The Batlord

Is that a Japanese dude with a 'fro? Epic. And yes, I mean epic in the sense of oceans and the vastness of the cosmos.

Just to let you know, when I got about half way through the "Verdict" part of the Uriah Heep review, this video kept distracting me and making it hard to concentrate.

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Unknown Soldier

Well put

Well if you're going to be taking LSD, magic mushrooms or drinking that dodgy Virginian beer, then expect to be dazzled by the screen.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
Whenever I see this album cover, it always evokes images of some kind of pool of black water with writing floating across it, making this Mario Bava inspired style cover the most fitting image for an album of this magnitude. On Paranoid Black Sabbath had released one of the very best heavy metal albums of the decade and it was an album that would go onto become one of the most influential in the history of metal. Master of Reality though, would see the band match the quality of Paranoid in general, but albeit in a more self-indulgent way. The general heavy metal feel of Paranoid, which had been based around Tony Iommi’s simple and amazing guitar riffs, along with Geezer Butler’s throbbing bass, would now give way to something both deeper and darker in its playing style, compared to what the band had done before. For this reason, Master of Reality would be the most influential of all their albums, especially when it came to influencing the future extreme metal sub-genres that would emerge in the 1980s. The album is also often regarded as the first ‘stoner rock’ album ever, making it extremely groundbreaking! It can therefore be concluded that with Paranoid, Black Sabbath had laid down the perfect blueprint for the genre of ‘heavy metal’ but on Master of Reality, it can be seen that they laid down the perfect blueprint for heavy metal’s future extreme sub-genres that would really emerge in the 1980s. Black Sabbath had already worked their sound around loud and soft dynamics, but on Master of Reality they would be even more noticeable, especially since the softer side of the band would feature more acoustic interludes. The key behind this whole shift, had been Tony Iommi down-tuning his guitar even more, to create an even sludgier sound and Geezer Butler followed suit on his bass. The band also opted to continue the subject themes featured on Paranoid, but by now were often seen as ‘satanists.’ This was a label that the band would actually seek to challenge on this album, through both moral messages embedded in the songs or through touches of tongue-in-cheek humour of which the band were very apt. The album would yet again be produced by Rodger Bain, but this would prove to be his final collaboration with the band. As per usual the album was slammed by certain critics of the day, that described the album as monotonous, dull and dim-witted! Just a few decades later, the album constantly made just about every album classification on every relevant rock and metal album list out there, reminding us once again, just how clueless rock critics were back in the 1960s and 1970s when assessing ‘heavy music’. On a footnote, Master of Reality would be the shortest album from Sabbath’s classic years and clocking in at just 34 minutes. This would be something, that they would address by the release of the following year’s Black Sabbath, Vol.4.

Ozzy Osbourne- Vocals,
Tony Iommi- Guitar
Geezer Butler- Bass
Bill Ward- Drums

Production- Rodger Bain

Album
Sweet Leaf- With its famous coughing intro, the song quickly gives over to being a heavy sludgy affair, often regarded as one of the defining stoner metal tracks. The song then goes through a series of spiralling tempo changes, before plodding into more familiar territory again. After Forever- With an almost borrowed riff from “Paranoid” the song emerges as one of Sabbath’s most philosophical songs, as they again tackle the subject of religion a real interest area of the band. The song is more dynamic than it’s often given credit for and features Ozzy singing in a more framed style. Embryo- A 30 second acoustic medieval style interlude. Children of the Grave- One of the classics in the Sabbath canon, with its galloping rhythm and eerie elements. Again it follows on from the philosophical leanings of the previous song, but this time covers love and nuclear annihilation. Orchid- Another soft interlude and always reminds me of the music from the Tony Hart series ‘Take Hart’ from the 1980s, British readers will get what I’m on about here. Lord of This World- Back to more familiar sludgy territory here and a song sung from Satan’s point of view. Solitude- A brooding track that depicts loneliness and is accompanied by acoustics and flutes! Into the Void- No surprises here, as the song is another heavy, bludgeoning sludge-fest of a track as you’d expect, before it speeds up and Tony Iommi’s sublime riff remains throughout the whole song.

Verdict
When I first ever listened to this album many eons ago, it was always referred to as the ‘Dark Jewel’ in the Sabbath crown and for this has always held a special place of reverence in metaldom. The album as a whole does deserve its recognition, as the band on Master of Reality went out of their way to present something that was both experimental and simplistic at the same time. The experimentation came in the sludgy feel that the band would put out on the heavier tracks, whilst the simplicity came from still maintaining the core fuzzy blues-tinged guitars that were very much the band’s trademark sound. To add contrast the band then added three softer tracks in “Embryo” “Orchid” and “Solitude” to soften things up. So with all this in mind, it might come as a surprise that the album does have some noticeable weaker points, for what is such an influential and classic album! The album in general operates on a heavy/soft combination with a heavy song like “Children of the Grave” and then immediately follows it up with a soft track like “Orchid” to show the contrast. The band across the album as a whole work this formula, making the album somewhat predictable at times and upon repeated listens, you feel the band could’ve progressed some of these tracks into other songs and gone for a longer album overall. As great as songs like “Children of the Grave” and “Into the Void” are, I’ve always felt that song for song it doesn’t quite match Paranoid in essential songs. So with these negatives against the album, what actually makes this album the ‘Dark Jewel’ in the Sabbath crown? In my opinion, it’s the general feel of the album, as this album for many a year, was the ultimate experience in a dark sludgy heavy sound, full of fuzzy down-tuned guitars and bass, also on this album Ozzy Osbourne actually sings and frames his vocals, much more so than on the first two albums. The album also strikes home as hard as a hammer, as the band explore real heaviness combined with a sludgy sound. Simply put, the band were discovering that by slowing things down in terms of their music and also by down-tuning their guitars, they could achieve an even heavier sound, thus making this album the first stop for any future stoner, sludge and doom metal bands out there. This album is great music wise, but it’s even greater as a blueprint for the future development of heavy metal at the slower end of the spectrum, making it without doubt an essential piece of work.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

I've always assumed that was because thirty minutes is roughly the amount of time that the strongest period of "highness" lasts when you smoke weed. You start the album, light your blunt/joint/spiff/bowl/bong, and then enjoy.

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Unknown Soldier

As you seem to be doing in your latest avatar!

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
Led Zeppelin IV was seen as a return to form for Led Zeppelin, after the half-hard rock and half-acoustic rock approach of their previous album Led Zeppelin III. Led Zeppelin III had been both a unique and fantastic album and a creative highpoint for the band, but it had raised questions over their future direction, these questions would now be addressed on Led Zeppelin IV. The hard rock that Led Zeppelin fans always wanted, would make a triumphant return on their fourth album, but with it would come musical advancements, in the shape of the already explored folky elements that the band had been constantly exploring. From a panoramic point of view, Led Zeppelin IV could be seen as encompassing everything that Led Zeppelin represented as a band. Funky blues-based chunky riffathons that literally made Jimmy Page a guitar god, an unrivalled rhythm section in John Paul Jones and John Bonham, and Robert Plant’s trademark bluesy vocals. This was all combined with the acoustic inspired folk and the pseudo-hippie musings that the band embraced. Led Zeppelin IV was actually released at the time, without an album title and with just four mystical runes representing each band member. The album cover and the runes also represented the band in many ways and the mystic that surrounded them, this was largely due to the fact that they rarely gave interviews! If Black Sabbath represented the macabre at the time, then Led Zeppelin certainly represented the mystical, as they evoked mysticism in both their sound and image. The mysticism had largely come through their incorporation of a rural British heritage folk sound, that sat perfectly with their rawer blues rock base sound. The mysticism of the band had largely benefitted from the band’s interest in mythology and from Jimmy Page’s love of the occult. The concert footage film “The Song Remains the Same” captures perfectly the mysticism that the band had at this time. At the time of this album, Led Zeppelin were the biggest band on the planet and were smashing previous box-office records, that had been previously been set in the USA by the Beatles, on this album they didn’t disappoint and they delivered the goods lock, stock and barrel.

Robert Plant-Vocals
Jimmy Page- Guitar
John Paul Jones- Bass/Piano
John Bonham- Drums

Production- Jimmy Page

Album
Black Dog- After a Jimmy Page warm up, Robert Plant delivers a batch of juicy blues infected lyrics and vocals, this is quite simply a multi-layered Led Zep classic all the way, with its funky winding-riff and constant rhythm changes throughout and the song doesn’t let up for a minute. This is the type of song that other bands dreamed about writing and the song lyrics are some of the most stereotypical Led Zeppelin lyrics ever! Rock and Roll- Starts with an infectious rock ‘n’ roll intro, that simply romps its way throughout this song, its raw and simply blistering with energy from beginning to end. Robert Plant sings “It’s been a long time…..” throughout this song, a perfect example of the bands basic and catchy lyrics on certain songs. This is one of the best songs the band ever put out period! The Battle of Evermore- Starts off with an eerie acoustic laden feel, as the band commence with their folky offerings. The song is mandolin driven and Robert Plant performs a duet here with Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention, a delightful song and in many ways a real showpiece album track. Stairway to Heaven- One of the most famous songs ever written in the history of rock and progresses from a gentle acoustic set, accompanied by some of Robert Plant’s cleanest ever vocals before gradually increasing in tempo, the song then finally evolves itself into a torrent of intricate storming guitar riffs that just about every budding guitarist dreamt about playing, this is the song that helped to immortalize the band. Misty Mountain Hop- Kicks off side-two and is a medium tempo rocker that is almost hippie in feel and one of the most light-hearted songs the band ever put out. Four Sticks- Based around the fact that John Bonham played with four drumsticks on the song. This is Led Zeppelin at their most funky again with some decent guitar strumming, but probably serves as the weakest track on the album. Going to California- An often overlooked gem, with its wistful folk and it’s supposedly about Joni Mitchell. When the Levee Breaks- A rhythm section classic and immediately kicks in with the heavy pounding of John Bonham, before being accompanied by Robert Plant on harmonica, the song effectively feels like a powerful album closer.

Verdict
So how great is this album? Well the opening salvo of both “Black Dog” and “Rock and Roll” alone, are enough to blow most of the competition away! These two songs were quite simply some of the most infectious hard rock tracks ever laid down on record and today rank as two timeless classics. The tone of the album then changed drastically with track three "The Battle of Evermore” which with its eerie but bouncy feel, brings the whole album right down to a rustic canter. This type of folky feel would be perfectly encapsulated yet again, in an even more easy going manner on “Going to California” which may rank as one of the best folk inspired numbers the band ever did. All this though, is in stark contrast to the closing track “When the Levee Breaks” with its almost apocalyptic urban blues feel and pounding rhythm section, it probably ranks as one of the most forceful songs the band ever recorded. In general the album contains some of the heaviest and best rhythm sections ever laid down on record, just check out “Black Dog” and “When the Levee Breaks” for proof of this. But no other song on the album, would encompass everything the record was all about better than “Stairway to Heaven”. The song was literally an eight minute version of the whole album condensed and served as the perfect bridge between their hard rock and folk sound, both of which the band were true masters of! The song of course has been talked about constantly over the years, so I won’t ramble on about it on here as well. Led Zeppelin IV would go on to be the most complete work of the band so far, by fully incorporating all the musical aspects of the band, from their root blues rock sound, their fashioned hard rock and their recently inspired folk rock leanings. The album was also their most experimental work to date as well, but of course they would get even more experimental with their next album Houses of the Holy which would follow two years later. In fact you could say, that no other group until the arrival of Aerosmith a few years later, could match Led Zeppelin when it came to producing hard rock with a sexy swagger!

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Big Ears

Suicide by Stray is one of my favourite albums. The title track has one of the all-time great riffs. Along with Black Sabbath and Budgie, they formed a similar-sounding heavy rock triumvirate. Unfortunately, Budgie and Stray fell by the wayside, leaving just Sabbath to enjoy mainstream success (including the hideous The Osbournes). You are right that the Suicide title track, like Budgie's Breadfan was very influential, and yet they have been largely neglected in place of material from inferior bands.

I own a number of Alice Cooper albums, but not the first two or Killer, probably because I never really liked Under My Wheels or Be My Lover. Having said this, and I know it makes me a bad person, I really like the Dead Babies track. I'm Eighteen is certainly a classic and so too is Is it My Body. My favourite Alice albums are School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies. I had a friend who bought Billion Dollar Babies on its release and played it so loud, the window frames in his house shook! The reissued version of BDB came with a fantastic live album, which I like almost as much as the studio material. Alice Cooper's last few albums, including the live one, have left me a bit cold with their murky production.

Big Ears

Look at Yourself is a a terrific album and it worked pretty well live too. I like so many Uriah Heep albums (Demons, Magician, Freedom, Wonderworld), but none after Lawton left them. When Hensley departed for Blackfoot, I completely lost interest - despite the musicians involved.

I once took a lot of flack on another forum for saying After Forever is my favourite track on Master of Reality. I suppose the style and philosophy was lost on them. In hindsight, Master of Reality inspired the sludge sub-genre, but it was the unusual drumming that stood out for me at the time.

Unknown Soldier

I never thought the three bands as a triumvirate and would seperate Stray from the other two. With both Black Sabbath and Budgie it was very much a case of you knew what you were going to get with big riffs and all those classic metal trimmings. Stray were a far more diverse band and actually imo the most talanted of the three when it came to songcraft, the band just seemed so at ease when it came to writing, rather than the drug induced moments of creativity of Sabbath, where they either squeezed out a song or they didn't. Stray just emerged on the scene at the wrong time. The only reason some people remember them is that they were a big influence on Iron Maiden, but of course Iron Maiden never ever approached the levels of Stray when it came to diversity.

Killer was one of his most basic albums but still very good and I'd agree that Billion Dollar Babies was the best album of his band period, it's a classic. I've always been hit and miss with School's Out and its an album that I deciding on whether to include on my 1972 list or not. My very favourite Cooper album has to be Welcome to My Nightmare, it's shock rock's ultimate album. I also really love his new-wave 80s era stuff Special Forces and Zipper Catches Skin.

I didn't think much of either Freedom or Wonderworld and thought that Return to Fantasy was their best album outside of their classic era. Look at Yourself was their best album as far as I was concerned.

To get that track you need to get the humour of the band and recognize that Sabbath were quite a basic band, they proved that basic was often best, especially in a time when people were being spoilt with progressive rock. The got more creative and sophisticated if you like with Vol.4 Bill Ward probably ranks as the least appreciated member of the classic Sabbath line-up.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

Really? I love his drumming. I don't know **** about composition or musical ability, but I always loved his chaotic playing style. When Iommi was laying down some ultra heavy but slow-as-molasses riff, Ward was there playing like a madman to keep things interesting and intense and fill in the gaps.

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