My complements to you!! I really enjoy your presentation and thoughtfulness. It must be time consuming and difficult - that being said, I hope to see your take on other bands very soon! Queen, Led Zeppelin- anyone really! Thanks for doing what you do!!!
Love your reviews top tens etc One observation, not a complaint, man, do you like the word topography. I'd describe your style as somehow like a Guardian review without the being wrong about everything trait. Great stuff. More power to your channel.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is my top one, then Master of Reality and third place goes to Sabotage, I feel they all have aged better than the first album and Paranoid.
As always an excellent, well reasoned exploration of the Sabbath catalog. Perhaps it is somewhat heretical to say, but Heaven and Hell has always been my favorite. Being that I was 14 at the time of its release, it had a major impact on me. Anyway, always enjoy your perspective. Cheers mate!
I have seen 1000's of concerts and Black Sabbath is my all time favorite band, I never got to see them together. I saw Ozzy solo and had the honor to see Dio on the Mob Rules tour. One of my favorite concert experiences was at the Born Again show where Ian Gillian sang Smoke on the Water with Black Sabbath, incredible. I always loved Vol. 4 myself.
Black Sabbath is my favorite band and I don’t think they’ve put out a single bad album just ones that are worse than others. My ranking of the 20 albums are: Heaven and Hell Sabotage Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Volume 4 Mob Rules Headless Cross Black Sabbath Cross Purposes Dehumanizer Tyr Master of Reality Paranoid Technical Ecstasy Born Again Eternal Idol The Devil You Know Never Say Die! Forbidden The Seventh Star 13
Hello! First comment in teh channel. I discovered teh channel yesterday when youtube recommended the Motorhead ranking video. I really enjoy these thingsa nd your thoughts on the albums. I've since listened to the Queen one, the David Bowie one (loved that and it looks like there are a couple of albums by him I still need to check out) and now, this one for one of my oldesta nd dearest favourites, Sabbath. So I have a soft spot for Cross Purposes, buecause until I heard that album I actually had no idea Sabbath had any albums past the 70s. I was a 90s teen and I guess by that time, none of the Dio stuff was being played on the radio and people didn't reallyt alk about it. I guess I wasn't aware that there was a song from Dehumanizer on the Wayne's World soundtrack in 1992. But anyway...The first song from the era I heard was 'Cross of Thorns", and I remember taping it and playing it for a friend and asking him to guess what band it was. of course he couldn't, and was truly mystified when I told him it was Sabbath. i still really like that song. Tony martin just makes those slow moody songs from his era work. Some of the rockers though, not so much. Those albums *all* suffered from thin guitar tones, in my opinion. It's not enough to spoil the fantastic Headless Cross, but even that one really suffers. Those remixes would be welcome!!
Fantastic show. My own personal ranking would be somewhat different but that's what makes music so interesting. I can't believe it's taken me so long to watch this! 👍
Brilliant video, Barry. An excellent choice for the number 1 spot. I have a soft spot for Sabotage as I think it’s an interesting listen. But any album from the classic era could be my favourite. I can’t argue with Paranoid, though. I love your explanations of the albums too.
Thank you,I was 12 in 1970,my older sister had their first album and didn't care for it very much so she gave it to me and I put it on my folks zenith console rain bell riff. It was a great time. Kinda fell out after technical extacy,extract, have to listen to heaven and hell.
I cannot believe that someone just got me to sit through a serious and scholarly dissertation on the historical importance of Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi. Even crazier than that? I am actually pulling out my old Sabbath albums and listening to them carefully for the first time since I was in college. Can you do one of these programs for Blue Oyster Cult? Or, better yet, the Peter Green Fleetwood Mac? (Come to think of it, the Bob Welch Fleetwood Mac was very good, also...) Many thanks!
I’m not a fan of the Tony Martin stuff sadly, but the song Eternal Idol is horrifically doomy..one of the most evil and deliciously depressing riffs ever.
Nice commentary once more on one of the best ever....I only disagreed with your rank of 13 and Never Say Die...they are in my top 8....but Paranoid is the one for me too....I rate the debut at 2. One of the greatest of all debut albums ever. Easily.😉
In the 80’s I used to drive past a sign for Headless across (near Redditch, close to Birmingham) on a weekly basis. It made me chuckle when Tony Iommi named the album after a place in Redditch.
Love the list. I would probably knock Technical Ecstasy much, much lower. Maybe last. Mid Seventies and so many great albums came out in '76 (2112, Leftoverture, Boston, Dirty Deeds, and many more). I had high expectations after Sabatoge and felt let down with what I thought was crap formula rock. "Back Street Kids" and "Rock and Roll Doctor" were embarrassing. It was the end of Sabbath for me, until 1980 and Dio brought them back. I saw that tour with Dio and they blew my head off. Love your videos.
I like Technical Ecstasy, and Never Say Die...but I get it. I know what you mean about 1976, with all those great albums coming out that year. Especially RUSH's 2112. (A stellar RUSH attempt). I think maybe I hold a sentimental attachment to TE and NSD, because I associate them with my youth. Those two albums are low on my list as well...but I like them, and feel...that for the times...they fit. I mean...it is still Ozzy's vocals blaring. (To this day...I will still put TE and/or NSD in the truck stereo, on a long trip to visit the parents). Just takes me back to those late 70's, of my youth.
Cross Purposes is hands down the best Tony Martin Sabbath...Virtual Death....Evil Eye....those two tracks alone put it over the top...musically and lyrically...pure evil...it was rumoured that Van Halen played on Evil Eye doing the solo...not only is it unconfirmed .....but it is clearly obvious that Iommi is doing those leads...also your right about Eternal Idol with the guitar sound....trying to get it to be 80's schlock....except for the awesome title track and Lost Forever...those tracks are incredibly great....both albums blow Headless Cross away...talk about 80's schlock sound.....same with Seventh Star.......Dehumanizer is a great album....blows away everything after Born Again....and Born Again is one of my favorite albums ..of all bands........Gillan sounds incrediibly evil on this....Disturbing the Priest is an absolute vocal masterpiece.....that and Zero the Hero are Sabbath anthems....thanks for this video...
#1 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath without any doubt whatsoever, then Masters of Reality #2, in my world no way Dio tops Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, that's just blasphemy. Personally ill say the first 10 whole years worth of albums, but at least the 1st 6 are always top 6. ") thanks for your work. Much love n rock.
I never got why people rank "Master of Reality" so high.. Sweet Leaf and Children of the Grave are good but not all that exceptional. I actually think SBS, Vol 4 and the first album are all better having more original and better material IMO.. Maybe because it more closely resembles the Metal genre of the late 80s/early 90s as does Sabbotage. I always saw Sabbath as Rock n' Roll first before that genre term was coined.
Sabotage is my favourite Ozzy era, followed by Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. However, I think Heaven And Hell might just eclipse them, less experimental but more melody and obviously sublime vocals from Ronnie. I think Born Again is a bit of a gem that has come under attack, but Iommi should never have agreed to the awful cover art or the terrible mix, which have certainly hasn't helped the album's status within their back catalogue, and Gillan is on fine form and probably pushed his voice too far on this. I agree that some of the albums could do with being remixed, obviously Born and Again and all of the Martin era.
I don't own all Sabbath-Albums. In fact, I don't really care about the ones I don't really know. In same cases I know some songs (I've got the 4 CD Box covering everything until 1987) and they don't make me care. I rank the ones I have: 12. HEADLESS CROSS: I knew the Title Track from some sampler and really dig it. Never warmed up to the rest. It's basically the only song I like on it. 11. TECHNICAL ECSTASY: I have to admit: I only bought it because of the Live Album included in the SUPER DELUXE EDITION. Other than that I like a couple of songs and I'm not overly bothered by it when it's playing. 10. 13: It's fine, but not close to the first six or the three with Dio in my opinion. It sounds great, start to finish. But the songs for the most part don't really stick with me. 9. VOLUME 4: It's got a some great songs, but I don't really listen to it all that much. 8. BLACK SABBATH: Great, raw Album. I don't think they've found themselves yet. That came with the second one. 7. PARANOID: I could do without PLANET CARAVAN which I think is pretty annoying. Other than that it's great. 6. DEHUMANIZER: My first Sabbath-Album, actually. I've seen "Wayne's World", of course. At first I didn't like that TIME MACHINE sounded different on the Album. But AFTER ALL, MASTER OF INSANITY, LETTERS FROM EARTH ... And COMPUTER GOD has to be considered somewhat prophetic by now. Probably the heaviest they ever were. 5. HEAVEN AND HELL: Another classic with some great, great songs. 4. MASTER OF REALITY: I think that was my 3rd one, after DEHUMANIZER and PARANOID. Not counting REUNION (which I love) and the Box-Set I mentioned. Instantly liked it. 3. MOB RULES: Another one I generally love start to finish. I probably wouldn't miss COUNTRY GIRL if it wasn't on there, but it's fine. 2. SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH: A little more progressive than the previous efforts. Probably why I like it that much. 1. SABOTAGE: Continuing that turn into more progressive areas. Two of the latest ones I bought, by the way. I would've loved the SUPER DELUXE EDITION-treatment for BLACK SABBATH, MASTER OF REALITY and SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH. But for some reason they didn't do it. There might not be enough material for the debut, I get this. But there should be something for the other two, shouldn't there?
I played the ever loving shit out of side 2 of dehumanizer in 92, didn’t even listen to the vocals just jammed to the music, I never even realized Dio was there or didn’t care.
I believe your list is nearly spot on. I'm sure I will get jumped on for this, but I would have placed Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules at #1 and #2. Ronnie James Dio was a perfect fit in Sabbath, and both of those records absolutely shine. I was in high school when they were released and I wore both of them out. Perhaps a bit of my fondness for my young and carefree days factors into this, so I will admit to a certain degree of bias here.
Everyone has their own opinions, but Dehumanizer being below Never Say Die or Technical Ecstasy and some of the others you selected, I have to respectfully disagree. "Computer God, After All, Time Machine, It's too Late, TV Crimes. I place Dehumanizer in their top 8. Only behind the first 5 albums, and the 2 other Dio albums.
Thanks for comparing Black Sabbath to UK's answer to Alice Cooper in a way. I find both bands to be the direct influence to what makes Heavy Metal a thing among other subgenres of metal that came later. Black Sabbath tending to get more credit but Alice Cooper may arguably deserve more credit as his band influenced and created more genres of metal (Goth theatrics punk psychobilly etc) and did so one year before Sabbath 1969.
I personally really enjoy the guitar sounds on Seventh Star and the Tony Martin albums. It does sound more polished and slick, with less of that characteristic Iommi muddy sandpaper grind, but the music and lyrics didn't quite suit a Master of Reality rumbling sound
I loved Born Again. It was my understanding that this album wasn't to be a Sabbath album which I think it would have been better received if it did. Agree with your analysis.
It is a great album but that is the point where the drugs set in(the point of no return) and it still doesn't have the power and force of Master of Reality.
Yep, followed closely by Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. But Sabotage has moments that I have come to recognise the brilliance of in the 35+ years of listening to it
It's all diminuendo , instead of the typical crescendo approach to so many ballads . It is one of the few , if not the only album recorded that featured so many songs that kind of get mellower as they progress, quite an achievement but I believe that the album probably would have sold better if songs like the Writ, would have been just straight-up traditional songs ending at the heavy part. Technically they're only 2 cracks that could truly be defined as diminuendos , nose would be the aforementioned the Writ , and the Thrill of it All.this album definitely features some of the only screaming vocals done through Ozzy's entire career. Hole in the sky is arguably iron maiden's entire career put into one song
I almost agree. Sabotage...is my 2nd pick, with only Master Of Reality topping it. Sabotage...is a true masterpiece. Though I prefer Master Of Reality over Sabotage...I probably listen to Sabotage way more. Master...is just so ingrained in my head...it sometimes gets old. But yes...Sabotage, is greatly underrated in the Black Sabbath catolog, by even the hardest core Sabbath fans. Sabotage...is true grit.
Sabotage is THE s***. The riff to Symptom is enough on its own. Just that one riff is enough. Not to mention insane tempo and theme changes in most of the songs, the dramatic choir in Supertzar. The thrill of Thrill of it All. Best album by Sabs, Top 10 (metal) album overall!!!
Master of Reality was the pinnacle for me... I'll never forget hearing it for the first time as a young kid. I like all of the original albums up to Sabotage....very spotty after that with the exception of Heaven and Hell which kicked ass
To be honest, I have trouble deciding a favourite out of their first 6 albums...agree their following albums are patchy, Heaven and Hell is decent in its own right but it's not Sabbath to me, it's Dio.
@@harryirene1 Yes it was not easy trying to listen to them when they released that first album with Dio and I only learned to appreciate it over the years because there is some good stuff on it and the band was playing excellent. I liked about half of the album to be honest and didn't like the next one at all and believe me I tried... and after that it was that horrible album with Ian Gillan which should have been aborted. I never listened to much after that even the ine when Dio came back or the great reunion with Ozzy... it just isn't the same
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Never Say Die are my two favorites. Never understood the dislike for Never Say Die. Johnny Blade, Junior's Eyes and Airdance are worth the price of admission alone.
Totally agree with you, "Never Say Die" for me ranks higher than TE, MOR, and Sabbotage. It gets a bad rap because the band was having issues with Ozzy.
I've watched a lot of Black Sabbath album rankings and I don't know why nobody ever talks about the song, "Under the Sun" from Vol. 4. It is their most stand out track from all of their albums. Ferocious doom metal in 1972.
I got into Sabbath when the Eternal Idol album was released. So, I started with the Martin albums, then worked back to the Dio and Gillan albums. Ozzy era was the last and my least favorites.
steve tobin - Apparently that was the idea for the 2011 reissue, but they couldn’t find/access the master tapes. A shame since it’s one of the worst sounding albums around.
@@hermanhelmich That's funny, one of things I like about this album is the production! Oh well, to each his own. I definitely wish Dio would have come up with a better lyric than" what do you say to the dead' for example. It does come off as a little cheesy, but I still love After All.
It's an overlooked disc for sure. Hard to believe it was followed by the disjointed Forbidden. Eye Witness, Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Cardynal Sin, Virtual Death, Evil Eye. It was a cool album.
@Kevin Badger I am as turned off by Ozzy only Sabbath listeners, or Blackmore only Deep Purple, David Byron era Uriah Heep, etc, but Mr.Truxton DID comment above that he enjoys Eternal Idol and Headless Cross. Granted, I don't quite understand how one could find Cross Purposes boring, from the careening, break neck pace of opener Eye Witness on through to Hand that Rocks the Cradle and Cardynal Syn, to the closing number Evil Eye, the fact remains that a narrow minded Ozzy fanboy would never accept Eternal Idol (my favorite Martin era album) or Headless Cross. I'm not quite moved by Headless Cross or Tyr the way I am by the other 2 Martin albums (I pretend that Forbidden never was recorded), but I listen to the 3 (4 counting The Devil You Know) Dio fronted Sabbath albums, Born Again with Ian Gillan, and Seventh Star with Glenn Hughes as much or more than I do the 8 albums Ozz and the original lineup produced (Sabotage and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath being their peak). I don't think finding two Martin albums to be a bit generic and another to be an abortion makes me an Ozzy fanboy. As a matter of fact, I love listening to the early 80s Dio interview where Dio responds to Ozzys earlier comments about Sabbath not being worthy of carrying the Sabbath trademark , RJD smoked Ozzy like he did his traditional half of a joint before taking the stage for a show. I've saw the classic lineup in concert, the Dio/Appice H&H lineup in concert, and was also fortunate enough to catch Dio solo in concert and Ozzy solo.
Black Sabbath’s 1970 self titled debut album is my personal favorite of theirs. They have so many classic must have albums. 13 is their Worst album in my opinion.
I received Masters of reality and paranoid age 13 on Christmas Eve. I snuck beers and listen to those albums all night while my parents had a small neighbor holiday celebration in the living room. headphones on, getting drunk for the first time listening to Black Sabbath. knocking over bookshelf that held my Panasonic stereo. I was hooked.
I know it's just opinion, but for me, the music on Tyr and Cross Purposes stands head and shoulders above Technical Ecstacy or Never Say Die. The Tony Martin years are so under-appreciated by so many, it's a shame. Granted, Forbidden is shit.
Gordon Heaney Guitarologist and Flatulist tyr i agree with, love the feel of that album..to be fair i havent (in all these years) played cross purposes that many times
I think at times I'm prejudiced by the production values of the 1980s that sound so fake to me now. I would love to hear a remix of these albums. Tony Martin had an incredible voice and I love 'Headless Cross'
Cross Purposes is often ignored, and I understand why, but it does have some great tracks on it (as well as some poor ones) and the production is really good, definitely worth a revisit IMO
Tyr is in my top 10 actually 10th instead of 13 album your 1-9 I agree with, although actual order may change. But I agree they are in the top 9😉 great review
@@classicalbum I know. And I don't know how you arrived at it. For one, SABOTAGE takes EVERYTHING they had been doing from that first album right up until SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH, and puts it all on one album. So in the middle of "The Writ" you get moments of a "Hand of Doom" coupled with "Laguna Sunrise." It is an amalgamation of everything they had been doing in the world of "heavy metal." Which was groundbreaking, because NO ONE sounded like them in 1969/1970. They were making a genre of their own. SABOTAGE takes that genre, and pushes it past what they had done before; which leads you to : SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE. The pundits who go to Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" and say they got there first, are so "off" it's like they never listened to music before. The opening of Symptom TELLS you this is something absolutely new and unheard of previous. If "Children of the Grave" made "The Immigrant Song" sound like the boys from Led Zeppelin were going on a Viking picnic, "Symptom of the Universe" makes every "hard rock" band of the time sound like they barely maintained erections, let alone knew what "hard" meant. Symptom is groundbreaking. And Black Sabbath from 1970 right up until 1975 were creating an entire genre unto themselves, but would influence countless numbers of bands that followed. Lyrically, whether Geezer or Ozzy were writing the contents of SABOTAGE (both did) , Black Sabbath in the 1970's lyrically makes every Dio rainbow, wheel, dragon, king, mountain look incredibly redundant. How you can pass by lyrics such as these (which are Ozzy written) You are nonentity, you have no destiny You are a figment of a thing unknown A mental picture of a stolen soul The fornication of your golden throne And go for Dio's fascination with rainbows, I have no idea. Sabbath lyrics in the Ozzy era were close to poetry. And both SABOTAGE and SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH reach lyrical plateaus that Dio never could reach. And not because he was tiny. He was just fascinated with the words that easily rhyme. OZZY! Between 1973 - 1975, Ozzy was a vocalist to be reckoned with. And his performance on SABOTAGE is the performance of his career. He is singing his ass off on that album. And i cannot think of any other singer that was attempting to even do what he was doing in 1973 - 1975. Not even a Rob Halford. Not a Plant. Not a Gillan. What Ozzy's doing on SABOTAGE is singing his heart out. And half the time you can hear him singing til he has no breath left (SEE SYMPTOM'S VERSES). He was on fire between 1973 - 1975. THE THRILL OF IT ALL is one of the best vocals he ever did for Black Sabbath. I don't know why he is so down on this album, when it's the one he should be the proudest of. SABOTAGE is a reason why he still had a career AFTER Black sabbath. He couldn't sing like that anymore, but what he could do cemented a reputation as a singer with some serious power. And his range had increased since that first album. They kept down tuning. He kept going higher. Listen to Ozzy on that first album, and then listen to SABOTAGE. He had developed so far beyond how he had started, it should eclipse anything Dio did. Because Dio always sounds the same. A great vocalist. Technically superior. But he's singing about goddamn rainbows half the time. I just don't know how you put The Mob Rules before Black Sabbath's masterpiece, Sabotage. How did you get there???? I don't mean to imply your opinion is wrong, because it's yours. But goddamn. Have you not listened to Sabotage lately? If I say anything here that makes you go back to that album and realise that's their masterpiece, or at least listen to the thing and say, goddamn, Ozzy is kicking ass on this, goddamn the lyrics are awesome, goddamn they took everything they had been doing and put it on one album, sometimes in one song, then I've helped you! ;)
Different albums can mean different things for different people. 'Mob Rules' has a special place in my heart. Don't get me wrong, I love 'Sabotage'... but if you look at the comments to this video everyone's ranking is different not definitive. Therefore let's just agree Sabbath were a great band that made some truly great music.
Nothing wrong at all with the production on The Eternal Idol at all. Don't agree with that. The Shining is their best 80s song. Yes even better then the song Heaven and Hell.
Seventh Star is great album. One shouldn’t keep describing albums as Un-Black Sabbath. All artists like to develop and experiment. Also. I am not a purist “Black Sabbath was all about the Ozzy 70s. And definitely Born Again was much better then 13. Disturbing The Priest is a bona fide Sabbath classic. For me Technical Ecstasy was the least best.
Technical Ecstasy is their last album worth listening too. I completely disagree with your ratings. "Gypsy" is awesome. "It's Alright" is amazing with Bill Ward on vocals. This is a highly underrated album. The slow songs fit perfectly. You praise Jethro Tull for changing gears from album to album. Why not Sabbath?
Good ratings. But why is Cozy Powell underrated? Literally everybody wanted him in their band. And he did! Cozy was always ranked with the best. As was Ian Paice.
I remember when Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules, Blizzard of Oz, and Diary of a Madman were all were released basically within the same 2 year span... I was so torn.
1) Vol 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage Born Again rules The albums after Born just repeat the Heaven and Hell template. Musically and lyrically. Combo of last 2 Ozzys, Die In Ecstasy: Back Street Kids You Won't Change Me It's Alright Juniors Eyes A Hard Road All Moving Parts (Stand Still) Air Dance Rock N Roll Doctor Breakout Swinging The Chain
Bit harsh on Cross Purposes. Bit lacking in mojo, but I think the songs are good. Remixes of all the TM albums would be good as you say (particularly HC and Tyr)
Don Airey also featured in a band called Coloseum II, a jazz/prog instrumental group featuring Gary Moore, Jon Hiseman on drums and a bassist whose name escapes me at the moment.
Great list! Always love your reasoning on which album in better or worse. Not that i agree on all but still you have thought it through thuroughly. Could you do a Whishbone Ash album count? To me they are such an underrated band with so many really great songs.
Almost of the raning is good but the Dehumanizer is not fit well..the best 90s album of sabbath should be in top ten ..and born again is much better than two last of Ozzy
My top 10 are 1. Sabotage 2. Paranoid 3. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 4. Vol 4 5. Black Sabbath 6. Never Say Die 7. Master Or Reality 8. Mob Rules 9. Heaven And Hell 10. Technical Ecstasy Eternal Idol is my fav Tony Martin album.
