Posts tagged Ozzy Osbourne

(Review from progarchives.com, wikipedia)

“Technical Ecstasy” continues the band’s separation from its signature doom and darkness that had been such a trademark of the band’s early career. While the album’s lyrics deal with topics such as drug dealers, prostitution, and transvestites, the music itself is seldom dark and some tracks are very different from Black Sabbath’s earlier recordings.

Omnipresent keyboard textures definitely give the band a new dimension here and is used to great effect, particularily on on “Rock N`Roll Doctor” where the piano adds to the song’s traditional rock ‘n’ roll feel contrasting with Iommi’s heavy guitar riffing.

If the plodding “All Moving Parts (Stand Still)” which seems to be about corrupt, cross dressing, alcoholic politicians who are into sado masochism appeared on any earlier Sabbath album it would have been received with accolades just the same way the “Hole In The Sky” or “War Pigs” were. The lyrics remind one of subject material Alice Cooper would prefer but it still has dark conotations of earlier Sabbath compositions.

At the same time “Back Street Kids” sounds like an attempt at creating some sort of anthem for kids to identify with much the same way they did with songs from the first two Black Sabbath albums and if listened to carefully one may discover where Heart might have got the main riff for their hit Barracuda off their 1977 Little Queen album.

The catchiest track on the album, “Gypsy”, continues on with traditional Sabbath doom & gloom doctrine with references to a bleak future and features some real headbanging riffing from Iommi and some nice orchestrations and has to be one of the most overlooked Sabbath songs ever.

“Dirty Women” sums up the sentiments within the band using the metaphor of ladies of the night to reflect their need for unconditional escapes from the demands and rigours of their chosen proffession as rock ‘n’ roll stars. It contains all the heaviness Sabbath was all about.

By far not Black Sabbath at the top of their game but “Technical Ecstasy” must be approached cautiously, bearing in mind that this was a band at a stage where fame and fortune and changing trends were having effects on them. The album, without a doubt, contains some very memorable Sabbath material and the imperfections which occur can be easily overlooked.

Line-up:
- Tony Iommi / Lead Guitar
- Geezer Butler / Bass
- Ozzy Osbourne / Vocals
- Bill Ward / Drums
- Gerald Woodruffe / Keyboards

Track List:
01. Back Street Kids – 3:47
02. You Won’t Change Me – 6:42
03. It’s Allright – 4:04
04. Gypsy – 5:14
05. All Moving Parts (Stand Still) – 5:07
06. Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor – 3:30
07. She’s Gone – 4:58
08. Dirty Women – 7:13

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(Review from progarchives.com)

Black Sabbath’s sixth studio album relies heavily on keyboards, including synthesisers, played by Gerald Woodruffe. Also present are the English Chamber Choir!

Two epic tracks attract immediate attention. “Megalomania” is a superbly crafted 10 minute piece which focuses on the main theme (or concept) of the album, insanity and mental illness. The track starts as a slow, menacing nightmare with lyrics. About midway, the pace is increased and track transforms into a magnificently pompous orchestrated cacophony. Ozzy sounds positively insane as he vividly describes his nightmares, the stereo effects enhancing the experience.

At over 8 minutes, “The Writ” also has plenty of space for symphonic orchestration and a fine arrangement. The track, which is reportedly aimed at a previous band manager, is full of acidic lyrics such as. The final section includes some excellent soft verses which are counterbalanced by the louder “everything is gonna work out fine” choruses.

These two tracks, which represent just under half the album, are enough reason alone to make “Sabotage” a good album. In fact though, they are supported by a further six fine songs. Like “Megalomania”, “Thrill of it all” sets out as a slow, heavy dirge, but is transformed midway into an upbeat thriller with soaring synths and multi-tracked vocals.

While there are no obvious hit singles, the most commercial track is “Am I Going Insane (Radio)”, which features an irritatingly catchy chorus. The “radio” word in the title does not mean it is a radio edit, there are no other versions. The word apparently is cockney rhyming slang for “mental”, coming from the long gone company Radio Rental.

The oddest track is “Supertzar”, which is nominally an instrumental, but features a choral interlude.

This is a truly superb album which belies any notion that Black Sabbath did not work hard on their releases. There is a level of attention to detail here is combined with some top class song writing. “Sabotage” took considerably longer to record and produce then previous Black Sabbath albums. Over the years, Ozzy Osbourne has often complained in interviews that this album marked the beginning of what he described as Tony Iommi’s studio production obsession.

Line-up:
- Tony Iommi / Lead Guitar
- Geezer Butler / Bass
- Ozzy Osbourne / Vocals
- Bill Ward / Drums
- Gerald Woodruffe / Keyboards

Track List:
01. Hole In The Sky – 3:59
02. Don’t Start (Too Late) – 0:49
03. Symptom Of The Universe – 6:29
04. Megalomania – 9:46
05. The Thrill Of It All – 5:56
06. Supertzar – 3:44
07. Am I Going Insane (Radio) – 4:16
08. The Writ – 8:45

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(Review from progarchives.com)

In June 1972, the band reconvened to record what would become their fourth studio album. It was originally titled “Snowblind” after the song of the same name, which deals with cocaine abuse. The record company changed the title at the last minute to Black Sabbath, Vol 4. Nonetheless, controversy wasn`t entirely averted as the band somehow manage to thank the COKE-cola company on the credits inside the gatefold cover on early vinyl editions. Ozzy also manages to whisper the word cocaine at the end of each verse of Snowblind as well.

The opener, ‘Wheels of Confusion’ has a complex and progressive structure, moving from part to part, and with a marvellous outro (‘The Straightener’). It’s an eight minute mini-epic, and signals a much broader (and generally less heavy) sound than the blues previously employed on ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Masters of Reality’. Piano, mellotron and orchestra signalled an intention to widen their music.

“Tomorrow’s Dream” is another stirling classic track but often overlooked on this album but beautifully connected to the whole album’s delivery. It is memorable thanks to its simple structure and progression.

One of Black Sabbath’s spinal tap moments (actually almost 5 minutes of it ) occurs on the ballad “Changes” which, astonishingly, is one of their best known songs that was originally supposedly about drummer Bill Ward’s breakup with his wife. Accompanied by a sombre grand piano and a weeping mellotron Ozzy sounds so down in the dumps that you can almost envisage the tears of wax melting down the base of the candle-abra. At least it’s played in the slack key of C without any black keys to worry about through all the grieving. It makes one wonder how they found time to get so glum amidst all the groupies, endless narcotic supply and nonstop partying. In any case, hardcore Sabbath fans either love it or hate it and it did break some groud showing that tripped out rock stars have feelings as well. Other heavier bands and artists would follow suit, including token ballads on their albums.

‘FX’ is created from echoplexed guitar picking, ‘Supernaut’ has one of the most endearing riffs you’ll hear on this album, ‘Snowblind’ is a pure classic, ‘Laguna Sunrise’ is an almost symphonic piece with Iommi on classical guitar backed with a wistful string arrangement, ‘St. Vitus Dance’ is has an unusual rhythm, and ‘Under The Sun’ is full-on Sabbath at their heaviest – absolutely phenomenal track.

Line-up:
* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
* Tony Iommi – guitar, keyboards
* Geezer Butler – bass
* Bill Ward – drums

Track List:
01. Wheels Of Confusion – 8:01
02. Tomorrows Dream – 3:11
03. Changes – 4:44
04. FX – 1:43
05. Supernaut – 4:49
06. Snowblind – 5:33
07. Cornucopia – 3:54
08. Laguna Sunrise – 2:55
09. ST.Vitus Dance – 2:29
10. Under The Sun – 5:52

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(Review from allmusic.com)

Black Sabbath has been so influential in the development of heavy metal rock music as to be a defining force in the style. The group took the blues-rock sound of late ’60s acts like Cream, Blue Cheer, and Vanilla Fudge to its logical conclusion, slowing the tempo, accentuating the bass, and emphasizing screaming guitar solos and howled vocals full of lyrics expressing mental anguish and macabre fantasies. If their predecessors clearly came out of an electrified blues tradition, Black Sabbath took that tradition in a new direction, and in so doing helped give birth to a musical style that continued to attract millions of fans decades later.

Paranoid was not only Black Sabbath’s most popular record, it also stands as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time. Paranoid refined Black Sabbath’s signature sound — crushingly loud, minor-key dirges loosely based on heavy blues-rock — and applied it to a newly consistent set of songs with utterly memorable riffs, most of which now rank as all-time metal classics. Where the extended, multi-sectioned songs on the debut sometimes felt like aimless jams, their counterparts on Paranoid have been given focus and direction, lending an epic drama to now-standards like “War Pigs” and “Iron Man” (which sports one of the most immediately identifiable riffs in metal history). The subject matter is unrelentingly, obsessively dark, covering both supernatural/sci-fi horrors and the real-life traumas of death, war, nuclear annihilation, mental illness, drug hallucinations, and narcotic abuse. Yet Sabbath makes it totally convincing, thanks to the crawling, muddled bleakness and bad-trip depression evoked so frighteningly well by their music. Even the qualities that made critics deplore the album (and the group) for years increase the overall effect — the technical simplicity of Ozzy Osbourne’s vocals and Tony Iommi’s lead guitar vocabulary; the spots when the lyrics sink into melodrama or awkwardness; the lack of subtlety and the infrequent dynamic contrast. Everything adds up to more than the sum of its parts, as though the anxieties behind the music simply demanded that the band achieve catharsis by steamrolling everything in its path, including its own limitations. Monolithic and primally powerful, Paranoid defined the sound and style of heavy metal more than any other record in rock history.

Line-up:
* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
* Tony Iommi – guitar
* Geezer Butler – bass guitar
* Bill Ward – drums

Track List:
01. War Pigs/Luke’s Wall – 7:57
02. Paranoid – 2:50
03. Planet Caravan – 4:35
04. Iron Man – 5:57
05. Electric Funeral – 4:52
06. Hand of Doom – 7:09
07. Rat Salad – 2:30
08. Jack the Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots – 6:16

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