Sabbath bloody sabbath (Black Sabbath) (LP 564 - 565)

Black Sabbath Reunion (CD, Sony Music, 1998) ***

Black Sabbath 13 (CD, Vertigo, 2013) ****

Genre: Metal 

Places I remember: Both came from JB Hi-Fi Palmerston North. 13 came out while I was living back in Hawke's Bay after our China adventure.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: War Pigs (Reunion); Loner (13)

Gear costume: End Of The Beginning, God Is Dead? (both on 13)

Active compensatory factors: The mainly live Reunion double album doesn't disappoint (the two studio tracks tacked on to the end are actually really good too).

That's as long as you forgive Ozzy the repetitious and tedious between song patter (variations on 'louder', clap your ****** hands and the f-bomb attack in particular all gets rather silly). I've deducted a star for that because it grates after a while.

The real stars on both CDs are Tony, Bill and Geezer; they make an almighty racket for three blokes. Especially Tony Iommi. What a great riff man he is. 13 is mostly awesome because of him.

There are highlights aplenty on the live set and I do have a soft spot for material from Masters Of Reality and Paranoid - easily their best albums.

War Pigs kicks things off the set spectacularly - Ozzy sings a line and allows the audience to sing the next line of each couplet. It works well!

13 is a great reunion album (albeit without Bill Ward). Their powers are not diminished with age and the more the years go by, the more stars I'll be adding to this. The first three songs in particular are all classics!

Where do they all belong? I can't see them doing another studio album. If I'm right, then remember them this way.

Into the void (Black Sabbath) (LP 128 - 129)

Black Sabbath Paranoid (Vinyl/CD - Vertigo, 1970) *****
Black Sabbath Master Of Reality (Vinyl/CD - Vertigo, 1971) *****

Genre: English pop/rock

Places I remember: The RCA Record Club was a wondrous thing. I could save my pennies - pore over the catalogue, make a selection, send off a money order and get a record in the post!! Wohsers! 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Sweetleaf




Gear costume: War Pigs/ Paranoid/Fairies Wear Boots/Into The Void/Electric Funeral...I could go on!

Active compensatory factors: These two are lumped together because I bought Master Of Reality (their third album) first, then got Paranoid (their second album) pretty quickly afterwards.

Does that make sense?

For me, they are like Rubber Soul and Revolver - two albums that are almost Volume 1 and 2.

Sweetleaf was a revelation in 1971 (I was a very naive 13 year old, and so had no idea they were singing about marijuana). I played it loud!! A lot!! What must my parents have thought?

The sound of these two albums is quite similar, production wise. Even now, listening to the songs on the debut Black Sabbath and Vol 4, they sound weedy (no pun intended) or unfocused in comparison, whereas the two albums in between hold grungy, resonant riffermania thrills aplenty.

Ozzy was never better than here. 

Where do they all belong? Even though I loved these two albums I never bothered with the first and fourth albums. These two stand alone, and were never bettered. I stand by my decision.

You introduced me, to my mind (Black Sabbath)

Nothing sums up my naivety more than this track. Of course, it is obvious to me now that this song is celebrating Ozzie's love of marijuana but I was a naive young 13 year old guy when I bought the Master Of Reality album and gazed at the long haired heavy metaller young gods lounging around a tree! http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradley_loos/437742563/

The song itself was a revelation to me at that seminal time. I loved playing it loud and the guitar riff burrowed its way into my skull over repeat listenings. Perfect air guitar fodder.

I have two memories that (maybe) reveal the ignorance/naivety of my teachers and parents.

During the fifth form, I had to do a speech at school for English, and I chose to do it on my musical discoveries (by then I had a sizeable collection and it was an obvious choice of topic). I threaded up my dad's reel to reel and used Sweet Leaf as a key track. My teacher was impressed and asked me to repeat my speech - obviously he didn't get the real intent behind the lyrics either.

The other memory is of my parents dragging me out of my bedroom at 18 Korma Rd., during a party they were hosting, to play Sweet Leaf to their friends. I did so (at some volume). I guess everyone was suitably amused and I went back to my room armed with party food. My parents (and I) never indulged in drugs so this wasn't a knowing wink to anything!

The technology has moved on in the intervening years and now I can add the track to my blog. Live versions don't do it I'm afraid. Even the rough Live At Last version is a pale shadow of the behemoth that roared out of one my first (and best) ever purchases.

I close my eyes and remember the days of a blood red sky and a purple haze (Starship)

The final theme centres on the arty farty world of the album cover. In practice this is a bit of a mixture of comic book art, drawings, and paintings used to sell an image - Commander Cody as a Flash Gordon type character, Conan the Barbarian style warriors used on the southern boogie band Molly Hatchet and so on.

I have many favourites in this category - here are the first 10.

By the way - the Big Man's passing will be marked in the appropriate way in a post to come soon. In the meantime suffice to say the world got a little less flamboyent and a little less exciting as a result of his passing.