I'm not sure any band has started their career as well as Black Sabbath did here. The self-titled song on their self-titled album sets the scene perfectly - a rumble of thunder in the heavy rain, a bell tolling, the slow guitars and drums, and eventually Ozzy's terrified wailing. That must have scared the shit out of people in the 70's; it's still pretty scary today. Even the artwork makes you feel a little uneasy with that "figure in black" and the huge inverted cross inside the gatefold.
My parents are quite young, so the records I grew up listening to were Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. He didn't have this album, but I particularly remember Paranoid (and The Wall too). Maybe it's not the sort of music you're supposed to play to young children, but I turned out alright. I think for that reason, I've always enjoyed Black Sabbath. I only really know the first two albums, but I have a sneaking suspicion that's all you need to know. Both are classics and it only takes a listen to The Wizard, N.I.B. or Warning to convince yourself (or War Pigs, Paranoid or Iron Man for that matter. I know this isn't about Paranoid, but I don't have that album on vinyl. When snowboarding earlier in the year I had a huge fall whilst listening to Iron Man. It came on my mp3 player and I was having a great time carving down my first red slope. I found myself enjoying the song so much I caught an edge and went flying down the hill. Still, it was pretty excellent whilst it lasted).
I picked this record up in Snooper's Paradise in Brighton, which is one of the most incredible shops in the world. It's hard to explain it, but every trip to Brighton deserves a visit. I once bought a slightly broken 1970's Bang & Olufsen turntable in there for a tenner. I fixed it, but in doing so broke it in a different way and haven't quite got round to committing the time to fixing it again. It's a lovely looking record player, even if it doesn't quite work at the moment. Anyway, £3 for Black Sabbath is the sort of bargain you can expect in there, although annoyingly the price sticker took off some of the sleeve.
I've spent most of the morning listening to (the excellent) Electric Wizard, a band who take a huge amount of influence from Black Sabbath. I wish more bands would do the same.
Format: 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 7
Cost: £3 second hand
Bought: Snooper's Paradise, Brighton
When: 11/01/06
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
