Black Sabbath is an iconic British rock band whose influence is felt to this day. Over its more than 40-year history, the band managed to release 19 studio albums. He repeatedly changed his musical style and sound.
Over the years of the band's existence, legends such as Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio and Ian Gillan.
The beginning of the Black Sabbath journey
The group was formed in Birmingham by four friends. Ozzy Osbourne Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward were fans of jazz and The Beatles. As a result, they began to experiment with their sound.
The musicians declared themselves back in 1966, performing music close to the fusion genre. The first years of the group's existence were associated with creative searches, accompanied by endless quarrels and name changes.
The group found stability only in 1969, having recorded a song called Black Sabbath. There are many conjectures, which is why the group chose this particular name, which became the key to the group's creativity.
Some say that this is due to Osborn's experience in the field of black magic. Others claim that the name was borrowed from the horror film of the same name by Mario Bava.
The sound of the Black Sabbath song, which later became the group's main hit, was distinguished by a gloomy tone and slow tempo, unusual for rock music of those years.
The composition uses the notorious "Devil's interval", which played a role in the perception of the song by the listener. The effect was enhanced by the occult theme chosen by Ozzy Osbourne.
Upon learning that there was a group Earth in Britain, the musicians changed their name to Black Sabbath. The debut album of the musicians, which was released on February 13, 1970, received exactly the same name.
Rise of fame to Black Sabbath
The Birmingham rock band found real success in the early 1970s. After recording Black Sabbath's debut album, the band immediately embarked on their first major tour.
Interestingly, the album was written for 1200 pounds. 8 hours of studio work were allocated for recording all tracks. As a result, the group completed the task in three days.
Despite the tight deadlines, the lack of financial support, the musicians recorded an album, which is now an unconditional classic of rock music. Many legends have claimed the influence of Black Sabbath's debut album.
The decrease in the musical tempo, the denser sound of the bass guitar, the presence of heavy guitar riffs allowed the band to be attributed to the forefathers of such genres as doom metal, stoner rock and sludge. Also, it was the band that for the first time excluded the lyrics from the love theme, preferring gloomy gothic images.
Despite the album's commercial success, the band continued to be criticized by industry professionals. In particular, authoritative publications like the Rolling Stones gave angry reviews.
Also, the Black Sabbath group was accused of Satanism and devil worship. Representatives of the satanic sect La Veya began to actively attend their concerts. Because of this, the musicians had serious problems.
The Golden Stage of Black Sabbath
It took Black Sabbath just six months to record a new Paranoid record. The success was so overwhelming that the group was able to immediately go on their first American tour.
Already at that time, the musicians were distinguished by the abuse of hashish and various psychotropic substances, alcohol. But in America, the guys tried another harmful drug - cocaine. This allowed the British to keep up with the frenetic schedule of the producers' desire to make more money.
The popularity increased. In April 1971, the band released Master of Reality, which went double platinum. Frantic performance led to serious overwork of the musicians, who were in constant motion.
According to the band's guitarist Tommy Iovi, they needed a break. So the band produced the next album on its own. The record with the speaking title Vol. 4 was also panned by critics. This did not prevent her from achieving "golden" status in a matter of weeks.
Changing the sound
This was followed by a series of records Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, securing the group's status as one of the most popular rock bands. But the joy did not last long. A serious conflict was brewing related to the creative views of Tommy Iovi and Ozzy Osbourne.
The former wanted to add various brass and keyboard instruments to the music, moving away from classic heavy metal concepts. For the radical Ozzy Osbourne, such changes were unacceptable. Album Technical Ecstasy was the last for the legendary vocalist, who decided to start a solo career.
New stage of creativity
While Ozzy Osbourne was implementing his own project, the musicians of the Black Sabbath group quickly found a replacement for their colleague in the person of Ronnie James Dio. The vocalist has already gained fame thanks to his leadership in another cult rock band of the 1970s, Rainbow.
His arrival marked a major change in the work of the group, finally moving away from the slow sound that prevailed on the first recordings. The result of the Dio era was the release of two albums Heaven and Hell (1980) and Mob Rules (1981).
In addition to creative achievements, Ronnie James Dio introduced such a famous metalhead symbol as the "goat", which is part of this subculture to this day.
Creative failures and further disintegration
After the departure of Ozzy Osbourne to the Black Sabbath group, a real staff turnover began. The composition changed almost every year. Only Tommy Iommi remained the constant leader of the team.
In 1985, the group gathered in the "gold" composition. But it was only a one-time event. Before a real reunion, the "fans" of the group will have to wait more than 20 years.
Over the following years, the Black Sabbath group carried out concert activities. She also released a number of commercially "failed" albums that forced Iommi to concentrate on solo work. The legendary guitarist has exhausted his creative potential.
Воссоединение
A surprise for fans was the reunion of the classic line-up, which was announced on November 11, 2011. Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward announced the start of concert activity, within which they intend to give a full tour.
But the fans did not have time to rejoice, as one sad news after another followed. The tour was originally canceled because Tommy Iommi was diagnosed with cancer. Ward then left the group, unable to come to a creative compromise with the rest of the original line-up.
Despite all the troubles, the musicians recorded their 19th album, which officially became the last in the work of Black Sabbath.
In it, the band returned to their classic sound of the first half of the 1970s, which pleased the "fans". The album received positive reviews and also allowed the band to embark on a farewell tour.
In 2017, it was announced that the team was ceasing its creative activity.
