Classic Album Retrospect (Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath)

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

 Black Sabbath is debut album from the British metal powerhouse of the same name. Black Sabbath was first released in February of 1970; the same year as Black Sabbath's second album Paranoid. When the album was released it reached eighth on the UK album charts and twenty-third place on the Billboard Charts in the US. Although the album was originally slated by music critics; Black Sabbath have gone on to cement their name in Metal History and are credited with the title of "Original Heavy Metal Band". Black Sabbath was released through Vertigo Records.

 Black Sabbath was released forty-four years ago so the question stands. Does Black Sabbath still stand up today? Lets find out

Notable Tracks

 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath starts the record with style with the eerie rainstorm intro which fades into an thunderous riff. The track has an epic feel although it only stands at 6:20. Black Sabbath starts with a slow and almost scary first section and then explodes into a fast and well executed guitar and drum medley to finish.

 The Wizard - The Wizard directly follows Black Sabbath on the track listing but takes a different approach entirely. Away from Black Sabbath's slow and eerie sound; The Wizard takes a more bluesy angle with a harmonica intro with a slight touch of guitar. The songs subject is about the bands drug dealer at the time which is shown in the song's progression  

 N.I.B. - N.I.B. starts with an awesome bass solo (named bassically) which fades out for the main riff and vocal delivery to be blasted up. The title was debated to mean Nativity In Black but was dismissed later to have been a reference to Bill Ward's beard. N.I.B. stands at 6:08 but still manages to add a lot of progression in the shape of solos and bridges.   

 Evil Woman - Evil Woman is the first track taken from the then B-side of the record. Evil Woman is a cover of a track by the same name by a hard rock band named Crow. Evil Woman takes a step back from the metal sound and has a more hard rock sound instead.

 Sleeping Village - Sleeping Village starts with a guitar scale with an almost didgeridoo sound in the background. Sleeping Village sees a return of the style used in the title track with a slow pacing. At the one minute mark the song changes direct to a more upbeat and rocky pacing and tone which lasts the rest of the track.

 To summarise, Black Sabbath definitely sounds like it was recorded forty-four years ago and has some dated features and editing mishaps but together they add to the personality of the album. Black Sabbath holds its own in places but some tracks have decayed with time and just don't hold the attention they used to. As a band, Black Sabbath are still going in their old age with a headline slot at Hyde Park this year supported by younger bands that were no doubt inspired by Black Sabbath. Although aged in places, Black Sabbath's debut and maybe more so their second album has cemented their place in the metal hall of fame.

 [Side note - Apologies for the delay of this post, my ISP is being unreliable at the moment but watch this space for another post today]