Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath | |
|---|---|
| File:Black sabbath.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Years active | 1969 – present |
| Members | Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward |
- This article is about the British heavy metal band. For the 1946 British arrests of Jewish paramilitaries, see Operation Agatha. For the 1963 film see Black Sabbath (film)
Black Sabbath (sometimes called Sabbath by fans) is a British heavy metal band, originally comprised of Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer (Terrance) Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums). They are cited by many as the very first true heavy metal band.
Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham, England in 1969 under the name Polka Tulk Blues Band (soon shortened to "Polka Tulk"), and later Earth. Initially a blues-rock band, Earth moved in a darker direction when their bassist, Geezer Butler, a fan of the black magic novels of Dennis Wheatley, wrote an occult-themed song titled "Black Sabbath" (the song name was apparently inspired by a 1963 Mario Bava film). (In their reunion concert film, the band stated that the song is based on an experience Geezer had one night when he saw a black object at the end of his bed and noticed the next day that an occult book Ozzy had given him was missing). When the band found themselves being confused with another local band called Earth, they adopted the song title as their new name.
The band originated as a blues-influenced hard rock group, but as they progressed they added more European folk elements and gothic flourishes to their sound, a sound that was not like any other group during their time. Their lyrics dealt with darker issues than most conventional rock as well. During a time, the late 60s, when other bands were into the peace movement and the hippie culture, Sabbath chose to distinguish themselves by dealing with heavier issues. In their music, they also conveyed a sense of anger and anti-establishment, the likes of which had never been heard before. The band also dealt with issues such as drugs (to which they were developing a growing dependence).
The newly-named Black Sabbath adopted darker lyrical themes, and a slower, ominous style - a significant element in the genre that would later be known as heavy metal, often ranked above Deep Purple and Judas Priest in importance and influence in the genre.
Even though Judas Priest, Cream, and Deep Purple may have had a profound influence on the emergence of hard rock and heavy metal music, Black Sabbath is generally considered, along with Led Zeppelin, one of the primary forces of the genre.
The group found its signature sound almost by accident. When the group was rehearsing in a studio which was situated opposite a cinema showing a horror movie, Osbourne recalls that Tony Iommi said to the rest of the band, "If people pay to see scary movies, why wouldn't they pay to listen to scary music?" The band began to purposely write dark, ominous riffs in an attempt to be music's answer to horror movies.
However, much of the group's material featured an acoustic guitar, piano, symphony orchestras, keyboards, and even horns. After the band's first four albums, the group became increasingly experimental and progressive, leaving much of their dark metal roots behind.
They were ranked number 2 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" ( Led Zeppelin was number 1).
History
1970s
With an extremely gifted rhythm section and the extraordinary on-stage antics of Ozzy Osbourne, the band enjoyed success with memorable songs and brutal riffs beginning with their first album, the eponymous Black Sabbath (1970). Their follow-up album, Paranoid (also 1970), was a tremendous success, bringing them even greater attention in America and the UK. Paranoid was in part a protest against the Vietnam war (particularly British involvment); the song "War Pigs" was originally intended to be the title song.
The content of the songs (both originals and cover versions) from both albums demonstrated a tongue in cheek interest in the occult and black magic. This was a crucial step in establishing the 'darkness' and 'heaviness' of later heavy metal lyrics, and Black Sabbath was the first group to feature such lyrical content, almost to the exclusion of other topics. Led Zeppelin, The Doors and some others might have hinted at magic or the occult, but few contemporaries could match Black Sabbath for directness, such as "My name is Lucifer/Please take my hand" (from Black Sabbaths "N.I.B."). Butler wrote most of the lyrics.
Another innovation was the by-product of an accident: Iommi's fretting fingers were injured in an industrial accident slightly before his early tenure with Earth. He was working in a sheet metal factory at the time and the tops of the two middle fingers on his right hand were sliced off. Initially, he forged himself prosthetics from a melted plastic detergent bottle. The injured fingers were understandably tender, so Iommi downtuned his Gibson guitar from standard E to C#. The resultant slackness of the string allowed him to play with less bother to his fingertips. Butler also downtuned his bass guitar to more easily follow Iommi's playing. The lower pitch often seemed "heavier" or more substantive, and Black Sabbath were perhaps the first popular group to downtune. The practice of downtuning is now common — perhaps even standard — among metal groups.
Black Sabbath released another smash hit in 1971, Master of Reality. This was the first Sabbath album to feature a significant amount of acoustic material ("Solitude" contained a flute solo by Iommi). This was a crucial and often overlooked switch in style by Sabbath, as they are largely known only for their simple, dark riffs from their earlier releases. By the time the band released Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 in (1972), they were a full-fledged progressive rock group. Featuring the hit "Changes" (containing only vocal, bass, piano, and strings) and sonic rock anthems like "Supernaut" and "Snowblind," Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 was the group's most mature record to date.
By this point, the band were one of the most popular bands in the world, and were a major concert attraction. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) saw the band work with Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman (who remains a close friend of the band today). The album contains some of the best known Black Sabbath material, including the space rock voyage, "Spiral Architect," and the haunting prog-rock workout, "A National Acrobat". which is one of the best songs on the album, the riff is almost identical to the song "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", but with a slightly stronger and catchier tune to it.
The band was heavily addicted to drugs and for over two years Osbourne and Ward took LSD every day. Towards the end of Osbourne's tenure in 1978, he was so embroiled in drugs that he claims he was "very unhappy and got drunk and stoned every day". Many of the band's songs address drugs, both explicitly and implicitly.
The band was suffering major management problems (the group was managed by Osbourne's future father-in-law, Don Arden). The management problems and then a label change from Vertigo to WWA disrupted the release schedule of the band's new album. Despite the troubles, Sabotage was released in 1975 with continued success. However, drug problems, continued experimentation in their music style (Gregorian chants and a chorale of monks highlighted "Supertzar"), the hard rock scene's changing environment, and some internal issues were affecting the stability and output of the band.
Technical Ecstasy (1976) turned out to be a commercial failure. The album was laden with symphony orchestras, synthesizers, and even drummer Bill Ward singing a Beatles-esque pop song. Some consider it one of the group's most ambitious records, yet fans of the classic Sabbath formula were alienated. After the 1977 tour, Ozzy Osbourne stopped turning up at band rehearsals. The remaining band members even recorded music with singer Dave Walker, formerly of Fleetwood Mac, but Osbourne continued on with Sabbath, releasing the highly controversial Never Say Die! (1978). By far the band's most experimental release, Never Say Die! is widely regarded as an excellent album (some hardcore fans call it their best), but a poor Black Sabbath album ("Breakout" featured a 15-piece horn section). Like the previous album, its sales were poor.
Due to internal conflicts and an evident lack of commitment, Osbourne was asked to leave the band in 1979, leading to a successful solo career - he went on to become one of the most successful solo artists in the history of heavy metal. The definitive tale is told in the book "How Black was our Sabbath". Osbourne was replaced by former Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio.
1980s
Black Sabbath's next album (and first with singer Ronnie James Dio), Heaven and Hell, proved to be a success, and saw the band's highest charting since 1975's Sabotage. It was on this tour that Dio popularised the "devil horns" hand gesture, which has since become a symbol of heavy metal music in general. The album also marked the inclusion of Quartz's guitarist-turned-keyboardist Geoff Nicholls (Nicholls has not been consistently credited as an official member, and has often been forced to play live shows from backstage for supposed aesthetic purposes, but he has co-written many songs and has stayed with Black Sabbath through all subsequent incarnations). Also during the tour, drummer Bill Ward quit the band for personal reasons (both his parents died within a rather short period, and Ward was struggling with alcoholism and other addictions). Drummer Vinny Appice joined to complete the tour and then record the next album Mob Rules, whose title track appeared in the movie Heavy Metal. Mob Rules is considered to be the last widely respected studio release for the band.
The unauthorised release in 1980 of the live bootleg Live at Last (recorded in the Ozzy Osbourne era during the 1973 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath tour) prompted the band to properly record a live album on the Mob Rules tour, titled Live Evil. However, during the mixing of Live Evil, internal band problems and nasty accusations developed, which led to Dio and Appice quitting the band to form Dio. Bill Ward returned to the drum throne and Ian Gillan of Deep Purple fame became the new singer. To quote the singer ; "I had no plans to join Black Sabbath. I went out with Geezer and Tony and we got drunk, and I found out the next day that I agreed to join the band. And they're such nice guys. It was great fun and it paid the bills, I had a lovely year with them and that was it." This line-up recorded the album Born Again, but Bill Ward dropped out of the band before the tour, being replaced by Bev Bevan of Electric Light Orchestra. Although the album surprisingly ended up being one of their most successful ones to date (hitting #4 in the UK charts), things did not last, as Ian Gillan left to reunite with Deep Purple. Drummer Bill Ward once again returned to the fold, and the hiring of new singer David Donato was officially announced in 1984. However, after six months worth of rehearsals, Donato was discharged by management when Iommi and Butler squabbled over financial issues.
At this point, the band's frequent line-up changes, Ozzy Osbourne's increasing success in his solo career, and side-taking from music critics, combined to put the band under Osbourne's shadow. Founding member Geezer Butler quit out of frustration and formed the Geezer Butler Band, which did not end up releasing any albums. The original line-up of Black Sabbath reunited for one three-song show at Live Aid in 1985. After this, Tony Iommi decided to record a solo album and enlisted the help of longtime Sabbath keyboardist Geoff Nicholls (who was finally made an official member) and vocalist Glenn Hughes, formerly of Deep Purple and Trapeze. Tony Iommi also got engaged to famous female heavy metal star Lita Ford, and enlisted the help of her band's bassist (Dave "The Beast" Spitz) and drummer Eric Singer, (later of KISS and Alice Cooper) to round off the line-up. However, record company pressure caused the album Seventh Star to be released as Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi.
Early in the tour for Seventh Star in 1986, Glenn Hughes got into a fist fight, and suffered severe blood clotting in his throat which made him lose his voice. An unknown young American singer by the name of Ray Gillen (no relation to Ian Gillan) was tapped for the job and finished the tour. The morale in the band was very high when they started recording The Eternal Idol (former drummer Bev Bevan had returned as a percussionist, and a second bassist, Bob Daisley, also joined), but the new Black Sabbath hit a devastating series of catastrophes involving mismanagement and financial debt, mainly from poorly planned use of the world's most expensive recording studio. As a result, Ray Gillen left the band during the recording sessions. He later hooked up with ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee to form the rather successful band Badlands (which would later include Eric Singer).
Singer Tony Martin was brought in to re-record all of Gillen's original vocals on the Eternal Idol tapes, and the album was finally released. Tony Martin proved to be the perfect vocalist for the newly revitalised Black Sabbath. Though he somewhat resembled Dio, Martin clearly had his own style.
After the recording of The Eternal Idol, most of the band quit Sabbath, leaving Iommi, Martin, and Nicholls to recruit bassist Jo Burt and former Clash drummer Terry Chimes for the short-lived 1987 Eternal Idol tour.
In early 1988, Kerrang! magazine ran a story that Vegas-lounge singer Tom Jones had joined Tony Iommi and Bill Ward in Black Sabbath. This later became known as a hoax, possibly due to the fact that it was the April issue of the magazine and during the shifting lineups of the 1980s, the Kerrang! staff seemed to enjoy poking fun at Black Sabbath as it then existed.
1990s, 2000s
However, a significant degree of band stability finally came back to Black Sabbath by 1988 with the retention of Tony Martin and Geoff Nicholls, and the addition of loyal drummer Cozy Powell, who replaced Terry Chimes. Powell, a legendary drummer, had had success with his own band, as well as with Rainbow, Whitesnake, ELP and many others. With bassist Laurence Cottle replacing Jo Burt, Sabbath released the critically acclaimed Headless Cross album in 1989. An MTV video for the title track received considerable airplay, and was released to mostly positive reviews. After the Headless Cross sessions, Laurence Cottle was replaced by veteran bassist Neil Murray (a former bandmate of Cozy Powell's in Whitesnake). Sabbath released Tyr in 1990, considered by many to be one of the best Sabbath albums released in the post-Osbourne period. The group toured extensively throughout 1990 and 1991, as sales for the highly praised Tyr album continued to rise. Then the reunions happened.
Tony Iommi cleaned house in 1992 to reunite the classic 1980s lineup of Black Sabbath (although what was to become the Dehumanizer line-up had originally been Iommi/Butler/Powell before Cozy Powell suffered a hip injury) Founding member Geezer Butler, along with Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice, joined up with Tony Iommi once again (this was the same line-up from 1981's Mob Rules and 1982's Live Evil) and together they recorded Dehumanizer (1992). Playing to larger audiences then they had in nearly a decade, the rejuvenated Sabbath enjoyed renewed success with the powerful Dehumanizer album and tour. It was around this time that Ozzy Osbourne announced his retirement from touring and proposed that Black Sabbath open his final two shows at Costa Mesa. When Dio refused to participate, Iommi, Butler and Appice agreed to appear without him.
Dio quit to return to his highly successful solo band, and Rob Halford of Fight, former Judas Priest singer, was brought in as a last-minute replacement (specifically for this event only). The original Black Sabbath lineup, including Bill Ward, reunited to close the second night of performances, on November 15, 1992, performing four songs. In the end, Ozzy Osbourne decided not to retire (following his "No More Tours" tour with the aptly titled "Retirement Sucks" tour), and contracts were all ready for a new album and tour from the original Black Sabbath line-up, but then Osbourne decided at the last minute that he did not want to do it.
After the Dio/Halford debacle, Vinnie Appice was replaced by former Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli. Vocalist Tony Martin and keyboardist Geoff Nicholls returned to the band and Black Sabbath recorded the superb Cross Purposes, and Cross Purposes Live, a CD and video combination, which was released in late 1994, after which Bobby Rondinelli left the group mid-tour. His replacement for the rest of the tour was, surprisingly, original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward. After the tour, both Ward and Butler parted ways with Iommi, Martin, and Nicholls.
Another reunion was on tap in 1995. This time the Tyr-era group would again join forces, as drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Neil Murray rejoined Iommi, Martin, and Nicholls for Forbidden. The album was produced by Ernie C of the pioneering rap metal group Body Count. To date, Forbidden remains Black Sabbath's last full-length studio album recorded by any line-up. After the recording of the album, Cozy Powell left again and was replaced for the tour by a returning Bobby Rondinelli.
In 1996, Castle Records remastered and re-released Black Sabbath's catalog on CD up through Eternal Idol (1987), and a 1988-1995 compilation titled The Sabbath Stones was released to finish Tony Iommi's contract with the record label.
In 1997, Ozzy Osbourne launched his wildly successful Ozzfest metal festival tour, which he headlined on a nightly basis. For the last part of his set each night, he was joined by Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi for a rundown on several Sabbath classics (Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin was on drums). However, in December 1997, original drummer Bill Ward joined forces with Osbourne, Iommi, and Butler to reform the original Black Sabbath for the first time since 1979.
Black Sabbath have since released at least one authorised double-CD compilation, one double-CD live compilation, and an eight CD box set. The band had writing sessions together in 2001, and played one new song ("Scary Dreams") on the subsequent tour. However, a new studio album has yet to be released. The band initially began work on a new album in 2001 with legendary producer Rick Rubin, but Ozzy's solo contract has delayed, and perhaps killed, further progress on the album. The band took three years off before returning to the road in 2004 to headline yet another Ozzfest tour, celebrating their 35th anniversary. For 2005, Ozzy Osbourne performed with Black Sabbath in his Ozzfest tour, which also featured Iron Maiden. On keyboards for 2005 shows was Rick Wakeman's son Adam.
In November 2005 Black Sabbath were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and the original line-up played at the awards ceremony. That same month it was also announced that they would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 13, 2006.
Reunions
In 1985, the original members of Black Sabbath (Iommi/Butler/Osbourne/Ward) reunited for the Live Aid benefit concert. They played only three songs.
In 1992, the 1980-1982 version of Black Sabbath (Iommi/Butler/Dio/Appice) reunited and toured for the album Dehumanizer.
In 1992, the original members of Black Sabbath played three songs after one of Ozzy Osbourne's "retirement" concerts in Costa Mesa, California.
In 1995, the 1989-1991 version of the band (Iommi/Powell/Martin/Murray/Nicholls) reunited for the album and tour for Forbidden.
In 1997-98, the original members of Black Sabbath reunited, toured and released Reunion.
In 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2005 the original Black Sabbath reunited again and toured on Osbourne's Ozzfest. There has been a rumoured new album of material "coming soon" since 2001, but to date, nothing has surfaced, and no formal plans to record have been made. In late December 2005, Ultimate-Guitar.com has reported that Osbourne has ruled out on a reunion album and refused to record along with the line-up. He was also terrified that the album would not match the same standard as the old albums. However, Osbourne has also issued statements that were exactly the opposite of this stance over the years too, so these remarks can be taken with a grain of salt.
Influence on later musicians
It would probably be futile to catalogue the later bands influenced by Black Sabbath; a starting point in such a list would be "every heavy metal band".
Doom metal, a heavy metal sub-genre, takes its name directly from a Black Sabbath song, Hand of Doom.
Black Sabbath is held in the highest regard by bands such as Pantera. Phil Anselmo has distinctly made remarks saying that as great as Pantera is, it is just a band, while the members of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest are gods. Songs like Goddam Electric pay tribute to Black Sabbath and his other band Down is also greatly influence by it.
Several nu metal bands, such as Slipknot, cite Black Sabbath as an influence.
The band rarely received any critical praise ("blundering bozos" was one description) but nonetheless, they are widely acknowledged as some of the most influential pioneers in the heavy metal field. Ozzy Osbourne himself received an NME award for "godlike genius" in 2004.
Some of the incidents and characters in the spoof rock documentary This Is Spinal Tap are based on Black Sabbath. For example the Stonehenge stage set idea in the film was taken from a real stage used by Black Sabbath for their Born Again Tour. In contrast to the set in the film, in which Stonehenge was made too small to be very imposing on stage, the Black Sabbath version of Stonehenge was in fact too large to fit in many of the arenas the band played in. The eventual fate of the set is not clear, although Iommi has said it was probably abandoned on a loading dock somewhere.
Finally, Black Sabbath has inspired bands outside of the heavy metal genre. The Cardigans, for instance, cite them as an influence and occasionally cover their songs on their own albums and (more often) B-sides.
Influences
Black Sabbath had a unique sound that emerged from diverse influences. Tony Iommi was greatly influenced both by Hank Marvin's playing on Cliff Richard and the Shadows' heavy-guitar based recordings and by jazz guitar, particularly that of Django Reinhardt. Bill Ward has also expressed a fondness for jazz music in general, and for drummer Buddy Rich especially; this jazz influence may be heard on some of Ward's playing with Black Sabbath. Early incarnations of Black Sabbath merged elements of blues, jazz, and rock and paid their dues playing cover versions of songs by heavy rock acts including Jimi Hendrix, Blue Cheer, and Cream. Ozzy Osbourne says he was deeply influenced by the Beatles and his favorite album of all time is Revolver.
Trivia
After repeatedly being passed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since being eligible in 1997, Ozzy Osbourne famously demanded that Black Sabbath be removed from consideration for the institution. In 1999, Osbourne said after Black Sabbath was passed over their second year of eligiblity, "Just take our name off the list. Save the ink." His basis for this position was that because the fans did not select the members, it was "totally irrelevant". The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ignored this request and Black Sabbath will be finally inducted in March 13, 2006. Also Elton John is a huge fan of Black Sabbath, and once said to be the only hard rock group he likes.
Members
| (1969-1979) | |
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| (1979-1980) | |
| (1980-1982) | |
| (1982-1983) | |
| (1983-1984) | |
| (1984-1985) | |
| (1985-1986) | |
| (1986-1987) | |
| (1987) | |
| (1987-1988) | |
| (1988-1989) | |
| (1989-1991) | |
| (1991-1992) | |
| (1992-1994) | |
| (1994-1995) | |
| (1995-1997) | |
| (1997) | |
| (1998) | |
| (1999-present) |
Jeff Fenholt
Christian evangelist Jeff Fenholt has claimed over the years to have been a member of Black Sabbath in 1985. This is misleading, however, as Black Sabbath did not technically exist as a band in 1985-1986. Fenholt auditioned for the vocal spot eventually filled by Glenn Hughes on the "Seventh Star" album, which was originally a Tony Iommi solo project until the record company dictated that the album be released under the moniker "Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi". Fenholt was not accepted, though bootleg demos (usually titled "Star of India") of his auditions have circulated for years and can be found on eBay from time to time. Iommi has never acknowledged that Fenholt was a member of the band, and other members, particularly Dave Spitz, have strongly denied he was ever involved beyond auditioning.
Official band discography
The albums in this section are official "band sponsored" albums, and are released with the cooperation and authorization of the band that existed at the time of the release.
Studio albums
Live albums
- 1982 Live Evil (live - Iommi, Dio, Butler, Appice); #13 UK, #37 US
- 1998 Reunion (live - Iommi, Osbourne, Butler, Ward); #11 US
- 2002 Past Lives (live from the 1970s - Iommi, Osbourne, Butler, Ward); #114 US
Compilation albums
- 1975 We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll (Iommi, Osbourne, Butler, Ward); #35 UK, #48 US
- 1996 The Sabbath Stones (compilation of 1988-1995 material)
- 2002 Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978 (compilation - Iommi, Osbourne, Butler, Ward)
- 2004 Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978) (box set - Iommi, Osbourne, Butler, Ward)
Unofficial/other discography
The albums in this section are not official, as they were not released with the cooperation of band management, and are generally released by record companies, not the band itself.
- 1980 - Live at Last (Live from 1973 - Iommi, Osbourne, Butler, Ward); #5 UK. Eventually remastered and officially released as one of the two Past Lives discs.
- 1973, 1976, 2000 - The Best of Black Sabbath (several different compilation albums under this title)
- 1976 - The Original (compilation, Germany)
- 1978 - Rock Heavies (compilation, Germany)
- 1983 - The Best (compilation, Australia)
- 1983 - The Very Best of Black Sabbath (compilation, South Africa)
- 1984, 1987 - The Kings of Hell (compilation, Brazil)
- 1985 - The Collection (compilation, UK)
- 1991 - Backtrackin (compilation, Australia)
- 1991 - Children of the Grave (essentially the Vol. 4 album with an added live version of "Children of the Grave")
- 2006 - Paranoid (DVD)
UK hit singles
- 1970 "Paranoid" #4
- 1978 "Never Say Die" #21
- 1978 "Hard Road" #33
- 1980 "Neon Knights" #22
- 1980 "Paranoid" (re-issue) #14
- 1982 "Turn up the Night" #37
- 1992 "TV Crimes" #33
External links
- Black Sabbath Online: Joe Siegler's Black Sabbath Fan Site
- Sabbathlive.com: Rob Dwyer's Fan site attempting to gather a complete touring history
- Black Sabbath Page at Last.fm
- Mitch Vanbeekum's Ozzy Osbourne homepage
- Black Sabbath at Encyclopaedia Metallum
- Black Sabbath Lyrics
- Black Sabbath lyrics
- Black Sabbath complete discography
- The Complete Ozzy/Sabbath Biography
- Rockphiles Biography