Originally Posted by BastardofYoung

I guess in short what I am saying is if they started out on a low point like those 2 albums rather than a high note like their first, would they have the influence they do today?

Say they came out with something like those albums, sure it could be a stepping stone to much greater things, but in the time it took them to get to those greater things, another band would have probably released something off the bat that was great and gotten the credit that Sabbath has today. I think the reason they are held in the regard they are is cause at the time they came out, they released something amazing and different. Had they not released that, they would have just been passed aside and another band would have taken their place in the influence department.

Could also argue I suppose that had they started with one of those 2, they would have still had some sort of influence, but not on the level of what they have now.

Hopefully you get what I am saying with this and it isn't just something that makes more sense in my head...