MoR is definately among them, one of the best records ever, without a doubt. We all embraced the opportunity: Tony threw in classical guitar parts, Geezers bass was virtually doubled in power, I went for bigger bass drums, also experimenting with overdubs. Master of reality was far ahead of its time for 1971 and it is still a breath of fresh air in today's standards. Of course, in its sound, this album is very sludgy, very "stoner", and nowhere does this shine through more than on the album's opener, Sweet Leaf, a love note to marijuana. "Orchid" is an outstandingly beautiful piece from Iommi. Every single riff this album contains almost teases and taunts any metal fan to try and not bang their head while this perfect yes perfect album is playing . Groups like MC5 may have been rowdier and more aggressive, but this album still sounds like the goddamned apocalypse. They have been so blindly accepted as good or bad that their caliber, or lack thereof, have developed the honorary but erroneous title of officially good or officially bad and this has led to the following, unfortunate, truth: I critique an album as good or bad based on the album without any reference as to who made it or how influential it is/was, this will be one of those reviews. Finally, Ozzy. which would normally be out of place, but actually works in the song's favour. It is the ultimate heavy metal sound and no one else anywhere, at any time can ever claim that they invented it besides Black Sabbath . Geezer Butler's bass guitar adds a lot of the quality which makes this album so amazingly heavy. I concede the albums significance, there is no doubt many a young metalheads who were inspired greatly by the thundering rhythm section of down-tuned strings and absurdly dark and heavy atmosphere. The mid-song breakdown takes the form of one of Sabbath's trademark 'band solos' before returning to the sludgy riffing of before. Speaking of bad lyrics, the words to After Forever may irritate some listeners. All of a sudden the song is over and the closer Into The Void just crushes you with the buzz saw intro. Lord of this World is a bit weaker but still great, with its fantastic chorus, and Into the Void is another monster of heaviness, even containig a little thrashy part on it. I feel like without Solitude, Into the Void wouldn't be as heavy. The riff is one of those intoxicating melodies that will stay in your head forever. Here Tony Iommi began to experiment with tuning his guitar down three half-steps to C#, producing a sound that was darker, deeper, and sludgier than anything they'd yet committed to record. Master of Reality is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 21 July 1971 by Vertigo Records. Master Of Reality has been voted the greatest Black Sabbath album ever The story behind Black Sabbath's Heaven And Hell For the drummer, this was a major turning point in the way Sabbath were thinking about not only their music, but also about life in general. This release has gone two times platinum and that might not seem like much considering some very popular bands go platinum in one year and this is two times platinum over the period of over 40. Think about it, there is a vast array of emotional variation on all the classic Ozzy-era Sabbath records and Ozzy manages to deliver in a manner that happens to work for each and every style. Note that the timing of "Orchid" on revised US pressings is incorrect: it includes the "Step Up" introductory section of "Lord of This World." It's incredible how a band could release three top notch albums in two mere years, but, I tell you, Sabbath did it. They did rip off a little bit of their own song because after the third verse it sounds a lot like Electric Funeral. Sabbath's previous two records had their own heavy moments, but those albums fall flat when compared to MOR. Label: Sanctuary - UICY-94183/4: Series: Black Sabbath SHM-CD Paper Jacket Collection - 3, Do It Rock: Format: CD, Album, SHM-CD. The flute work on "Solitude" is probably the only other similar moment on the record that gives us this kind of beautiful relief. The album by and large succeeds simply by virtue of still being far heavier than anything else being produced at the time, with songs like Sweet Leaf, Lord of This World, and the thunderous Children of the Grave being particular highlights. This was just the start, and what a great one. Orchid is a 90 second instrumental, which I love. During the album's recording sessions, Osbourne brought Iommi a large joint which caused the guitarist to cough uncontrollably. So I can see how this song would be more of a relaxed fair, its slight swing makes it excusable. And right there I'd like to state a point. In his autobiography Iommi describes the cover as "Slightly Spinal Tap-ish, only well before Spinal Tap". Even if you want to just isolate the Ozzy era, in terms of pure heaviness, "Sabotage" probably beats this one out, too. That's where the classical music influence comes in handy. Several seemingly unrelated passages ( la Killing Yourself To Live or The Writ)? "Paranoid" is still undisputed nr. Iommi belts out a very catchy, great grooving riff, and Ozzy sells the track pretty well. He is clearly a decent singer, but he made the right decision not to make a point of this and instead be content to ride the grooves that the rest of the band are laying out. [7] This was to be Bain's final collaboration with Black Sabbath as guitarist Tony Iommi took over production duties for the band's next several albums. Absolutely recommended to every metalhead out there. If Paranoid has more widely known songs, the suffocating and oppressive Master of Reality was the Sabbath record that die-hard metalheads took most closely to heart. Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality. While Paranoid is the defining album of Black Sabbaths career, little attention is paid to its follow-up Master of Reality. Incredibly innovative not just for it's tunings, but for its ghastly vocals as well as sewing the seeds of thrash. Still, if you want a heavier version Id recommend the Live At Last version. Tony Iommi probably has more unforgettable riffs on this album than most guitarists have in all their career. This is, and will probably continue to be, an inspiriting factor in someone picking up a guitar for the first time and forming a band, or the key to unlocking metal for someone who previously had not been able to appreciate it. These tracks are pleasing to the ears, but I will admit that they are the lone weak link on this album as they dont seem to serve much purpose and sort of throw off the albums structure. His fills are, at times, pretty fast here (check out the middle segment of Sweet Leaf) and the beats are all very well composed and fit the music very very well. "[32] The same magazine also ranked the album 34th on its "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Butler is a fantastic bass player with a speedy right hand and adds something of a groovy funk to the proceedings. He also goes completely insane in the middle of Sweet Leaf (along with everyone else), laying down blistering drum lines. So when I write listenable, mind you, it is only at the expense of being generous. and "oh right nows!" Ill give them some credit I guess for the nice atmosphere the song creates the backwards piano and flute are nice touches. Some early German, US and Canadian pressings had the title incorrectly printed on the record labels as 'Masters Of Reality'. Some albums become so popular over time that saying anything bad of them has become like heresy now; this is likewise for albums that developed a reputation for being awful. Solitude (Studio Outtake - Intro With Alternative Guitar Tuning) 3:45: 2-9: Into The Void "Spanish Sid" (Studio Outtake - Alternative Version) 6:24: Ad . Let's not beat around the bush: Into the Void is the heaviest song of all time. It's worth a listen if you want to hear Geezer and Tony at their most subdued (which is not necessarily a bad idea), but there really should have been another proper heavy song here, since we already had two very solid moody interludes with Embryo and Orchid. Ozzy's haunting voice flows perfectly with the doom/stoner feel, and his story about the rockets is greater thanks to his emphasis of some words. This music is more Sabbathy than ever before, and damn its good. They maybe had more iconic songs on Paranoid, and became much more diverse on Vol 4, or more proggy on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and the criminally underrated Sabotage, but when it comes to delivering the best of the best, Black Sabbath only needed about 30 - 35 minutes of material to not only birth doom, sludge and stoner metal, but to further their musical development and evolution. Even the outro: Children of the gra-gra-grave.. I like them both but what makes Master of Reality tops is that it doubles back unto itself. In less than two whole years the band had already released three very impressive records that, despite not sitting well with music critics at the time, blew the fans of heavy music away. I must note that the cavernous, gently reverberated guitar sound coupled with the swooning flute is just magical and a testament to the bands astounding versatility. [Rhino's 2016 deluxe edition of Black Sabbath's Masters Of Reality is a spiffy repackaging designed for the States. The more that I think about it I dont really think Black Sabbath were that much of an overtly metal band in the 1970s. Tony Iommi's riffs are almost always unforgettable, Bill Ward's drumming is ridiculous, Ozzy's vocals, though gruff and very off-putting at first, have a distinct quality, and Geezer is, in my opinion, the greatest bassist of all time. His high shrieking passion is felt throughout the album and makes this perfect album all the more perfect . To paraphrase Sweet Leaf, this album introduced me to my mind. What ever genre of metal people are fans of, this without a second of doubt obviously influenced them all . - I dont actually think there to be a higher art form that seventies rock. Embryo in particular sounds like it could be from the dark ages. Unusual, though perhaps too stoned to be intentional. But even then it was only Black Sabbath whod dare to be this ominous and fierce. Even though most bands around this time stayed in standard tuning for another decade or two, whoops. The words must have been shocking to those people at the time who thought the band was all about devil worship or whatnot. It has a great deal of excellent riffs, particularly the main one which is constantly reused in many variants by bands in both the thrash and power metal genres. That aside, Master of Reality is every bit the classic it's been made out to be over the years. Into the Void reads almost as a continuation of Solitude. [11] Subsequent editions corrected the album's title and removed three of the four subtitles (all but "The Elegy"). This verse is about the person feeling empty, but now has something to look forward to thanks to the "sweet leaf". This is the one that did it first and arguably, this is the one that did it, and is still doing it, best. will aggravate those who pay attention, so I advise just immersing yourself in the riffs and letting them flow over you, because musically speaking the song is still a treat - yet another showcase for Iommi's fuzzy riffs, with the repetitive structure set against Ozzy's chantlike vocals giving the song a hypnotic quality. 'Embryo' is an eerie violin observation that may have worked well to space out the album's first side were it not so aimless. The other more obvious difference is that the album is heavier and more bass-driven than before, due to Geezer being slightly more prominent in the mix, along with the lower tunings used on the album. In conclusion, Sabbaths Master of Reality sees the sound of metal continuing to blossom and branch out, now encompassing the heavy sound from which thrash and power metal take their cues. This is the same band who managed to snag a perfect visual representation on their debut by having one of the best album sleeves in all of music history, yet just two albums later we get artwork with just the title and nothing else. Lyrical themes are varied. With Tony Iommi tuning down his guitar, they achieved a darker and deeper sound. This doesnt solve his loneliness as such, but he has bigger problems now. I even think the simple acoustic interludes do the trick as well. I actually rather imagine this as a continuation of the lyrical themes of Solitude it makes for a rather amusing narrative: A two-disc deluxe edition was released in the UK on 29 June 2009 and in the US on 14 July 2009 as an import. It's that perfect balance that makes this one of the most metal and heavy albums Sabbath ever did. It doesn't matter what you're doing. You wont find a heavier record for 1971, but the main point is you wont find a better one, either! Album Description. Musically speaking, it's not such a departure from Black Sabbath's typical sound, sounding a touch more upbeat than their trademark gloom. It was certified double platinum after having sold over two million copies. The actor's a Slipknot/ Linkin Park guy, but Aemond's all over Black Sabbath. Planet Caravan slows things down, before picking it all back up with Iron Man, another contender for best riff ever. Reading too much into things? The song with the most evolution, the most passion and original idea was when they stepped into slight Barry Manilow territory. Black Sabbath did nothing musically, in regards to metal, on MoR that was different from their previous material. Production was once again handled by Roger Bain, and this one sounds a little different. Make no mistake about it. Geezer is also on fire with his bass work on this track. Every single person that defines themselves as a metal head has heard of Black Sabbath even if they haven't heard their music personally . Whether or not this is a tongue-in-cheek jab at the accusations of Sabbath being Satanists, the preachy approach makes one wonder. A album that is literally about nothing, vacuous. Tony Iommi is the godfather of metal. Here Tony Iommi began to experiment with tuning his guitar down three half-steps to C#, producing a sound that was darker, deeper, and sludgier than anything they'd yet committed to record. You'd think that it would get boring but Black Sabbath always keeps it fresh and entertaining on this album. But like all of the compositions here, it fails to have any imagination, the opening musical stanza is tense but plummets immediately. To talk about a Black Sabbath CD without reference to the bands story and their influence on the genre is a pretty difficult task, because it is when you listen to albums like Master of Reality that the ENTIRE groundplan of metal magically begins to unfold before you like a scene out of National Treasure (if National Treasure were a better film). Prog elements had also been injected to the classic sophomore album. Hell, here's a track that didn't really influence anyone. All music composed by Black Sabbath (Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward), except "After Forever", "Embryo" and "Orchid" by Iommi. Every single time I listen to this album I wish I could love "Into the Void" because of this. It's oddly cold, vacant Ozzy, depressed flute (?!) But Ozzy (Osbourne) would then sing higher so it sort of defeated the object." Overall the song is pretty uninteresting, musically and lyrically. The problem is they failed miserably as songwriters. But all things considered, Master of Reality is enough proof that Black Sabbath was always at their core a heavy metal band. His punishing pummeling style forces the issue at hand aggressively down the throats of all that would dare try to not pay attention to Plus, it's a thinker's album. No but really, no joke, its freakin amazing. They helped lay down the foundation for heavy metal. It's apocalyptic. The songwriting is obviously top notch, Black Sabbath is one of the best bands out there in that field. Aside from "Sweet Leaf," much of Master of Reality finds the band displaying a stronger moral sense, in part an attempt to counteract the growing perception that they were Satanists. Time to get with Reality! Tony's rollicking down tempo aggressive riffs, Ozzy's wailing about nuclear uncertainty backed by his delirious pigeon claps make this one of Black Sabbath's most catchiest tunes. I was so pleased that the sludge experience on Into The Void was replicated when I saw them live back in March 2016. The contradictory message ("Think for yourself and don't let others dictate your beliefs! Even songwriting wise, this album has a little less depth than even "Paranoid" had. So yeah there are a few problems I might add, spoiling that if I may say so, cool climax of this review, but I gotta say em. Songs about insanity, the Devil, nuclear war, war in general, drug-induced paranoia, depression and anger at what mankind has done do not sound best through pitch perfect vocals.
