Black Sabbath

Released on this day in 1970, Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album is 38 horrifying minutes of doom and gloom. From the first track, "Black Sabbath," the listener knows something dark is rapidly approaching. A distant church bell warns and is too late; thunder and rain is already upon us.

Many others have discussed this and Heavy Metal Thursday isn't acting like our visual rants are primary source material; The triad. That evil middle note of three. The triad changed everything. I remember reading somewhere, Ozzy was talking about their early sound and how their live shows scared the shit out of audiences who'd grown overly accustom to superficial, cheesy music. He said something like, "We wanted to scare the shit out of people." 

"Black Sabbath" was recorded live with no overdubs. The band had two days to make the album; one to record and one to mix, so Ozzy gets in a booth and the band records the whole thing basically in one long take. 

"Black Sabbath" is perfect. Everything about this album, from the band name, the cover art, the sound, the production, the instrumentation, the vocals, it's all genre defining perfection. Completely solid. Completely Heavy. Brutal and haunting. A warning. A proclamation. A triumph.

 Here's yours truly from ten years ago, on a brand new Les Paul, butchering a long time favorite, "Wicked World." Not perfect but it's always fun to jam along.

"Black Sabbath" is another Heavy Metal album best appreciated front to back and uninterrupted. Turn it up loud and preferrably in the company of other like-minded metal heads. Trust no man who's unfamiliar with or disrespects this album.