Lastly I had some driving around town, giving me a chance to get through another album. I guess whether you are driving around doing chores, or fidgeting about uselessly at home, it is good to do so with a record like this next one.
Disc 300 is...Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Artist: Black Sabbath
Year of Release: 1973
What’s Up With The Cover?: A man is tormented by demons - whether in his sleep or awake isn't clear. I think going to sleep in a bed with a headboard adorned with "666" he probably had it coming. I'd say these demons are succubi - spirits that use sexuality to corrupt the souls of men. A bed with a "666" headboard is like their home field.
I'd also say that although in 1973, this cover was probably more than a little controversial, nowadays it wouldn't likely cause anyone to lose sleep. OK - maybe Tipper Gore.
How I Came To Know It: As this is my 6th Black Sabbath album review, I've previously covered how I more generally got to know Sabbath. This particular album was always on my 'to get' list, but many years ago my friend Casey brought it over and I got a chance to hear it. This caused it to move up the list considerably.
How It Stacks Up: I have 10 studio albums by Sabbath, and 1 live album. Excluding the live album from the equation, I'd put "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" in at 6th. Bottom half, but only because of intense competition at the top. Since I've already reviewed 4 of the 5 albums that top it, you'll know why (or you can look - that's why there's a sidebar sorted by band name, jerky!)
Rating: 4 stars
"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" is Black Sabbath's fifth studio album in only four years, and in many ways represents the end of their initial creative explosion (it would be two years more until "Sabotage" - a good record as well, but not on par with what came before).
All of Sabbath's main elements are here - the crunchy sound, heavy bone-jarring Tony Iommi guitar riffs that sound as timeless and fresh in 2011 as they did nearly forty years ago, and topics heavily featuring the occult and designed to generally frighten mothers around the globe.
Songs that deliver this signature sound on "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" include the title track, and "A National Acrobat" a song that slowly chugs its way forward, complete with lyrics by Ozzy that sound like some dreadful combination of sex ed class and a story by H.P. Lovecraft:
"I am the world that hides the universal secrets of all time
Destruction of the empty spaces is my one and only crime
I've lived a thousand times, I found out what it means to be believed
The thoughts and images the unborn child that never was conceived."
The lyrics only get weirder from here, and it is better for the sanity of both writer and reader if I impart no more of them. Let's just say Ozzie is beginning his final descent into the crazy and strangely insightful world he now inhabits (albeit sober, in more recent days).
Layered on top of this traditional sound, Sabbath is working early synthesizers on tracks like "Killing Yourself to Live" adding a thick fuzzy sound that legions of Seattle grunge bands like Soundgarden would draw inspiration from twenty years later.
And amidst all this heavy metal thunder, the almost classical sounding instrumental "Fluff" appears. A quiet little song that would be more at home on a British folk recording from the sixties. "Fluff" demonstrates Iommi's range with the guitar, showing he can be as gentle as Leona Boyd when he wants to - and yet miraculously avoid sucking. Iommi also plays piano on this, and other tracks on "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and acquits himself admirably.
There are only a couple of songs that are lesser, principally "Sabbra Cadabra" a love song, which takes on an ominous tone because of its title. When Ozzy sings:
"Lovely lady, mystifying eyes
Lovely lady, she don't tell me no lies
I know I'll never leave ya
I'm never gonna leave ya anymore no more."
I found myself thinking of the album cover filled with succubi, or any other kind of vampiric spell that takes away your will. That said, despite the promising idea, the music doesn't stand as strong as the other tracks on the album.
While I couldn't go quite as far as to give this record the coveted 5 stars, it came close. A testament to the consistently high standard of art that Black Sabbath was still putting out, five records into their career.
Best tracks: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, A National Acrobat, Fluff, Killing Yourself To Live, Looking For Today
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