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Black Sabbath has been so influential in the
development of heavy metal rock music as to be
a defining force in the style. The group took
the blues-rock sound of late '60s acts like Cream,
Blue Cheer, and Vanilla Fudge to its logical conclusion,
slowing the tempo, accentuating the bass, and
emphasizing screaming guitar solos and howled
vocals full of lyrics expressing mental anguish
and macabre fantasies. If their predecessors clearly
came out of an electrified blues tradition, Black
Sabbath took that tradition in a new direction,
and in so doing helped give birth to a musical
style that continued to attract millions of fans
decades later.
Black Sabbath, sometimes simply called Sabbath,
is a British heavy metal band originally composed
of Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar),
Geezer Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums). Black
Sabbath formed in Birmingham, England in the late
1960s under the name Polka Tulk Blues Band (soon
shortened to "Polka Tulk"), and later Earth. Initially
a blues rock band, Earth moved in a darker direction
when Geezer Butler, a fan of the black magic novels
of Dennis Wheatley, wrote an occult-themed song
titled "Black Sabbath" (the song name was apparently
inspired by a 1963 Boris Karloff film). When the
band found themselves being confused with another
local band called Earth, they adopted the song
title as their new name.
The newly-named Black Sabbath adopted darker lyrical
themes and a slower, ominous style, and became
one of the definitive classic heavy metal bands,
often ranked alongside Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple
and Judas Priest in importance and influence.
Some have gone so far as to argue that Black Sabbath
"invented" heavy metal. While this may be overstating
the case, there is little argument that Black
Sabbath was a profoundly important group in the
music's development.
A versatile group with many signature sounds,
Black Sabbath are regarded as a primary source
for many subgenres of heavy metal music, including
doom metal, death metal, and stoner metal. With
an extremely gifted rhythm section and the extraordinary
on-stage antics of Ozzy Osbourne the band enjoyed
success with memorable songs and brutal riffs
beginning with their first album, the eponymous
Black Sabbath (1970). Their follow-up album Paranoid
(also 1970) brought them greater attention in
America and the UK. The content of the songs (both
originals and cover versions) from both albums
demonstrated an interest in the occult and black
magic. This was a crucial step in establishing
the "darkness" and "heaviness" of later heavy
metal lyrics, and Black Sabbath were among the
first groups to feature such lyrical content,
almost to the exclusion of other topics. Led Zeppelin,
The Doors and others might have hinted at magic
or the occult, but few contemporaries could match
Black Sabbath for directness, such as "My name
is Lucifer/Please take my hand" (from Black Sabbaths
"N.I.B."). Butler wrote many of the lyrics.
Another innovation was the by-product of an accident:
Iommi's fretting fingers were injured in an industrial
accident during his early tenure with Earth. He
was working in a sheet metal factory at the time
and the tops of the two middle fingers on his
right hand were sliced off. Initially, he forged
himself prosthetics from a melted plastic detergent
bottle. The injured fingers were understandably
tender, so Iommi down tuned his Gibson guitar
from a standard E to C#. The resultant slackness
of the string allowed him to play with less bother
to his fingertips. Butler also down tuned his
bass guitar to more easily follow Iommi's playing.
The lower pitch often seemed "heavier" or more
substantive, and Black Sabbath were perhaps the
first popular group to down tune. The practice
of down tuning is now common — perhaps even standard
— among metal groups. Black Sabbath released a
further three albums, Master of Reality (1971),
Vol. 4 (1972), and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
before management problems and the a label change
from Vertigo to WWA disrupted the band's release
schedule. Sabotage, was released in 1975. Technical
Ecstasy (1976) and Never Say Die! (1978) were
the last two albums with Ozzy, and are generally
seen as inferior to the first six.
Rumors that Osbourne was to leave the band were
proved true in 1979 (Osbourne formed Blizzard
of Ozz, swiftly renamed to Ozzy Osbourne Band).
He was replaced by Ronnie James Dio but Osbourne's
departure was clearly the end of an era for the
band. Black Sabbath's first album with Dio, Heaven
and Hell, was surprisingly successful, but their
second, Mob Rules, was mediocre, and Dio left.
The band engaged Ian Gillan of Deep Purple for
the record Born Again, but that lineup didn't
stick either. At this point, Tony elected to record
a solo album and enlisted the otherwise unnotable
Glenn Hughes. This record featured no other original
members of Black Sabbath, but record company pressure
caused Seventh Star to be released as Black Sabbath
featuring Tony Iommi. Black Sabbath's next singer
was Tony Martin, with whom they released The Eternal
Idol, Headless Cross, and Tyr; then Dio returned
for one album, Dehumanizer; back to Martin for
Cross Purposes, Cross Purposes Live, and Forbidden.
Since Sabbath's last studio album in 1995 (Forbidden),
it's been a collection of live albums and greatest
hits packages (see album list below), and appearances
at various Ozzfests (1997, 1999, 2001, & 2004).
Sabbath has promised a new studio album since
2001, but it has yet to materialize. One song
from the writing sessions for that album (Scary
Dreams) was played live during Sabbath's set on
the Ozzfest 2001 tour). In 1985, the original
members of Black Sabbath reunited for the Live
Aid benefit concert. In 1992, the 1980-1982 version
of Black Sabbath reunited and toured for the album
Dehumanizer. In 1992, the original members of
Black Sabbath played three songs after one of
Ozzy Osbourne's "retirement" concerts in Costa
Mesa, California. In 1995, the 1989-1991 version
of the band reunited for the album and tour for
Forbidden. In 1997, the original members of Black
Sabbath reunited, toured and released Reunion.
In 1999, 2001, and 2004, Black Sabbath reunited
and toured on Osbourne's Ozzfest.
They are claiming to release an album featuring
new material in 2005. The band rarely received
any critical praise ("blundering bozos" was one
description) and Osbourne's vocal talent can be
safely labeled as exuberant, but highly limited.
Nonetheless, they are widely acknowledged, influential
pioneers in the heavy metal field. Some of the
incidents and characters in the spoof rock documentary
This Is Spinal Tap are based on Black Sabbath.
For example the Stonehenge stage set idea in the
film was taken from a real stage used Black Sabbath
for their Born Again Tour. Black Sabbath had a
unique sound that emerged from diverse influences.
Tony Iommi was greatly influenced both by Hank
Marvin's playing on Cliff Richard and the Shadows'
heavy-guitar based recordings and by jazz guitar,
particularly that of Django Reinhardt. Bill Ward
has also expressed a fondness for jazz music in
general, and for drummer Buddy Rich especially;
this jazz influence may be heard on some of Ward's
playing with Black Sabbath. Early incarnations
of Black Sabbath merged elements of blues, jazz,
and rock and paid their dues playing cover versions
of songs by heavy rock acts including Jimi Hendrix,
Blue Cheer, and Cream.
Heavy metal began coalescing long before Black
Sabbath arrived on the scene--Jimi Hendrix, the
Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Who and the
Kinks had all made contributions to the fledgling
genre. But Sabbath added some entirely new twists.
Instead of focusing on virtuosic displays and
high-concept songwriting, the Birmingham, England
quartet stripped it down to a sludgy, throbbing,
primordial ooze balanced by front man Ozzy Osbourne's
deep affection for pop hooks.
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