny Blade)? If you are a fan of metal music that routinely places a vocalist at the forefront during his worst vocals in 20 years, then this is right for you. Pair that with an added layer of drums that sound like they could have been plucked out of a Voodoo ritual, and you have one of the album's hardest rocking tracks. Set aside all of the influence, the first aspect, and all that would unravel later on. or Sabbra Cadabra)? The band certainly go out with a bang with this metal standard. Picking up where they left off on "Paranoid", "Sweet Leaf" is pumped full of Tony Iommi's distinctive guitar fuzz. Its relevance and history just make it that kind of gateway album, but it also carries with it honest musicianship and vision, the true ingredient to making it a timeless great. The subject matter of the song would seem a contradiction in the bands previous message found in The Hand of Doom, although one must consider a few things. On 'Paranoid', he had reduced the blues elements to an extent where the music was more free-flowing, heavy and gritty, but still maintained a healthy dose of the blues evident on songs like "War Pigs", "Hand of Doom" and "Fairies Wear Boots". To paraphrase Sweet Leaf, this album introduced me to my mind. So there we have it, Master of Reality. Black Sabbath DOMINATED the metal scene, and for good reason. This is the same band who managed to snag a perfect visual representation on their debut by having one of the best album sleeves in all of music history, yet just two albums later we get artwork with just the title and nothing else. Sabbath like most 1960's and 1970's bands were influenced heavily by the blues masters of old and up until Master of Reality this influence was peppered throughout their releases . In that day and age nobody could do what he did. In his autobiography Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath, Iommi describes the difficulty Osbourne also experienced recording the vocal: "It has this slow bit, but then the riff where Osbourne comes in is very fast. The debut record and Paranoid broke in these themes as well but Master of Reality is their greatest album and I find it's more polished than even those classics. Well, as usually for Sabbath, this preaches of struggle, drugs, and sci-fi. Tony's rollicking down tempo aggressive riffs, Ozzy's wailing about nuclear uncertainty backed by his delirious pigeon claps make this one of Black Sabbath's most catchiest tunes. Orchid is a nice little ditty to open up Side Two which could have used some expansion, but whatever length, it does not prepare anyone for the menacing swagger of Lord of This World. If they knew you believe in God above? Production was once again handled by Roger Bain, and this one sounds a little different. Solitude (Studio Outtake - Intro With Alternative Guitar Tuning) 3:45: 2-9: Into The Void "Spanish Sid" (Studio Outtake - Alternative Version) 6:24: Ad . Just look at this verse from the song for example: Musically my only minor complaint with the album has to be Bill Wards drumming. He uses it in standard tuning for "Black Sabbath," and would later go on to use it in C# standard on "Symptom of the Universe" (though the main riff of "Symptom" can be played in standard) and in D standard on "Zero the Hero." HOWEVER, I have read someplace that "Solitude" was played in D standard, which would make the riff occur in the A position. Well then, Ozzys vocals here are wonderful! On the first North American editions of the album, several songs had subtitles given to segments, making it appear that there were more songs than there actually were. This was just the start, and what a great one. Black Sabbath acted as one entity but were also comprised of four individuals who each brought something to the table. Suffice to say, like alcoholic beverages its harm is minimal, but I would recommend that you have someone else drive if youre on the stuff. The three of them begin Lord Of this World with a bit of tense anticipation and the entire song can be pointed to for the claim that it redefined the word heavy, in a musical context. It drifts from trailing Tonys parts to following Ozzys vocals in an almost dancing manner. Classic opener "Sweet Leaf" certainly ranks as a defining stoner metal song, making its drug references far more overt (and adoring) than the preceding album's "Fairies Wear Boots." I love you sweet leaf, though you can't hear This record is definitely still a solid one, with a lot of good elements to it, but there's nothing masterful about it like the album name suggests. Black Sabbath perfected that exact sound except with much more finesse. Yet another song that is not fit to be sung by anyone else other than Ozzy. The guitars are easily the best part of the album, as they contain some heavy distortion, which is amplified by the slow-paced playing. 2 and not only are there just 2 they are laughably simplistic and not even creative. His high shrieking passion is felt throughout the album and makes this perfect album all the more perfect . . The bass sound hasnt really changed since Black Sabbath, which is a good thing; its still nice and heavy, happy to accentuate the rhythm of the guitar before throwing in a few bluesy hooks into the mix for good measure. It's incredible how a band could release three top notch albums in two mere years, but, I tell you, Sabbath did it. Without it there would be a gaping void in the collections of metal heads everywhere . Into the Void reads almost as a continuation of Solitude. Yes, yes - As already pointed out, Sabbath was pioneers, and did undoubtedly forge the metal genre as it is today, so I'll restrain from praising them in that sense. Sabbath have released significantly better albums, including during the Ozzy era, just listen to any other. Almost every riff is, indeed, very catchy and heavier than the ones featured on the band's past records. I wish you the best of luck with your dentistry degree and may your kisses be as sweet as your tooth! They really help to give that song its wonderfully evil atmosphere. It illustrates perfectly what I wrote before, when Ozzy is singing over an energetic composition he can sound really awesome. In a universal sense, this is Sabbaths most metal moment in their original line-up, thought I personally view Sabbath Bloody Sabbath as their overall finest moment. Based around a medieval chord progression, Iommi and Butler paint a perfect smooth picture, while Osbourne's vocals are augmented by a flute. Much more than that, Master of Reality essentially created multiple metal subgenres all by itself, laying the sonic foundations for doom, stoner and sludge metal, all in the space of just over half an hour. Despite whatever protometal relic you can pull out of your ass, nothing was heavier than Master of Reality in 1971. Type: Full-length Release date: January 22nd, 2016 Catalog ID: R2 552926 . The free-flowing heaviness and grittiness of 'Paranoid' was amplified through the deeper, simpler and more aggressive riffs. "Orchid" is an outstandingly beautiful piece from Iommi. The opening track "Sweet Leaf" has a SWEET mid-section that is truly epic in its own rights. The labels of the album were different too, as Side A featured the infamous swirl label, although the black circles were white and the white circles black. What I like best about this song is Iommis very creative guitar playing. This treatment had also been used on the North American editions of Black Sabbath's previous two albums. Tony Iommi's Amplifiers Like the Gibson SG, Iommi's Laney Amplifiers have been the cornerstone of his rig since the beginning. Lyrically however, bassist Geezer Butler writes about his devotion to Christianity, even ridiculing those who may not agree with the Church. What he lacks in an actual singing-voice, he makes up with charisma that he seems to be able to pull from his ass at any given time. Without a doubt, the most controversial track here is "After Forever". Writing in Mojo in 2013, Phil Alexander observed: "To most it is the quintessential stoner anthem, a point borne out by Sabbath's own Olympian consumption of hashish during their early days." Twenty years later groups like Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, and, particularly, Nirvana, would excavate the same heaving lung sound And be rewarded with critical garlands." Geezer's accomplishment's besides his song writing abilities are in his perfect instinctual deliverance of his bass lines that round out the unbelievable groovy heavy riffs of Toni Iommi . He just whines his monotonous voice all across the track as if he just couldn't care to try. It's definitely one of the album's standouts. Black Sabbath reached new heights with the release of their third album, "Master of Reality.". Bill Ward's jazzy influences were pretty pronounced and was not flashy, though his fills were subtle and well thought out. "[28] A critic for the magazine cited it as "the most cohesive record of [the band's] first three albums. The Cast Lord of this world! etc. "COME ON NOW!" An album with only six songs and two interludes, with none of them being overly long, while achieving this much, and allowing it to stick together without any awkwardness is really the best way to describe something that is perfect. Prev Page 3 of 50 Next Prev Page 3 of 50 Next . Butler and Ward also jam a little at the end, too! Also going back to "Solitude", Ozzy's singing is superb, as his more depressed personality makes his voice sound more angelic and soothing, further enhancing the sorrowful track. Here we have Black Sabbath showing an emphasis on slower songs, an approach that the band repeated with the next record, Volume 4. Although not everything works to expectation, the more progressive edge they have here has opened plenty of doors for the band to explore. This is, and will probably continue to be, an inspiriting factor in someone picking up a guitar for the first time and forming a band, or the key to unlocking metal for someone who previously had not been able to appreciate it. Think I am just joshing? Iommis clean soloing is not as exciting as usual though. [31] They described the album as representing "the greatest sludge-metal band of them all in its prime. beautiful and brilliant. To this I can only respond that the songs serve the purpose of showcasing a varied approach to music and a defiance of conventional thinking, and in this particular case it didnt fully work out as intended. Until you took me, showed me around Most of all, it was always be the Master. Osbourne had to sing really rapidly: "Rocket engines burning fuel so fast, up into the night sky they blast," quick words like that. Witness the fact that there are two little interludes, and one really long ballad which seems quite out of place, especially when placed between Lord of this World and Into the Fucking Void The shortest album of Black Sabbath's glory years, Master of Reality is also their most sonically influential work. I don't really need to write this do I ? to religion ("After Forever") and war and terror ("Children of the Grave"), ("Lord of This World") and ("Into the Void"). It ended up being the heaviest record at the time and decades later, Iommi's technique is still being imitated . (This trick was still being copied 25 years later by every metal band looking to push the . The opening track, Sweet Leaf, is an transparent ode to marijuana. Sure, to outsiders they are the epitome of doom-and-gloom drugged-up heavy metal and those that idolised them like, say, Electric Wizard stressed this by focusing in on these aspects in a fairly cartoonish manner. It includes two small instrumental filler pieces - Embryo and Orchid - which I actually think are pretty decent (I can't think of Children of the Grave without having Embryo as a lead in to it), but others may take issue with. If you are a fan of metal music that routinely moves like it is stuck in molasses, or smoked some of the finest Colombian Red Sweet Leaf around, then this is right for you. Bill Ward sings it, and when you have a singer as good as Ozzy Osbourne, youd better learn to stick to your own instrument. THIS is pretty much where thrash metal took root. It's skull-fryingly heavy. I miss songs like Wicked World or N.I.B. though, with their big emphasis on the bass lines, but heh, it's not a big issue at the end of the day. Otherwise, the real lasting legacy of MoR is just the down-tuning to C# for all stringed instruments from then on, producing a much thicker and heavier sound. Every song on this crushing perfect masterpiece is the early soundtrack to any die hard metal heads very essence . My life is free now, my life is clear Sabbath wanted to be the heaviest around. The album . Black Sabbath and especially Master of Reality was a huge influence of the 1990s stoner rock / Desert Rock scenes in the UK and the US, bands like Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Sleep, and Orange Goblin have cited Sabbath and Master of Reality as a defining album of that genre. Plenty of excellent riffs show up here, in particular Children Of The Grave, After Forever, Sweet Leaf, Lord Of This World and Into The Void. Ozzys voice is in top form as he expresses his undying love for marijuana, and the band sounds equally confident. "[8] In an interview with Guitar World in 2001 Butler recalled: "I do remember writing "Sweet Leaf" in the studio. No emotion. 2016, CD, Rhino Records (Digipak, Reissue, Remastered), 2010, CD, Sanctuary Records (Remastered, Digipak). Ozzy screams and yells, for maybe the most powerful vocal performance of his career, though hints of his signature mechanical, overdubbed vocals appear on Master of Reality. "Solitude" is one of my favourite songs ever. There's no excuse for you not to own this album. As stated before, this album has a more simplistic approach to structure than the previous albums, but this does not mean that we dont have any progressive moments. On 'Master of Reality' however, Iommi decided to down-tune his guitar (Geezer's bass followed suit) and began writing more straight-forward, aggressive riffs and voila! The day I received it has forever changed the history of my life . The shortest album of Black Sabbath's glory years, Master of Reality is also their most sonically influential work. While definitely not an awful track, I feel the songwriting on it is poor at best. But, if a core of five songs seems slight for a classic album, it's also important to note that those five songs represent a nearly bottomless bag of tricks, many of which are still being imitated and explored decades later. "Children of the Grave" is my favourite song off "Master of Reality". Tony Iommi's guitar is and will remain true art. Its true that you either like his voice or you dont, but if you do like his voice, theres absolutely nothing wrong with his performance on this record; he delivers. Everyone has an opinion as to whether it was Led Zeppelin or Rainbow or I've even heard the most ridiculous of bands mentioned such as Jimi Hendrix or Steppenwolf but like I said "let's be realistic here" . And at nearly forty-eight years old, it shows no signs of ageing. He also shows some restraint, not destroying the tunes with exaggerated fills or something, so that's a clear plus in my books. Perfect albums like Master of Reality have always, and will always contain a permanent documentation as to the exact reason that I have dedicated my entire existence to living, breathing, eating, sleeping, bleeding, worshiping, and yes one day dying for my true love: heavy metal . Not bad, but definitely boring. 'Master of Reality' is a must-listen for all fans of heavy music. (This trick was still being copied 25 years later by every metal band looking to push the .