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Texas King
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:55 am
Posts: 153
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 10:44 am 
 

Out of 9 Black Sabbath studio albums with Ozzy Osbourne(first 8 from the 70's plus 13), which one would you pick as your favorite?

My personal pick is the third one, Master of Reality. It's a candidate for my all-time favorite metal record. I love very heavy, doomy, dark guitar riffs and atmosphere of that album and apart from Solitude every track is ass-kicker.

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Twisted_Psychology
Metal freak

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 11:22 am 
 

I'll have to go with Master of Reality as my personal pick as well. It really tightened up their sound, sitting at a happy medium between the jamminess of their first two and the far more structured next three. Not to mention it's heavy as hell by 1971 standards and still sounds massive today.
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RichardDeBenthall
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Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2016 2:46 am
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Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 11:26 am 
 

For me it's got to be either Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (which may be a good candidate for best heavy metal album ever made) or their debut. I know their debut is jammy and a little sketchy at times but I think it's just such a powerful sounding record. They recorded the thing in two days as well.

Imagine hearing the song Black Sabbath in 1970? Then imagine that being followed up by The Wizard, NIB, Behind The Wall Of Sleep and so on.

Heavy as fuck with a very underrated jazz side to the playing too, which I miss on their later albums. Just listen to the swing in Bill Wards drums and the flourishes in Iommi's playing.

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Texas King
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:55 am
Posts: 153
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 12:03 pm 
 

RichardDeBenthall wrote:
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (which may be a good candidate for best heavy metal album ever made)


SBS was always much more of a ROCK than METAL record to me.

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Twilightkid
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:41 pm
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Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 12:51 pm 
 

Sabotage has always been my favorite...
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~Guest 285196
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:11 pm
Posts: 2187
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 1:23 pm 
 

Master of Reality. It's 100% heavy metal in its full glory! The classics on Paranoid are more... well, classic, but Paranoid had some tracks that felt like filler or lower quality. MoR is solid all the way through.

EDIT: Volume 4 does have a special place in my heart, as my dad was the one who introduced me to Black Sabbath with that album. He told me about him and his friends gathering to listen to it many times. Snowblind is still on my top 5 of all Black Sabbath songs.


Last edited by ~Guest 285196 on Wed Mar 27, 2019 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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at the gaytes
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Apr 19, 2017 10:07 pm
Posts: 447
Location: Bangladesh
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 1:47 pm 
 

Hard choice, but my pick is Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. I think I listened to the first 5 songs more than anything else in their discography

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Evoken
Metalhead

Joined: Thu May 13, 2004 11:02 am
Posts: 970
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 2:28 pm 
 

My vote goes towards Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. I feel that's the band at their most creative in songwriting and execution. Sabotage is very similar in scope, but I personally don't feel like most of the songs are as strong.

Master of Reality would get a close 2nd place for me. That album is perfection with their more heavy and doomy material, but SBS beats it out slightly by offering more variety and maturity.

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Abominatrix
Harbinger of Metal

Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2003 12:15 pm
Posts: 9311
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 2:31 pm 
 

it's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath for me. The riffs are still first-rate and some of their very best are on this album, but there's a huge variety of playing styles, moods, and surprises for every listener. I think every track is amazing and the consistency is just mind-boggling, whatever they do. Yes, i even love "Who are You". There's still loads of heaviness to be found in the title song and elsewhere, but there is a wisdom and breadth of feeling that kind of replaces the darkness and gloom of the earlier records. I love the little touches, like the piano in "Sabra Cadabra" and the horn (?) sounds in "Living for Today", and "A national Acrobat" has one of the most amazing flows and feelings of any song I've heard.
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ObservationSlave
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2010 6:27 pm
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 3:06 pm 
 

My favorite has always been the debut. There is just something about those four songs on Side A of that album that work so well. Even if you heard that sound today I think it would be tough to pinpoint. Not quite doom metal, but also clearly different from the standard classic rock, hard rock, or blues rock of the time. The next few albums were great as well, but I find myself returning to the self-titled the most.

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Temple Of Blood
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Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:16 am
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 3:34 pm 
 

The first two are the only magical ones to me.
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TrooperEd
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Joined: Sun Nov 14, 2004 6:18 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 3:53 pm 
 

Sabotage. It has the greatest Ozzy vocal performances ever committed to tape, not to mention just how insanely forward it's highlights -Megalomania, The Writ, Hole In The Sky and of course Symptom of the Universe- pushed metal.
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lordcatfish
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Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:44 pm
Posts: 1461
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 4:03 pm 
 

TrooperEd wrote:
Sabotage. It has the greatest Ozzy vocal performances ever committed to tape, not to mention just how insanely forward it's highlights -Megalomania, The Writ, Hole In The Sky and of course Symptom of the Universe- pushed metal.

Same for me, and for similar reasons. Those four songs are incredible of course, but "Thrill of It All" tends to be a bit overlooked, and "Am I Going Insane" is really good too. The two instrumentals are great mood builders as well.
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Oxenkiller
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Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 3:42 am
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 7:47 pm 
 

It's hard to pick but I'd have to go with "Paranoid" and "Master of Reality" for overall start to finish consistency.

The debut and Vol 4 all had some epic songs though- heck, so did "Sabotage." I'd take the entire first side of "Sabotage" over "Paranoid" actually, although side two isn't quite as strong. See what I mean, it's hard. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" was okay, and likewise had some really timeless, great stuff but overall doesn't do it for me as much as the other ones mentioned. It's more varied though, which I guess is good.

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Shadoeking
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:34 am
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Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 10:02 pm 
 

Master of Reality is my favorite as well. Every true song on that album is an absolute classic. I do love the first five Sabbath albums almost equally though.
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BURlAL
Metalhead

Joined: Fri May 21, 2010 11:32 pm
Posts: 490
PostPosted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 1:08 am 
 

SABOTAGE!

HEAVY. AS. FUCK. And Ozzys vocals were crazy. The debut would be a close second.

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RichardDeBenthall
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2016 2:46 am
Posts: 354
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:39 am 
 

TrooperEd wrote:
Sabotage. It has the greatest Ozzy vocal performances ever committed to tape, not to mention just how insanely forward it's highlights -Megalomania, The Writ, Hole In The Sky and of course Symptom of the Universe- pushed metal.


Definitely agree with this, he sings his fucking balls off on this record.

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Tornado
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 3:21 pm
Posts: 533
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 4:19 am 
 

Hard one, this. Most of the albums are let down by a track or two. The debut is great on Side A, but I don't care much for Side B (3 tracks, 2 of which are cover versions - no thanks!). Paranoid has possibly the greatest amount of well known tracks (7 out of 8 - although Rat Salad is a load of arse). Master of Reality is the heaviest, although I would've removed the 2 acoustic numbers - as pleasant as they are to listen to. Vol 4 has some of the greatest riffs, but tracks like FX are pointless and ruin the flow of the album. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is fantastic, but I would've preferred a proper track instead of Fluff. Sabotage is often my favourite, but let down by Don't start (Too Late), once again a pointless track that ruins the album flow, and Am I Going Insane (Radio) which I absolutely loathe. The remainder tracks are blinders though. Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die both have some great tracks and some not so great tracks. Take the best from both and you've got a pretty decent album.

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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

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Location: Where the dead rule the night
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:23 am 
 

Really hard to choose but I am gonna go with Sabotage - it's just such an epic, individual album, taking the prog psych-out stuff from SBS and heavying it up into something truly unique. Ozzy is great and the guitars are downright apocalyptic. "Megalomania" is such a damn choice song.
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Thy Shrine
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2016 11:37 pm
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:52 am 
 

They are all about equal to each other, but I gotta go with Master of Reality for just sheer riffing quality, and song quality. Love the other ones to death as well, but MOR is fucking tops.
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druivo
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:15 am
Posts: 80
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 9:25 am 
 

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

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prezuiwf
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:31 am
Posts: 72
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 5:52 pm 
 

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, but Never Say Die is surprisingly close for me.

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ReignInBloodyGore
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:53 pm
Posts: 59
Location: China
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:24 am 
 

The debut has the most magic to me. It ain’t a perfect record in my opinion only because I didn’t care for “Evil Woman,” but some great ones like NIB, The Wizard, and the title track really bring up its longstay value to me. Also, “Warning” is such a fun and cool jam. That track has some of my favorite vocals of Ozzy.

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LordStenhammar
Veteran

Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2012 10:46 am
Posts: 3062
Location: Not in Sweden
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:01 am 
 

That's a hard one. I pretty much worship them all. Don't listen to much Paranoid anymore though, it feels too familiar by now.

Maybe the first album is the one. The title track really made an impact when I first heard it, listening it alone in our home as a teenager. Quite frightening shit. :) And the rest of the album isn't bad either, very laidback and jammy stuff compared to the rest.

Master of Reality is the other one that needs a mention. Pure fucking heavy! And the top songs from their discography: A National Acrobat, Wheels of Confusion, Sabbra Cadabra, Hole in the Sky...

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doomicus
Metalhead

Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 5:58 am
Posts: 1261
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:56 am 
 

Would have to go with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. That's an album that for me is the full package. Great musical compositions with a varied and smart approach, Ozzy at his strongest, vocally speaking, and of course the absolutely killer cover art. Hard to beat it.
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Sunioj_Paul
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2003 4:46 pm
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Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 2:30 pm 
 

LordStenhammar wrote:

Master of Reality is the other one that needs a mention. Pure fucking heavy! And the top songs from their discography: A National Acrobat, Wheels of Confusion, Sabbra Cadabra, Hole in the Sky...


Not one of those songs is from Master of Reality!

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Oxenkiller
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Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 3:42 am
Posts: 3613
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 2:38 pm 
 

^I'm pretty sure he knew that. He was just listing his favorate individual tracks IN ADDITION to his favorite album.

While I like SOME of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and it's cover art is pretty striking, it's kind of hit or miss for me musically BECAUSE it's so varied. You've got songs like the title track, "Sabbra Cadabra," "National Acrobat" and "Killing yourself..." which are classic Sabbath tunes, but then you've got stuff like "Fluff" which is a, err...fluff piece, and "Who are You" which is kind of out there, musically. "Spiral Architect" never really did much for me either.

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LordStenhammar
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Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2012 10:46 am
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Location: Not in Sweden
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 2:58 pm 
 

Yeah that's how Oxenkiller said it.

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Runko
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2014 1:38 pm
Posts: 665
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:47 pm 
 

I guess it either selftitled or Paranoid, the only two where I don't skip any track. I always skip the short instrumentals on Master of Reality, Changes and FX on Vol. 4 fuck right off, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath has Fluff. Fuck that.

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DoomMetalAlchemist
Veteran

Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 6:10 am
Posts: 2858
PostPosted: Sun Mar 31, 2019 1:40 am 
 

The debut, Paranoid, and Master of Reality are all tied as my favorite albums of all time by anyone, ever. But if I had to pick one, it would be the debut. There is not even a single second of filler on this album. Wicked World and Warning are absolute highlights, not only of the album, but of Sabbath's entire discography for me. And yes, Warning is a cover, but that five and a half minute jam in the middle is all Tony Iommi, that was non-existent in the 3 and a half minute or so original. As for filler on the following two albums, I'm not fond of the drum solo in Rat Salad, and I'm not fond of Orchid. Embryo's not great either, but it's mercifully short.

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RakdosWarlord
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2017 4:26 am
Posts: 177
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 4:12 am 
 

Hard choice but Paranoid would be my pick. Sabotage and Master of Reality are the runner ups in that order.

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Chrisiztopher
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2018 9:28 am
Posts: 24
PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:45 am 
 

I love all 8. I guess I’m just a fanboy

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Motorhead72
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 5:15 pm
Posts: 5
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:58 am 
 

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath has been my favorite for several decades now - all of those albums are great, though - hell, I even dig Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die.

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Discordant
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2018 2:27 pm
Posts: 295
PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 1:25 pm 
 

Master of Reality have always been my favorite, Paranoid comes in second eventhough radio overplayed a couple of tracks for me.
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forestcorpse
Metal freak

Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:06 pm
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Location: Rainy west coast of Norway
PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 4:32 pm 
 

Motorhead72 wrote:
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath has been my favorite for several decades now - all of those albums are great, though - hell, I even dig Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die.


Love Technical Ecstasy myself, underrated album.

Best Ozzy album for me?
Hard choice... since everything up to Technical Ecstasy is epic.

Might pick Sabotage.

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swedeam
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2018 3:12 am
Posts: 11
PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 6:58 pm 
 

Hmmm.. that's a toss up between Master Of Reality and Sabotage. Honestly it depends on my mood.

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tahu157
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:22 pm
Posts: 1008
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 1:34 am 
 

I would have said Paranoid for a very long time, but I think now I'd have to say Vol. 4 is my favorite. It's more of a mixed bag of styles than basically any other Sabbath album but it's got this weird charm to it that I find irresistible. I rather enjoy 13 too. Songs like God is Dead? and Methademic are basically my in-head definitions for "doom metal" at this point.

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Trashy_Rambo
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:04 pm
Posts: 1821
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 7:05 am 
 

Abominatrix wrote:
it's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath for me. The riffs are still first-rate and some of their very best are on this album, but there's a huge variety of playing styles, moods, and surprises for every listener. I think every track is amazing and the consistency is just mind-boggling, whatever they do. Yes, i even love "Who are You". There's still loads of heaviness to be found in the title song and elsewhere, but there is a wisdom and breadth of feeling that kind of replaces the darkness and gloom of the earlier records. I love the little touches, like the piano in "Sabra Cadabra" and the horn (?) sounds in "Living for Today", and "A national Acrobat" has one of the most amazing flows and feelings of any song I've heard.


All of this! Despite the somewhat lightweight production, the breakdown in the title track is absolutely monstrous, and I probably like Fluff more than anyone else on earth.
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idunnosomename
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2016 9:47 pm
Posts: 635
Location: England
PostPosted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 5:35 pm 
 

None of them are perfect. Honestly it's probably Paranoid. But the intro riff of Into the Void is one of my favourites. And I think SBS is probably them taking their style to its apogee.

If we can talk about Tony Martin albums and Dehumanizer though, I have plenty of superlative opinions about those.

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HeavenDuff
Metal freak

Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:35 pm
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Location: Montréal
PostPosted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 11:09 am 
 

First three records are extremely solid and it's hard to pick between them. When it comes to personnal preferences, I'd have to narrow it down to Master of Reality and Paranoid. And while Paranoid has some of the most classic Black Sabbath tracks, I think that Master of Reality wins for me. It's an highly consistent album, it really doesn't have low points and when it comes to well writen, well rounded heavy metal, amazing riffs and heritage and influence on the metal scene, it wins for me. I love the closer, Into the Void and it's influence on space-themed stoner metal/rock with bands like Sleep or King Buffalo.

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