Black Sabbath debut - TIMH | Eleven Warriors

Had to post this one early, it's just that good.

Happy birthday, Metal! I'd have baked you a cake but they don't serve cake in Hell and you're probably too drunk to enjoy it anyway.

Black Sabbath dropped their eponymous debut today in 1970 and changed absolutely everything. This album has been emulated, eviscerated, venerated, but never truly replicated. Listening to it with 2017 ears will render you deaf to the bombastic impact that this album had on the musical landscape. To appreciate it in its true glory we must hop in the way back machine and venture to 1970.

Consider the hit singles around the time that "Black Sabbath" was released: "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" - BJ Thomas, "I Want You Back" - Jackson 5, "Venus" - Shocking Blue, "Thank You" - Sly and the Family Stone, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - Simon and Garfunkel.

This wasn't exactly a metal-friendly environment in which Sabbath was born into. It didn't really matter because, as always, there was a segment of the population that wasn't being served and hungered for music that spoke to them personally. Coming out of the 60s there were a fair amount of people that never went in for the hippie, peace or free love movement. These folks were largely the beer and shot guys that worked in the local factory, drove a truck, dug ditches, repaired phone lines or otherwise kept the world moving with their labor. To them the hippie movement didn't compute and wasn't reflective of their own reality.

The Black Sabbath crew was from that same environment. Hailing from the industrial town of Birmingham, England, bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward, guitarist Tony Iommi and singer Ozzy Osborne were the embodiment of the anti-hippie backlash. Not that they consciously set out in that manner, they just played what they knew.

What they knew was the rhythmic pounding of Birmingham's factories and the hard scrabble life therein. Steeped in American blues, like virtually every English band in the late 60s, they took that influence and turned it into a sound that would spawn an entirely new branch on the rock and roll tree. This new sound was born of both forethought and necessity.

Forethought - Geezer Butler was a fan of horror movies. He watched the Boris Karloff movie "Black Sabbath" and figured that if folks would pay to be scared at a movie they'd pay to be scared by music. The band Black Sabbath, formerly a blues-rock band called Earth, changed their style and name accordingly.

Necessity - Iommi had some fingertips lopped off in a work accident (the very day he was quitting to pursue music full-time) and was forced to change his guitar style. The resulting change created a much more ominous sound. Hopefully, one of our resident musicians or guitar players will tell us about Fifths and Tri-Tones in the comment section because it's Greek to me.

Through this unholy blue collar mix Metal was born. Certainly there were heavy bands at that time but none elevated heaviness into their primary feature quite like Sabbath did. The opening of the first track paves a path from which the band never wavered. Thunder and rain are the prelude to a lonely, distant bell. Echoing the thunder, understated but forceful drums and three guitar and bass chords crash in. Drums roll while the bass emulates the bells. And then the lyrics:

What is this that stands before me?

Figure in black which points at me

Turn around quick and start to run

Find out I'm the chosen one

Oh nooo!

Big black shape with eyes of fire

Telling people their desire

Satan's sitting there, he's smiling

Watches those flames get higher and higher

Oh no, no, please God help me!

Is it the end, my friend?

Satan's coming 'round the bend

People running 'cause they're scared

The people better go and beware

No, no, please, no!

What in the name of Mama Cass, Jerry Garcia and Crosby, Stills, Nash is going on? Pure evil is pouring out of your speakers. This ain't Haight-Ashbury, this is Hate and I'll Bury you in a shallow, unmarked grave. (And I'll smile and listen to this song while I do it.) A later high point of the song features a galloping bass section that I can only assume inspired Iron Maiden's Steve Harris, followed by an Iommi solo that I know for sure inspired a legion of future axe pickers.

Track two, "The Wizard", retains a bit of Sabbath's earlier incarnation as a blues band through the prominent harmonica throughout the song. Harmonica was a common instrument used by Sabbath's contemporaries - Zeppelin, the Who - but never was it turned into a razor sharp cutting tool accompanied by such a purposely forceful rhythm section.

(Speaking of two of the British Big Four (Zeppelin, Who, Stones, Beatles), Butler and Ward never really gained the recognition of Jones-Bonham or Entwhistle-Moon. I would not argue that individually Butler or Ward technically match either of those rhythm batteries, but I do submit they are in the same league. Further, Butler-Ward stylistically forged a brand new path that the others never tread. The bottom end of Black Sabbath should be revered in the same light as those fabulous duos.)

After "The Wizard" there are only four more tracks. None were standard hits but each was a prototypical building block upon which Sabbath laid a foundation of metal domination that would last for half a century.

Regardless of if you are a metal fan or not, this album is worth a listen. You like a jazzy feel to drums? This album's got it. Dig solid vocals? This album's got it. Interesting bass or lead guitar is your thing? This album's got it. While I think it stacks up favorably to any current music, again, it's best to listen in contrast to what else was out there in 1970.