02. Black Sabbath Master of Reality 1971 (Vertigo)
Heavy Metal
The Dark Jewel in the Sabbath Crown.
Overview
Whenever I see this album cover, it always evokes images of some kind of pool of black water with writing floating across it, making this Mario Bava inspired style cover the most fitting image for an album of this magnitude. On
Paranoid Black Sabbath had released one of the very best heavy metal albums of the decade and it was an album that would go onto become one of the most influential in the history of metal.
Master of Reality though, would see the band match the quality of
Paranoid in general, but albeit in a more self-indulgent way. The general heavy metal feel of
Paranoid, which had been based around Tony Iommi’s simple and amazing guitar riffs, along with Geezer Butler’s throbbing bass, would now give way to something both deeper and darker in its playing style, compared to what the band had done before. For this reason,
Master of Reality would be the most influential of all their albums, especially when it came to influencing the future extreme metal sub-genres that would emerge in the 1980s. The album is also often regarded as the first ‘stoner rock’ album ever, making it extremely groundbreaking! It can therefore be concluded that with
Paranoid, Black Sabbath had laid down the perfect blueprint for the genre of ‘heavy metal’ but on
Master of Reality, it can be seen that they laid down the perfect blueprint for heavy metal’s future extreme sub-genres that would really emerge in the 1980s. Black Sabbath had already worked their sound around loud and soft dynamics, but on
Master of Reality they would be even more noticeable, especially since the softer side of the band would feature more acoustic interludes. The key behind this whole shift, had been Tony Iommi down-tuning his guitar even more, to create an even sludgier sound and Geezer Butler followed suit on his bass. The band also opted to continue the subject themes featured on
Paranoid, but by now were often seen as ‘satanists.’ This was a label that the band would actually seek to challenge on this album, through both moral messages embedded in the songs or through touches of tongue-in-cheek humour of which the band were very apt. The album would yet again be produced by Rodger Bain, but this would prove to be his final collaboration with the band. As per usual the album was slammed by certain critics of the day, that described the album as monotonous, dull and dim-witted! Just a few decades later, the album constantly made just about every album classification on every relevant rock and metal album list out there, reminding us once again, just how clueless rock critics were back in the 1960s and 1970s when assessing ‘heavy music’. On a footnote,
Master of Reality would be the shortest album from Sabbath’s classic years and clocking in at just 34 minutes. This would be something, that they would address by the release of the following year’s
Black Sabbath, Vol.4.
Ozzy Osbourne- Vocals,
Tony Iommi- Guitar
Geezer Butler- Bass
Bill Ward- Drums
Production- Rodger Bain
Album
Sweet Leaf- With its famous coughing intro, the song quickly gives over to being a heavy sludgy affair, often regarded as one of the defining stoner metal tracks. The song then goes through a series of spiralling tempo changes, before plodding into more familiar territory again.
After Forever- With an almost borrowed riff from “Paranoid” the song emerges as one of Sabbath’s most philosophical songs, as they again tackle the subject of religion a real interest area of the band. The song is more dynamic than it’s often given credit for and features Ozzy singing in a more framed style.
Embryo- A 30 second acoustic medieval style interlude.
Children of the Grave- One of the classics in the Sabbath canon, with its galloping rhythm and eerie elements. Again it follows on from the philosophical leanings of the previous song, but this time covers love and nuclear annihilation.
Orchid- Another soft interlude and always reminds me of the music from the Tony Hart series ‘Take Hart’ from the 1980s, British readers will get what I’m on about here.
Lord of This World- Back to more familiar sludgy territory here and a song sung from Satan’s point of view.
Solitude- A brooding track that depicts loneliness and is accompanied by acoustics and flutes!
Into the Void- No surprises here, as the song is another heavy, bludgeoning sludge-fest of a track as you’d expect, before it speeds up and Tony Iommi’s sublime riff remains throughout the whole song.
Verdict
When I first ever listened to this album many eons ago, it was always referred to as the ‘Dark Jewel’ in the Sabbath crown and for this has always held a special place of reverence in metaldom. The album as a whole does deserve its recognition, as the band on
Master of Reality went out of their way to present something that was both experimental and simplistic at the same time. The experimentation came in the sludgy feel that the band would put out on the heavier tracks, whilst the simplicity came from still maintaining the core fuzzy blues-tinged guitars that were very much the band’s trademark sound. To add contrast the band then added three softer tracks in “Embryo” “Orchid” and “Solitude” to soften things up. So with all this in mind, it might come as a surprise that the album does have some noticeable weaker points, for what is such an influential and classic album! The album in general operates on a heavy/soft combination with a heavy song like “Children of the Grave” and then immediately follows it up with a soft track like “Orchid” to show the contrast. The band across the album as a whole work this formula, making the album somewhat predictable at times and upon repeated listens, you feel the band could’ve progressed some of these tracks into other songs and gone for a longer album overall. As great as songs like “Children of the Grave” and “Into the Void” are, I’ve always felt that song for song it doesn’t quite match
Paranoid in essential songs. So with these negatives against the album, what actually makes this album the ‘Dark Jewel’ in the Sabbath crown? In my opinion, it’s the general feel of the album, as this album for many a year, was the ultimate experience in a dark sludgy heavy sound, full of fuzzy down-tuned guitars and bass, also on this album Ozzy Osbourne actually sings and frames his vocals, much more so than on the first two albums. The album also strikes home as hard as a hammer, as the band explore real heaviness combined with a sludgy sound. Simply put, the band were discovering that by slowing things down in terms of their music and also by down-tuning their guitars, they could achieve an even heavier sound, thus making this album the first stop for any future stoner, sludge and doom metal bands out there. This album is great music wise, but it’s even greater as a blueprint for the future development of heavy metal at the slower end of the spectrum, making it without doubt an essential piece of work.