Burning Metal Through the Atmosphere (Master Of Reality - Black Sabbath)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Master Of Reality - Black Sabbath
Date:	25/05/06 (176 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Landmark heavy metal album, excellent musicianship from all band members, classic songs

Disadvantages: Short and somewhat repetitive

Hot off recording the infernal heavy metal album classic ‘Paranoid,’ Black Sabbath listened to their fast-growing fan base over their numerous critics, and unleashed the heaviest, dingiest and most consistent record of their seventies heyday. Finally shaking off the ‘evil blues’ sound that sadly dates their first two albums, Sabbath refine, define and perfect the genre of heavy metal with this thirty-five minute LP.

What Master of Reality lacks in quantity, it surpasses insurmountably in the strength of each of the five substantial songs, bridged by the unnecessary but pleasant acoustic instrumentals ‘Embryo’ and ‘Orchid.’ Iommi’s disturbingly down-tuned guitars still sound definitively gloomy and crushing today, rendering irrelevant the efforts of the increasingly elaborate and contrived metal acts over the next three decades. Bill Ward’s drums and Geezer Butler’s bass are at their most powerful here on tracks such as ‘Children of the Grave,’ aided by the impressive and fitting production, and even Ozzy’s distinctive vocals still inexplicably suit the music to a tee, before the madman’s move towards a higher pitched singing style on subsequent albums.


Black Sabbath, ‘Master of Reality’ (Warner, 1971)

1. Sweet Leaf (5.02)
2. After Forever (5.25)
3. Embryo (0.28)
4. Children of the Grave (5.15)
5. Orchid (1.30)
6. Lord of This World (5.24)
7. Solitude (5.02)
8. Into the Void (6.07)


Opening with a looped cough, presumably one of the band members reacting badly to dope, the popular drug anthem ‘Sweet Leaf’ inadvertently perfects the sound that all those early nineties grunge bands were struggling to achieve, twenty years too early. Stylistically, this song is less complex and involved than the four that follow, but its unimposing five-minute duration and the first of many unforgettable guitar riffs on the album serve to bridge the gap between this album and its more accessible predecessor, Paranoid. ‘After Forever,’ Sabbath’s un-ironic Christian rocker, furthers this rock-n-roll sound and does so excellently, before the brief thirty-second acoustic tranquillity of ‘Embryo’ gives way to ‘Children of the Grave,’ unleashing crushing doom metal on an unprepared audience and only increasing in intensity with ‘Lord of This World’ and ‘Into the Void.’

All three songs share similarities, such as slow opening sections that give way to the speedy main riffs, and descent into semi-jam sections in the second half. ‘Lord of This World’ manages to remain weirdly melodic despite the down-tuned guitars and pounding drums, and features some uncharacteristically impressive guitar solos, a far cry from the blues-inspired noodling of the 1970 debut album. The inimitable (but much-covered) ‘Into the Void,’ a song that may not be instantly likeable but is unavoidably memorable, represents the culmination of the album’s attempts up to that point of forging the ultimate metal riff. Ozzy spoils it a little by attempting to whine something about rocket engines in sync, but this album could easily have been the final word on the burgeoning metal genre. But then, they never would have recorded classics such as ‘Symptom of the Universe.’

The sole curiosity on this reasonably samey album is ‘Solitude,’ an enjoyable ballad-esque acoustic song that sounds Medieval. Ozzy’s soft-spoken vocals are hardly recognisable, but the final word seems to be that this is indeed his voice, and not an early vocal stint by Ward. Along with ‘Embryo’ and ‘Orchid,’ which can be interpreted as preludes to the songs that respectively follow them, songs that already include additional introductory openings on bass or guitar, ‘Solitude’ keeps Master of Reality interesting at times when the definitive, ultimate metal of tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 just won’t satisfy.

There's no sub-three-minute rock radio staple in the vein of the band's most popular song 'Paranoid' here, as following such a popularist direction would have ensured the band's descent into bland hard rock territory, several years before such a fate would be destined to befall them anyway. But at the same time, the problematic song lengths of tracks such as 'War Pigs' and 'Hand of Doom' (also from the Paranoid album) have by this point been eradicated; 'Into the Void' is the longest song at a mere six minutes, and along with 'Lord of This World,' 'Children of the Grave' and 'After Forever' packs a lot of musical ideas into a single, concise song. The most glaringly obvious improvement of Master of Reality upon Paranoid is that there is no irritating drum solo on this album.

If Master of Reality is let down in one area, it’s the often-distracting lyrics. While Ozzy’s query, ‘Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope?’ in ‘After Forever’ starts the song off on a positive note (despite the silly rhyme) of individualism and questioning, this message soon becomes more an encouragement of Protestantism than the anti-Christian message the band had previously been accused of. As such, the song seems tarnished by a weak, apologetic stance, in the aftermath of the band becoming successful and wishing to avoid alienating potential listeners. To a lesser extent, the environmentally friendly sci-fi plot of ‘Into the Void’ seems a little desperate, almost as if Butler had to rush some lyrics on the day of recording and happened to notice a bottle bank on the way to the studio. Still, great guitar riff. Common themes throughout the album concern the destruction of the Earth by humanity's pollution and 'atomic age,' and a cry out to the children of tomorrow to sort it all out. Whoops.

Newcomers to Black Sabbath would benefit from the broader view offered by a best-of collection covering their classic early seventies period, such as the (fairly) recent ‘Very Best of Black Sabbath’ or even their contemporary ‘We Sold Our Soul for Rock and Roll.’ Master of Reality is perhaps the only consistent album the band has ever produced, but the heaviness and similarity of songs may deter casual listeners. The preceding albums ‘Black Sabbath’ and ‘Paranoid’ represent the true origin of heavy metal, and feature the band’s most widely known songs, while the three that followed see the band experimenting with and progressing their sound to various degrees of success.

Best track: 'Lord of this World.'

Summary: Black Sabbath's third studio album (1971).