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It's 1973, and Black Sabbath, now at the peak of their fame thanks to the global success of Paranoid (1970), release the fifth act of their musical saga: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Just by looking at the cover (which features demons, skulls, and the 666, the biblical number of the Antichrist), you can sense the atmosphere that surrounded the Black Sabbath in those years...
The album opens with the marvelous title track characterized by the heavy riff (in pure Tony Iommi's style) that serves as a seismic backdrop to Ozzy Osbourne's awkward and malevolent voice. Excellent are the parts where Iommi "strangles" the distortion to create a certain "jazzy" effect that blends perfectly with the voice of "Madman" Osbourne. Shaken by the passage of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath," our ears are then assaulted by the tomb-like cadences of the riff in "A National Acrobat," a track that somewhat echoes "Electric Funeral" (present in Paranoid) due to its typical doom-laden pace. After the instrumental "Fluff" (a true Iommi magic), we reach the rockish "Sabbra Cadabra" (undoubtedly the most "cheerful" track on the album) which slightly eases the bleak atmosphere experienced until now with a decidedly less catacomb-like tone. The bad thoughts return with the subsequent "Killing Yourself To Live," where even the title alone explains many things... Suggestive and rich with dark charm is "Who Are You," in which the sound of "mustache" Iommi's guitar marries beautifully with the keyboards (played on this occasion by Rick Wakeman of Yes), creating an alluring yet atypical blend for a band like Sabbath... The next "Looking For Today" is cheerful but somewhat predictable (certainly the least successful song on this wonderful album...) preparing the ground for the triumphant entry of "Spiral Architect," a track that rivals the title track as the album's jewel. The opening is entrusted to a "lysergic" arpeggio by Iommi that serves as a launch pad for the entrance of Ozzy's voice. Characterized by a fairly complex arrangement (Iommi unleashes his more "progressive" inclinations), the track flows delightfully as if gliding gracefully over a carpet of roses (beware of the thorns though...!); probably one of the best compositions by Iommi & Co.
This album can be described as a "fresco" of the Black Sabbath's career, where all the elements that characterize the band's sound are highlighted. Surely Sabbath Bloody Sabbath represents the creative peak of the first lineup; in the following years, Sabbath will still produce excellent albums, but they won't be able to recreate the charm and madness of the period with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 A National Acrobat (06:13)
A National Acrobat
I am the world that hides
The universal secret of all time
Destruction of the empty spaces
Is my one and only crime
I've lived a thousand times
I found out what it means to be believed
The thoughts and images
The unborn child that never was conceived
When little worlds collide
I'm trapped inside my embryonic cell
And flashing memories
Are cast into the never ending well
The name that scorns the face
The child that never sees the cause of man
The deathly darkness that
Belies the fate of those who never ran
Well I know its hard for you
To know the reason why
And I know you'll understand
More when it's time to die
Don't believe the life you have
Will be the only one
You have to let your body sleep
To let your soul live on
Love has given life to you
And now it's your concern
Unseen eyes of inner life
Will make your soul return
Still I look but not to touch
The seeds of life are sown
Curtain of the future falls
The secret stays unknown
Just remember love is life
And hate is living death
Treat your life for what it's worth
And live for every breath
Looking back I've lived and learned
But now I'm wondering
Here I wait and only guess
What this next life will bring
04 Sabbra Cadabra (05:57)
Feel so good I feel so fine
Love that little lady always on my mind
She gives me lovin' every night and day
Never gonna leave her
Never going away
Someone to love me
You know she makes me feel alright
Someone who needs me
Love me every single night
Feel so happy since I met that girl
When we're making love
It's something out of this world
Feels so good to know that she's all mine
Going to love that woman till the end of time
Someone to live for
Love me till the end of time
Makes me feel happy
Good to know that she's all mine
Lovely lady make love all night long
Lovely lady never do me no wrong
I don't wanna leave ya
I never wanna leave ya
Anymore no more
Lovely lady
Mystifying eyes
Lovely lady
She don't tell me no lies
I know I'll never leave ya
I'm never gonna leave ya
Anymore no more
05 Killing Yourself to Live (05:41)
How people look and people stare
Well I don't think that I even care
You rot your life away and what do they give?
You're only killing yourself t live
Killing Yourself To Live!
Killing Yourself To Live!
Just take a look around you, what do you see?
Pain, suffering, and misery
It's not the way the world was planned
It's a pity you don't understand
Killing Yourself To Live!
Killing Yourself To Live!
I'm telling you!
Believe in me!
Nobody else will tell you
Open your eyes!
And see the lies!
Oh yeah!
Smoke it!
Get high!
You think that I'm crazy and baby I know that it's true
Before that you know it I think that you'll go crazy too
I don't know if I'm up or down
Well the black and whites are blue and brown
The colors in my life are all different somehow
Little boy blue's a big girl now
So you think it's me who's strange
But you've never had to make the change
Never give your trust away
You'll end up in paying till your dying day
07 Looking for Today (05:01)
It's complete but obsolete
All tomorrow's become yesterday
In demand but second hand
It's been heard before you even play
Up to date but came too late
Better get yourself another name
You're so right but overnight
You're the one who has to take the blame
Everyone just gets on top of you
The pain begins to eat your pride
You can't believe in anything you knew
When was the last time that you cried
Don't delay you're in today
But tomorrow is another dream
Sunday's star is Monday's scar
Out of date before you're even seen
At the top so quick to flop
You're so new but rotting in decay
Like butterfly so quick to die
But you're only looking for today
Everyone just gets on top of you
The pain begins to eat your pride
You can't believe in anything you knew
When was the last time that you cried
Looking for today
Glamour trip so soon to slip
Easy come but oh how quick it goes
Ten foot tall but what to fall
Hard to open yet so easy to close
Front page news but so abused
You just want to hide yourself away
Over-paid, but soon you fade
Because you're only looking for today
Looking for today
08 Spiral Architect (05:31)
Sorcerers of madness
selling me their time
Child of God sitting in the sun
Keeping peace of mind
Fictional seduction
On a black snow sky
Sadness kills the superman
Even fathers cry
Of all the things I value most of all
I look inside myself
And see my world
And know that it is good
You know that I should
Superstitious centuries
Didn't time go slow
Separating sanity
Watching children grow
Synchronated undertaker
Spiral skies
Silver ships on plasmic oceans
In disguise
Of all the things I value most in life
I see my memories
And feel their warmth
And know that they are good
You know that I should
Watching eyes of celluloid
Tell you how to live
Metophoric motories
Say give, give, give
Laughter giving, love is showing
me the way
Spiral building architect
I build, you pay
Of all the things I value most of all
I look upon my Earth
And feel the warmth
And know that it is good
You know that I should
You know that I should
You know that I should
You know that I should
You know that I should
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Other reviews
By mista
'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' is a wonderful link between the Sabbath eras.
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.
By sanvalentino3
Incredibly, Ozzy’s singing is effective and indispensable to the pieces.
'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' is a heavy progressive album. Unrepeatable and unrepeated.
