Black Sabbath Vol.4 - Black Sabbath > Reviews > Rifftastically heavy!

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	8/10 hardcore thumping tracks
Disadvantages:	Hmmm, tracks 3 and 4 !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

So, the interestingly entitled Vol. 4 by Black Sabbath, supposedly called so because the initial title, Snowblind, is the name of track 6 of the album which is all about cocaine and thus had to be changed! A common thing for Sabbath after album 2, due to be called War Pigs was changed to Paranoid (hence non-sensical album cover) due to sensitivites over the on-going Vietnam war.

Anyway, Vol. 4 is a collection of great tracks bar the usual Iommi fiddling (see track 4) and track 3...

1 - Wheels of confusion (also referred to as The Straightener) - a slow and heavy riff with lyrics casting a dreamily confused look on life. The last 3 minutes are dedicated to a slowly building guitar solo which rockets along near the end....a random quiet 20 seconds and then a very brief reprise!

2 -Tomorrow's Dream - short and sweet, the live version of which on Past Live used to be my exam warm up tune, but this version does the trick nonetheless. Lyrics about guy leave girl and thank heaven for that.

3 - Changes - okay, I'm biased, but I think Ozzy should stick to what he does best vocally, namely yelling, screaming and generally being Ozzy. This is a piano based quiet tune (recently reprised in a fashion with his daughter Kelly). Lyrics talk of guy lost girl, all upset, doesn't really do it for me.

4 - FX - pointless instrumental with random noises, thankfully over before you devote too much time to trying to find out what is wrong with your hi-fi! Neither this track or Changes are enough to ruin the album in my opinion though, hence the 5 stars it still gets from me!

5 - Supernaut - The best Sabbath riff EVER, if not the best riff ever. Rhythmical drumming interlude in the middle before thumping back along again. Also sees Ozzy at his best vocally.

6 - Snowblind - whispering of "cocaine" at the end of verse one leave you in no doubt what Ozzy is singing about with the lyrics "What you get and what you see, Things that don't come easily, Feeling happy in my pain, Icicles within my brain". Another solid riff, a jump up and down moshing bit in the middle (especially on live versions). Ozzy's guitarist for a long time Zakk Wylde has done a great acousticish version with his band Black Label Society.

7 - Cornucopia - very heavy track that whizzes along at breakneck speed leading to a strong contrast to track 8...

8 - Laguna sunrise - a couple of miuntes of tranquil guitar playing, beatiful song, no lyrics.

9 - St. Vitus dance - heavy riff-laden song about guy splitting with girl when perhaps he shouldn't, great cover by Cathedral a while back incidently.

10 - Under the sun (also known as Every day comes and goes) - heavy, fast tranck about saying go for it, ignore the nutters out there and go for it! Interesting cover by Soulfly a while back!

So in conclusion this would be a great album to buy as an introduction to Black Sabbath, that is, the early Ozzy era rather than the Dio/Gillan/Hughes/Martin etc. eras! I write this because it is a lot more listenable that the previous album Master of Reality which is slightly rawer in sound and has a greater variety of tracks than their second album Paranoid. For those not familiar with older heavy metal/rock then don't be put off by what you may know about Ozzy's solo work, this is quite different, lacking the squealing 80s guitar sound. Overall if heavy riff-laden music with the odd guitar solo thrown in is your thing then you couldn't go wrong in buying this album!