finulanu 2008-09-27
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
This is a fantastic album. It's a bit on the dumb side, sure - the lyrics are unintentionally hilarious, from the famous middle-school sci-fi scribblings of "Iron Man" (which is still an absolute classic) to the drug anthem "Fairies Wear Boots" ("'Cause smokin' and trippin' is all you do... yeah!" to the "Kashmir"-esque meanderings of "Planet Caravan" to the first line of the whole album, coming from the deservedly famous "War Pigs" - "Generals gathered in their masses... just like witches in their black masses."
However, you don't listen to Black Sabbath for the lyrics. Besides, the lyrics add a certain... well, I wouldn't say "charm," because Black Sabbath's about as charming as a battle-axe. But they add something. Nah, you listen to Sabbath for the guitar riffs. You listen to Sabbath because Tony Iommi rules. "Iron Man" has... what, four or five brilliant guitar riffs to it? And isn't that a nice, big, juicy one (that's what she said! Okay, fun had) on "War Pigs?" Yes and yes. Ozzy's cool, too. I love his vocals on the title track, a big-deal radio staple that's just as famous as "Iron Man." I love that one! It's chuggin' along, and Ozzy's doin' his echoed freaky vocal thing... cool guy, he. Out of his fjordkin' mind, but cool.
Ooh, ooh, and then there's the epicness! Epicity? Epic nature? Yeah, we'll go with that. "War Pigs" is huge, with some timely shifts in both tempo and dynamic, but I think I like the anti-heroin "Hand of Doom" even better. "Hand of Doom" is definitely one of my top Sab songs (which isn't a long list, seeing that I've only heard this album and We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n' Roll). How, oh how, has the world let this song slip under the radar? It's so creepy! I like creepy. Or at least I like creepy songs. I'm not too big on creepy people. "Iron Man" and the similar "Electric Funeral" also both have that larger-than-life quality that, if done right, always makes for a great song in my book. (of course, if you blow it you blow it, but Sab succeeds in both places there). The multipart "Fairies Wear Boots" also has it to a degree, though it's hard to call it epic. It's quite funny, though. Yeah, yeah, funny and epic aren't the same thing. Just thought I'd put it out there.
One song here I totally dig that a lot of people don't even know is "Planet Caravan." It's not heavy at all - it's totally mellow and trippy and groovy and stuff. But who said a song has to be heavy to be good? I love that song! I'm pretty sure Geezer was on pot when he wrote the lyrics. I'm pretty sure Geezer was on pot when he wrote the lyrics to EVERY Black Sabbath song.
Again, I'm not a big "Rat Salad" fan, but the rest of the album is totally brilliant, and I'm not even a big metal fan. Out of the few metal albums I've heard (we won't even get into the whole "is [Hendrix-Zeppelin-Cream] metal?" discussion here, because it's late and I've gotta get to bed - they're all great bands/artists, though, and they definitely did shape the genre), I'd rank this pretty high. I still think Metallica's Master of Puppets edges it out by just the slightest bit. But let me make this clear: Master of Puppets, and anything else involving metal, would not have HAPPENED without Black Sabbath. Or Jimi Hendrix. But I'm rambling.
See, this is what happens when I write a review at 1:41 AM.
