Description
Vol. 4 (1972.), Black Sabbath's fourth studio album
'Volume 4', Black Sabbath's fourth studio album, released in 1972 marked the beginning of a transitional period for the band. Black Sabbath were pretty much unique with their sound in the early 1970's; the godfathers of heavy metal were louder than most and had a distinctive sound which no other band really came near to having a similarity to. However, after producing three albums ('Black Sabbath', 'Paranoid' and 'Master of Reality') with their classic, straight out heavy and powerful style, Black Sabbath decided to start to diversify and addmore… some different styles to their music. 'Volume 4' was the end result and Black Sabbath certainly did not let any of their fans down with their diverse style on this album!
Very simply, 'Volume 4' brings the house down from start to finish. I find this Black Sabbath album to be a particularly great listen every time I play it because, as I have already pointed out, it has so much to offer. It has the riff-packed, heavy rocker styled tracks that we all know Black Sabbath for, whilst throwing in some different effects. There's tracks with guitar experimentation and also some lighter, but still very powerful songs. I also find with this album that, certainly in the case of the heavier tracks, there is great consistency throughout the album. Some of these are top draw rock songs, with some mean guitar riffs. Toni Iommi shows again why he is a guitar legend - jamming out some classic solos, such as on 'Snowblind'. Ozzy Osbourne puts his mark on the tracks in classic fashion - especially on the piano driven 'Changes' track - not bad seen as he was just recovering from severe laryngitis whilst making this album!
The remaster for 'Volume 4' is pretty solidly done, as is true for practically all of the Sabbath remasters. The 10 songs on the album have been remastered very well, however sadly no rarities or extra tracks have been added to exemplify this pretty creative period for the band. The inner booklet you get is very much like the LP original, which displayed various pictures of the band in concert, aswell as the song lyrics. However it also does contain some info. about the making of the album and Sabbath's touring activities at the time.
There's nothing weak about this album, the songs range from good to doubly excellent. 'Wheels of Confusion' starts the album off in great rocking fashion. This 8 minute epic is packed with great riffs and excellent vocals. It build to a great climax with an excellent outro. the end part of the track is often called 'The Straightener'. 'Tomorrow's Dream' follows were the first track left off in great style. Next up is 'Changes' which is were we begin to see a break from the Sabbath norm. Here its just Ozzy, a piano and a mellotron - its a great change of pace on the album and its title sums up the developing style of the band. 'FX' is an interesting follow up - 2 minutes of experimenting on the guitar ... i think, with various cracking and tapping noises - nothing amazing but I definitely admire the idea to experiment! Then we return to the classic matal sound of Iommi's guitar with 'Supernaut' and this is followed up by 'Snowblind', a real classic with a real atmospheric style. 'Cornucopia' is more downbeat and 'Laguna Surprise' is another change of style. Its softer, with acoustic guitar styles - its pretty hypnotic when you listen to it. 'St. Vitus Dance' and 'Under the Sun' rock out the album, the latter is truly excellent. Some of the riffs are like something you'd hear from a punk band except .... punk hadn't arrived yet so it just shows you how ahead of their time and influential Sabbath were!
Black Sabbath's Volume 4 is a refreshing and captivating effort. Personally I would say it just lacks that killer factor that other Sabbath albums have but nevertheless its a great album and it is great to see the band experimenting and trying out different styles because lets face it, all the great bands have that ability to change and never make their music have a replicated feel to it! I would recommend 'Volume 4' to any Sabbath fan or to any fan of heavy metal in general.
| 1 |
Wheels Of Confusion |
| 2 |
Tomorrows Dream |
| 3 |
Changes |
| 4 |
FX |
| 5 |
Supernaut |
| 6 |
Snowblind |
| 7 |
Cornucopia |
| 8 |
Laguna Sunrise |
| 9 |
St. Vitus Dance |
| 10 |
Under The Sun |
Info:
- Category:
- Music > Albums
- Case Type:
- CD
- Release Type:
- Retail
- Comments:
- 1 read add
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Cover Info:
- Title:
- Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 (1998) Retail CD
- Part:
- Back
- Dimensions:
- 987 x 777 px
- Size:
- 169 KB
- Downloads:
- 1245 (2 today)
- Uploaded:
- 09/08/07 by VNV
- Quality Rating:
-
- Currently 4/5 Stars.
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