Black Sabbath - Sabotage poll

This block is about Black Sabbath and to celebrate Ozzy. I had something else in mind but bumming for Metal. All these albums are all in the category of I can't believe we haven't polled this yet!?!

probably my favorite Sabbath album. either "Megalomania" or "The Writ".

Megalomania

"Symptom..." because it has one of my favourite Iommi riffs, and because of the amazing coda- pure Balearic bliss

Pretty sure this album is Ozzy's pinnacle as a vocalist.

Symptom! and then probably Hole In The Sky

feel like the writ and symptom will get lots of votes so i’m thinking “hole in the sky”

Tricky because an absolute blinder of an album, went with Megalomania though.

Sounds like I'm in the minority, but I've always considered this the weakest of the big 6.

Voting "Symptom of the Universe"

megalomania!!!!!!

best album

I like it when Ozzy yells “suck me!” so Megalomania gets my vote.

i definitely remember joking to my then fiancé some 13 plus years back that we shouldn't invite anyone to our wedding that didn't fuck with "megalomania"

Between Thrill of it All and Hole for me. I think Hole wins out because it grooves so hard while also being heavy as fuck

Crazy how this album is so strong and then just one year they put out Tech Ec…what happen

Tech echh

Cocaine, Second-Hand Suck from sharing a studio complex with the Eagles.

Well, yeah

Crazy how this album is so strong and then just one year they put out Tech Ec…what happen

― calstars, Thursday, September 4, 2025 7:01 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

i mean... this glorious trainwreck of an album cover should've been a tell a TE wasn't too far out of their reach.

'The Writ' for me...now that's a proper groove...and the lyrics really stick it to the man..."what kind of people do you think we are!"...I get so outraged for them each time I hear that line

when i think Geezer and his Sabbath work, "The Writ" is the first thing that comes to mind. it's one of those funny things where i got into Om before Sabbath and then down the road hear this album where the influence is so brazenly apparent.

I just listened to this album for the first time, heavy.

What

the transition of “don’t stop”into “symptom” is terrifying

Hard to beat the guitar tone on “thrill”

“If my songs become my freedom…”

I was a Hole in the Sky guy for decades, but now I have to say Megalomania. All four members peaking at once. And that doomy first section, it never fails to crawl up my spine.

There is no wrong answer

(Except don’t stop. That would be a wong answer.)

Symptom for me but The Writ also rules quite hard

(xp) Blow On A Jug?

"Crazy how this album is so strong and then just one year they put out Tech Ec…what happen"

I think they were just burned. That much drugs, that many records and shows in a few years. They had done 6 studio albums in 5 years and did gigs all over the place the whole time.

Deep Purple blew apart way faster, but the thing was go make the money while there is money to be made.

Led Zeppelin had their own crash too. It all kinda just went wrong.

yeah like creatively they had been full of ideas and enthusiasm that the initial pace didn’t hamper them much at all, like the creative output was like opening a spigot… but once you load in all the mountains of coke & booze plus constant touring/recording like you reach Technical Ecstasy their brains are just fucking cooked, all of them

it always sounded like Iommi was constantly coming up w riffs even when the wheels were falling off but I think there’s something where with him he always objectively saw it as necessary for survival almost? even when he was strung out and playing saxophones at 2am lol

I think all those bands liked to jam. Kind of wild how many studio sessions they did while all on the road. That was why both Sabbath and Zeppelin ended up staying in LA for a while. Deep Purple did the album in the hotel after the theater burned.

I’ve always been amazed at how Iommi will put like three amazing riffs in one song that lesser talents would have tried to make three separate songs out of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8_NCX2AwLE

That the last minute of The Writ wasn’t employed as the main riff for its own song is a criminal oversight on Iommi’s part.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

SimpTom!

that time we dropped double-dip and someone put on Sabotage, oh yeah

Vote Thrill!

I mean the tortured voices on the writ …

This thread inspired me to revisit this album last night, and I'm sticking to my original contention that this is the weakest of the big six. The best songs here are all strong candidates for the "Songs with an all time verse that the chorus doesn't come close to delivering upon" thread; "Megalomania" lays waste to any momentum built up by "Hole In The Sky" and "Symptom of the Universe" and is, like "The Writ," far too long. I've been listening to Sabbath since I was a child - my father is a big fan - and even I barely remembered "Supertzar." If anything, I like this album less than I remembered. Not to be a killjoy, but I don't see how this album rates anywhere near the preceding five masterpieces.

xp which start in the final 30 or seconds of "Am I Going Insane"! the transition from that into the main riff of "The Writ" is an absolute marvel to listen to on headphones.

Symptom

Supertzar is great, you mad bro
Tony with a vocal choir? Epic

Great album overall but Supertzar is by far my favourite thing on it

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Correct if expected victory.

fair do's

9. "Blow on a Jug" (hidden track) 0:30 1

Supertzar is like a tantalising glimpse of a future where Sabbath went full prog, it's glorious!

god this album rules.

This album is top heavy but what a top for a band coming apart from the seams.