"You can only trust yourself and the first six Black Sabbath albums" -Henry Rollins

For such a heavy doom and gloom band, Sabbath had beautiful instrumentals, Laguna Sunrise, and Fluff are incredible.

And Tony Iommi has always been a criminally underrated guitar player.

I saw Black Sabbath perform at the Fillmore East on February 20th 1971. J.Geils opened for them.

I’m a simple guy, I see someone in a cool outfit with the same last name as me talking about Black Sabbath, I click

Arguably Sabbath’s heaviest album in the Ozzy era.

Master of Reality is my 2nd favorite Sabbath record. Sabotage is my favorite, and Paranoid is in 3rd place. In fact, their first 6 albums are masterpieces.

When psychedelic rock left home and got a job, it turned into prog rock and metal. It's not hard to imagine Black Sabbath opening a show with White Rabbit or Jefferson Airplane playing Rat Salad.

It's great to see a young lady such as yourself immersed in the music of the 60s and the 70s. I was born in 1957 and it was an incredible ride living through a time of such innovative sounds! I fondly remember the impact Black Sabbath had on us Pacoima Junior High School kids! Master Of Reality was released in 1971 my last year in Junior High School. My late brother Anthony and I bought the album and were blown away! Those were good times.

One of the finest heavy rock albums of all time and my favourite sabbath lp

Tony has said in interviews that they loved old horror films and the name Black Sabbath was taken from a Boris Karloff film titled Black Sabbath. He said that they took the fear from horror and made it into scary music

My favorite band from the 70s. Love how lord of this world starts.

The greatest heavy metal album ever and til the end of time

Was smoking at a friend's place many years ago, and I pulled this from her collection to listen to as I hadn't heard much Sabbath beyond the hits. The cough scared me but then the Sweet Leaf riff blasted in and I knew I'd be listening to a lot more Sabbath soon enough. This was my favorite of theirs for a while but it's been overtaken by Vol 4 and Sabotage

As both a male Sagittarius and an avid Black Sabbath fan I would like to thank you for this terrific birthday gift. Thank you. 😊 // Claes from Sweden

Had the good fortune to meet both Ozzy and Geezer over the years as they were ‘local’ lads. A genre defining band who’s music has stood the test of time. Another illuminating show, nice one Abi.

Hey, Great Content. This just popped up on my end here. I've a personal Story about it - the first time I heard it. It was 1971, and I was...5 going on 6 Years Old. My Mother would Shop 'Eaton's' @ Granville & Georgia in Vancouver Canada, and she'd let me off the Lease (an actual Lease...for Children) to run about the Store on my own, and meet back at a prescribed Time. That's how things were, as Weird as that may seem to some here & now. So, she'd think I was interested in the Toy Dept., which I was - for about 5 Minutes. The Toy Dept. was typically across from the A/V Dept. in most Malls here at the time. So I'd go there and Listen to whatever Vinyl they had on the Counter. Back then they'd have an All-In-One 'suitcase' style Turntable with 'Record' on it and Headphones attached. On this particular Day, someone had just finished listening to Side B of this Platter you're discussing here; 'Master of Reality'. I put on the Headphones and Dropped the Needle on my own (I had to reach up to do but I'd done it before and knew the score), and started to Listen... 'Orchid'. "Okay...that's a pretty Song". Then 'Lord of this World'. OMFG! That...Changed Me...Permanently. I was a 5 Year Old...with Headphones on...Completely and Utterly Immersed in this Side of this Album. I was cognizant enough at the time to know that; I probably shouldn't have been doing that but...as aware that I wasn't going to be Caught doing it - which turned out in the End to be more important to Me. Cheers, and again Great Content Here.

Master of Reality remains Black Sabbath's best album, it is the album where music got heavier and is the album that inspired a lot of other bands. Salute!!

Blue Cheers 1st album was released in January 1968. Very underrated band.

Into The Void, Lord of This World, classic Sabbath to the bone! That album poster in mint condition would be worth a pretty penny. Great review my dear.

Black Sabbath is a very large and very important drop the metal bucket. Great album, unbeatable heavy riffs.

Black Sabbath are my favourite band (as a Brummie, this is legally required)! Master of Reality is the most brutal of the Ozzy era albums, and for that reason, slightly less of a favourite in comparison to Vol 4 and the self titled. You'd probably be more comfortable with their self titled album, which is much more blues infused, or even the later proggier albums from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath onwards. I'll also defend Technical Ecstasy ( "You won't change me" is a top 3 Sabbath song for me) and Never Say Die (listen to "Air dance"and have your mind blown as to what you might expect from Sabbath)! Edit: having listened to your thoughts, I agree with everything you said, though I would big up the Dio albums and Seventh Star even if it was meant to be solo Iommi project. I also have more time than most for Born Again, so interested in the much talked about remix (though I like the sludge of the original mix). The Tony Martin stuff falls flat for me because he seems to be impersonating Dio and for the most part Geezer isn't there to give the whole enterprise a sheen of class with his much under appreciated lyrics. Iommi and Butler's solo work at this time way better

One of my all time favourite albums

I was 16 (1972) when I bought this from a friend, the track I had heard was Children of the Grave, but they covered a large musical style, hence Sweet Leaf! From this album I do have all their studio albums. Only seen them once, which was penultimate Final Show show at the O2, what an evening that was.

I remember getting this LP in the mail back in 1971. I had joined a record club back then (Columbia record club) and bought all of the Sabbath LP's upon release through the club. In those days albums like this didn't get much exposure at all until they were well entrenched in the culture. Sabbath was too heavy for mainstream play so I really thank the record club for my getting into Sabbath before any of my friends had heard of them. I got their self titled album as one of the group of LP's the record club sent me and I was hooked on their music after that so every Sabbath LP that came out, came to me in the mail after that. I still have the first 4 Sabbath LP's I got while in the record club, over 50 years ago, wow, long time ago.

My late cousin James carried this album (on cassette) around with him all the time. We listened to this constantly when we were kids, it was my introduction to Black Sabbath. The songs somehow stayed with me and i've always had it in my collection since then. It never loses the power of those songs even after 35 years of listening to them. Great, great album! Nice choice Abigail :)

Oh and I gotta say, the people who have no knowledge, uninformed opinions and talk down to their audience... THEY'RE the ones with the hubris lol. You've done your homework and the love you have for this music really comes through. What you're doing is awesome.

My favorite sabbath album( ozzy Era only)is the one I'm listening to at any given moment.

I love BS. My Favorite band. Don’t really listen to anything outside of the Ozzy and Dio eras. Gotta love ‘em both for what they’re good at. The Ozzy years are great. Geezer’s lyrics are amazing. Volume 4 is a roadmap to life and my Favorite album ever written lyrically and probably at all really. Their softer sides are of few, but they are so well performed. Sabbath totally has psych in their blood. They totally appreciated a lot of good artists back then anyways, just like many other bands did at the time. Really dug this take on the record. And thank you for showing me another great Detroit band. It’s crazy that I still don’t know of all of these underground but awesome acts from South East Michigan. Much appreciated

You read my mind!!! I swear, this is weird!!!: I'm listening to you LZ1 deepdive, and I'm thinking "What would I want Abby to deepdive?" First one that comes to mind is Sabbath. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" or Sabotageor. Ahhh let's go with "Master Of Reality". That album really gir me into Sabbath. So I finish watching your LZ1 dive, and what comes up next, automatically???? THIS VIDEO. THENNNN, I realize that while I'm watching this, I am completely and magickally entranced by your beautiful eyes and couldn't- actually COULD NOT get out of this entrancing gaze into your beautiful soul. Right when I realize this, it's YOU that snaps me out of it when, at :46 you wink, and I actually come out of what felt like an hour I've totally missed while I was in said trance. Then, I find you're also a Gemin!!! I was wondering what your Gemini date of birth is? Mine is June 11th, 1967 at 1:11am. Thank you for doing this channel. I'm a TOTAL FANATIC of your work. You are VERY informative on so much of the music that matters to me. You are incredibly intelligent, and your Inner Gemini comes through on every show. You're awesome and I'm a forever fan. Thanks again, dear. You're TRULY one of a kind.😊

I find your intelligence on music absolutely FASCINATING. To that end. I actually stop YOUR video to listen to Power of Zues, to see for myself, your thoery, (as only a TRUE Gemini would😉). Brb.😅

My favorite Sabbath album due the trifecta of After Forever, Lord of This World & Into the Void(my favorite Sabbath song), not their most popular material, but arguably their heaviest. Volume 4 was my first Sabbath album(the intro to Cornucopia is my favorite Tony tone), & it's a toss up between that & Sabotage for #2.

For the record (no pun intended), I find your analysis solid, even scholarly, and that it comes from the most important place - genuine love and awe for music (or as Larry Graves- aka Canadian Studmuffin - says, “high quality entertainment.”) I say that having read and appreciated more than my fair share of music criticism. I am subscribed to other “classic rock “ channels and yours is my favorite. You are fun, adorable and incisively intelligent. I’m glad you don’t let the haters get you down, Abby. That person comes across as the proverbial Old Fart. ❤

Madam, Black Sabbath IS the bucket, not "only is just a drop" in the bucket of heavy metal. Rock on...

You crack me up. Quite knowledgeable and entertaining - truly delightful. I think I had a crush on you back in 1967. 🤔😉😊

Thanks for the Power of Zeus recommendation! 🌩

There was a punk band from Boston called Gang Green

Sabbath was the FIRST drop in the bucket. All metal springs from their seed.

I think Comus-First Utterance was released around the same time. It had that creepy vibe that Master of Reality had, but less heavy and more folky

I saw them at the Texas Opera House in Austin. Gezzers five finger attack on the bass strings. All five fingers were constantly playing the strings. The best bass player that I have ever seen. My favorite song by them is 'Johnny Blade'. It came out when I was 24yrs old. I like the lyrics. The other albums remind me of getting stoned in my friends basement when thier parents were gone for the weekend. I remember coughing like in that song Sweet Leaf. The song Johnny Blade would make a great cartoon video. "He's the one that should be afraid". Very cool. It's great to hear your a 13th Floor Elevators fan. My favorite songs by them are: Don't Fall Down, Reverberation, & Your Gonna Miss Me. I wish some young rockabilly guitarist would study Rocky Erickson, and be influenced by that sound. They were the real bad boys on the block at that time.

Under The Sun is amazing

Thanks for the love to the sagittarius men, I feel appreciated :D. This is one of my favorite Sabbath albums, heavy, dark, and beautiful at the same time. Great review!

Love the 33 and 1/3's.

Came for the Sabbath and stayed for the cutsie patootsy.

Black Sabbath & The Beatles have my favorite deep tracks.

You really know how to answer your critics. GOOD SHOW.

I haven't listened to this album all the way through since the '70s. I'll have to dust off my old vinyl copy and give it a listen once again. Back when it was released, it was definitely considered to be a heavy metal album; I don't even think the term "psych-rock" was around in the 70s. Children of the Grave and Sweat Leaf were the most played songs from the album on L A FM radio back then. Thanks for going outside your comfort zone.

No Gravitas, Just Hubris!!! What a great title for an album!

As always a wonderful video. Well done

Nice album choice! It is such a heavy, gloomy, sludgy record with those guitar tunings, especially on 'Into the Void'. You can also hear Sabbath's jazz/swing influences - 'Lord of this World' with that cool time change. Thanks for mentioning Power of Zeus! I have never heard them but now I have to go explore that group.

Black Sabbath is all I really need

You speak with hubris! I’m not sure how, but you do!

Love Sabbath and so happy for finding your channel

It's Tony's tone on this album that makes his riffs super contagious. Imo this effort and Sabotage are the most communicable of the Ozzy-era LPs. With infectious grooves and many transmissible progression changes its not hard to hear why. Alot of chicks I know cite Stoner Psych and Doom as their fav genre of Metal . It must be that tone. Thank God bands like Trouble and Sleep continued that sound, otherwise I'd have no concerts to drag my gf to! Thanx Sabbath for creating and being the originator of my fav genre of music Heavy fucking Metal! 🤘😝🤘

"Rumble" by Link Wray was banned by radio in the '50's...and it is an instrumental! I was in middle school when the first Sabbath albums came out and it was so much darker and scarier than anything we'd ever heard (right up there with "Revolution #9"). No matter what the lyrics said, we just knew that these guys were way out there and we loved them for it!

Th 1st six Sabbath records are about as perfect an album sequence as any by all those other usual suspects of ''classic rock'' or any other genre one cares to mention. Vol.4 being my unassailable fave followed by MOR. The doomy, dark tones Iommi conjured up around this time for these two albums in particular are as if from deep beneath the earth itself or some otherworldly source. And not forgetting the much underrated (at least imho) always brilliantly sympatico Butler/Ward rythym section!

wonderful, perfect metaphors used to describe this album!!

My favorite Black Sabbath album.

That album has been with me since I was a kid, I really enjoy your reviews they are always interesting and well researched. Thanks for sharing

Subbed for the Vol 4 comment.

Don’t listen to the haters, I love your vinyl Mondays and I have found you really know your stuff! I am requesting any early Genesis record to get on the schedule if you are a fan. Keep up the great work.

You love Black Sabbath. A woman after my own heart. Monday....I'm in 💕 love

I got a copy of it on my birthday a few years ago at my local record store 1st pressing w/poster. A year or two earlier that same record store had a UK 1st pressing of it and every time I think about it I kick myself for not buying that copy also. Bill Ward didn't get enough of a mention in this video he made those early Sabbath albums go. Great Drummer.

Entertaining , whimsical and charming and despite splashing in the fountain of youth you’re knowledge is as deep as a Sabbath power chord !

Another banger of a video! I had just discovered your channel yesterday and have watched 5 or 6 including this one now. Every one has been an absolute joy to experience as one who has been a fan of all the albums focused on. 😊😊

Def my fav Sabbath. I gotta spin this soon.

God I love the mountain goats I’m so glad to hear them brought up here 😊

thank you for stepping over to the dark side and making this epic video 🤘

love your flow and aprochment on history, thanks from patagonia Argentina!

I've learned a lot from your very well researched and produced videos! I'm deeply impressed at your passion and attention to detail! (Your "Odyssey and Oracle" video blew my mind!)

Thanks Abigail for reviewin' Masters O' Reality, an album I listened to once at a friend's house when it came out 'n disregarded for many years. I was a Black Sabbath fan from the beginnin', bought their first 2 albums 'n saw 'em live in 1971 openin' for Mountain. Even after eventually buyin' Masters O' Reality I ne'r paid it much mind so I appreciate yer deep dive which has renewed my interest now. Better late than n'er...JC

As always great Video Abbey! As an old 60’s hippie I was not really into Black Sabbath but I really like War Pigs the best. Keep on trucking girl!

Such a grooving album

great band !!!

a Victorian orphan child hahaha!!! this is one of my fave Black Sabbath album. I thought it was funny how you were describing the album hahaha I get it though I understand.

If you like this LP, then get “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”!!!

Thanks so much Abby for covering one of my two favorite bands here. Master Of Reality, more so than any of their other albums created the sub genre of Doom Metal. The reverberations from that album are still being heard today. My copy is a Dutch pressing on the NEMS label. I think it's from 1976. It has the purple outline MOR.

Hey Abby just tripped on your channel...Master of Reality is in my top 3 Sab albums...I'm Paul btw subbed to you ..from a Libra yo a Sagittarius great video thanx for sharing and take care

Thanks for the Spotify link! From another crazy Sagittarius.

Excellent video Abbie. MOR is a great album that gets better the more familiar you become with it. Bill Ward takes his lead from Jazz drummers and Tony Iommi is influence by Django Reinhard. The drumming on the first 3 Sabbath albums have some outstanding moments, rather than just time keeping. Geezer Butler generally follows the riff played by Tony and Ozzy sings along the riff too. This gives Bill Ward a huge amount of freedom. Keep up the good work Abbie.

The most mindblowing and heaviest album from the 70's! So ahead of it's time it's supernatural haha Took musicians a full decade to keep up!

"Lads! Let's record an album that will be genre-defining for like four different sub-genres of heavy music for the next century or so!" I don't know which one of them hypothetically would have said that, but that is how Black Sabbath comes off on this album. Incredible achievement! My favorite Black Sabbath album, easily. You can EAT the notes and they are SO beefy and tasty! Sorry for having to endure the likes of davidfusani in your comment section, dear Lady. See, these sort of folk have no personal life, so they inhabit social media to make everybody else feel a little worse whenever they can. They are the sort that comes on youtube and look for videos to press the dislike button on, spitting their disdain whenever they can. The amount of work you put into the research, not to mention dressing up for the occasion, is wonderful. So many reviewers and reactors on KZfaq basically just hit record in their dirty underwear and use one-word expletives while listening to or watching whatever it is they are reviewing and / or reacting to.

I am astonished that I have never heard of The Power Of Zeus before!! I am a huge music fan and record collector,born and raised in Detroit and I have worked in record stores throughout my life,yet,I have never heard about this band. Anyway,I will have to do some research on them. Love Ozzy-era Black Sabbath (one of my top 10 faves)and metal ( especially Doom Metal..which is the genre that BS spearheaded)and if I was a bigger classic rock fan than I would definitely subscribe to your channel. Hopefully, you will cover more interesting and underexposed bands ..keep up the great work.

i completely agree with your „metal is born out of the ashes fron psych rock“ statement. another pre - metal band i really like is blue cheer. for me they hit that heavyness without the sludge. loves it

Coven's Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls is the first album to feature devil horns🤘 The first track is called Black Sabbath and the bass player was called Oz Osbourne

My fav sabbath album with Ozzy! My band has played Sweet leaf for years! Totally dig your outfit for today review! You can pull off anything and make it work!

The album I have its black background and all purple letters, on the vertigo spiral lable, saw them live at Glasgow Apollo and the support act was Van Halen , a night never to be forgotten

This old man says you are one cool gal !! Your video had fresh and well needed perspectives on one of the most pioneering albums of metal or any other genre of the time. I also can't get over that your favorite Sabbath album is Volume 4. I literally know no one else in my community that feels that way about Volume 4 for the exception of myself. Your musical taste is beyond commendable and appreciated. I look forward to seeing more videos and your unique opinions on there subject matter.✌️🤘🤘✌️

I never did listen to Black Sabbath other than what was played on the radio for many years. I guess the hoopla surrounding them, and the majority of it not being true, kind of turned me away from really buying anything they put out earlier in my music endeavors. But that did change. I made a trip back to Houston somewhere around 1994 and was looking in a record store and saw an import CD set called Black Sabbath The Ozzy Years. It was a three CD box set deal that I went ahead and bought. And as I listened on my drive back up to where I lived, I was really enjoying the rhythms and flow of a lot of songs I never had heard. I thought they had a really cool sounding groove going. I started listening to that 3 CD set a lot over a period of a year or so whenever I'd make a road trip somewhere. And it led to me looking for the (up through 1978, Ozzy's last year with them) bootlegs and picking up a few. Unfortunately a lot of those were not the best sounding recordings but some of them were really great. I'm not a heavy metal music buff myself. But I almost don't really think of heavy metal being the type of music they played. I know that it is but with the stuff that came out in the '80s, AKA Metallica and bands like that, I thought that Black Sabbath had some really good messages in some of their songs and it was that classic rock heavy metal era that sounded a lot better to me. I think I have either four or five of their LPs today which I got mainly just to see if I would enjoy it like I used to back in the mid '90s. And it does sound good still. I had always heard the devil worshiping talk and things like that growing up in regards to Black Sabbath music. But when you listen to a lot of their songs, they actually are singing positive messages in many of them. It's really surprising. And who doesn't like the song Sweet Leaf either haha. Enjoyed the video even though it's being watched by me a day later. Good video Abby! Brian in Fort Worth 🎶

I really enjoyed your Let It Be/Get Back review the other day being the massive beatles fan I am. And it's funny I find you just as you cover Black Sabbath since I share my birthday with the big man himself Ozzy.

Thanks for introducing me to Power of Zeus! Wow how have I missed these guys? Also don't forget Eric Clapton's foray into heavy psychedelic blues/rock Cream!!!

🌠Good one Abbey with alotta records..great album..hope u get 2 strawberry fields nyc one day..I'm goin 4 the Lennon passing day..12 8 2022...Ozzy's favorite Band is The Beatles...🌈

I had to interrupt watching this video for 40 minutes in order to listen to Power of Zeus. Well worth it, thanks a lot for the hint! Also, I always liked the thought that the guys in Black Sabbath, unaware of creating the Metal genre, were actually just pot smoking, bellbottom wearing hippies, just not from sunny California but from dark depressing Birmingham, which reflected on their sound.

American band Sir Lord Baltimore two albums, American group Bang first two albums Aussie group Buffalo first three albums, American group Fraction and their only release Moonblood, American group Dragonfly only self titled lp, US groups Josefus/Stone Axe/Christopher(related bands), UK acidspace warriors Hawkwind with Spaceritual for starters and fellow Brits May Blitz and their two heavy hitters off to Germany and Mythos first album self titled album, another German group Gomorrha and their album I Turned to See Whose Voice It Was (too many German and UK to mention) back to the US with Dragonwyck out of Ohio. I will stop there too many to mention but if you like the heavy psychy stuff from the early 1970s this is a good list to start with. All killer. I would also recommend the Brown Acid series of heavy late 60s thru mid 70s stoner psych/hard rock compilations. You might already know this stuff but others might not . Cheers.

My favorite band of all time . Master of reality is my favorite album. Into the void favorite song, I know you don't think it's that special. But to me it's a metal masterpiece. Long live the godfathers of metal.

my fave sabbath album :D

This is the greatest Sabbath album.

My friend has a conspiracy theory that Arthur Brown is a bear in disguise "if xkcd is to be believed, 'arth' is approximately what the english word for bear would be if early germanic peoples didnt fear that using their word for bear would summon one they used a word related to bruin, meaning brown tell me that arthur brown isnt the name a grizzly bear would pick if it were trying to pass as a human"

I’m sure a million and one people who are fans of Sabbath said this…. But Sabbath was and is directly related and inspired by Blues, Jazz, Psychedelic, …. They were far more Progressive than a lot of bands claiming to be Prog Rock! They’re albums had peaks, valleys, darkness, beauty, and swing ! And I think you would do yourself a favor checking out more music like that such as Opeth, King Buffalo, Tool, Porcupine Tree, ….. or if you want to dive heavier think Pantera, Sleep, and every Metal band ever to exist after Sabbath because they have a role in inspiring them all! …….. I could go on endlessly but Sabbath was most certainly right up your musical alley with the Blues and Psychedelic music! Just an angrier child born from all that, and their upbringing in post war Birmingham England! And Tony Iommi is the godfather of Metal, dudes even missing fingertips and just makes rubber tips to fit over his wounds, down tunes….. CREATES METAL! Sabbath is never going to stop blowing our minds! Their music is timeless and so far ahead of its time, their lyrics and imagery is copied by so many bands . They’re absolutely incredible and one of a kind, and nobody can compare! Anyone who is heavy before Sabbath was never as heavy as Sabbath….. unless you’re talking the guitar solo of “Machine Gun” by Jimi Hendrix 😮😉🤘🏻😎

When the pandemic started, my girlfriend and I made parties at my house just for the two of us. At one of said parties we played Sweet Leaf and Into the Void at 2am at full volume. As a fun fact, an influential mexican all-girl garage band called Las Ultrasónicas made a really funny cover of Sweet Leaf translating the lyrics, Dulce Hoja