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Nov 23, 2021 · The 40 greatest songs by Black Sabbath, pioneering riff providers and heavy metal icons
- Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath, 1970) The song that started a subculture. The moment Tony Iommi lost the tips of his fingers in a factory accident at the age of 17 might have had a crucial impact on his playing style and Sabbath’s down-tuned sound, but this was the convergence of doomy sound and aesthetic that would capture imaginations around the world.
- Iron Man (Paranoid, 1970) Recorded with Ozzy mouthing through a spinning metal fan, that iconic opening line was the introduction to a track that would perfect doom metal right at its very beginning.
- Heaven And Hell (Heaven And Hell, 1980) Although “supergroup” collaborations only rarely strike real pay dirt, the title track to Sabbath’s first collaboration with Dio was towering proof of a match made in Heaven (And Hell).
- War Pigs (Paranoid, 1970) They might’ve felt like a heavyweight antidote to the easy-breezy hippy culture that was winding down at the time, but Sabbath were enthusiastically on board with its anti-war message.
- War Pigs
- Black Sabbath
- Iron Man
- Paranoid
- Heaven and Hell
- Into The Void
- Fairies Wear Boots
- N.I.B.
- Children of The Grave
- Sweet Leaf
War Pigs wasn’t just the best political song Black Sabbath released, it’s inarguably one of the best songs the band ever produced. It didn’t start that way though, as it was originally intended to be a Satanic entry to their repertoire titled Walpurgis. As it was during the Vietnam Warand the unrest stemming from being involved in that, it was an e...
Black Sabbathis one of the most important songs in the band’s history and the entire metal genre. It was the song that gave the band their name, a masterpiece that they would keep in concert setlists for decades and was unlike anything else being produced in the early 1960s. Inspired by a horror movieof the same name, the band produced a metal stan...
Iron Man is definitely not about the Marvel character or the Tony Stark we all know and love. No, it’s even more out there. A time traveler goes to the future, sees the end of the world, and the process of getting back turns them into something made of iron. He gets super frustrated after coming back and trying to warn people because he can’t actua...
Black Sabbath isn’t exactly known for its simple, catchy songs. They tended to put a lot more effort into the songs they produced, but Paranoid sort of shattered that mold. According to band members, it took only five minutes to write, but that five minutes meant everything to them. It became their first big hit single in the US, catapulting their ...
The title track of Black Sabbath’s ninth album and the first for the band written by the (at the time) newly acquired Ronnie James Dio, Heaven and Hellis often found in any list of Black Sabbath’s best songs. It mainly deals with the duality of man, the capacity to choose whether to do good or evil, and the fact that reality means each person has h...
Into The Void (outside of Black Sabbath) is one of the most influential metal songs of all time. Notable bands and performers have listed it as their favorite Black Sabbath track, from James Hetfield to Eddie Van Halen. It even inspired the band Void to take up part of the title as their name. You’ll find a ton of different recordings of the song, ...
Today, it probably isn’t a great idea to call someone a fairy with the LGBT implications that later came with the slang term. But when Black Sabbath wrote the song, it was kind of just used for men who acted femininely, which is still derogatory but much less maligned 40 or 50 years ago. The band was assaulted by a group of skinheads in 1970, leadi...
A lot of people, Black Sabbath faithful included, believe N.I.B. stands for Nativity in Black, but they would be wrong. One of Black Sabbath’s best songs was really just a joke about Bill Ward’s goateein 1969, some hair that looked to the band like the nib of a pencil. It’s another Sabbath song about the devil, but this time instead of being a chao...
Children of the Grave is another example of Black Sabbath stepping out of their “masters of darkness” aesthetic to write a political song. It continues the same anti-war statements made in War Pigsand consistently ranks near the top of many fan lists for the band’s songs. You’ll find it on several of the band’s (and Ozzy’s) greatest-hits albums and...
It’s no secret that Sabbath experimented quite a bit with drugs and other substances, but weed was the first one they really loved. Like a lot. Sweet Leafwas a bit of an ode from the band to the sweet way marijuana made them feel. A song that was a big fan favorite was also one of the ones the band loved to talk about most. The coughing on the intr...
- “Black Sabbath” Black Sabbath. With its dissonant diabolus in musica tritone guitar riff, haunting slow-tempo mood and chilling lyrics about Satan, “Black Sabbath” is ground zero for the genre that became known as heavy metal.
- “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Tony Iommi once told Guitar World that “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” came together in a “spooky old dungeon” in a castle in Wales, and it certainly sounds like it.
- “Symptom of the Universe” Sabotage. The first four minutes of “Symptom of the Universe”—not including the 49-second acoustic guitar instrumental intro titled “Don’t Start (Too Late)” often considered part of “Symptom”—are the true beginnings of thrash metal.
- “Hole in the Sky” Sabotage. Black Sabbath may be best known for their heavy riffs, but they could also swing as hard as they pummeled. Perhaps the best example of this is “Hole in the Sky,” which strikes like a 20-ton wrecking ball.
- Matthew Wilkening
- 'Paranoid' This quick, blazing little burst of self-doubt, an obvious if not indisputable choice for Black Sabbath's best song, was reportedly whipped up in under a half an hour when the band realized they didn't have enough material for their second album.
- 'The Wizard' From 'Black Sabbath' (1970) Ozzy Osbourne on harmonica, ladies and gentlemen! Jeez, why doesn't he do that more often? Sabbath's blues roots, and a strong indication of how far they intended to push the genre, were laid bare on this surging track from their debut album.
- 'Iron Man' This all-time classic Black Sabbath song, featuring one of the first riffs any budding young guitarist should try to learn, is more complex lyrically than you might think.
- 'Children of the Grave' From 'Master of Reality' (1971) Once again, the positive messages of one of Black Sabbath's best songs gets lost by critics hung up on the band's devilish imagery.
Jun 16, 2023 · Discover the 13 best Black Sabbath songs of all time! Find out which classic hits made the cut in this ultimate list of greatest hits.
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Nov 23, 2021 · The 40 greatest songs by Black Sabbath, pioneering riff providers and heavy metal icons
