In general, I tend to go with the flow as far as my favorite album by a favorite popular artist. Selling England by the Pound; Close to the Edge; In the Court of the Crimson King; Thick as a Brick; Wish You Were Here, etc... But with Sabbath I diverge a bit. Sabotage is my declared favorite, though I could make an argument for Master of Reality putting me back into the mainstream.
I was familiar with Black Sabbath in junior high (especially considering the delinquents I went to school with back then in the housing projects), but I didn't really hear them with any kind of scrutiny until high school. By then the Sabs were onto Heaven and Hell and fully immersed in the metal movement. As was I. I've discussed all this on prior reviews. As I think back, I believe Sabotage may have been the first vintage 70s Black Sabbath album for me to borrow/hear. A friend told me he really liked it but it wasn't necessarily their best. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but I liked what I heard. It wasn't until college that I finally deep dived into the Black Sabbath catalog. Today I enjoy all of their albums up through Mob Rules. After that I'm going to plead ignorance. Heard a few including the much derided Born Again which arrived in my freshman year of college. But just as Never Say Die resonates much stronger with me today, I need a new listen before passing judgment.
As for Sabotage, I think it has their most peak moments. 'Hole in the Sky' is a very good hard rock pounding opener. Not quite metal, but seriously heavy for the era. 'Don't Start (Too Late)' is a beautiful Spanish guitar piece which leads into the blistering 'Symptoms of the Universe'. Now this may very well be the beginning of 1980s styled metal. Even though they borrowed the riff from Australia's Buffalo, they took the song in another direction. Wonderful progressive breaks in the middle which leads to an unexpected hippy psychedelic ending. Also the "one soft - two heavy" punch with its predecessor is how just about every heavy metal album has opened since. 'Megalomania' was made for Ozzy. The first 3 plus minutes tend to drag but once the primary riff gets going, the song builds in intensity. I love the way that as Ozzy gets more and more animated, Iommi adds that just many more effects to his guitar. 'The Thrill of it All' is like 'Hole in the Sky' though perhaps a bit less interesting. A lot of folks don't seem to enjoy 'Supertzar' and use curious words like "cheesy". That's not my definition of cheese. To me it sounds like The Alan Parsons Project circa I Robot meets Black Sabbath. I could go for a whole album of that idea! 'Am I Going Insane' is also an ideal Ozzy number. A bit commercial in nature, but it's not offensive. All of this leads to 'The Writ' which has the perfect evil Ozzy opening. Unfortunately the track doesn't develop like 'Megalomania', but it's still nice to see the band experimenting with progressive rock forms.
I wouldn't make the claim that Sabotage is somehow underrated (I wouldn't use that word anyway), because it does have many fans like me, but most will say it's a point or two away from the first five. I think it easily surpasses Vol. 4 and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Otherwise I'm really splitting hairs as I love those first three almost just as much, especially Master of Reality as noted above.
Ownership: LP: 1979 Warner Bros. Single sleeve. My first copy goes back to college. It was on the palm tree label. But like many used albums I bought in college, they were beat, but attractive at $1. This copy came from an old childhood neighborhood friend who I still maintain contact with. He gave me his collection in 2006. Perfect copy too. No bar code with Warner shields. I think the date is right.
CD: 199? Warner Bros. Commodity CD with a short history. For music like this, a supplemental CD is essential.
1984; 2006; 9/11/23 (new entry)
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