![]() ![]() Obviously, another large part of the LP’s legacy is the photo on the album cover. 4 allowed Black Sabbath to get noticeably more sundry and sophisticated. In all of these ways, among others (which we’ll get to in a moment), Vol. Likewise, “FX” is an experimental sound collage born out of Iommi unintentionally hitting his guitar strings with a crucifix “Laguna Sunrise” is a lovely neo-classical acoustic guitar instrumental (with orchestration) and the forceful “Snowblind” adds subtle strings to the mix. “I’ve never really played piano, and it’s one of those nights I happen to sit up and just tinkle around with it, and I started playing this tune,” Iommi recalled to Rolling Stone. Most notably, “Changes” - which is one of Black Sabbath’s most well-known songs in terms of mainstream awareness - essentially saw them trying out a new kind of ballad with new instruments (piano and mellotron). Thus, the album’s expanded arrangements paved the way not only for 1973’s even weirder Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, but the birth of progressive metal. By mining their hardships for motivation and stretching their artistic limits, they made great leaps as songwriters and composers. 4 remains such a remarkable LP half a century later. Taking all of that into account, it’s easy to see why Vol. (That is - vocalist Ozzy Osbourne explained in his autobiography, I Am Ozzy - until Vertigo Records decided that they “didn’t want the hassle of a controversy.”) 4 that they were originally going to name the collection Snowblind. ![]() Sadly, though, the group was also forcing its way through several personal obstacles.įor instance, bassist Geezer Butler told Rolling Stone in 2021, “Tony had just broken up with his girlfriend at the time, and Bill was going through a divorce.” Plus, another one of the quartet’s favorite treats - cocaine - became such an integral and costly part of creating Vol. 4 - released on September 25 th, 1972- found Black Sabbath pushing themselves further in several ways, not the least of which was through more adventurous and aspiring instrumentation and songwriting. In fact, Ward aptly surmised, “ Master of Reality was kind of like the end of an era, the first three albums, and we decided to take our time with the next album.” In particular, the making of 1971’s Master of Reality saw the band delving deeper into “uppers, downers, quaaludes, whatever you like” (as founding drummer Bill Ward recounted in Steven Rosen’s book The Story of Black Sabbath: Wheels of Confusion ).Ĭlearly, their much-needed break during the first half or so of the subsequent year was well deserved, as it allowed them to reconvene in May ‘72 with increased energy and imagination. Unfortunately, their nonstop multi-year marathon of recording and touring led to them feeling quite exhausted physically and mentally, resulting in them relying on drugs as a remedy. Formed in 1968, the quartet took less than four years to put out three of the most celebrated LPs in the genre’s history - sequentially, Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and Master of Reality - and play venues across the world (amongst reaching many other accomplishments). There are few drawbacks to that decision - after all, "Changes" is the antithesis of everything that made Sabbath different from the rest of the industry, and with their all their talent and devoted fan base, it was clear that the band didn't need to stoop so low.It’s difficult to overstate how quickly Black Sabbath became the undisputed kings of heavy metal. Since the single's release, Black Sabbath has yet to record another stripped-down ballad, and rarely has the band performed this song live. These thoughts aside, an additional problem lies in the song's lyrics, which are trite, generic moans about lost love with horribly cliché rhymes. And while the band had gained a reputation for being experimental, "Changes" is perhaps one of the their biggest failed experiments. Rather, Sabbath gained their core audience with riff-laden gloom and doom metal. After all, they were never meant to cross over, and they were never meant to have hit singles. Unfortunately, the sole idea of a crossover for Black Sabbath is a ludicrous one. Black Sabbath's attempt for crossover success came in the form of "Changes," a stripped-down piano ballad from the band's Vol. ![]()
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