After releasing a handful of albums by 1975 Black Sabbath had not only turned the heads of the rock community to take a serious look at the heavy metal phenomenon in which they created but with the release of Sabotage they had twisted those heads completely off. I know there are many other bands that had their hands in the creation of heavy metal (Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Lucifer’s Friend, Led Zeppelin, Queen…to name a few)as we know it today, but like with any team effort a leader is required and in my opinion that is definitely Black Sabbath. Having grown and expanded their musicianship and creativity, Sabotage is an album that further proves that Sabbath is the true innovator of heavy metal.

Black Sabbath is unquestionably the band that put the “heavy” in heavy metal, and they had completely proven that with the creation of Sabotage. Kicking off with Hole in the Sky, a song that is dominated one of Iommi’s most powerful riffs ever. Like he does on most of the songs on this album, Ozzy delivers with an astonishingly raw and desperately emotional performance that works so with the musical pandemonium being created around him.

It is obvious that Sabbath means business after the opening track but if you thought it could not get heavier, Iommi, with his lead pipe riffing, pummels you nearly to deaf (death) with one of the heaviest and fastest riffs in their entire catalog with Symptom of the Universe. The main riff is one hundred percent evil incarnate. This song is worth the price of admission but the thrills do not stop here.

Megalomania takes the listener on a schizophrenically psychedelic trip that progressively weaves its way through the mindscapes of one on the brink of it all. Unlike the previous tracks that are more guitar driven, Megalomania is led by Ozzy’s vocal performance which is helped along with plenty of vocal effects.The Thrill of it All has always been sort of a forgotten track for me on Sabotage due to it having to follow up Megalomania. But, the song is driven by a very prominent riff and some of the best soloing on the entire album. After listening to this song by itself a couple of times through, I am honestly amazed that it is not one of the more radio popular from Sabbath. The song structure is amazingly strong and very radio friendly to me. Damn the opening solo is amazing.

With its mythical chanting and ominous atmosphere, Supertzar is probably one of Sabbath’s most influential instrumentals. This song as had to influence about every epic Power Metal band that is looking for a stunning sounding intro or interlude. Following up Supertzar is Am I Going Insane (Radio) with its prominent synthesizer work throughout makes it the weakest moment on such a heavy guitar laden album. For me the greatest thing about this song is the maniacal laughter at the end that flows perfectly into the final track The Writ.

Geezer gets things started on The Writ by building up anticipation with some deep and pulse bass lines, which explode into one of the more dynamic songs from the entire Sabbath catalog. With Ozzy in the driver’s seat and Iommi riding shotgun, they take you on a long and dynamic musical journey through dark riffs and twisted demonic voices.

Sabotage proves over the years to be one the greatest Black Sabbath albums in the large discography. This album that most definitely deserves every ounce of praise poured upon it and then some. One of the reasons I am a fan of Heavy Metal because of its amazing diversity of its different genres. All of these genres have one thing in common; they all fall back on the creativity of four blokes from Birmingham who saw what lay beyond boundaries of the music world and broke down those walls to achieve it.