THE BLACK SABBATH SOUND | The Sound of Metal 

A THOUSAND TIMES YES

Please Rick!!

This

Please Rick??? :-)

+1 For the Geezer video!

Bill Ward is very underrated. I rarely hear his name spoken when people talk of great drummers.

Someone had to say it and you are 100% spot on. They kicked ass from the 1st album!

I agree! The way Geezer plays adds to the "Sabbath Sound". They way he slaps the strings to get that big sound and the way Bill attacks the drums adds to their sound

@@davidpaul6656 not to mention, that pretty much all the lyrics are from him also

@@yangerjamir0906 sabbath bloody sabbath as well as children of the grave works so damn primarily because of them damn drums

This should be top comment, I choked laughing.

😂😂😂😎👍

To get a TRUE comparison....

LOL.

and play left handed

Metallica says that too

A great, wise, and with a very good taste guy.

They're the first and best of all time

That's a great band name - think Ghost doing full on disco

@@craigmurphy1204 at least we need an album with that name

I thought the Bobby Picket was the graveyard king with the graveyard swing.

Reminds me of RZA's "burial ground sound" his beats were often referred to as

Lol Just plain knarly

That's like saying lasagna isn't just the noodles, it's all the ingredients. No kidding. This is meant to show the guitar tone.

Bill underrated drummer one of the best tones if all time

The sound of "Classic Sabbath" from the first 3 records was also the result of Roger Bain's production style, which was a minimalistic approach... capture whole the band on the same take and then only essential overdubs. From Vol. 4 to NSD, Tony began producing (for better or worse) and the records lost that classic Sabbath sound.

Well that didn't need to be said

Bill Ward is criminally underrated

Orchid/Lord lf this world is pure metal gold

I think it's the record that has that archetypal Sabbath sound. Sonically it is the best sounding of their early records, I think Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is a great sounding record too. Master of Reality is a great record.

Zep 4 was 71. Maggot brain was 71. Electric warrior, who’s next. Allmans at fillmore, on and on. I’d say Blue was the heaviest.

@@joseph_432 Blue was heavy, but the guitar is nowhere near as aggressive

Sabbath were evil sounding and pitched low as it is. Before that record they touched the top of hell, with MoR they went right through hell and to the floor.

Love his tone on Warning.

Ohhh N.I.B. one of the most underated/forgotten songs ... What a tone!

Yes! Please do more on Geezer’s sound

That’s a defining moment in music history.

I remember reading something about a guitar head and amp with a blown speaker and a wah pedal accidently left half on that someone bumped into when the solo volume goes down but they couldn't afford another take. Also he cranks the mids, playes at bottom of the neck. All of the first album was recorded in one day, mixed the next. Really amazing stuff.

Nice tone chasing Rhett!! 🤘😎🤘

You guys inspired me to learn this song today! This is one of the heaviest songs of all time.

Most of my favorite tones are p90 SGs and Les Pauls. Tony, early Santana, Tommy/Leeds era Townsend...

There was almost too much sustain, it really sang.

Good day, can anyone tell me what the actual TUNING was? I think it was tuned to standard 440. I think it was tuned down, which would also give you a "Thicker" tone/sound. Any assistance in answering this question would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Agreed! The entire song is a riff masterclass

One of my favorite songs to blast out of my car early in the morning. There's something sublime about your car blaring sabbath as you're pulling into the supermarket parking lot. :)

@@jessejordache1869 Or into a church parking lot.

Don’t forget Mr. Bill Ward

Such a dirty iconic tone man! Great video Rick and Rhett 🙌

That's really interesting. I've never messed with tubes, everything I design is solid state. When I want to amplify a signal I use an op amp which typically have high PSRR and are completely different in operation from a tube. I would definitely try to filter that ripple out of the DC if I was making an amp, but like you said what is a "flaw" gives the equipment it's character and now they try to emulate those effects with solid state and digital electronics. Kind of an aside, but have you ever heard of NwAvGuy? He's got some great articles online about sound quality. He uses a lot of high tech and high dollar gear to objectively analyze audio equipment. Also an EE.

@@Fix_It_Again_Tony Yeah, I've run into a couple times in my career. Once when designing a high sensitivity transimpedance amplifier for a satellite instrument. The issue was that the instrument was being powered by a switching regulator which is even more noisy than rectifier type power supply. I've also seen power supply noise bleed into low-noise amplifiers on RF front-ends. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take a look at NwAvGuy!

Interesting comment about switching power supplies, since they are so common in modern electronics. I’m a ham radio operator, and noise from cheap switching supplies is a big problem in the RF range. Often hams prefer linear power supplies with transformers for this reason.

Very true. And perhaps one thing that wasn't mentioned was how the capacitor's size and number of them in the power supply of the amp have an effect on ghosting. Smaller capacitors allow more ripple to get through but also recover faster when discharged, larger capacitors have less ripple, but take longer to charge back up when they are discharged. Ghosting is the audible artifact that the discharging and recovering ( recharging ) capacitors create. There is also the number of nodes within the power supply. Each node utilizes a capacitor and a series of resistors to further reduce ripple downstream and also drop the voltage to the proceeding stages. The more nodes, the less ripple that is usually noticed at the critical first stages of the amplifiers preamp section. Fewer nodes mean more ripple gets to the preamp stages and a much higher draw on the node which discharges the capacitor faster. Having large coupling caps can also cause this as the amount of bass that each stage amplifies will eventually end up modulating with the power supply rail. 60hz and 120hz are common frequencies in which a power supply will show ripple. Most guitars don't have much content below about 80hz. So if you allow a significant amount of low-frequency content from the guitar to get amplified, it can modulate with the most noticeable and problematic frequencies that the power supply will have noise at if it is not stout enough. A stout power supply is one where large capacitor values are employed and with sufficient nodes to further reduce ripple and draw on the main node. Bass amps need a LOT of filtering to be able to have ripple-free amplification and reproduce solid and firm low end. Not having the schematic in front of me I can't say what the Klipp's possible culprit is, but just throwing out possibilities.

@@markjames8664 Or if you really want to be noise free, go battery operated. Of course, noise is no simple matter for ham, as the grounding is also a major headache. I've recently been helping my brother in-law get setup with ham and have been teaching him these concepts.

Hell yes, I stumbled on the original LP in my Dad's collection when I was a kid, life altering.

Word!

Word!

Even if you weren't born yet when it came out, everyone knows there's something different about Sabbath's sound.

@Thomas I feel the same to this day.. nothing compares to Sabbath riffs and grooves.

This is brilliant

NICE.

Yes!!

Why would you leave out the I lmao

Brilliant, that made me laugh.

Lol, lol lol

Same as rick Allen when he lost his arm, amazing when he came back to Def leopard with his adapted drum kit

You won the internet with that comment, sir.

It’s like those cops one day before retirement

Working in a heavy machine factory with METAL....wtf?....he was going to blow off the afternoon shift but his Mum made him go back...Mums know best!

Children of the Grave is probably mine, but Into The Void is definitely in my top 5

Supernaut or Electric Funeral

Symptom of the universe!! Thrash before thrash..

I upvoted everybody's in this thread... because it's literally impossible to choose a favorite Sabbath song, or even a favorite Tony riff. Can't be done.

under the sun or even am i going insane (radio)

Oh goodness yes

My favorite Sabbath tune. 8)

How have I not heard this before? Have just discovered another classic! Thanks!

Hell Yeah!

There are so many sabbath songs to be on that series imo but they are one of these hard banners

Absolutely

I think Master of Reality is one of the best albums ever created

I also found it quite interesting they didn't mention the finger tips/bottle caps/leather. Nor the solution of tuning down.

Into the void is the best Sabbath track

It's so friggin FILTHY!!

Happy to see Kossoff in there, his vibrato is unmatched

You left out Dave Murray and Adrian Smith there. You're hanging around blues players too much. 😜😁

Sure it did.. Listen to Son Of Moonshine by Bakerloo, pre dates Sabbath & check out who was in the band.

Nice kossoff name drop

Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore are insane too.

Yes. And in the same vane, it's like noting the greatness of a drummer without mentioning the bass player. (I'm a very lucky drummer to have two great bassists in our band)

It’s pretty easy to get Geezer’s tone: P-bass into a slightly overdriven amp, hit the strings at the very bottom of the neck and hit them really hard.

@@steveglover6411 Hold up, two bassists?!

@@andriealinsangao613 lead bass and rhythm bass

I'll add Glenn Tipton to your exceptions. That guy (along with the criminally underutilised KK Downing) came up with some awesome and classic metal riffs. The Ripper, Sinner, Stained Class, Running Wild, Breaking The Law, Living After Midnight, Electric Eye and Painkiller just to name a few...

Satan? 😂

Iommi, Young, Hetfield: the trinity of riff masters!

@@johnsonjuice32 frank zappa

It must have been his love of choral music that inspired him ;)

Just awesome video.

I was like, I agree, oh, it's Keith. Makes sense.

Geezer wrote the lyrics

Gezer Butler wrote 95% of the Ozzy era Sabbath lyrics. Ozzy didn't write lyrics for most of his solo career either. Still love those haunting vocals though!!!

Ozzy and lyrics LOL😂

Well, maybe a picnic with the dead...

​@@richardhincemon9423Ozzy was very... um... creative with lyrics live. Change 'em on the fly, he could.

Blaze Infernus he started tuning to C# standard on the master of reality album in 1971.

Ozzy wanted to sing higher up. If iommi was gonna keep writing heavy stuff in E, (most early stuff is elaborating with various Keys) Ozzys range was better suited for this c# as an E. This is pretty much common knowledge by now. Iommi never tuned down BECAUSE of his handicap, but surely he benefits from the lesser tension.

Gosh I do that sometimes. 🎸

And I'm sure the patrons were all very grateful. 😁

Black Sabbath is cool but so is respecting the peacefulness of the Lowe's parking lot

@@jalel_z2867 lmfao "...respecting the peacefulness of the Lowe's parking lot..." I can't even begin to explain how silly you sound; other than using the popular "karen" moniker

@@honjon666 It’s funny how offended you got over one comment

And homemade prosthetic finger tips....thimbles I think

You need a Brummie accent, too😹

Tone is in the the fingers (or lack thereof)

@@RonSwansonIsMyGod he only lost the tips, no the whole fingers

@@CanYouDig WOW..thats gotta produce some original tone

His sound was bloody spot on. Pretty amazing.

Very first time I heard Nirvana, I thought, who is that trying to sound like a modern Geezer Butler? Well that was just first impression obviously cannot compare, but that bass stood out. Not like Geddy Lee complicated, but for that complicated simplicity. Hard to put a finger on but he is something else.

Idk what you're talking about. The first tone sounded amazing.

Where was NIB or Children of the grave or anything. To me Sabbath is SG with humbuckers playing Sabbath bloody Sabbath or Iron man. All those were recorded using single coilish P 90s?

@@avgmaster1 Not sure exactly when Iommi switched to humbuckers, but I know for sure that the first two albums at least were p90s. Potentially Master of Reality as well.

Because the holy sabbath wrote them

Correction. Because the unholy sabbath wrote them

@@joshuagarcia8547 lol that was the joke. Wasn’t too apparent tho

Awesome

Hmmm, he's used pedals, maybe someone in the back is doing it for him? That's the way bimebag did it. Maybe some gain drive and Chanel switch.

@@tonycosores2983 This is from 1974 tony. So at the time it is most likely solid information. Since then, there have been solutions for all of these problems from Watt variation (Variac),etc. and we know he has tried most every top amplifier out there. The main problem as listed was the difference in wattage between the U.K.(220) and the U.S. (115-120) in reference to live performance.Dime used Solid State amps except for the Roland Jazz 120 for cleans and the Krank Amps later on and we are talking 1988-2005 so it's a whole other situation.

Did it say Humbuckers or P 90s by any chance? I noticed all of his guitars now have the Tony usa signature pickups. Even the Epiphone model (that looks and sounds amazing) have them

@@tonycosores2983 Dave M of Megadeth has a hidden pedal switcher. Alot of the Pro guys with huge rack mounts will use a "remote switcher" sad but true. Except SHOEGAZERS/Dreampop. they switch themselves. I wonder if Eddie VH used a remote switching guy .

haha-underrated comment. well played

@@sottinger2638 you could say a cut above the rest.

Ikr dislike

Plus he wrote a lot of their best songs.

For a non-singing bassist he's done pretty well becoming a rock star, though. Most famous bass players in rock are also singers.

I never understand those "underrateds". Geezer is underrated, Levine is underrated, McCartney is underrated. By whom?

Geezer is my fkn hero since I was like 13-14 and the veil was lifted & I became enlightened to Sabbath but what those four ornery lads created is greater than the sum of its parts. Perhaps there's a wee bit o Geezer's mascot Henry in there too! I say between his lyrics & badass bass-playing Geezer was the Spiral Architect of Sabbath!

And Geezer’s sound is how I got into bass

I was a little kid and heard my brothers paranoid album and it crushed my brain. I was already into zepplin and pink Floyd but Sabbath just really had a special sound the guitar bass drums and vocals melds together and makes the heaviest music ever.

@@nicholasaltunian7032 Same! Geezer is GOD!

I was one if them at 13 in 1989

@Dave Whatever I love the toni iommi sg those signature gibson pickups sound incredible. and the cross inlays that guitar is a badass🤘

Black Sabbath are notorious blockers, this is probably the most that Rick and Co. could get away with, without Warner Bros +, +, + whomever coming down on them and pulling their video. Peace

I love war pigs but greatest song ever written?

@@robertemerson1087 I know, right? To each their own though. No one can tell you which song you like the most, only you know that and it can't be disproven by anyone. Peace

So stupid that copyright owners block content that promotes their music to younger audiences and takes nothing away from them, should be a win win for everyone

@@robertemerson1087 Quite probably, it is.

I agree. The Rat added a fizz that wasn't in the original

Idk- on the bass tone I felt he was a bit off because playing by if not over the fretboard is necessary for geezers tone

Just don't bother with a drum video, especially Paranoid.. some of those drums sound like cardboard boxes.

I thought Rick's sound was closer as well. The whole thing sounds pretty cool, though...

I feel you are right. He just had that low end of Iommi's sound

Read who did the guitars on the Iommi solo album....

I'm sure your pickups was part of it too

Thank u Tony, very cool.

Sorry. Not gonna do it...

Oh my man! I love this song and I really want to learn it in bass! But I’ve realised as an intermediate bass player it’s not that easy :D He already starts the song with an intro like solo 😅 I know the main riff, okay but the song is fucking difficult... To me more difficult than Tool. I fucking love that song! Respect that you can play 🤘🏻

@@stefaniadangila3017 The thing about Fairies Wear Boots is that you don't have to play the intro bass line note for note exactly the way Geezer played it, you can improvise it to some extent. But it's good to learn every note he played just to see how he was thinking when he did it.

Lost in the wheels of Confusion👳‍♂️👍

@@jezuswizardspatula5804 Running through valleys of tearss!! Black Sabbath man.. A total soundtrack of the otherside of life a true testament to just everything that is just wow... Man you seem like you know man rock on bro 🤟

I'm 59 years old and when that song comes on I instantly feel like a teenager again. Vol4 was the first album I purchased on my own when I was a kid.

Eyes filled with angry dillusion- Hiding from everyday fears. Danana,Danana,Danana, Danananananana.

Thank god you said this I thought I was going insane.

me too

I was sure I wouldn't be alone :D

When we built my control room, I used 3/8" plywood under the hardwoods instead of 3/4" or 5/8" It wasn't noticeable years ago but I need to fix it now.

I thought it was coming from inside my house, had to pause the video to make sure.

My house also. Blowing the roof off.

Oh, HELL YEAH!!!

Or any other band worth turning up really loud, for that matter.

CRINGE!

My neighbors threw a brick through my window so they could hear it better! 😆😆😆

And the most influential Rock/Metal band in history!!!

@@davesaenz3732 Nope. Zeppelin on both counts. And even Sabbath wouldn't have been Sabbath without Zeppelin. Zeppelins influence goes beyond rock and metal. Sabbath really dont.

Yes.

@@lyndoncmp5751 Well ask Metallica, Van Halen, Pantera, Sound Garden, Nirvana, Megadeath, and countless of others who they played before they got famous. I too love led zep, amazing band. But Iommi was metal and for my taste he was better. Rock on 🎸.

@@davesaenz3732 Dude, such type of people will even claim that Led Zeppelin is responsible for the Corona virus cure.

yea, they had slightly more reverb, longer decay. not much, but you can tell if ya listen for it.

They leave space for each other.

Bill Ward was a monster, particularly on Paranoid

There is 100% two separate bass tracks in War Pigs, you can hear a lot of great stuff in that song.

That “cough” at the beginning of the song used to freak me out! Actually everything about Black Sabbath used to freak me out! 😄

I grew up in Leicester in the 70's. All we had was Showaddywaddy. So embarrassing. Love Sabbath.

I think Sabbath influenced some bands in other parts of the world as well. If there are bands somewhere else in the universe they will likely be influenced by Black Sabbath too. It is one of the most influential bands ever.

Plant and Bonham too. Great town

I watched a gear run down of Angus Young's rig and they use these AC/AC power supplies that allow the AC output voltage and frequency to be set so no matter where they are in the word it will sound the same when they are on tour or in the studio.

Were any Sabbath songs ever recorded in U.S. so we could hear the difference in Hz tone? That'd be really neat to compare.

@@IAmKillEveryone Those amps require a specific voltage, and that's different in the US vs the UK. So if they did record in the US, they'd have had to have used different amps.

@@wbfaulk You can see a variac in some of the earlier shots, so I think Rick is running it at 240V (and variacs existed back then).

I think roughly half the world uses 50Hz so there are more options of places Rick could fly to than just the UK : )

Snowblind is probably my favourite of all time