Black Sabbath
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

THE REVIEW

I’m reviewing the fifth Black Sabbath album from memory from the law office where I work, just to start, because I noticed that the review for this very cool album has not yet been done. I find that this is a cure-all on Fridays filled with caffeine and nicotine.

A premise, in my opinion, the history of Sabbath is divided like this:
- first four albums: unbeatable, with eternal riffs in slow motion and sparse arrangements, they created an irresistible sound yet unmatched today. However, with Vol. 4 the formula starts to show wear.
- "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and "Sabotage": the sound evolves and articulates with the inclusion of some synth and quite a bit of guitar overdubbing, less immediate and eternal but still exceptional.
- from the ones after that: they are albums to buy just for collection because the side spines of the reissues look very nice on IKEA shelves and in CD holders.

Having said that, I say that "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" is a wonderful link between the Sabbath eras. The tracks are all more or less cool. I really like the title track, beyond the main riff, especially the chorus with that mood shift with clean guitars breaks me, the cover that Bruce Dickinson made (with a useless nineties group) in a tribute ("Nativity in Black" 199X) does not manage to bring the same feeling of momentary insane peace. Even the ending of the piece is memorable both in the riff and in the lyrics ("God knows as your dog knows" the coolest line).
"A National Acrobat", "Killing Yourself To Live", "Looking for Today" other beautiful gems to discover. "Sabbra Cadabra" then explains to you how when a band has personality it shines through even when playing a bit more conventional rock.
I remember there is a track with a synth that goes zan za-zan all the time, maybe it's "Who Are You", an appreciable but not too successful attempt to reach new sound shores.
Also the last track, "Spiral Architect", I have a good memory of, not too striking but very well articulated and complex.

In short, in conclusion, I love this album and I recommend it, I hope the review gets some comments so that we can debate the band to which we owe everything good that metal has given us over the years.
Rock On