Disco de Black Sabbath: “Vol. 4”

1972 was a watershed year for hard rock and Black Sabbath both. Luckily, the maturing group was able to spearhead the next part of the Proto-metal Revolution they'd founded with 'Master of Reality' in the form of this, their best work. 'Volume Four' was a functional, utilitarian name that was used to try and capture something whose essence could not be described with any adjective except, perhaps, 'shifting'. Unlike any of their previous three albums, the Sabs were able to keep their distance from a formula [more or less homogenous doom rock with the occasional 'let up' (although their first LP is a mish-mash of blues and the beginnings of their 'doom rock')] and make this effort become an entire soundscape filled with moving atmospheres - the ultimate in a heterogeneous texture.

'Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener' - THE STORYTELLER. The whining guitar notes, basic chord structures and past tense narrative lyrics find an experimental-minded band. The shifts in tempo were something they'd become very familiar with by this time but it never had sounded this good. Instrumental 'The Straightener' kicks in to round out the epic. Geezer's bass text is used as a canvas by Iommi here as he spatters riff spirals and twists all over the place. 'Laguna Sunrise' - THE MIND CREATES A FANTASY. Pretty number written for the beachfront where the Sabs were staying during their work on 'Volume Four'. A very haunting superimposition of Spanish guitar over a strings backing.

'F.X.' - THE UNKNOWN REALM. 1 3/4 minutes of sound effects, particularly picking noises. Probably very useful if you're doped up but much better when sober. 'Snowblind' - ROCK REFLECTION ON LIFESTYLE. The 'best' rock track of the album, 'Snowblind' was a single. It accurately depicts the group's concerns at the time. Money and fame had allotted them nicer cars and nicer drugs to fool with. 'Cornucopia' - ROCK REFLECTION ON SOCIETY. 'Take a life, it's going cheap; Kill someone, no-one will weep.' A thundering bass-driven track that's almost uglier in structure than the post industrial nightmare described by Osbourne's frenetic lyrics.

'Tomorrow's Dream' - LOVE DISCARDED. A short rocker that scored as a greatest hit. The whole feel here is of turning away from the woes of the Present and starting a whole new existence. 'Supernaut' - THE SELF TRIUMPHS. 'I've seen the future and I've left it behind.' Ward's frantic cymbal-bashing and Iommi's smokingly fast riffs and overdubs augment Osbourne's grandiose lyrical delivery perfectly. A hard, spiralling anthem. 'Changes' - LOVE REMOVED. A long piano/synth bit with Ozzy half-lamenting the joy of love taken away, half-asserting his understanding of the adjustment he's making to compensate. 'Under The Sun' - THE MIND REACTS AGAINST REALITY. Very heavy guitar and bass work drones with the strength of the nihilistic, sometimes self-contradicting lyrics. Soon the tempo changes and both the guitars and voice become more desperate to convey their point. The songs ends on a helter-skelter of doomy rhythm and amorphous riffs. 'St. Vitus' Dance' - ANTI-COMMUNICATION. This short, fast rocker bounces Osbounre's lyrics back and forth. It's about problems with understanding the female mind.

Altogether and in a sequence, these make up what is termed 'Volume Four'. There is but one other ingredient necessary to facilitate a successful listening - a mind of any type and in any condition. None of the songs will grow on you; you will see them ever after in the same light under which you orginally found them. The shade of that light depends on your perceptions and no two shades will ever be alike. This is an album saturated in an ebbing, ethereal fluid, one of the consequences being that the sounds recorded on 'Volume Four' make it quite impossible to place the whole in any single genre. This is a work that declares there are an infinite number of idiosyncratic interpretations of it available. I have given mine here: to find your own, you need to get this CD.

THE BAND: Tony Iommi (guitars), Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums).

THE DISC: (1972) 10 songs clocking in at approximately 43 minutes. The Warner Bros issue has 2-pages of liner notes and no artwork to speak of (basically the cover artwork and song titles inside). The remastered version is now considered an import from Castle Communications (1996)... this one has the digitally remastered sound from the original master tapes, as well as the "faithfully restored artwork" - 10 pages including all band photos that the original vinyl had, song credits and lyrics. I got lucky and found a used copy of the remastered version for a fraction of the cost.

COMMENTS: While maybe not their strongest effort in many a critic's mind, this is STILL one of my all-time favorites from Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi's muffled and distorted guitar(s) are in rare form on this album... almost a constant electric buzz (except for one heartfelt acoustical masterpiece that is probably Iommi's best ballad to date - "Laguna Sunrise"). "Vol. 4" was original titled "Snowblind"... due to the obvious reference to cocaine it was considered an unsuitable album title by Warner Bros. The songs that opened my eyes to Sabbath were "Snowblind", "Supernaut", the 8 minute "Wheels of Confusion" and "Tomorrow's Dream" (the first hit released from the album). These stand out among the others and are hard rocking Sabbath classics. "Cornucopia" and "Under The Sun" are underrated deep album rockers. The music seems varied, complex, and open to a little experimentation - much more so than on previous Sabbath albums. Sabbath's debut (1970), "Paranoid" (1970) and "Masters Of Reality" (1971) were equally brilliant early metal classics... and "Vol.4" showed a different side to the band. That's why I fell in love with this album... it was just a tad different than anything we'd heard before from Ozzy & Co. Great disc (4.5 stars).

With todays music scene seriously dipping in quality, I've been doing what alot of people have been doing : going back in time and discovering the older bands such as Pink Floyd, King Crimson and my latest discovery Black Sabbath.

After Master of Reality, Black Sabbath had sort of backed themsleves into a corner. The fans where in love the slow pounding sludge guitar that was Sabbath's trademark, Sabbath had begun to experiment a tiny bit on Master of Reality with tracks like After Forever and Solitude but that was just the beggining. You see Vol.4 not only rocks harder than MOR it also beats it songwise. This album grabs you by the kneck from beggining to end whereas Master of Reality was tough to get listen to at times not so here. Another thing about this album is it's rocking power, it seems like the band let loose and went wild, Iommi's guitar is allowed to breathe, while on the last record it sounded layed back and so did the band.

The songs I most enjoy are Wheels of Confusion, Yesyerday's dream, Supernaut, Snowblind, Cornucopia heck I love each and every song on here!! Changes sounds like something Ozzy would go on to do with his solo carreer.

I don't understand the people who give the album bad reviews, personally I can't find anything wrong with this one, great introduction to the band if your new ot them.

Black Sabbaths trademark sound changes a little bit become more grungy and bleak. The guitar is overly distorted and fuzzy, instead of the pristine heavy metal tone it was in the previous albums. This album was the beginning of the downfall of Black Sabbath, the drugs were getting to them and from this album on it was a slow decline to the bottom. But nevertheless this is a great album. Hears what I think of the songs.

1.Wheels Of Confusion (5/5)-The whole song has a sort of Confused mood to it, a song about tripping out on acid

2.Tommorow's Dream (4.5/5)- A heavy riff, the song is kinda unfocused though

3.Changes (3/5)-An okay pop song, whatever its not like they sold out and started playing pop like many bands tend too do.

4.FX (1.5/5)- A weird instrumental of strange tapping noises, I guess you gotta be on acid or something to fully appreciate it.

5.Supernaut (5/5)-great original riff, very heavy

6.Snowblind (5/5)-the best song on the album, one of my favorite sabbath songs, Melodic but still maintains its heavyness

7.Cornacopia (3.5/5)

8. Laguna Sunrise (4.5/5)-A moody acoustic instrumental, theres no singing but the melody still paints an image in mind

9.St.Vitus Dance (4/5)- Good song, an iron man like riff

10.Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes (4/5)- A very bleak song, still good

If you like metal, or hard rock check this album out.

If you liked this album you may also like:

The Scorpions-Lonesome Crow

Uriah Heep-The Magicians Birthday

Judas Priest-Sad Wings Of Destiny

Alice Cooper-Billion Dollar Babies

Vol. 4 is in my opinion the pinnacle of Sabbath's total achievement, their greatest album and one of the greatest heavy rock albums ever. I love all of the Ozzy era albums, especially the first 6, but 4 does it for me best. This record proved that Sabbath were exceptional musicians as well as THE heaviest band of their time. The opener "Wheels of Confusion" is an absolute monster! Geezer's lyrics and Ozzy's voice never sounded better and Iommi lays down another sledgehammer assault on our senses, easily one of their triumphs!. "Snowblind", "Tommorrow's Dream" and "Under the Sun" continue the aural onslaught, but "Supernaut" deserves special recognition along with "Confusion" as the best song from 4. Easily Bill Ward's finest hour as a drummer, he never sounded so good. Showing a softer side and a new complection to their sound are the classic ballad "Changes" and Tony's acoustic piece "Laguna Sunrise" which was a tribute to sunny L.A. where this beast was germninated. The band's notorious cocaine intake was also indulged upon during these heady times. Fortunately like many great bands of their era, chemically intake had yet to interfere with creative genius, although strains were beginning to show in the band's interealationship. Just as their fellow countrymen Led Zeppelin created their momument to Rock on their 4 album, so the Messieurs Butler, Iommi, Osbourne and Ward acheived immortality with theirs. As great as "Paranoid" and "Master of Reality" are, Vol. 4 is Black Sabbath's magnum opus.