Part of the secret of why those first two Sabbath albums sound so heavy is because of the use of half time rhythms, like on Black Sabbath itself and the intro of War Pigs. That's a big part of making it sound so ominous, it's like Godzilla wading in from the ocean, about ready to pounce on a Japanese fishing village or something. Another thing a lot of people miss out is Ward's drumming, which drew more from jazz than rock n roll drumming. In fact, I think that swing element was a secret ingredient in a lot of rock music of the late 60's and 70's. Everyone from Cream to Sabbath to Deep Purple to Kiss had that element, and I think that's a big part of why I prefer a lot of that music.
And there was also more dynamics in their music, which again was something that disappeared with later metal bands. It was like someone thought if they got rid of the quiet stuff and the slow stuff and just played everything as loud and fast as possible, with the double bass drum stuff going non stop, the cookie monster vocals, etc, they were somehow going "one step beyond" past metal bands, like it was supposed to be "even heavier" and it really wasn't. Not to my ears, it wasn't, anyway.
^^ If memory serves, the intro to War Pigs is in 12/8 time. Then for the main body of the song, it goes to 4/4.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
This is a good article that digs into Iommi's style.
https://www.guitarplayer.com/techniq...ike-tony-iommi
This is a perfect late autumn / winter album for me.
I think the title track is a great example of a song that perfectly showcases the band : it is the opener of the first s/t album, and it is a song that encapsulates the essence of Black Sabbath - doomy, heavy, but also atmospheric and featuring an interesting progression.
The tubular bells add to the ominous sound too. Wonder who's idea that was? It's pretty awesome.Part of the secret of why those first two Sabbath albums sound so heavy is because of the use of half time rhythms, like on Black Sabbath itself and the intro of War Pigs. That's a big part of making it sound so ominous,
Just listened to Black Sabbath, the title track. My god Geezer was/is a bass god. He was a HUGE part of that heaviness.
^^ It was Geezer who spawned the creation of the eponymous song, Black Sabbath. He was playing Holst's Mars, Tony walked in and put his own spin on it, thus creating that classic riff.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Yeah Geezer is an unsung, rock bass god. He basically invented a style, because he wasn't really a bassist originally. So one guy didn't really play bass, and the other lost fingertips in an industrial, metal factory. And they unleashed a beast.
Yeah I've seen a few Sabbath documentaries. He (Geez) followed Tony, and Ozzy followed Tony and Geezer. And metal was born.
Perfect album imo, love the production and Ozzies husky vocals
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
Yes indeed, Metal was born. I always found Martin Popoff's analysis of when and what gave birth to Metal, denoting the trilogy that he believed gave rise to the genre, although he also credits those who blazed the path before and after 1970's eruption:
"Martin argues for the “real” or “correct” answer to the titular question being Black Sabbath given their groundbreaking Black Sabbath album, issued February 13, 1970, but also that band’s Paranoid, Uriah Heep’s debut, and most important of this set of three, Deep Purple’s In Rock".
Amazing that these 3 bands would release such quintessential albums in the same year, all within a few months of each other, resulting in a revolution in Rock's historical timeline.
Uriah Heep hadn't really settled on a sound or even a line-up at that point (look at how many people are credited on Very 'Eavy...). But clearly things like 'Gypsy' were a sign of things to come.
True, Salisbury is where they settled into a more prog rock defining sound, although Gypsy was the bees knees for their debut. On Salisbury, Byron and Box moved over and made room for Hensley's participation in the composing department. Popoff declared Salisbury as a "failed experiment", but that seems a bit harsh.
^I love 'Salisbury'. The intro alone is epic. I play it more than Deep Purple's Concerto..., that's for sure.
'I'll Keep On Trying' is another great song on Very 'Eavy. I quite like the less 'heavy' tracks like 'Come Away Melinda' and the progressive 'Wake Up Set Your Sights'. But these latter two were basically Spice tracks, rather than Uriah Heep per se- Ken Hensley hadn't even joined the band at that point.
In the late 70s through the 80s, while still pissed about being fired, Ozzy said bluntly it was Geezer who wrote most of the songs for which the band is famous.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Hard to believe that's only 3 years removed from this.
Oh, my gosh! It's not hard to believe it's impossible (but you provided the evidence, so....). It sounds and looks like a Brady Bunch tribute to the Cowsills. And, who is that predecessor to Jon Lord on keyboards? She looks like a prettier version of Karen Carpenter.
Well, at least we know where the sound basis for "Speed King" originated.
I only kept the first two albums and H&H. Discovered the band through the We Sold Our Soul double anthology and that was part of the reason, why I got into heavy rock and Blues Rock around that same time.
Widow wasn't nearly as heavy, unless you mean "Heavil", but they sounded often a bit ridiculous, whereas Sab sounded serious.
Glad to see Ward back on the road (there was a time where he had real health issues) and solving his BS problems
Well, Paranoid is a real improvement, but yeah, the debut , but everything was already there on the debut. a bit like a blueprint, really.
In one of the tracks you can hear Iommi lifting a solo from Tull's Cat's Squirrel on This Was.
fave Sab track evah
yeah with warts an' all
Absolutely Ward's jazzy ways was fantastic with Geezer's wandering bass lines. They had one of the most inventive rhythm section .... at least for the first two album... Too bad they lost much of that with the shorter formats and more standard song-structure on MOR and Vol 4 and later.
He's the guy (with Casady, Entwistle & Bruce) that made me listen to the low frequencies of rock
not impressed at all with Heep's debut... Only appreciate Gypsy. if there wasn't that track on the album, I'd have to commit suicide
Salibury and LAY are so much better (hard to believe it's the same band, really)
Surely he meant lyrics
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
This tune is a bit easier to accept as a precursor to what Gillan and Glover would do next. (rough sound quality)
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