Black Sabbath Albums Ranked From Worst to Best
Not sure what took us so long, but this week we're finally ranking the 19 studio albums of Black Sabbath.
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Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define the genre with releases such as Black Sabbath (1970), Paranoid (1970), and Master of Reality (1971). The band had multiple line-up changes following Osbourne's departure in 1979, with Iommi being the only constant member throughout its history.
After previous iterations of the group called the Polka Tulk Blues Band and Earth, the band settled on the name Black Sabbath in 1969. They distinguished themselves through occult themes with horror-inspired lyrics and tuned-down guitars. Signing to Philips Records in November 1969, they released their first single, "Evil Woman" in January 1970. Their debut album, Black Sabbath, was released the following month. Though it received a negative critical response, the album was a commercial success, leading to a follow-up record, Paranoid, later in 1970. The band's popularity grew, and by 1973's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, critics were starting to respond favourably.
Osbourne's excessive substance abuse led to his firing in 1979. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Following two albums with Dio, Black Sabbath endured many personnel changes in the 1980s and 1990s that included vocalists Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen and Tony Martin, as well as several drummers and bassists. Martin, who replaced Gillen in 1987, was the second longest serving vocalist and recorded three albums with Black Sabbath before his dismissal in 1991. That same year, Iommi and Butler were rejoined by Dio and drummer Vinny Appice to record Dehumanizer (1992). After two more studio albums with Martin, who replaced Dio in 1993, the band's original line-up reunited in 1997 and released a live album Reunion the following year; they continued to tour occasionally until 2005. Other than various back catalogue reissues and compilation albums, as well as the Mob Rules-era lineup reunited as Heaven & Hell, there was no further activity under the Black Sabbath name for six years. They reunited in 2011 and released their final studio album and nineteenth overall, 13 (2013), which features all of the original members except Ward. During their farewell tour, the band played their final concert in their home city of Birmingham on 4 February 2017.
Black Sabbath have sold over 70 million records worldwide as of 2013, making them one of the most commercially successful heavy metal bands. They were ranked by MTV as the "Greatest Metal Band" of all time, and placed second in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" list. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them number 85 on their "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Black Sabbath were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. They have also won two Grammy Awards for Best Metal Performance, and in 2019 the band were presented a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Let us know how you rank them down in the comments. Thanks for watching!
Stock footage provided by Videvo, downloaded from www.videvo.net
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Пікірлер: 533
My fav album by Black Sabbath is Vol 4.
Honestly, I don't think the criticism that Mob Rules is some sort of carbon copy of Heaven and Hell holds much water even though you hear it a lot.
No kramzer born again is just a great album nothing to do with others covering this album.joe debute so low? 🤦🏻 u guys are killing me.
"You Won't Change Me" - Ward and Ozzy killing it on that one. Classic deep cut. People will look back in a 100 years and say "that guy Ozzy who was supposed to be such a crazy man - dude could really sing." "Junior's Eyes" another one - incredible vocals. Pure feeling.
Yeah Black Sabbath is a lot more than just a “metal” band. Ozzy himself loves The Beatles and they put many influences into their music. Just as many metal fans can be stubborn, critics and the general public can be stubborn about metal as well. Many don’t seem to understand how deep the band went and just how groundbreaking they were.
Headless Cross is a top five album for me.Tony Martin is really great here and Tony Iommi plays some great solos particularly on Kill in the Spirit World.Technically Martin can be at times be on a par with Dio whereas Ozzy was more of a showman with a distinctive voice.I have been into Sab since I was about 12 and I remember buying Sabbath Bloody Sabbath new and I had all the albums by the time of Heaven n Hell.That album got heaps of glowing reviews when realeased and saved the band because Ozzy was hopeless at this time and fortunately picked himself up with his solo career.Dio was a great career change and it was exciting time to be into Sab..The Martin era gets a bad rap but I really like these albums (except Forbidden)
Dehumanizer is heavy and underrated. No way should it be that low on any list
Joe + Jason, just for infomation - Rick Wakeman only plays on one track in Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (Sabra Cadabra). The keyboards and synthesizers on the other tracks are played by Iommi and Butler, Iommi also plays the flute on Looking for Today. Even Ozzy fiddles with a synthesizer on a track.
Vol. 4 is my #1. Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener is a monster opener. The entire record is one stand-out song after another. Might be the best written Sabbath album either in spite of or due to the excesses.
This may be my favourite one that you guys have done. Its quite obvious that you enjoyed the hell out of it
My favourite band of all time;
I've been absent here a little while, but seeing this list. Sabbath are my all time everything. I can't wait to watch this....when I wake up in 3 hours or so.
This was really a great discussion. I'm not sure I could pick the members of Black Sabbath out of lineup, but I still enjoyed the video. I'm even gonna check them out.
I am that subset of fan.
I haven't heard all of Black Sabbath's albums yet, but yes the 11 most successful ones. Paranoid will always be in my top for personal reasons, it was also the first hard rock album I heard.
1. Sabbath bloody sabbath
Last week, you guys covered a band where I was familiar with the entire catalog and have listened to all 15 albums ad nauseam. This week, you covered a group of which I am familiar with ZERO of their albums, and the video was just as entertaining.
I just want to say I've been a Sabbath fan for decades but I never listened to Technical Ecstasy - and I fully agree with Jason. This is a really good album. I don't understand why it's panned. I would never have thought to look it up had it not been for this video. Thanks!!!
Wow! Although being a 70yo Brit (so lived/loved 60s and 70s) Sabbath have never been on my radar. But your infectious reviews have got me VERY excited. Will start listening. Keep up the great insightful articulate reviews.
Great show you guys. With the exception of Paranoid and Master Of Reality, I'm unfamiliar with Sabbath so you've provided a road map of sorts.