Black Sabbath - classic or dud?/search and destroy

I've always thought Heaven & Hell was one of their best, certainly Dio's finest hour (for me his only hour).

Before I heard and found punk, Sabbath was the meanest of the music. The name alone used to freak out some kids.

Mind you this was back in like 5th or 6th grade in the early 80s, now these same kids today would probably be into Cannibal Corpse and downloading meth recipes off the net.

And now that I'm listening to this again today, let me say it again. Is "Megalomania" in the quiet parts the true influence on the weird creepy quiet parts on Def Leppard's "Foolin'"?

i'm gasping and sputtering like a fish out of water having a seizure.

Why, for "Supernaut" and "Cornucopia" and "Tomorrow's Dream" and the massive "Wheels of Confusion", of course!

(plus a couple-three pointless space-fillers/time-wasters but nevermind.)

AN UNDERSTATEMENT.

Why, for "Supernaut" and "Cornucopia" and "Tomorrow's Dream" and the massive "Wheels of Confusion", of course!

WTF!? Why is there so much Vol 4 hate? SNOWBLIND! Changes is pretty much the worst Sabbath song so I'm guessing that's why people have a problem with the album. Most of their albums have some crappy filler though so what's the big deal? St. Vitus Dance is a good song too BTW. And Wheels of Confusion, Supernaut and Snowblind are possibly the greatest Sabbath songs that don't get overplayed to death (if you're a bit tired of hearing Sweet Leaf/Iron Man/Paranoid/WarPigs et al.)

after a week of non-stop listening, I have decided that sabotage is probably their finest hour.

whoever whenever says sabotage's great, is for ever my friend-ah! :)

Stone cold fucking classic up through and including "Born Again".

Nice to see a bit of Born Again love for a change

Love it despite it being one of the most horrendous mixing/mastering/producing/engineering jobs(I'm a layman so I don't know which to blame) of all time.

I just found Never Say Die for like four bucks and I had never heard it so I grabbed it. Shock Wave!!! What a song. I was thrilled. Haven't listened to the rest yet but I already got my money's worth.

johhhnnyyyy blaaaaade
johhhnnnyyyy blaaaaa-aaaaade

OK I'm gonna put that one on next

Love it despite it being one of the most horrendous mixing/mastering/producing/engineering jobs(I'm a layman so I don't know which to blame) of all time.

Martin Popoff's excellent Sabbath book touches on that, the lacquers were left sitting around too long before pressing, and the sound got all distorted as a result. A major, major screw-up, but I kind of like the peculiar density of "Zero the Hero". Still, a remastered Born Again would be great to hear.

The Popoff book is fantastic. I read that anecdote, if I remember correctly, one of the band members was skeptical about that explanation. I've been meaning to track down his Blue Oyster Cult one, hopefully it's as good.

if it hasn't been mentioned yet in this thread (scrolling is hard work), the born again demos give you an idea of how that album should've sounded.

Those easy to find?

i got them on soulseek. but a google search of blogspot.com for the obvious search terms brought up a bunch of hits.

http://musictravellers.blogspot.com/2007/05/black-sabbath-1983-born-again-demos.html

Wow. Thanks!

Everyone who told me to get Sabotage and I didn't listen. Oh my god I'm so sorry. That is really the first Sabbath album I've heard where I can enjoy the whole thing. Though I used to have the deluxe Reunion CD and I'm sorry to say I don't have the damn thing anymore.

This band were the birth of goth, I really believe this.

But yeah, Sabotage is just the absolute deal. I don't know what to say. That album is just the absolute deal.

Wow, CLASSIC example of me not getting the point way upthread, totally missing Broheems/Stormy's obvious-to-anyone-who-isn't-me irony re Vol. 4 - especially considering he praised the first six just two posts previous! Maybe I was being extra-sarcastic myself, but it doesn't read that way. Weird...

Haha. I totally fell asleep during their set @ Winterland in 1973. It's kind of like the episode of Dick Van Dyke where he's questioned by the police, and his albi is he was at the movies seeing Guns of Navarone, but he can't give a plot synopsis 'cause he fell asleep.

I was there to see Yes, Wild Turkey opened, Sabbath headlined.

So I went to the doctor see what he could give meah
He said “son, son, you’ve gone too fah.
‘Cause smokin and trippin all that you do”
Yeahhhhhhh

yeahhhhhhh