OB1
Well-Known Member
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is my favourite Sabs track and the album might be my favourite of theirs.
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The Album Review Club - Week #137 - (page 1774) - Wet Dream - Richard Wright
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
mrbelfry
Well-Known Member
Black Sabbath is the fifth studio album from rock gods Cream and the first release on the now legendary Temu record label. Black Sabbath answers 4 important questions:
1. What if Marty Mcfly had become so traumatised by travelling back in time that instead of adding rhythm to the blues he added homicide, murdering Biff and wearing his skin at the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance?
2. What if Madam Lisa Giocondo had been born in the midlands instead of Florence? Now she lives alone on a farm with only stuffed animals for company.
3. What if Jimi Hendrix had had no chill?
4. What if Ozzy was not a repressed homosexual?
All of these questions are answered in the genre spawning album Black Sabbath. Did Black Sabbath intend to create metal or is necessity the mother of invention tied up in the cellar? That's a fifth question but a pertinent one. This is to all intents and purposes a Cream album played on crappy instruments. Not instruments played crappily - there is a lot of skill on display but the nature of the sound makes it feel like its coming from your uni room mates bedroom. He might be autistic and he keeps stealing your underwear. You asked him about it once but he didnt answer; instead choosing to stand by the fridge for 12 hours straight without blinking before drawing a pentagram on the floor with tomato ketchup. You've not mentioned it since.
I wrote that the charm of Definitely Maybe is that it felt like your mates had made it to share their favourite tunes with you. Black Sabbath is similar - it feels like something you could do if you knew what you were doing. The bass tones sound like what you'd get from a preset on a cheap multi fx unit and the guitar is dark, fitted with old strings and plugged into a small amp. The drums were recovered from a skip with skins made from the animals found splatted on the road outside the studio. The players have the skill but not the tools and it's charming and exhilarating and worthy of some attention even when it's over long. It shouldn't really exist in this state but the ability of the musicians carries it.
So far this is a solid 7.5 and what I want from a classic album. It's derivative enough to sound familiar and influential enough that you hear bits of it in later works. The big problem is the bat eating goth vibrating in the closet.
Ozzy at least sounds like a real person but his performance is over the top and lacks the finesse of the rest of the band. It's like he's found a balloon full of helium whilst out trick and treating and reciting poetry. I have big problems with the lyrics that seem to suggest he's gay for satan although the opening track implies it's satan that's gay for him and Osbourne is the unwilling recipient i think the lady doth protest too much. On Evil Woman he's far too certain that he's not father of the womans baby chiefly because he's not attracted to women also known as the Billie Jean defence. By the time of the final track, Warning, he's in prison seperated from his true love by the iron bars of his cell that now resides in his heart. Imagine if all of metal was invented because Osbourne couldn't come out.
Sleeping Village is an ok vocal performance as Osbourne stops pretending and, as the album artwork alludes to, just admits he wants to retire to the country and cosplay as the Mona Lisa. The band are suitably embarrased by the jews harp at this point and go on an extended jam session. At times it does feel like the band just want to play to minimise the impact of Osbourne.
Warning feels like an attempt by the band to find a genre Osbourne can sing as if the band are trying to tune a radio - dropping into snippets of songs to find anything that fits. It starts as a pastiche of Folsom City Blues before an extended Jimi Hendrix style solo that even might think was a bit long. Throw in a spot of Paint it Black and 10 minutes later you have the end of almost a masterpiece.
Best song for me was N.I.B starting with a low quality bass solo played expertly before becoming a great reinterpretation os Sunshine of Your Love which may also be the best vocal performance BUUUUUUUUTTTTTTT it's damaged badly by the "Oh Yeahs" and stupid stupid i heart satan lyrics. The double tracked guitar solo ending is great.
Ultimately the nature of the recording process means there is little variation in the sounds which i think does a huge disservice to the band and i'd like this much much more if it was just an album of instrumentals. Opening track and the best on the album, Black Sabbath, would be a monstrous track if it had no vocals - musically it conveys the same menace that the lyrics are trying to invoke. You can absolutely hear why it's ground zero for metal.
So final rating of 6.5 with the highlight being The Wizard with some great bass work from Geezer Butler particularly in the verses which i'll probably try and learn one day.
1. What if Marty Mcfly had become so traumatised by travelling back in time that instead of adding rhythm to the blues he added homicide, murdering Biff and wearing his skin at the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance?
2. What if Madam Lisa Giocondo had been born in the midlands instead of Florence? Now she lives alone on a farm with only stuffed animals for company.
3. What if Jimi Hendrix had had no chill?
4. What if Ozzy was not a repressed homosexual?
All of these questions are answered in the genre spawning album Black Sabbath. Did Black Sabbath intend to create metal or is necessity the mother of invention tied up in the cellar? That's a fifth question but a pertinent one. This is to all intents and purposes a Cream album played on crappy instruments. Not instruments played crappily - there is a lot of skill on display but the nature of the sound makes it feel like its coming from your uni room mates bedroom. He might be autistic and he keeps stealing your underwear. You asked him about it once but he didnt answer; instead choosing to stand by the fridge for 12 hours straight without blinking before drawing a pentagram on the floor with tomato ketchup. You've not mentioned it since.
I wrote that the charm of Definitely Maybe is that it felt like your mates had made it to share their favourite tunes with you. Black Sabbath is similar - it feels like something you could do if you knew what you were doing. The bass tones sound like what you'd get from a preset on a cheap multi fx unit and the guitar is dark, fitted with old strings and plugged into a small amp. The drums were recovered from a skip with skins made from the animals found splatted on the road outside the studio. The players have the skill but not the tools and it's charming and exhilarating and worthy of some attention even when it's over long. It shouldn't really exist in this state but the ability of the musicians carries it.
So far this is a solid 7.5 and what I want from a classic album. It's derivative enough to sound familiar and influential enough that you hear bits of it in later works. The big problem is the bat eating goth vibrating in the closet.
Ozzy at least sounds like a real person but his performance is over the top and lacks the finesse of the rest of the band. It's like he's found a balloon full of helium whilst out trick and treating and reciting poetry. I have big problems with the lyrics that seem to suggest he's gay for satan although the opening track implies it's satan that's gay for him and Osbourne is the unwilling recipient i think the lady doth protest too much. On Evil Woman he's far too certain that he's not father of the womans baby chiefly because he's not attracted to women also known as the Billie Jean defence. By the time of the final track, Warning, he's in prison seperated from his true love by the iron bars of his cell that now resides in his heart. Imagine if all of metal was invented because Osbourne couldn't come out.
Sleeping Village is an ok vocal performance as Osbourne stops pretending and, as the album artwork alludes to, just admits he wants to retire to the country and cosplay as the Mona Lisa. The band are suitably embarrased by the jews harp at this point and go on an extended jam session. At times it does feel like the band just want to play to minimise the impact of Osbourne.
Warning feels like an attempt by the band to find a genre Osbourne can sing as if the band are trying to tune a radio - dropping into snippets of songs to find anything that fits. It starts as a pastiche of Folsom City Blues before an extended Jimi Hendrix style solo that even might think was a bit long. Throw in a spot of Paint it Black and 10 minutes later you have the end of almost a masterpiece.
Best song for me was N.I.B starting with a low quality bass solo played expertly before becoming a great reinterpretation os Sunshine of Your Love which may also be the best vocal performance BUUUUUUUUTTTTTTT it's damaged badly by the "Oh Yeahs" and stupid stupid i heart satan lyrics. The double tracked guitar solo ending is great.
Ultimately the nature of the recording process means there is little variation in the sounds which i think does a huge disservice to the band and i'd like this much much more if it was just an album of instrumentals. Opening track and the best on the album, Black Sabbath, would be a monstrous track if it had no vocals - musically it conveys the same menace that the lyrics are trying to invoke. You can absolutely hear why it's ground zero for metal.
So final rating of 6.5 with the highlight being The Wizard with some great bass work from Geezer Butler particularly in the verses which i'll probably try and learn one day.
mrbelfry
Well-Known Member
it's far too hot for this type of review. i'm stuck in the office and now i want to search for liquidsAt some point someone must have discovered the refreshing joy of natural spring water. In my mind’s eye I like to think it would have been a young peasant girl (looking coincidently not entirely unlike the young Emmanuelle Beart in Manon Des Sources) stumbling across the wonderful wellspring but it was more likely I imagine to be a sweaty Neanderthal or some sort.
Either way, over time the natural spring water became hugely popular, and people started bottling it and doing all sorts to it, carbonating it, adding fruits to it, sticking electrolytes in it and adding all manner of unnecessary accoutrements (yes well may you look ashamed Messrs Ibanez and Schecter).
But that was ok, many people came to love the added strawberry and kiwi fruit and jojoba nut extract varietals. They made them happy, and in turn their happiness should be a source of happiness for us all.
But nonetheless, for some people these additions were considered unnecessary. They could receive all the refreshment they needed just by sticking with the unadulterated original spring water. For those people, in many ways the unadulterated nature of the spring was the thing that made it all the more refreshing.
8/10
(and at some point I might actually write a review)
threespires
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it's far too hot for this type of review. i'm stuck in the office and now i want to search for liquids
Less a review, more a dehydrated ramble.
Am currently looking at an office fridge bereft of water and calculating if I can be arsed to walk the 3 minutes to get some. On balance, as I've started hallucinating visions of Emmanuelle Beart circa mid-80's, I think I'll just sit here for a while.
I'm guessing you and the Fogman might be in agreement about Mr O.
Last edited:
threespires
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- 7 Aug 2019
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So I've now started getting adverts for something called..
"70000 Tons of Metal - The Worlds Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise",
this is your fault Gornik!
"70000 Tons of Metal - The Worlds Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise",
this is your fault Gornik!
BlueHammer85
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 13 Oct 2010
- Messages
- 35,700
At some point someone must have discovered the refreshing joy of natural spring water. In my mind’s eye I like to think it would have been a young peasant girl (looking coincidently not entirely unlike the young Emmanuelle Beart in Manon Des Sources) stumbling across the wonderful wellspring but it was more likely I imagine to be a sweaty Neanderthal or some sort.
Either way, over time the natural spring water became hugely popular, and people started bottling it and doing all sorts to it, carbonating it, adding fruits to it, sticking electrolytes in it and adding all manner of unnecessary accoutrements (yes well may you look ashamed Messrs Ibanez and Schecter).
But that was ok, many people came to love the added strawberry and kiwi fruit and jojoba nut extract varietals. They made them happy, and in turn their happiness should be a source of happiness for us all.
But nonetheless, for some people these additions were considered unnecessary. They could receive all the refreshment they needed just by sticking with the unadulterated original spring water. For those people, in many ways the unadulterated nature of the spring was the thing that made it all the more refreshing.
8/10
(and at some point I might actually write a review)
Out of interest, are fruit flavored sparkling drinks bad ? or healthy'ish?
I love the Rubicon Spring drinks but can see they contain some additives and flavorings.
mrbelfry
Well-Known Member
I doubt I'm on his radar. I'm a minnow amongst the big cods he rolls withLess a review, more a dehydrated ramble.
Am currently looking at an office fridge bereft of water and calculating if I can be arsed to walk the 3 minutes to get some. On balance as I've started hallucinating visions of Emmanuelle Beart circa mid-80's, I think I'll just sit here for a while.
I'm guessing you and the Fogman might be in agreement about Mr O.
Last edited:
threespires
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- Joined
- 7 Aug 2019
- Messages
- 5,586
- Team supported
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Out of interest, are fruit flavored sparkling drinks bad ? or healthy'ish?
I love the Rubicon Spring drinks but can see they contain some additives and flavorings.
BH I apologise if I gave the impression that any of the shit I spout on here was based in any form of knowledge or even faint grasp of reality on my part. So I can't really help. However I do like to try...
So I've just googled the Rubicon Springs drinks and if the packaging is anything to go by I imagine if you drink enough of them they'll turn you the same colour as the packaging itself, a bit like Sunny Delight used to turn kids orange. They seem to major on their "natural flavours" which begs the obvious question, what constitutes "unnaturally flavoured" spring water?
GornikDaze
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- 9,394
Is the heat getting to people - I’m very (and always easily) confused…
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
I would imagine that they are pumped full of sugar and all manner of unnatural crap. Apart from that, there's no harm.Out of interest, are fruit flavored sparkling drinks bad ? or healthy'ish?
I love the Rubicon Spring drinks but can see they contain some additives and flavorings.