Master Of Reality

Performer: Black Sabbath
Producer: Rodger Bain
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Black Sabbath: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals); Tony Iommi (guitar); Geezer Butler (bass instrument); Bill Ward (drums). With Paranoid, Black Sabbath perfected the formula for their lumbering heavy metal. On its follow-up, Master of Reality, the group merely repeated the formula, setting the stage for a career of recycling the same sounds and riffs. But on Master of Reality Sabbath still were fresh and had a seemingly endless supply of crushingly heavy riffs to bludgeon their audiences into sweet, willing oblivion. If the album is a showcase for anyone, it is Tony Iommi, who keeps the album afloat with a series of slow, loud riffs, the best of which -- "Sweet Leaf" and "Children of the Grave" among them -- rank among his finest playing. Taken in tandem with the more consistent Paranoid, Master of Reality forms the core of Sabbath's canon. There are a few stray necessary tracks scattered throughout the group's other early-'70s albums, but Master of Reality is the last time they delivered a consistent album and its influence can be heard throughout the generations of heavy metal bands that followed. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine While other frontrunners of hard rock/metal like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple began dabbling in other musical forms (folk and string symphonies, respectively), Black Sabbath stuck close to its original direction and was rewarded with several of the most enduring rock releases of all time. Coming off the worldwide breakthrough of the band's 1971's landmark, PARANOID, MASTER OF REALITY (released the same year) proved to be Sabbath's third classic in a row. Like all Sabbath albums of the era, not a second of filler is present--even the lesser-known material is superb. The album's opening track, "Sweet Leaf," a salute to one of the band's favorite smokeable substances, contains one of metal's heaviest guitar riffs, courtesy of Tony Iommi. Another eternal band favorite is the grim, post-nuclear war tale "Children of the Grave." Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne is in fine voice on "After Forever" and "Lord of this World," while the more tranquil "Solitude" and the instrumental Iommi compositions "Embryo" and "Orchid" offer a bit of variety. Though not quite as influential as PARANOID, MASTER OF REALITY remains one of heavy metal's founding gems.

Rolling Stone (1/20/00, p.59) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...the definitive studio relic of Sabbath's golden-hellfire era (1970-74)...Ozzy preached a gospel of light: dignity, redemption and, in the heaving stoner's hymn 'Sweet Leaf,' peace through weed..." Q (7/01, p.86) - Included in Q's "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time" - "...Malevolent....casting Black Sabbath as a Titanic-style house band on the eve of Armageddon, cranking it as the bomb drops..." Q (1/01, p.122) - 5 out of 5 stars - "...The most cohesive record of [their] first 3 albums..."

Known worldwide as the embodiment of heavy metal, England's Black Sabbath enveloped the 1970s in a dense fog of apocalyptic imagery, monolithic guitar riffs, and horror-movie lyrics. When frontman Ozzy Osbourne left the band in 1979 for a highly successful solo career, the band soldiered on with a number of replacements, including Rainbow's Ronnie James Dio. In 1997, Ozzy and his former bandmates staged a much-publicized reunion. In the 2000s, when Ozzy got busy with solo recordings, Ozzfest, and his reality show THE OSBOURNES, Dio stepped in once again to front another incarnation of the band.

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