Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

I don't think Ozzy's voice has ever sounded as good as it does on this record. As well Tony Iommi's guitar work is as good as it gets and pretty much sets the stage for a lot of the heavy metal that came after this album. Listening to this record (as well as the ones in the Sabbath catalog that surround it) one also hears the roots of drone metal. Where would a band like Sunn 0))) be without Master of Reality?


High points on the record are Sweet Leaf, After Forever and Children of The Grave. I love Children of The Grave. With the cheesy whispering at the end I can just picture stoned teenagers listening to it in their wood paneled basements at 2:00am in 1975, plotting a school shooting spree. God, it sounds like it was written just for that demographic. Lord of This World is also a pretty good song, with some of the best guitar work on the album. The songs are very repetitive with lumbering melodies. If we had to pick a Jungian archetype for 70's heavy metal I think that this record would have to be it.