Master of Reality is an extremely short but very effective album. Into the Void is my favorite song on the album, maybe even my favorite all-time Black Sabbath song (although War Pigs is hard to beat). Maybe it's just because it has an personal meaning for me, but then again, it is an incredible song. It has all the subtlety of a Rolling Stones song about sex. Master of Reality was, incredibly, produced by Black Sabbath just a few short months after Paranoid, this is quite extraordinary seeing as almost no band has made so many albums in such a short time, especially albums of this magnitude. Terence "Geezer" Butler (bass) - With the mentality "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," Geezer continues in his trademark fashion. This pain was the result of a factory accident years earlier in which he had the tips of two of his fingers severed. The only themes Solitude has are vapidity and nap-time. At the time, Black Sabbath were suspected by some observers of being Satanists due to their dark sound, image, and lyrics. Iommi believes the band might have become too comfortable, however, telling Guitar World in 1992, "During Master of Reality, we started getting more experimental and began taking too much time to record. Note that the timing of "Orchid" on revised US pressings is incorrect: it includes the "Step Up" introductory section of "Lord of This World." The latter song, by contrast, is a very light and melodic number that is comparable to later Sabbath songs such as Neon Knights and Turn up the Night. Without getting into specific bands, doom metal is slow and heavy music with crushing riffs. If you are a fan of metal music that routinely places a vocalist at the forefront during his worst vocals in 20 years, then this is right for you. And yet, this doesnt just feel like a mere mix of modern day material condensed down into a fading blast from the past. Black Sabbath, the bong-headed dead-beat dads of metal proper, had accomplished virtually everything that they were ever going to according to the mainstream by the end of the Master of Reality record. His fills are, at times, pretty fast here (check out the middle segment of Sweet Leaf) and the beats are all very well composed and fit the music very very well. Nothing knocked you on your ass this hard before, and few things have done so since. Here Tony Iommi began to experiment with tuning his guitar down three half-steps to C#, producing a sound that was darker, deeper, and sludgier than anything they'd yet committed to record. Theres something about this release that feels unique and fresh as it probably did back in the 70s. Of course, the albums stellar songwriting is what truly drives everybody and their father to imitate it so much. And for material contained within Master of Reality, just more classic Black Sabbath, thats all. In the Know All Music News Popular Black Sabbath Lyrics Even though most bands around this time stayed in standard tuning for another decade or two, whoops. In short, this is Black Sabbaths best album based on its remarkably consistent dark and evil tone, and its lack of filler. Well in case it needs to be reiterated the undisputed god fathers of heavy metal were ,,, come on,,,,, you guessed it,,,,,, Black Sabbath . Of course, not being familiar with After Forever yet I couldnt exclaim But wait, Gran! Black Sabbath. In his autobiography Iommi describes the cover as "Slightly Spinal Tap-ish, only well before Spinal Tap". Many bands today put out an album full of all these crushing tunes that relentlessly beat down your throat that they are a metal band. Bill Ward's jazzy influences were pretty pronounced and was not flashy, though his fills were subtle and well thought out. But all things considered, Master of Reality is enough proof that Black Sabbath was always at their core a heavy metal band. [36] However, the songs are not indexed on the CD using those timings the breaks between songs are correctly placed. [4] Bill Ward, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi are more than competent, they have proven to be reliable on two previous albums. Black Sabbath has released so many other albums since then, and while they've since disbanded, that doesn't mean that their work can't live on. A steaming side of Hawkwind later and you get Kyuss and Monster Magnet and the other bleary-eyed kings of the scene as it exists today. Musically speaking, it's not such a departure from Black Sabbath's typical sound, sounding a touch more upbeat than their trademark gloom. The short but witch-y folk interlude of Embryo sounds arbitrary but its the type of bauble that gives Master of Reality its doom metal character. On a technical level, this album isn't any of the member's best work. Also the excellent Children of the Grave those are the two that make this album essential. It shows Sabbath at their best as musicians and songwriters while setting an insanely high bar for all other heavy metal acts to follow. Black Sabbath perfected that exact sound except with much more finesse. There's stuff here that's haunting (Into the Void) thought-provoking (Children of the Grave) controversial (After Forever) and poignant (Solitude). The timing of "Solitude" on these pressings is also incorrect, as it includes the first half of "Into the Void", whereas the timings of "Deathmask" and "Into the Void" from the original US pressing should have been grouped instead. The third Black Sabbath album saw the band attempt to diversify their sound a little, and so there's a bit less of the pure proto-doom sound of their debut on view here and a few more 70s hard rock cliches (Bill Ward even unleashes a little cowbell on Lord of This World). Ozzy's voice is, for better or for worse, very recognizable, very memorable, and very imposing. Closing Comments I think it's especially apparent on the solo of the song. Speaking of vocals, there is one track that stands out for its lyrics-After Forever. "[26], In 1994, Master of Reality was ranked number 28 in Colin Larkin's Top 50 Heavy Metal Albums. And the fact is that the downtuned sound of this album makes it the sludgiest disc of the Ozzy era. Speaking of bad lyrics, the words to After Forever may irritate some listeners. Think about it, there is a vast array of emotional variation on all the classic Ozzy-era Sabbath records and Ozzy manages to deliver in a manner that happens to work for each and every style. Bill's kit sounds as clear as ever, and Ozzy is mixed to the fore. [8] Iommi recalls "We all played 'Sweet Leaf' while stoned. Cut to the fucking metal, Tony! And there's the core of the album -- all that's left is a couple of brief instrumental interludes, plus the quiet, brooding loneliness of "Solitude," a mostly textural piece that frames Osbourne's phased vocals with acoustic guitars and flutes. Moving on, every musician sounds pretty inspired here. The booming bass hooking onto the upbeat lead guitars may feel that way at first, but then it drops to a chugging note, eventually winding up in a stomping bridge. Bill Ward (drums) - Bill Ward's performance is similar to his previous works. Everything about Master Of Reality is bare-bones, raw and stripped down to a primitive form that meanders about, aimlessly. Yeah cool, arms crossed, eyebrows sloped, asses kicked. Embryo less so because its over so quickly, but its odd placement of connecting the upbeat After Forever with the menacing drive of the main riff in Children Of The Grave is what gets me; the suspense of knowing what is ahead of you. It was also my first album from them and everybody in the band sounds much better on here than before. Sure, its heavier than anything until at least Welcome to Hell but that, again, isn't of great consequence as: And the riffs fucking hell, the riffs on this album are brilliant, from the groovy grunt of Children of the Grave to the sludge covered monster that is Sweet Leaf to the intricate weaving of Orchid its all great and its all different, and thats another reason why this album is so important in defining the band: the CD exhibits a hugely varied palate of riff styles, from doom, rock, folk, acoustic, psychedelic, to whatever, but theyre all SABBATH riffs, unmistakable in their simplicity and delivery, which is what made them such an important band in bridging the gap between genres at the time. This album will always be the ultimate output by the true pioneers of metal . Basically, Sabbath is establishing a pattern of how their albums will sound like because like the ever familiar Iron Man, Into the Void is another track that everyone will remember the band by. Tony Iommi again shows off his riffing prowess, and possibly the best performance of his career. Incredibly innovative not just for it's tunings, but for its ghastly vocals as well as sewing the seeds of thrash. Much of the heaviness found on this album owes to a combination of necessity and purpose. The song with the most evolution, the most passion and original idea was when they stepped into slight Barry Manilow territory. Geezer's bass is especially heavy in this track, driving the song along nicely. It has a great deal of excellent riffs, particularly the main one which is constantly reused in many variants by bands in both the thrash and power metal genres. The world's first true stoner metal album was born. Also, I must add, the second half of that album is just as good, with the one-two slow punches of Electric Funeral and Hand of Doom, the latter about the damage PTSD does to war veterans and details the story of one who resorts to heroin. 100%: erickg13: January 1st, 2007: Read: Heavy . Here Tony Iommi began to experiment with tuning his guitar down three half-steps to C#, producing a sound that was darker, deeper, and sludgier than anything they'd yet committed to record. The Sab Four always had fantastic chemistry but the structures on this album are more fully realized than anything that had come before. But even though I am a staunch Atheist, I have an appreciation for the passion Geezer has for his faith. Sabbath's previous two records had their own heavy moments, but those albums fall flat when compared to MOR. The godfathers of metal themselves have had a lengthy discography with many hits, and even some of their weaker releases still have something special in them that makes them memorable. Planet Caravan is one of the more abstract Sabbath songs and as such a typically Butler-esque affair and if anything its strangely close to Into the Void in terms of lyrical themes, whereas Solitude is the sound of road-weary band in some distant hotel room just getting high and jamming because theres nothing else to do. But this time we were a lot more together, understood what was involved and were more opinionated on how things should be done. [27] In MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1999), authors Gary Graff and Daniel Durcholz described the album as a "brilliant skull crusher", singling out "Children of the Grave" and "Sweet Leaf" as "timeless". So, highlights? Unless I am missing something here, the only notable songs are Orchid (being a classical guitar interlude) and Solitude (introducing the Flute and as the next evolutionary step from Planet Caravan). Ah, Master of Reality. 9. The first time I listened to this album I was truly stunned at just how much of the music felt familiar to me. His fills during and right after the solo of the song are so incredibly sloppy that it hurts. Production was once again handled by Roger Bain, and this one sounds a little different. If the album were "Children of the Grave" and "Into the Fucking Void" four times, it would be totally fucking perfect. The stop-start thing in the middle of the guitar solo. After Forever - This track carries a sort of gospel feel to it. As soon as that riff bursts out of the gate, you know you're in for a wild ride. And that part oh man you probably know what Im talking about. Alas, it has its weak moments, mainly in the fact that Sabbath seem to be on a silly acid trip half the time and can't chain Iommi's amazing riffwork into total SONGS consistently. The drums also has some basic beats, but later in the song where it gets more intense, the drumming gets more complicated, and leads the other instruments to a more fast-paced, anxious moment on the track. Leaving the world to Satan, his slaves, and his ex. Bill Ward, as usually, provides a solid, but jam band-esque, performance, however, it must be noted, is the very John Bonham style slowly creeping into his style. A manner that is very easily replicable but you can never match his charisma, his emotion and his passion behind this track whenever he's singing. Lyrically however, bassist Geezer Butler writes about his devotion to Christianity, even ridiculing those who may not agree with the Church. It contains such a warm inviting all encompassing and completely engrossing feel that it has influenced millions of people to call this band what they deserve to be called, GODS . into the void master of reality 1971 if sabbath s rst two albums are a rough . From the initial choking cough of "Sweet Leaf" through the final thump of "Into the Void" the album is crushing, Black Sabbath playing on a more acid rock or even blues metal vibe, those almost jazzy structures on some of the songs buried under the deafening cacophony of the trio of master players. Black Sabbath reached new heights with the release of their third album, "Master of Reality.". It doesn't matter what you're doing. (Like Dark Fucking Angel, the expletive denotes heaviness and must be used at all times.) Just balls to the wall riffage that doesn't relent and keeps coming back for more and more. The longer Solitude sounds like a better version of Planet Caravan from Paranoid. I can only imagine how cataclysmic this thing sounded back in 71 but with how timeless it sounds, you dont have to come at it from that angle to fully appreciate it. And now we simply have the greatest metal song in history. In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau called it "a dim-witted, amoral exploitation. While not being a long record (Master of Reality contains six songs and two interludes, with the total playing time being, roughly, 35 minutes), it is a very cohesive and strong piece, all the songs flowing well together and sounding fresh. It was certified double platinum after having sold over two million copies. Of all of their studio albums, and particularly during their 70s heyday, Black Sabbath's best is Master of Reality. Most of all, the band are on point throughout this album, especially the rhythm section. The band was clearly done meandering around and not a single second is wasted, effectively bridging the gap from the psych blues jams of Warning and N.I.B. to the elaborate journeys of Megalomania and Wheels of Confusion. "Children of the Grave" is my favourite song off "Master of Reality". The entire atmosphere and mood of the song just enraptures you when you hear it. Master of Reality was probably the first metal album that I could consider high art. Ill give them some credit I guess for the nice atmosphere the song creates the backwards piano and flute are nice touches. Black Sabbath's Master of Reality is a very interesting piece of art to review. "It helped with the sound, too", Butler explained to Guitar for the Practicing Musician in 1994. Now, they are not kidding around; they love Jesus. Ozzy shows off his range as a vocalist, proving everybody wrong who said he could't sing - And everything instrumental is just perfect. that God is the only way to love The subject matter of the song would seem a contradiction in the bands previous message found in The Hand of Doom, although one must consider a few things. Perfect albums like Master of Reality have always, and will always contain a permanent documentation as to the exact reason that I have dedicated my entire existence to living, breathing, eating, sleeping, bleeding, worshiping, and yes one day dying for my true love: heavy metal . I am talking about Into the Void. from Iommi. The riff is one of those intoxicating melodies that will stay in your head forever. Master of Reality is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 21 July 1971 by Vertigo Records. Must of gotten quite tired of the Gillan and Plant comparisons. Solitude (Studio Outtake - Intro With Alternative Guitar Tuning) 3:45: 2-9: Into The Void "Spanish Sid" (Studio Outtake - Alternative Version) 6:24: Ad . Master of Reality was without question Iommi's greatest triumph in the driving groove filled riff department . That opening, sludgy and utterly stoned riff kicks in with some lazy drums before giving us a small variation. This is the one that did it first and arguably, this is the one that did it, and is still doing it, best. With Tony Iommi tuning down his guitar, they achieved a darker and deeper sound. Black Sabbath's reputation does not make them invulnerable to unfavorable judgment and their album will be judged on its own merits, notoriety be damned. After the success of Paranoid, youd think they would start to sound formulaic, but hell no! Unlike various forms of propaganda that dwell upon specifics, this song takes a very generalized approach and can apply to the world that we live in today. But when I really start thinking about Black Sabbath, I see why I find them so subtle, which is an achievement in its own right when playing on ten. Well, you know, we wrote 'Sweet Leaf': 'When I first met you / didn't realize', that's about meeting marijuana, having a relationship with marijuana That was part of our lifestyle at that time. He is the unrelenting driving force and the ultimate backbone that keeps this album moving so perfectly . This ultimate heavy metal album was released in 1971, a million light years away from what we as metal heads would come to know and love as heavy metal . The phrase nothing happened can never be more literally stated about an Ozzy era release than this. Like I already said, its descent into that misty and chilling exit with whispers and distorted sounds depicts the entire record wonderfully. Sadly, Master of Reality is often despised by the majority of the people, who constantly say that Paranoid is the be-all, end-all of Sabbath's catalogue. On its main disc, it has the 2012 digital remaster of the album and on its second set is the bonus disc from the 2009 European deluxe reissue. This gives the atmosphere a slow, downer, and doomful feel, and it works perfectly. See, I LOVE this song, I love the riffs and the tune and almost everything, but this song takes a lot of shit because it's a rather ham-fisted Christianity endorsement. And now we come to Children of the Grave, what many consider to be not only the highlight of the album, but also one of the very best early Sabbath songs. Master of Reality truly exploits a massive range of emotions in its eight tracks (Only six of which even have vocals!). And Geezer matching the riff behind him? Should you get this? Every single person that defines themselves as a metal head has heard of Black Sabbath even if they haven't heard their music personally . Gone are the aimless jams of their debut (unless you want to nitpick about Embryo and Orchid, acoustic guitar pieces which together come in at less than two minutes), also while just as riff driven as Paranoid, Master of Reality focuss on the rhythm to a much larger extent. Although it shares the same style of sludgy riffs and over-the-top occult atmosphere with much of Sabbath's work up to this point, it stands out for its relatively intense rhythm, a gallop that would later be mirrored in Maiden's work. That leaves only Solitude, the one quality vocal performance I wrote about way back when. This is not the driving melodic riff of Electric Funeral or Wicked World, this is just a couple of power chords. With the inclusion of the two instrumental interludes (Embryo and Orchid) and the ballad Solitude, the record also becomes pretty varied, which makes up for a richer listening experience. On 'Paranoid', he had reduced the blues elements to an extent where the music was more free-flowing, heavy and gritty, but still maintained a healthy dose of the blues evident on songs like "War Pigs", "Hand of Doom" and "Fairies Wear Boots". Otherwise, the real lasting legacy of MoR is just the down-tuning to C# for all stringed instruments from then on, producing a much thicker and heavier sound. and "oh right nows!" He turned something so simple into something so awesome and spiced things up with some sick leads and solos. This release saw the band exploring more doom metal structures as well as an even heavier sound that would give birth to the stoner rock/metal movement. To this I can only respond that the songs serve the purpose of showcasing a varied approach to music and a defiance of conventional thinking, and in this particular case it didnt fully work out as intended. I love the introduction of the second guitar playing the notes of the riff come verse two. It's skull-fryingly heavy. Master of Reality is the third studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath. Paranoid, especially, fucking rules. This doesn't mean that the music was completely stripped off technicality. Overall, riffs are as strong as ever. How it does that is after the atomic destruction minded song Children of the Grave ends, another darkly mellow instrumental interlude returns only to be followed by Lord of This World; a track coherent with Children of the Grave and After Forever throwing out a blue print for how the later subgenre of doom metal should and did sound like. After Forever starts with an ominous synthesizer, but soon unfolds into an upbeat, major-key guitar riff. The first thing that strikes me is Iommis tone. And deliver it they did. The day I received it has forever changed the history of my life . Ozzys voice is in top form as he expresses his undying love for marijuana, and the band sounds equally confident. "Then it got to the point where we tuned even lower to make it easier vocal-wise. 'Embryo' is an eerie violin observation that may have worked well to space out the album's first side were it not so aimless. In his autobiography I Am Ozzy, vocalist Osbourne states that he cannot remember much about recording Master of Reality "apart from the fact that Tony detuned his guitar to make it easier to play, Geezer wrote 'Sweet Leaf' about all the dope we'd been smoking, and 'Children of the Grave' was the most kick-ass song we'd ever recorded.". Another killer riff, and in comes another killer vocal performance from Osbourne. The flute work on "Solitude" is probably the only other similar moment on the record that gives us this kind of beautiful relief. His detuned bass (relatively matching Iommi's tuning) lends a heaviness to the album not seen in other bands around the time. My life is free now, my life is clear The actor's a Slipknot/ Linkin Park guy, but Aemond's all over Black Sabbath. It has a dark mood and thick atmosphere that, if nothing else, introduced a new instrument to the fold and evidence of what was to come. We take a look at Black Sabbath's masterful third album Master of Reality. Label: Sanctuary - UICY-94183/4: Series: Black Sabbath SHM-CD Paper Jacket Collection - 3, Do It Rock: Format: CD, Album, SHM-CD. They both work with each other and they both need each other to be successful. Originally released in July 1971, it is widely regarded as the foundation of doom metal, stoner rock, and sludge metal. The structure on Children of the Grave was, at the time, unlike anything Sabbath had normally written. "War Pigs" Sweet Leaf is a bit on the average side, though, and so is After Forever, the (pretty forgettable) second track. I lost count of how many times I found myself saying things like thats Black Label Society thats Church of Misery thats Cathedral thats Pantera thats Reverend Bizarre but what really surprised me were the less obvious parallels that can be drawn between this CD and some pretty unexpected bands: there were moments of fucking hell, what is an Akercocke riff doing on here? and at one point (and Im not even too sure I believe myself on this) but I swear I could have made a genuine comparison between Master of Reality and Rotten Sound. This record had the arduous task of following up Paranoid, but did so with flying colors. Master of Reality gives us great, heavy fucking metal riffs that sound great in standard tuning, or any tuning (go look up a 1992 performance of Into The Void with Tony Martin, standard tuning and still Azbantium splitting). (This trick was still being copied 25 years later by every metal band looking to push the . Sweet Leaf has one of the most insane middle sections Ive heard, and is probably the closest thing to a power metal song. On the rest of the album though he plays competently with some interesting offbeats and good enthusiasm. Whatever, you don't question early 70s Tony Iommi, plus he steals the show right back from under Geezer at around 3:25, arguably the finest riff of the whole album! How do you follow it up? Out of nowhere there is a minute long jam session, which I concede is not half bad but why is it here? But how they managed to darken even the songs written in a lighter vein to a scarier degree is just mind blowing. We all embraced the opportunity: Tony threw in classical guitar parts, Geezers bass was virtually doubled in power, I went for bigger bass drums, also experimenting with overdubs. But more importantly, the dark and heavy sound will smack you harder if you are a fan of rock music from the late 60s and early 70s. Even the fun number around smoking the reefer Sweet Leaf dials the rhythms down into darker depths with the minor keys of execution. The third Black Sabbath record is widely regarded as a classic and is also one of the heaviest albums of the band's long catalogue. This results in extra weight being lent to the riffs, and a heavier sound because of it. Tony and Geezer's riffs are at their best and Ozzy Osbourne's voice was rarely so effective and his voice fits Butler's lyrics almost in a perfect way. The music is gentle but brooding, with a melodic and emotional flute played by Iommi. 5! A two-disc deluxe edition was released in the UK on 29 June 2009 and in the US on 14 July 2009 as an import. And Ozzy was so much better. This is actually one of the few songs I've ever heard where I ALTERNATE between air guitar and drums.