Recorded in early 1971 and released on the 6th of August, Black Sabbath's third album, 'Master of Reality', saw the band release another genre defining record developing further on the two previous albums, 'Black Sabbath' & 'Paranoid'.  Having recorded and released two albums and toured around the world during 1970 the band were on top of their game and with more studio time to play with the band downtuned their instruments, smoked an unfeasible amount of hash and headed off into the void. 

Eight tracks over a thirty four minute run time including four songs - 'Sweat Leaf', 'After Forever', 'Children of the Grave' & 'Into the Void' - that would come to be considered amongst their greatest, the band forged the heavy, groove laden sound and lyrical themes that would later come to define Grunge, Doom Metal and Stoner Rock.   

Like it's predecessors the album was poorly reviewed by critics but embraced by the public charting high on both sides of the Atlantic and, to date, selling in excess of 4.8 million copies worldwide.  

Writing this two weeks after the Ozzy's passing I know it'll always be their peerless debut that lives at the centre of my affections, but some 40 odd years on from when my Uncle Mike introduced me to them - thanks man - and at a point in my life when I listen to almost no rock music, that album and 'Master of Reality' number among a very few that are still rarely far from my record player.

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55 years ago today, on the 13th February 1970, a former car horn tuner, a sheet metal worker with half his finger tips missing, a Butler and a drummer named Bill released an album that was to define an entire genre of music.  

Naming themselves after a Boris Karloff movie and taking lyrical inspiration from Dennis Wheatley novels and musical inspiration from the Devil's interval the band produced a debut album that still sounds every bit as good today as it did back then even though initial reviews were scathing...

From Wikipedia...

"Rolling Stone's Lester Bangs described the band as, "just like Cream! But worse", and he dismissed the album as "a shuck – despite the murky songtitles and some inane lyrics that sound like Vanilla Fudge paying doggerel tribute to Aleister Crowley, the album has nothing to do with spiritualism, the occult, or anything much except stiff recitations of Cream clichés". 

Robert Christgau, writing for The Village Voice, panned the album as "bullshit necromancy" He later described it as a reflection of "the worst of the counterculture", including "drug-impaired reaction time" and "long solos"."

The reviews certainly didn't hurt any as the album went on to sell almost 5 million copies worldwide and it's influence can still be felt today.

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Way back in the mists of time when I was a young fella of 11 or 12 (around about 1982) and just getting into music my Uncle Mike gave me a (blue EMI) cassette tape of two of his favourite bands.  On side one Led Zeppelin (young me thinks, funny sort of name) and on side two Black Sabbath (young me thinks, now that's a cool name).

I tried and tried with Zeppelin but never could quite understand the appeal - even to this day - but Sabbath on the other hand.  It was love at first listen.

I can't tell you what it was that grabbed me, the lyrics, the vocals or the heaviness but I can tell you what has kept me listening all these years later when it is a real rarity for me to put on any sort of rock album and that's the groove.  That rhythm section just kill it every time and if there's one thing guaranteed to put a smile on my face it's watching Bill Ward drum.  So, with that in mind here's a show from Paris (or possibly Brussels) sometime in 1970 with the band, young, keen and on the top of their game roaring through a set that features pretty much all the classics including a version of War Pigs with different lyrics which almost certainly dates this to before the October 1970 release date of the Paranoid album.

Enjoy.

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If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain