Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne, 1970. Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage/Getty Images.
“We didn’t intend to make a single in the first place, but after we’d completed the album, the ‘Paranoid’ track was sufficiently short to be a ‘trailer’ for the LP. We really didn’t expect it to do anything at all. We don’t go into the studio to make singles. We make LPs only. But if there is anything suitable as a result of the recordings, it would be considered, of course.” - Tony Iommi
Luckily for us, singles did follow, and now ‘Supersonic Years – The Seventies Singles Box Set’, will be released June 8th through BMG. It documents the band’s run of hit singles as never before and features an array of unique content. We take a look at some of the singles that blew us away.
Paranoid - 1970
The very first single release from Black Sabbath, coming six months after their debut album was released. One of the great things about "Paranoid" is actually the lo-fi film clip that accompanied it. Filmed in Belgium in 1970, it’s chock full of continuity mistakes, bad syncing, wrong camera angles, people standing idly by in the background, and shots of Tony Iommi playing the main riff whilst the solo plays. It’s so bad, it’s great. Was it deliberate? Who knows, but it’s golden. There’s an alternate live video clip that was allegedly the official clip, but this one is much more fun to watch.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath – 1973
Often cited as ‘The riff that saved Black Sabbath’ due to Tony Iommi’s previous writer's block, as Geezer Butler remembers “We almost thought that we were finished as a band ... Once Tony came out with the initial riff for 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' we went 'We're baaaack!’”. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", the title track from their 1973 album is also highly regarded by many of today’s legendary axemen, with Slash saying "The outro to 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' is the heaviest shit I have ever heard in my life. To this day, I haven't heard anything as heavy that has as much soul."
It’s brutal.
It’s Alright – 1976
The reasoning for this one blowing us away is quite simple. It was so far removed from what we expected from Black Sabbath that it immediately makes you sit up and take notice. This ballad is one of only two Sabbath songs sung by drummer Bill Ward. He was at first, scared to sing for fear of offending Ozzy, however, he was encouraged by the band to sing, and later, Ozzy is quoted as saying “He's got a great voice, Bill, and I was more than happy for him to do the honours.” Personally, I like it a lot. Sure, it’s not what Sabbath fans may have wanted, none the less, a solid ballad from 1976.
Tomorrow’s Dream – 1972
The only single from Vol. 4, it failed to chart anywhere, which is a damn shame, because this has some real vibes to it. Loaded with tambourine, cowbell, and a killer riff. This was great songwriting from Black Sabbath, but perhaps not dark enough for the die-hards when Vol. 4 featured songs like "Supernaut" and "Snowblind."
Symptom Of The Universe – 1978 (single B-side)
In 1978, Black Sabbath released Hard Road as the second single from Never Say Die! Which went to number 33 on the UK charts. The B-Side chosen was the tried and tested Symptom Of The Universe from their 1975 album Sabotage. In 1975, it was an album track, but by 1978, it was a definite precursor to the thrash metal genre that took off in the early 80’s.
It’s a favourite of the writer, Tony Iommi "It starts with an acoustic bit. Then it goes into the up-tempo stuff to give it that dynamic, and it does have a lot of changes to it, including the jam at the end.”
Gypsy - 1976
Stylistically, this was a long way from the early doom style that came about due to the band wanting to stay relevant, as Geezer Butler remembers “It's not like now: If you're a heavy metal band, you put out a heavy metal album, back then, you had to at least try to be modern and keep up. Punk was massive then and we felt that our time had come and gone." It was polarising, due to the stellar guitar work from Iommi, but the departure of traditional Sabbath, it both won and lost them fans.
- Higgo
