Black Sabbath's eponymous 1970 debut album. At this time, the group was still deeply rooted in blues and attempts too much to sound like Led Zeppelin, but Tony Iommi's trademark heavy riffing is already firmly in place, as is the gloomy mood that will never really be alleviated through the Sabbath catalogue (though you might argue that Sabbra Cadabra, from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, is kind of a happy song), the slow, but unstoppable stomping pace (people fond of finding creative names for subgenres have later nicknamed this style Doom Metal) and Ozzy's pain-laden singing.
Though Black Sabbath improved considerably with the follow-up album, Paranoid, there are some truly unique moments on this record. The Wizard is somewhat of a blues-rock jam and has some great harmonica work.
Tracks:
- Black Sabbath
- The Wizard
- Behind The Wall Of Sleep
- N.I.B.
- Evil Woman*
- Sleeping Village
- The Warning+
- Wicked World
All songs written by Black Sabbath, except for * (Wiegand) and + (Dunbar, Dmochowski, Hickling, Moreshead). All songs: Tony Iommi on lead guitar, Geezer Butler on bass guitar, Bill Ward on drums, Ozzy Osbourne on vocals and harmonica. Produced by Roger Bain of Tuesday Productions, for Tony Hall Enterprises. Engineers: Tom Allom and Barry Sheffield. Album designed and photographed by Keef.
Source for the track listing: liner notes from the remastered CD reissue.