Tuesday 22 May 2007

Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality (1971)

Another magnum opus from Birmingham's finest, crushing all other rock bands in its wake, the sheer grey skies and thunder cloaking all who dare oppose, Sabbath, three albums in and coasting like a huge, black serpent, this is ridiculously easy for them, an effortless expression of natural discontent with the world, Ozzy, the usual lamentable figure in the rain, Iommi delivering a masterclass in bizarre, mammoth riffing, oh how the skies caved in to the sea as the Sabbath juggernaut assaulted the eardrums of every unsuspecting town. Goodbye Beatles, hello misery.
It's all here, the hazy work of genius being 'Sweet Leaf', kick started by Ozzy's alleged unintentional choking cough which melts into the earthquake guitar and ward's elephant drums. The album borders on folk oddness, surreal psychedelia and ground shaking doom, and this was just a progression, a simple viewpoint expressed through this mind-shattering, soul-shaking form of sinister, creeping monolithic rock music, so heavy you needed a crane to lift it onto the turntable.
Sit back, grab the sleeve, slip into darkness, read the lyrics and become lost in the vacuum that is simply another classic Sabbath record.
10/10

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