ARTIST: Black Sabbath
TITLE: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
YEAR RELEASED: 1973
CHART ACTION: #11 US, #4 UK
SINGLES: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: A National Acrobat, Spiral Architect
LINEUP: Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward. Rick Wakeman (!) plays on a track.
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Continuing their trend of experimenting with other motifs, Sabbath breaks out the synths, a prog musician, and strings.
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: The beginning riff, and the outro, is Sabbath gold. Tony Iommi broke out of his writers block with those riffs, and today they inspire guitarists everywhere.
And a few of the following seven tracks, such as “A National Acrobat” and “Spiral Architect” are heavy and worthy as well. Though “Spiral Architect” really could have been a Moody Blues song if it wasn’t so riffy. “Sabbra Cadabra” has a swing that’s not usually found with the group and the use of Rick Wakeman on synths and piano add a lot to it.
But…not everything works. Ozzy’s synth doodlings aren’t clever or revealing. Iommi’s acoustic piece feels like it’s repeating the others he’s done, and they just don’t seem that into some of the songs. The production seems a bit unheavy as well – it’s missing something.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: The Cardigans (!) covered “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No
GRADE: B: It’s a record with “A” material and “C” material (or “C-“ to be honest).