When it comes to musical genres, many have rather ambiguous beginnings. It's almost impossible to track things down to a definite starting point. This however is not the case for heavy metal. Though a few may argue against it, most of us will acknowledge that heavy metal was born on February 13th 1970 when a virtually unknown band from Birmingham, England called Black Sabbath came out with the darkest and heaviest album released up to that point in time: Black Sabbath.
Black Sabbath was unlike anything anyone had ever heard in 1970. These guys were louder and heavier than Led Zeppelin and had dark lyrical themes relating to Satan, wizards, H.P. Lovecraft references, and more. It takes that blues based hard rock and brings it to a whole different level. When the music wasn't crashing and pounding it had this sinister tone to it. Overall the album has this eerie, yet intriguing presence that makes you want to keep on listening.
Black Sabbath, the title track of the album starts things off and boy does it set the tone for what the band is about. It starts off with sounds of ominous thunderstorms that are then interrupted by the band stomping in with that iconic Devil's Triad based riff that repeats throughout the song in the most foreboding and frightening way. Ozzy Osbourne definitely did a splendid job of instilling even more hand trembling fear with his sinister vocal tone and horrifying screams. I remember being maybe 16 or 17 listening to this by myself in my room in the dark for the very first time and being nearly scared shitless. Needless to say, it made me want to listen on.
Warning in my opinion is one of the best Sabbath tracks of all time, but somehow it always gets overlooked and unspoken of. It's a cover of a song by The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation that gets extended into a ten and a half minute blues rock jam that takes many twists and turns. It definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time because it's so intense and you don't know which way it's going to turn next. The instrumentalists in the band really strut their stuff as individuals and as a cohesive unit here. This song is actually where I learned a lot of my guitar chops.
Black Sabbath is THE essential heavy metal album. It's where I would start anyone who wanted to get into Black Sabbath or heavy metal in general. This is where an entire genre and subsequent sub-genres have their roots. Without it, the world as a whole would be a very different place. That said, I can't think of a single track on it that I don't love to death. I think you'll understand why. For a real experience with it, play it while wandering a forest in mid-Autumn in the early evening. It will really be something else.
Black Sabbath, by Black Sabbath receives 5 out of 5 stars.
Track List:
1. Black Sabbath
2. The Wizard
3. Behind the Wall of Sleep
4. N.I.B.
5. Evil Woman
6. Sleeping Village
7. Warning
Bonus Track:
8. Wicked World
Buy the album on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Sabbath-Remastered/dp/B00HRN2SSU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1506065353&sr=8-2&keywords=Black+Sabbath
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