Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - BLACK SABBATH****

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath/A National Acrobat/Fluff/Sabbra Cadabra/Killing Yourself To Live/Who Are You/Looking For Today/Spiral Architect

By the time of the release of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Black Sabbath had established themselves as the premier heavy metal band, a title that they would not easily relinquish. (US:11 UK:4)

“In that era, Sabbath were able to forge accessible melodies and deliriously effective heavy riffs, yet do so with an attention to detail and craft that was rivalled by only a few other bands.”

“More than any of Sabbath's other albums, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is one of emotional extremes - in that this record possesses some of the lightest, most airy material of their career, and likewise, some of the darkest & most weighty material they've ever penned. By this point Sabbath were a band who could write music in equal parts that is both graceful and brutish.”

“It's interesting how the more you delve into a band's discography, the more you see the diversity in their sound and their influences, giving you a bigger and more clear picture of the band than before. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath has a greater production, sounding more majestic in its approach, with horns and strings incorporated into the music, along with a lot of more complex structures in the songs.”

“Sabbath get back on track with the heavy Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Right off the bat, with the title track, it hits you in the face with what you expect from classic Back Sabbath: dark, down-tuned, memorable riffs with occult lyrics. Ozzy is starting to blossom into a stronger vocalist by this album.”

“Quite progressive and dark sludgy riffing and some nice guitar licks along with rather groovy baselines.” “Whilst previous Black Sabbath albums included a few synthesisers and keyboards, their use was mainly restricted to the occasional stabs at more progressive rock-sounding tracks between the heavy songs that were their main focus. On Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the group finally integrated the synthesisers into the main songs.”

“Sabbath Bloody Sabbath shows further experimentation with the band's sound. This time around, Black Sabbath apply their new ideas more sensibly and they always fit in perfectly with the songs, never hurting the album's cohesion.”