Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
	Produced by Black Sabbath
	Released on November 1973
	UK CHART POSITION #4 . . . US CHART POSITION #11 . . . PLATINUM RECORD
	Find it at GEMM
BS 2695 cover

Some “classic” Sabbath albums are simply better than others, with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath perhaps the weakest of that pack. The band’s energy levels are here diluted by thin self-production, Ozzy’s screechy voice, and a certain stinginess with the pummeling riffs that made Sabbath so transcendent. The title track certainly starts out heavy, but soon the band branches out into a jazzier discussion before returning with an even sludgier attack; it’s a restless song from a restless record, the band’s production skill not quite harnessing the song’s latent potential. “Killing Yourself To Live” and “A National Acrobat” feature excellent riffs from Tony Iommi, but the guitarist is after a different sort of guitar sound here, often forsaking his unmistakable metal chords for a clipped, glam rock gloss that recalls Mick Ronson’s work on David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold The World (which also featured Rick Wakeman, by the way). The same holds for “Looking For Today,” a contagious release of controlled energy that pits Iommi’s coolly detached riff against Bill Ward’s relentless rhythms, including bursts of melody that point squarely to The Beatles. The bluesy “Sabbra Cadabra” digresses midway with a synthesizer section from Rick Wakeman; the spooky, lumbering “Who Are You” uses synthesizers throughout (this time from Geezer Butler, who creates a fine facsimile of Wakeman’s style on the orchestral ending). Sabbath Bloody Sabbath broadens the band’s musical horizons, much as Volume 4 did, but the band at its best was an unblinking juggernaut, words that wouldn’t describe an album that ends with the orchestral washes and Who-like ambitions of “Spiral Architect.” That said, the instrumental “Fluff” is perhaps the prettiest of all Tony Iommi’s instrumental pieces, which is saying something.

BS 2695 back cover	BS 2695 lyric insert

TRACK LISTING

1. SABBATH, BLOODY SABBATH    5:35
2. A NATIONAL ACROBAT    6:20
3. FLUFF    4:10
4. SABBRA CADABRA    5:55
5. KILLING YOURSELF TO LIVE    5:35
6. WHO ARE YOU    4:10
7. LOOKING FOR TODAY    5:00
8. SPIRAL ARCHITECT    4:40
9. *CORNUCOPIA (LIVE)
   
   All songs written by Black Sabbath

CREDITS

GEEZER BUTLER -- bass, fuzz bass, synthesizer, Mellotron, hands, nose
TONY IOMMI -- guitars, acoustic and steel guitars, piano, harpsichord, synthesizer, flute, organ, hands, bagpipes
OZY OSBOURNE -- vocals, synthesizer, hands
BILL WARD -- drums, percussion, timpani, hands, fuzz bass-drum
Will Malone -- conductor, string arrangement
The Phantom Fiddlers -- strings
Rick Wakeman -- piano and synthesizer (4)
Mike Butcher -- engineer, production help
Mark Forster -- coordination
Patrick Meehan -- direction
Spock Wall -- production help
Drew Struzan -- illustrations

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