Im listening to a Black Sabbath album. And the fact is that the downtuned sound of this album makes it the sludgiest disc of the Ozzy era. The lyrically melodies start off a little annoying, but irregardless this is a band operating on a higher level. It is regarded by some critics as the foundation of doom metal, stoner rock, and sludge metal. Driving this in even harder, that leaves two other dense bangers that hold the same weight but go a different direction. Almost every track is pretty catchy (the choruses are very well written), from Children of the Grave to Solitude there are always some hooks present. Black Sabbath. On the rest of the album though he plays competently with some interesting offbeats and good enthusiasm. That is just incredible. 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. But yes, here is the beginning of the detuned era for the Sabs, and I say era because it would not last throughout the rest of the band's career despite what unscrupulous critics would say (they would tune back up again around Technical Ecstasy). Planet Caravan slows things down, before picking it all back up with Iron Man, another contender for best riff ever. It is a little long, but ultimately worth it, and whilst I don't agree with the song's message, it's all about the music, man, so who cares? The intro of Children of the Grave. Its true that you either like his voice or you dont, but if you do like his voice, theres absolutely nothing wrong with his performance on this record; he delivers. Tony Iommi's guitar is and will remain true art. On the first North American editions of the album, several songs had subtitles given to segments, making it appear that there were more songs than there actually were. Another killer riff, and in comes another killer vocal performance from Osbourne. But like all of the compositions here, it fails to have any imagination, the opening musical stanza is tense but plummets immediately. Not only is this their best album, but its stoner moments are extremely strong and innovative to a then-new genre. The remaining 3 songs are, ironically, the most memorable, if for no reason they are absurdly different. Its organic enough to not sound out of place in the 70s rock climate but still has enough grime to be just as earthshaking as your modern stoner/sludge metal fare. This, to me, is the first cohesive CD they put out. For much of the album Iommi showcases a newly developed, sludgier, downtuned guitar sound which seems to have influenced just as many stoner metal guitarists as his work on the band's first two albums set the playbook for doom metal guitar. Frank "Tony" Iommi (guitars) - On this album Tony starts experimenting with downtuning, with most of the songs performed tuned 1 1/2 steps down (the exceptions, Solitude and After Forever, are tuned down 1 step). All music composed by Black Sabbath (Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward), except "After Forever", "Embryo" and "Orchid" by Iommi. Maybe that's why Children of the Sea was written to complement it nine years later. Ultimately, I think it really confused us. Iommi belts out a very catchy, great grooving riff, and Ozzy sells the track pretty well. And although the alternately sinister and jaunty "Lord of This World" is sung from Satan's point of view, he clearly doesn't think much of his own followers (and neither, by extension, does the band). 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". There's stuff here that's haunting (Into the Void) thought-provoking (Children of the Grave) controversial (After Forever) and poignant (Solitude). Aside from "Sweet Leaf," much of Master of Reality finds the band displaying a stronger moral sense, in part an attempt to counteract the growing perception that they were Satanists. Im not one to complain about such things as I myself am a practicing Catholic, but I do wonder if maybe these so-called Black Metal purists who live and die by despising religion can explain to me where they get off on glossing over songs like this when stating that Metal and Religion are not compatible. However, the subtlety is what makes this work extremely well, with the questions leading to multiple answers, and suggesting that it can be good or bad should there be a god or not. Master of Reality is an extremely short but very effective album. Sabbath like most 1960's and 1970's bands were influenced heavily by the blues masters of old and up until Master of Reality this influence was peppered throughout their releases . A word about Black Sabbath: In the Black Sabbath concert film The Last Supper, Ward ruminates: "Did it enhance the music? "Solitude" is one of my favourite songs ever. But how they managed to darken even the songs written in a lighter vein to a scarier degree is just mind blowing. On the surface, I wouldnt see this as intentional or even something everyone picks up, but its hit me that way from day one. 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. Solitude is a relatable song about loneliness. However, the album isn't perfect. 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. There's also a nice patented Iommi 'dual guitar' solo in here as well. Fully five of the albums six full tracks are unabashed bashers on a whole 'nother level from what has come before, a horror unmatched til the advent of the raw electrics of Vol. While Paranoid gets much of the fanfare and glory, Master of Reality out does it, and then some. The shortest album of Black Sabbath's glory years, Master of Reality is also their most sonically influential work. Its relevance and history just make it that kind of gateway album, but it also carries with it honest musicianship and vision, the true ingredient to making it a timeless great. Could it be you're afraid of what your friends might say And if we get back to contrast, could there be a better way to break that bleak and foggy cloud that is "Solitude" by kicking off the beast that is "Into the Void"? The whole section just has wild, spontaneous smashing across the whole thing. Tony Iommi is the godfather of metal. He also shows some restraint, not destroying the tunes with exaggerated fills or something, so that's a clear plus in my books. Every track on this album has some excellent guitar riffs, and the overall composition of this album is excellent. (This trick was still being copied 25 years later by every metal band looking to push the . Musically my only minor complaint with the album has to be Bill Wards drumming. from Iommi. It's almost as if the same narrator has taken matters into his own hands. The guitars are dropped 3 steps on every string, and the mix is much sludgier. Into The Void - Starting with the slowest and heaviest of riffs (heavily accented by Geezer's bass), it later morphs into a slightly faster section featuring Geezer's bass prominently. "Master of Reality" is an album that does so much right, but so much wrong too. Other than that well, pick this thing up. Based around a medieval chord progression, Iommi and Butler paint a perfect smooth picture, while Osbourne's vocals are augmented by a flute. Without getting into specific bands, doom metal is slow and heavy music with crushing riffs. Whenever that happened, he would start believing that he wasn't capable of playing the song. The entire atmosphere and mood of the song just enraptures you when you hear it. "Children of the Grave" is my favourite song off "Master of Reality". Yes, it is, no doubts about it. Some more monster riffs that only Iommi and Butler could have come up with, and good interplay between the two of them in the beginning sequence. Children also has one of the catchiest riffs you'll ever hear, and is guaranteed to get stuck in your head later. Although perhaps not as consistent as their seminal album "Paranoid", Black Sabbath took new steps forward with "Master of Reality". Bill Ward breaks out some insanely unfitting and gross cowbell work over some of the transition portions before the solos, but this is one minor complaint on an otherwise fantastic track. Tony Iommi's Amplifiers Like the Gibson SG, Iommi's Laney Amplifiers have been the cornerstone of his rig since the beginning. to realize this is a much more sonically developed Ozzy Osbourne then the man who could barely droll out "the world today is such a wicked place!" Purpose in the sense that the riffs are constructed very deliberately, focusing less on variation and more on a powerful yet simple pattern of notes. In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau called it "a dim-witted, amoral exploitation. One of the first uses of down-tuning in rock, though far from being an aesthetic choice, this was out of necessity. This results in extra weight being lent to the riffs, and a heavier sound because of it. I was singing along to it and almost sang the main chorus to that track! Well, as usually for Sabbath, this preaches of struggle, drugs, and sci-fi. So no, there is not a time for peace and it is too late. But, if a core of five songs seems slight for a classic album, it's also important to note that those five songs represent a nearly bottomless bag of tricks, many of which are still being imitated and explored decades later. [8] Iommi was recording acoustic guitar parts at the time, and his coughing fit was captured on tape. He does not do the same on "Into the Void," however. A album that is literally about nothing, vacuous. I critique an album as good or bad based on the album without any reference as to who made it or how influential it is/was, this will be one of those reviews. Black Sabbath's Strongest. This song is downright happier than anything else they had recorded at the time, and Ozzy especially sounds more confident than ever as he shouts out his lyrics. There are no excuses however for why it also has only 2 guitar riffs. But this is Black Sabbath, emotional variation is one of their many fortes it may a stoned, happy anthem its still a Sabbath anthem. This IS the heavy metal band that started it all for most people as well as for me . I hear people call it Sabbath's heaviest record of their career all the time, and for sure when it was released it was, but of all time? This is a tedious, plodding song, with tedious, plodding music meant to be just a backdrop so as to shine the brightest light on, unfortunately, its worst performer, Ozzy, singing tedious, plodding vocal lines. Sweet Leaf is a bit on the average side, though, and so is After Forever, the (pretty forgettable) second track. Sweet Leaf - Starting off with a looped cough (rumoured to be Tony Iommi after a bong hit), the song kicks off with the signature riff. [5] Geezer Butler also downtuned his bass guitar to match Iommi. Black Sabbaths prior albums had a decidedly ominous atmosphere but his decision to downtune with Geezers bass following suit took that sense of impending doom to unprecedented levels. This record is a monster, a real state of mind, this boggy swamp monster emerging from the abyss and shedding islands from it's shaggy back. He was the ultimate harbinger of doom, second only to the guitar in being the key focal point of Black Sabbath. What makes this even better is the vocals. Sometimes I think I'd really like to go back to the way we recorded the first two albums. Already with the self titled and Paranoid album under their belt, Sabbath begin to experiment with their sound. Now while this album is arguably one of the heaviest albums of all time, the reason it works so well not just as a metal album, but as a piece of music in general, is that the five ultra heavy tracks are balanced out with three lighter ones that dont change the atmosphere. If you're looking for a doom/stoner metal album with a heavy 70s nostalgia vibe, then "Master of Reality" is an album I highly recommend. It was dark and devilish..pioneering. Also, the opener this is one of the weakest of the "essential" Sabbath songs, if not the weakest. Let's not beat around the bush: Into the Void is the heaviest song of all time. This is probably the one moment on the album that Ward's drumming shines on, and Geezer is also stupendous here. Everything about Master Of Reality is bare-bones, raw and stripped down to a primitive form that meanders about, aimlessly. Master of Reality is the pinnacle of that theory. Some albums become so popular over time that saying anything bad of them has become like heresy now; this is likewise for albums that developed a reputation for being awful. They have been so blindly accepted as good or bad that their caliber, or lack thereof, have developed the honorary but erroneous title of officially good or officially bad and this has led to the following, unfortunate, truth: What I like best about this song is Iommis very creative guitar playing. The opening track "Sweet Leaf" has a SWEET mid-section that is truly epic in its own rights. About the only good(?) The band were seen at the forefront of the hard rock movement, along with other bands such as Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. 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. The words must have been shocking to those people at the time who thought the band was all about devil worship or whatnot. His best moment is likely the eerie sounding timbales on Children Of The Grave. I am talking about Into the Void. Sure, you could have the interludes Embryo and Orchid lengthened, but that could honestly lead to unnecessary padding. An ironic sudden shift in tone and style ( la The Straightener, Symptom Of the Universe or Johnny Blade)? The shortest album of Black Sabbath's glory years, Master of Reality is also their most sonically influential work. Master of Reality Black Sabbath. The result? Solitude is another one, a pretty underrated track if you ask me, great atmosphere and vocals. Album Description. His drumming during that section sounds like what I imagine a hamster in a wheel would sound like if it was given a drum set. Well, The Pentangle released the merely good Reflection, but never mind that. So, by the end of 1970, he downtuned his guitar a whole step and a half to make it relatively comfortable to play. It isn't just Tony dropping great riffs either, After Forever's primary riff is actually an immense bass line from Geezer, while Tony counterparts with chords (I said the entire time, and these chords Shirley can't be insipid). . Without a doubt, the most controversial track here is "After Forever". 'Embryo' is an eerie violin observation that may have worked well to space out the album's first side were it not so aimless. Mans distress so great that he boards a rocket to the sun. 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. Suffice to say, like alcoholic beverages its harm is minimal, but I would recommend that you have someone else drive if youre on the stuff. Master of Reality is the third record by Black Sabbath. An excellent performance here. To talk about a Black Sabbath CD without reference to the bands story and their influence on the genre is a pretty difficult task, because it is when you listen to albums like Master of Reality that the ENTIRE groundplan of metal magically begins to unfold before you like a scene out of National Treasure (if National Treasure were a better film). It's incredible how a band could release three top notch albums in two mere years, but, I tell you, Sabbath did it.

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