Throwback Thursday: Vol. 4, by Black Sabbath

By 1972 Black Sabbath had without a single shadow of a doubt cemented themselves as one of the big four of hard rock/heavy metal along with the likes of such royalty as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and Uriah Heep. With three well recognized albums to their name and them being on the way up the ladder all the time, they decided to get even more creative with the drug, money, and fame fueled classic Vol. 4.

Black Sabbath had always been a curious and experimental (to a point) band, but Vol. 4 is where this really starts to become apparent. This is where the band went more toward complex rhythmic patterns, unusual song structures, and an overall darker flavor. Since the band had all the time and money they could ever want to be in the studio, they also worked with synthesizers to make their tracks more full of variety and to add another dimension to the sound.

"Snowblind" is considered by many hard core Black Sabbath fans to be one of the band's major classics. It has a towering, crushing wall of sound kind of riff that is backed up by a trudging but gigantic rhythm. Naturally the subject nature of the song is cocaine, due to the fact that during the time the band was recording this album they essentially were snowblinded by all of the cocaine that they were doing.

The one track from this album that many people know (even though they probably know it more from the cover by Charles Bradley) is "Changes". It is an entirely piano driven track. No guitar. No drums. No bass. Just Tony Iommi at the piano and Ozzy Osbourne at the mic. It is an intensely profound, heartfelt, and passionate ballad. It is all about love, loss, and the changes that occur within one's self when dealing with a massive heartbreak. The performance is absolutely haunting to this day.

Vol. 4 is not my personal favorite Black Sabbath album, but it does feature many of the band's most ambitious and experimental songs of their entire career. It really is an adventure and a trip to put it on and listen to it. A word of advice, though. If you do give it a listen I HIGHLY suggest you listen to the song "FX" on a high quality set of headphones. It is really something else. That said, it is certainly worth checking out.

Vol. 4, by Black Sabbath receives 3.5/5 stars.

Track List:

1. Wheels of Confusion
2. Tomorrow's Dream
3. Changes
4. FX
5. Supernaut
6. Snowblind
7. Cornucopia
8. Laguna Sunrise
9. St. Vitus Dance
10. Under the Sun

Buy the album on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Vol-4-Black-Sabbath/dp/B01H2ROWDE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531466445&sr=8-1&keywords=black+sabbath+vol+4