Things come to a head when things calm down and a brief broken chord line that sounds semi-classical in nature paves the way for a brilliant guitar alone solo in a similar vain to the one heard on Zepplin’s “Heart Breaker”, but with a more structured and disciplined character.įor the enthusiastic Sabbath completist looking to add this to his collection of historical releases, this and 5 other classic Ozzy era singles have been brought back from the vinyl age in CD form as part of a singles compilation. Geezer Butler’s heavily active bass work and Bill Ward’s loose flowing, fill happy beats give it a heavily jazz-oriented character, while Iommi’s bluesy yet heavier rock riffs give the overall listen a very cynical character. The b-side and better known song “Wicked World” sees a much more forward looking style, largely resembling the harder rocking character of Led Zepplin’s late 60s material, but with a bit more of a jam session character. Sabbath’s reinterpretation of this song, though today considered fairly tame and in keeping with classic rock practices, was likely the darkest thing that anyone who attended their gigs had ever heard, owing completely to the down tuned character of Iommi’s guitar and the bass heavy tone all but links it by the hip to the bass line. The vocal work has an attitude to it, yet is restrained in its range and largely blends with the rest of the arrangement. “Evil Woman” is your quintessential bluesy rock number, consisting of a very basic, formulaic, and repetitive set of pentatonic riffs and a tight yet easy going rhythm section. If nothing else, the image of the band on this single’s cover art is indicative of the time that this came out. Though some of the offerings that would later be put on the famous self-titled “Black Sabbath” LP would foreshadow a much darker characterization of rock music in a metal transition, Ozzy and company got their start covering and then composing blues oriented rock with a heavily psychedelic character. These two songs are perfect examples of how Black Sabbath took blues influenced rock'n'roll and made it into something different.Īs hard as it may be for most of us metal heads to fathom today, the music that we know and love has its roots in 1960s hippie culture. While many bands like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin came close, Black Sabbath took the leap and began a new style of music. If you are looking back into metal's roots, this is the place to start these are some of the first metal songs. This song is very good, especially considering that it is Black Sabbath's first original composition. Bill Ward shows his talent by dishing out drum rolls between steady beats. While Ozzy wails on about about gloom and despair, Iommi plays his memorable doom-laced power chords. Even though he recently lost a fingertip in an industrial accident, Tony plucks away with ability above the vast majority of guitar players. "Wicked World" showcases Iommi's uncanny ability to produce amazing solos. As usual, Tony shreds away on the guitar but Geezer Butler's bass mini bass solos really steal the show. The main riff is an alternating patter of power chords and bass lines. In this song, the bass plays an even more important role than the guitar. While many bands push the bass to the background, Black Sabbath don't follow such conventions. While he is singing about a deceptive temptress, Tony Iommi's simplistic distorted power chords provides catchy repetition. While not technically all that good, Ozzy's trademark ghastly voice shows that perfection can be found in flaw. While not their most metal song, it is one of my favorites. "Evil Woman" is a cover of the band Crow. Even their earliest songs, like these ones, are solid gold. They did not only start a genre, they were also masters of playing it. We can thank Black Sabbath for all of our beloved metal music it can all be traced back to them. Its hard to believe that metal started four decades ago, so much has happened in the genre since then.
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