Black Sabbath - Master of Reality - Album Review

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Paranoid hit #1 in the charts with virtually no radio support. The next year, the band recorded the highly anticipated (by fans anyway) Master of Reality. Again, the album was very successful, earning #5 in the UK and #8 in the US. With Master of Reality, Tony Iommi decided to down tune his guitar 1 ½ steps to ease the tension on two of his ailing fingertips, (which had been injured in an industrial accident years before). Bassist Geezer Butler followed suit, lowing his bass tunings to match Iommi's. Though this was likely unintentional, it changed the band's sound more than they likely expected.

The down tuning of the guitars and bass brought about an even heavier sound than what was heard in earlier records. The heavy, down-tuned sound also helped take Sabbath's slow, sludgy sound a step further. Master of Reality's opener, Sweet Leaf, showcases the updated element in the band's arsenal exceedingly well, and has been very influential in the likes of Stoner metal. Listening to Master of Reality, becomes obvious through songs like Sweet Leaf, Children of the Grave, and Lord of this World present a riffier side to Black Sabbath. This progression is welcomed, and shows that Black Sabbath can slightly change their formula, yet still succeed at the same time. The most enjoyable song spawned by this riffy variation of Black Sabbath is easily Children of the Grave. Driven constantly by a mid-paced (yet pretty fast for Sabbath's standards) rhythm, it employs every trick that the British metallers had learned within the last year. A classic early metal song, it features a solid performance from every member of the band. Yes, even Ozzy, whose delivers one of his finest vocal deliveries. Musically, Black Sabbath remains enjoyable, despite bringing in some change.

Satanic and evil were two adjectives that the media used to berate the young Birmingham metal band. The media must have ignored the lyrics and themes of several of Master of Reality's songs when making this assumption. For several of Master Reality's six full length songs contain messages that protest war, promote love of fellow man and God. Yeah believe it or not, the second track, After Forever, is most definitely a Christian song with a positive message about God. Other tracks, such as Children of the Grave and Into the Void are obviously in response to, as I mentioned, war. Children of the Grave contains a particularly effective message, depicting a generation which fights against the evils of the nuclear age. Ozzy's wails of "Must the world live in the shadow of atomic fear / Can they win the fight for peace or will they disappear" or "Show the world that love is still alive you must be brave. / Or you children of today will be children of the grave!" Pretty haunting, no? The song Into the Void has a similar subject to that of Children of the Grave. Again, it ominously depicts a world which has been torn apart by war. Really, this anti-war stance isn't new, as Black Sabbath had opted for similar sentiments in older songs like Electric Funeral and War Pigs. However, the lyrics in 1971's Master of Reality showcase an optimism that was not present in past anthems.

Master of Reality was Black Sabbath's third album in just over one year. Despite this relative lack of time off, Black Sabbath displays no signs of letting up. The album contains several of Black Sabbath's classic tracks, with songs such as Children of the Grave and Sweet Leaf being favourites among the band's celebrated catalogue. It's through these classic songs that Black Sabbath introduced yet another change in their music. Despite not radically switching up their formula, the newly down tuned guitars and bass guitars opened new possibilities for the band. Their heavy, sludgy sound proved to once again be a hit with fans, and support for the band remained as strong as ever. Master of Reality is an excellent album, essential for fans of metal, and probably my favourite Ozzy-era Sabbath album.

Tracklist for Master of Reality:

1. Sweet Leaf

2. After Forever

3. Embryo

4. Children of the Grave

5. Orchid

6. Lord of This World

7. Solitude

8. Into the Void

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