Master of reality --- Black Sabbath --- 1971 (Vertigo)
One of my favourite Sabs albums, along with “Vol 4” and “We sold our soul for rock and roll”, this was their third album and their most successful in the US. While both their self-titled debut and the multi-platinum “Paranoid” had done well in the US (and very well here), the latter of course spawning their biggest hit with the title track, “Master of reality” is their highest-ever placed album in the States, reaching the number 8 slot. Nothing, not in the Ozzy, Dio, Gillan (shudder!) or Gillen era has ever equalled that, which in itself should tell you a lot about the album, especially considering that the likes of “Heaven and Hell” would have been considered more accessible to the mainstream market.
“Master of reality” was also the point where an unfortunate occurrence led to a signature sound and a minor piece of music history. You probably know the story, but in case you don't, Tony Iommi had an accident which left him with part of two of his fingers missing. To compensate, he downtuned his guitar so that it would be easier for him to play, and bassist Geezer Butler did the same, resulting in the music they recorded on this album being darker, heavier, doomier, and indeed birthing a particular sound that was taken up and copied by many bands who followed.
There are only eight tracks on this album, but they're all classics. It opens with the sound of coughing, then the sound which would become the recognised Sabbath sound --- deep, heavy guitar and bass, often referred to as “sludge” --- rocks out, and Ozzy Osbourne's rather falsetto voice forms a perfect counterpoint to this soundscape, a lesson some bands who utilise “death vocals” would do well to learn from, in my extremely humble but always right opinion! “Sweet leaf” is right away controversial --- what else would you expect from Black Sabbath? --- being about marijuana: wouldn't even raise an eyebrow these days, but this was, as Homer Simpson once declared, “back in the olden days!” Great guitar solo from Tony Iommi and Bill Ward solid as ever on the drumkit. There's a very Led Zep feel about the riff on this opener, quite close to “Whole lotta love”, released two years ago. Oh, the shock of it!
For a band who were forever tainted with the label of being Satanists (well come on, you're not exactly helping by calling your band Black Sabbath now are you?), it's interesting to hear that the lyric of “After forever” is more concerned with the afterlife of Christian belief than Hell or the Devil (rumours that the Big Guy once joined the guys on stage at the Birmingham NEC have never been substantiated, though it seems likely there are a few Sabs songs on The Dark One's ipod!), a mixture of rock cruncher and fast metal, with some real attacking guitar from Iommi. I've always liked Ozzy's vocal on Sabbath songs, though my personal favourite is Dio. But you can't fault him on the early albums, and there really is no-one else who could have sung these songs.
There's a twenty-eight second instrumental then in “Embryo”, very medieval sounding, almost as if it were played on a lute or some sort of harpsichord, then we're into my standout of the album, the epic “Children of the grave”. Starting off with crushing heavy guitar it rocks along at a pace not dissimilar in speed and indeed rhythm to 10cc's much later “Rubber bullets”, so of course you have to say messrs Godley, Creme et al would have borrowed from this song rather than the other way around. A song of revolution and change, the track itself changes about halfway through into a half-blues/half rock cruncher before picking up the rhythm again and charging off into the void. Iommi's synthesiser lines, subtle though they are, add their own spooky touches to the song, especially coming into their own at the end as the track fades out.
A guitar instrumental something in the style of Steve Hackett's “Horizons” from Genesis' “Foxtrot”, Iommi does a fine job on “Orchid” of slowing everything down and mellowing out, very introspective and relaxing, then “Lord of this world” is black metal at its best, even though this term wouldn't even be coined for another ten years. Growly, doomy guitar which ventures occasionally into blues/boogie territory, but only as a tourist, never choosing to settle there, it's a song that highlights the strong and urgent vocal of Ozzy Osbourne, and as ever the technical expertise of Tony Iommi, with some fine solos. It's another song with a heavily Christian-leaning lyric:
”You turn to me/ In all your worldly greed and pride/ But will you turn to me/ When it's your turn to die?”
A showcase for the multi-talented Iommi then, “Solitude” is the only ballad (ballad?
ballad?) on the album, on which the guitarist also plays flute and piano. Ozzy's vocal is much more restrained here, quieter as you would of course expect, but nice to see he can achieve that. Very pastoral, very sitting-in-a-field-playing-guitar, and very un-Sabbath, but a nice little break from all the heavy hard rock and crunching guitars and bass. The album ends as it began, hard and heavy, slow and doomy with “Into the void”, a long guitar intro leading into a song about Earth's final days as Man leaves his home behind to its fate. Of the six minutes plus the song runs for, it's almost two minutes before Ozzy comes in, then at the midpoint everything ramps up and Ward picks up the beat, before it all slides back down into the original tempo and rhythm, with a final solo from Iommi to seal the deal before the song, and the album, rocks to its ending.
“Master of reality” differed from previous Sabbath albums in having more instrumentals, lyrics that clearly tried to refute the “Satanists” tag that was handed to them, and allowing the musicans, particularly Tony Iommi, to stretch out and try new things. Although there were no singles from it, no hits, Black Sabbath were never about the charts, and were probably slightly embarrassed to be on “Top of the Pops” singing “Paranoid” while a lot of dead-eyed kids danced around and pretended to know the song. Sabbath were about making music, making metal, and making history. For me, with “Master of reality”, they achieved all three objectives.
TRACKLISTING
1. Sweet leaf
2. After forever
3. Embryo
4. Children of the grave
5. Orchid
6. Lord of this world
7. Solitude
8. Into the void
Recommended further listening: Depends on your preference really. Ozzy era I would say the debut, then "Paranoid", "Sabbath bloody Sabbath" and the compilation "We sold our soul for rock'n'roll"; Dio there are only two albums really, "Mob rules" and the superlative "Heaven and Hell", though he did return some years later. Haven't heard that album though. Ian Gillan I already lambasted on "Born again", and the others I have to admit I don't know, not having really listened to anything by the guys after that.