Black Sabbath - Vol 4 (1972)

I'm feeling a little nostalgic now, so it is time to listen through some old favourites, some classic rock, some classic metal, and a few albums that will take me back to my teenage years.

And what better than Black Sabbath? Okay, so this album was released before I was born, remastered and re-released in 1996. You cannot really get any more classic than the Sabbath. One of the most influencial bands of all time, their tuned down guitars, heavy bass-lines, slow and ponderous rhythms, Ozzy's nasal high-sometimes-whine-something-wail of a voice... They inspired so many, and still tour to this day. Formed in 1968, with various line-up changes and several different vocalists, the iconic Black Sabbath is that of Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi. They have sold over 70 million albums, worldwide.

And this is one of them. I am sorry I have not contributed more to their sales pool.

The cover is fairly stylistic of the era - black with white writing, Ozzy in golden-yellow silhouette, arms raised so that his fringed sleeves hang down. Not sure of his fashion sense, but who cares? He's Ozzy, he can wear what the f**k he likes! And it was the 70s, after all.

For some "fun" information about this album, there's lots of info on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sabbath,_Vol_4

The blues-fueled "Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener" opens the album, guitars churning into the distinctive steady and heavy Sabbath beating. Ozzy's melodious rasp is fresh and young.  The tempo is catchy, down-tuned, earthy in nature and there's something very primeaval and visceral about it.

"Long ago I wandered through my mind
In the land of fairy tales and stories
Lost in happiness I had no fears
Innocence and love was all I knew
Was it illusion? "

More sludge-laden, but suprisingly well produced (this being the re-release) opening chords of "Tomorrow's Dream". A song I've heard on the radio many times, but never really knew the name of. The slow, heavy rifts, the wailing vocals... Very Sabbath.

Now this is the track for which I bought this album. It begins with piano and Ozzy's voice plaintive, mourning the loss of not only his love - but the best friend that he ever had. "Changes" - one of the most sublime and beautiful, haunting pieces that I ever have heard. Strings complement the vocals and add an extra level of sorrow and loss. The lyrics are romantic and bittersweet:

"...but soon the world had its evil way, My heart was blinded, love went astray..."

This track makes use of the mellotron - the 70s equivalent of a synthesizer.

Eerie, echoey "FX" is instrumentation lost in a void, jumping from speaker to speaker, forlorn and abandoned. According to wikipedia (see link above), this track is essentially a joke.

Then we chug on in to "Supernaut". Heavy on the instrumentation, and the drummer (Bill Ward) gets full reign, switching out with the guitarists.

Now, the song "Snowblind" says a lot about what the band were going through at this time: rather large amounts of cocaine. This possibly explains why the album, whilst heavy, doesn't have any really complex and complicated guitars and is, for the most part, moderately straightforward. This song has some nice slower vocals crooning through the chorus.

"Cornucopia" sludges on through, with faster pacing to the verses and a smooth chorus. Competent instrumentation.

Bringing in a slower, golden-tinted edge reminiscent of the rise of the sun over still, calm oceanic water; "Laguna Sunrise" is a most pleasing instrumental, strings intersecting with the mix of lead and bass guitar. An orchestra was actually involved in the making of this piece.

"St Vitus Dance" has slow, jerky rhythms, bringing to mind a puppet tugged about on a string (or yes, the disorder). Ozzy's voice rises high and slightly echooey.

And here we witness the birth of doom metal, in "Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes" with the slow, blues-heavy, almost dirge like, low and deep opening rhythms, which pick up the pace as the vocals jump in.

I've found it quite difficult to do a track-by-track dissection on this album, probably because the Sabbath sound is so instrinsically a core element of metal: the sludgy down-tuning; the high, slightly raw edged vocals; the slow, almost dirge-like drumming. If you're reading this blog, you've probably heard every track of this album.

It's worth a good, solid 7/10

Ozzy Osbourne - Down to Earth (2001)

Everyone knows Ozzy Osbourne - or thinks they do. He is a musician that truly needs no introduction. This is his 8th solo studio album. The cover features a three faced figure (two of which are skulls), standing before a cross with arms raised. Inside there are numerous photos of Ozzy divided up into 9-square grids, dominating one half of the concertina fold cover, on the back of which are the lyrics. No wait, no lyrics, just a list of song titles and more pictures of Ozzy. I almost wonder if there's supposed to be some sort of interactive or 3d element to the images which seem to show Ozzy morphing into the 3-faced fellow, but it's all a bit deep and meaningful for my humble little brain. It IS an "enhanced" cd, which means there's an interview on it, but no actual music videos or anything really exciting and interesting.

We open with the self-exploration of "Gets Me Through" - slow piano and dancing flute before the bass and drums surge in, and Ozzy's vocals rasp out melodiously*:

"I'm not the sort of person you think I am - I'm not the anti-christ or the iron man..."

Chugging along at a regular pace, Ozzy sounds almost like he's trying to convince the listener that there ain't nothing that special about him and that he wants to be left alone.
Well, I doubt that is the truth, Mr Osbourne.

Keyboards rising, into the crash of the guitars as we chug into "Facing Hell". Again, the vocals seem a little pained, Ozzy's razor edge seems to be getting more pronounced as he's getting older.

Piano-laden melancholy, and we are into "Dreamer", in which Ozzy's vocals seem a little smoother, a little sweeter. One of the more radio-friendly tracks and undeniably beautiful.

Something a little more energetic now - "No Easy Way Out" in which Ozzy is pretty-much shouting the lyrics. The music is a raucous affair, moving into a smoother chorus, thick and slightly sludgy.

 "That I Never Had" is another perfectly acceptable, but not particularly inspiring rock song. The guitar solo is pretty good though - I believe Zakk Wyld had returned for this album.

Another Ballad in "You Know" - a very short piece indeed.

"Junkie" has a bitter edge to it, not surprisingly (also contains the "Explicit content" warned by the cover). The music is churning, angry, flavoured with tension. A personal song, revealing Ozzy's own struggles with drugs and alcohol:

"...A bird with one wing who's trying to fly..."

Another melancholically wrenching piece "Running Out of Time". I guess Ozzy is starting to understand that he isn't getting any younger.

"Just another broken hero..."

"Black Illusion" surges in with dark and sludgy force.

More melancholy in "Alive":

"What keeps me alive is dreams..."

Sounds like we're getting back into the introspection here, Ozzy. Not even sure if this counts as singing for the most part, he's almost just speaking the lines.

Dramatic start to "Can You Hear Them?" Chugging, clapping rhythms, swelling in force. Vocals the typical Ozzy, double-recorded**, giving it that slightly echoey quality.

As Ozzy gets older, his songs have become more mature, more depressing and more personal. This is darker than my previously reviewed "Ozzmosis" (which felt more introspective). The songs seem heavily laden with shadows and darkness, and even the sweeter, ballad numbers have a bittersweet edge to them. His vocals have worn a little, become harsher with age and it all rather lacks the fun energy of Black Sabbath and earlier songs like "Bark at the Moon". Not remarkedly original or different. Kinda dull, really.

Let's go for 6/10.

* an oxymoron of an adjective+adverb? Well, not if you've listened to Ozzy.
** I'm guessing, but my musical knowledge in this manner is limited. So, feel free to deny this claim if you know better ^^