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| Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Classification: Pop Band: Black Sabbath Tracks: - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - A National Acrobat - Fluff - Sabbra Cadabra - Killing Yourself To Live - Who You Are - Looking For Today - Spiral Architect just great Black Sabbath made quite many good albums (no wonder if you consider they have been making music for well over thirty years now), but IMHO only two deserving Five stars.<BR>One of them being Paranoid I reviewed a few weeks ago, while another one is SBS.<BR>They are much different; while the first kicks with brutal, dark force, the second is much more polished, well produced, and varied - it combines metal with pop, boogie, electronics and fine acoustic guitars. These elements appeared also before and after, but here they are unified on a masterful, expert level. Compared to previous albums, SBS is not too heavy. The only really heavy songs here are title song, A National Acrobat and Killing Yourself To Live. All of them are very good, but also lighter tracks are top-notch. This is Sabbath at the height of experimentation, and with good results, even better than their fellow Brits Led Zep achieved on, also experimental, Led Zeppelin III or Houses Of The Holy. The riffs of Master Iommi are maybe the best in their career, notwithstanding even Paranoid. Let us review track after track: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - one of the highlights here. Killer opening riff, very heavy but very melodic tune soon turning into beautiful acoustic part and again into heavy. The contrast between them and masterful performance are really thrilling here. Very memorable track. Pure genius 10/10<BR>A National Acrobat - just superb. Very dark, with gothic overtones, very mystic one (could somebody tell me what is the story about?), complex tune with fine, fine rhythm section and excellent guitarwork. Another 10/10<BR>Fluff - quiet instrumental, only guitar and Rick Wakeman's piano here. Some complain it is too simple; true, no Fireworks here, but it is really pleasant and the piano is well mixed in. 7/10<BR>Sabbra Cadabra - a Love song. Starts as a fast boogie with fantastic riff. Ozzy sounds almost like Robert Plant here with a very high, well crafted voice. Slower, second part with funky rhythm and piano is also very good. Ends with a demonic, electronically processed laugh, really scary...Induces goosebumps ;-) 10/10<BR>Killing Yourself To Live - a heavy song consisting of many different parts. Good, memorable riff, the story full of anger and disappointment (some say it recalls Ozzy's early hard-working days in a slaughterhouse, I do not know if it's true). The only complaint could be that the song is a little bit inconsistent, with its many different parts not fitting each other very well, so sounds a bit forced at places. Still very good one 9/10<BR>Who Are You - I am not a great fan of this. It's a synthesiser-dominated song, and not extraordinary one. But deserves 7/10 for its very Sinister mood - it's the darkest song of the set.<BR>Looking Fo black sabbath expands their sound although the new musical direction that this album takes would soon be the downfall of the original black sabbath lineup, this album is pure gold, and i wouldn't Change anything about it. this album is not very heavy at all, especially considering who it's by, the Creators of heaviness. the title track, "killing yourself to live", and "a national acrobat" are true metal classics, but are really the only pure metal songs on the album. "fluff" is an instrumental acoustic piece, complete with orchestration... and it works! this song is beautiful, but if you told the average music listener who it was by, they wouldn't believe you. "sabbra cadabra" is great, but it leans more toward the rock 'n' roll side of the musical Spectrum than the metal side. it rocks really hard, and the piano is a great addition... the song would not be the same without it. "looking for today" is hard rock, but it is very very light. not that that is a bad thing... the opening riff is one of sabbath's best grooves ever, and the flute in the chorus is chilling. "who are you" is a song that would turn many people off because of its extensive use of synthesizers. however, i Love this song. it is downright creepy, and it is the darkest song on the album, even though there are no distorted guitars to be found! the middle part even sounds a little like Pink floyd. the final track, "spiral architect", is majestic and epic-sounding (even though it is a pretty short song). the string accompanment is wonderfully effective, and as the closing cut to the album, it is nothing less than grandiose. sabbath's fifth studio album is very possibly their best; if anything, it is their most consistent, with all 8 songs being near perfect. every rock fan should own and cherish this album, not just metal fans. More shades and subtleties than any other Sabbath album. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is what happens when you have four masters of noise trying out a whisper. "Louder and louder" has been Sabbath's approach up to now, but on this album the band, by experimenting with song structures, arrangements, a quieter mix, and more lyrical subtlety, achieves one of its strongest mixtures of violence and introspection ever. Though Sabotage is the better album, without Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, it would not exist. The songs are among the best in this band's catalogue: The title track, which aside from Tony Iommi's trademark, monumental riffing also has splashes of ringing acoustic guitars and one of Ozzy Osbourne's most effective vocal performances; "Killing Yourself to Live", a thematically and musically weighted recording; a marauding riff monster in "Sabbra Cadabra" (covered by Metallica on Garage, Inc.); "A National Acrobat" -- many of these songs have become staples in both Sabbath's catalogue and metal history, and along with Sabotage, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is one of the few Black Sabbath albums that doesn't sound dated in any way whatsoever. Starting with this album, a trace of melodicism has snuck into the volume cranker that is Black Sabbath, and its music is the better for it. Buy Black Sabbath Sabbath Bloody Sabbath at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.comJamster - the latest ringtones for your phone! |
