Sabotage

Performer: Black Sabbath
Engineer: Mike Butcher; Robin Black
Producer: Black Sabbath; Mike Butcher
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Black Sabbath: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals); Tony Iommi (guitar); Geezer Butler (bass); Bill Ward (drums). Additional personnel: English Chamber Choir (background vocals). Principally recorded at Morgan Studios, London, England. While many hard-core Black Sabbath fans consider 1975's SABOTAGE to be the band's most underrated album, it can also be pointed to as the beginning of the end for the original Osbourne-Iommi-Butler-Ward line-up. Osbourne was starting to feel disillusioned with the group, and the seeds for his highly successful solo career in the '80s were being planted. That said, SABOTAGE was the last Sabbath album to truly contain all of the components that made the quartet one the most popular heavy metal bands of all-time, before it pursued less focused musical detours. The album's most surprising cut is undoubtedly the tripped-out psychedelic rocker "Am I Going Insane (Radio)," which would be included a year later on Sabbath's greatest-hits collection, WE SOLD OUR SOUL FOR ROCK N' ROLL. Other standouts include the crushing album opener, "Hole in the Sky," as well as the ultra-stimulated rager "Symptom of the Universe," which would be used later as an opener for Ozzy Osbourne's 1982 solo live album of Sabbath nuggets, SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. While those just discovering Sabbath should stick with such landmark recordings as PARANOID, MASTER OF REALITY, and SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH, there are more than just a few highlights on SABOTAGE.

Q (1/01, p.122) - 4 out of 5 stars - "...Highly underrated..." Record Collector (magazine) (p.81) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Tony Iommi's idea bank was overflowing and, as the band improved, he became more inventive, pushing the metal envelope with every new song."

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.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25