When returning to decades-old albums, the support of its influence on the future of music can often be what patches up the shortcomings. For Black Sabbath, there is no escaping just how revolutionary their self-titled debut was, and how incredible it still is. They would improve on this sound, of course, with the Ozzy Osbourne-fronted group going on to write the likes of War Pigs and Paranoid, two all-time great songs that could never have happened without the gutsy rock and roll overhaul heard on Black Sabbath. Tremendous atmosphere is what Black Sabbath begins with, the self-titled opening song of their self-titled album is a manuscript for what the band hoped to bring listeners with their take on rock and roll. What an experience it is. Heavy pangs of gothic rock but without the torture, more focused on the energising discoveries, the thrills and chills of a whole new sound making waves in the mainstream.
Powerful instrumental work, mainly the guitar from Tony Iommi on the opening track, is what backs the out there, left of field vocal style Ozzy Osbourne brings. A truly iconic performance on this opening track, as if begging for mercy before an instrumental blowout hits, a fantastic listening experience and still one of the band’s best songs. Iommi cuts through with some ridiculously brilliant solo guitar as the rest of the song keeps the mood steady, the unnerving stylishness, the bumps in the dark coming into the light. It transcends the gothic and heavy rock label wonderfully. The Wizard features similar brilliance, the same tightness to the instrumentals and an influence which can trace Black Sabbath to popular rock music of the times. Osbourne has always been an open book on what influenced him, and though it may not sound as though The Beatles played their part in this heavier rock tone, the production quality, the instrumental volume and sincerity despite the often macabre lyrics, is excellent to hear.
Black Sabbath would gauge some cooler specifics with their music on the albums to come, but songs like N.I.B. demonstrate the ongoing coolness, the counterculture built into the heavy drumming and always impressive guitar work. Crucial to this self-titled debut is the blues and jazz influence you can hear in the likes of Sleeping Village. Instrumental jams, moments of inspired back-and-forth between instrumental heavyweights which still sounds as catchy, as convincing, to the ears. It’s nothing short of magnificent work from a band whose heavier turn, the deeper feeling there is in those guitar riffs, would soon turn those moments in the likes of Iron Man. The foundation is there, the blueprint for what the band would go on to do clear as anything, it was just pushing it there that Osbourne and the group needed to do.
Asking an act to do that on their debut is hardly fair, but there are moments where it feels like Black Sabbath are on a whole other level to the contemporary rock acts of the time. A transition from Sleeping Village to Warning is a subtle touch but a segue which works brilliantly. Still worth returning to, not because of the appreciation we can have for Black Sabbath as a historic piece of work, but because the fundamentals of their sound are still there and hold up well. What they convinced audiences with at the time is still convincing today, that hard rock sentiment with a roaring, harsher instrumental touch. It’s a real blessing to hear how well it holds up, and crucial to all of that is a touching series of lyrical charms that simply never let up. A fantastic start for the band.
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