 |
|
| |
|
||||
Black Sabbath is a British heavy metal band originally composed of John "Ozzy" Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Terence "Geezer" Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums). Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham, England in the late 1960s under the name Polka Tulk Blues Band (soon shortened to "Polka Tulk"), and later Earth. Initially a blues rock band, Earth moved in a darker direction when Geezer Butler, a fan of the black magic novels of Dennis Wheatley, wrote an occult-themed song titled "Black Sabbath" (the song name was apparently inspired by a 1963 Boris Karloff film). When the band found themselves being confused with another local band called Earth, they adopted the song title as their new name. The newly-named Black Sabbath adopted darker lyrical themes and a slower, ominous style, and became the one of the first and most definitive heavy metal bands. The group found its signature sound almost by accident. After seeing a horror movie together, Ozzy Osbourne reportedly said to Geezer Butler, "If people pay to see scary movies, why wouldn't they pay to listen to scary music?" The band began to purposely write dark, ominous riffs in an attempt to be music's answer to horror movies. However, much of the group's material featured acoustic guitar, piano, symphnony orchestras, keyboards, and even horns. After the band's first three albums, the group became increasingly experimental and progressive, leaving much of their dark metal roots behind.
History (1970s)The band enjoyed success with memorable songs and riffs beginning with their first album, the eponymous Black Sabbath (1970). The combination of a talented rhythm section and the theatrical on-stage antics of Ozzy Osbourne helped the band quickly build a worldwide following. Their follow-up album Paranoid (also 1970) was a tremendous success, bringing them even greater attention in America and the UK. The content of the songs (both originals and cover versions) from both albums reflected an interest in the occult and black magic. This was a crucial step in establishing the "darkness" and "heaviness" of later heavy metal lyrics, and Black Sabbath was the first group to feature such lyrical content, almost to the exclusion of other topics. Led Zeppelin, The Doors and others might have hinted at magic or the occult, and The Rolling Stones had flirted with Satanic lyrical content, but few contemporaries could match Black Sabbath for directness, such as "My name is Lucifer/Please take my hand" (from Black Sabbaths "N.I.B."). Butler wrote most of the lyrics. Another innovation was the by-product of an accident: Iommi's fretting fingers were injured in an industrial accident during his early tenure with Earth. He was working in a sheet metal factory at the time and the tops of the two middle fingers on his right hand were sliced off. Initially, he forged himself prosthetics from a melted plastic detergent bottle. The injured fingers were understandably tender, so Iommi downtuned his Gibson guitar a from standard E to C#. The resultant slackness of the string allowed him to play with less bother to his fingertips. Butler also downtuned his bass guitar to more easily follow Iommi's playing. The lower pitch often seemed "heavier" or more substantive, and Black Sabbath were perhaps the first popular group to downtune. The practice of downtuning is now common — perhaps even standard — among metal groups. Black Sabbath released another smash hit in 1971, Master of Reality. This was the first Sabbath album to feature a significant amount of acoustic material ("Solitude" contained a flute solo by Iommi). This was a crucial and often overlooked switch in style by Sabbath, as they are largely known only for their simple, dark riffs from their earlier releases. By the time the band released Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 in (1972), they were a full-fledged progressive rock group. Featuring the hit "Changes" (containing only vocal, piano, and strings) and sonic rock anthems like "Supernaut" and "Snowblind," Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 was the groups most mature record to date. By this point, the band was one of the most popular bands in the world, and was a major concert attraction. Their next album release, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) saw the band work with Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman. The album marked a diversification of the band's sound, including the acoustic space-rock tune "Spiral Architect," and the prog-rock workout "A National Acrobat." By 1974, though, troubles had set in: members of the band were the band were heavily addicted to drugs and the band was experiencing major management problems (the group was managed by Ozzy's future father-in-law, Don Arden). These issues and then a label change from Vertigo to WWA disrupted the release schedule of the band's new album. Despite the troubles, Sabotage was released in 1975 with continued success. However, drug problems, continued experimentation in their music style (Gregorian chants and a chorale of monks highlighted "Supertzar"), the hard rock scene's changing environment and some internal issues were affecting the stability and output of the band. Technical Ecstasy (1976) turned out to be a commercial failure. The album was laden with symphony orchestras, synthesizers, and even drummer Bill Ward singing a Beatlesque pop song. Some consider it one of the group's most ambitious records, yet fans of the classic Sabbath formula were disillusioned. After the 1977 tour, Ozzy Osbourne stopped turning up at band rehearsals. The remaining band members even recorded music with singer Dave Walker, formerly of Fleetwood Mac, but Ozzy continued on with Sabbath, releasing the highly controversial Never Say Die! (1978). By far the band's most experimental release, Never Say Die! is widely regarded as an excellent album (some hardcore fans call it their best), but a poor Black Sabbath album ("Breakout" featured a 15-piece horn section). Like the previous album, its sales were poor. Due to internal conflicts and a shown lack of commitment, Osbourne was asked to leave Black Sabbath in 1979. Osbourne established a solo career in 1980, where his new music and shocking noteriety eventually turned him into a house-hold name. He was replaced in Black Sabbath by former Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio. History (1980s)Black Sabbath's next album (and first with singer Ronnie James Dio), Heaven and Hell, proved to be a success, and saw the band's highest charting since 1975's Sabotage. It was on this tour that Ronnie James Dio popularized the "horns" hand guesture, which has since become a symbol of heavy metal music in general. The album also marked the inclusion of Quartz's guitarist-turned-keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, who although hasn't been consistantly credited as an official member, and has often been forced to play live shows from backstage for supposed aesthetic purposes, ended up co-writing and staying with the band through all other incarnations. During the tour, drummer Bill Ward quit the band for personal reasons (he had lost both parents in a short about of time, and had some alcoholism problems). Vinnie Appice joined to complete the tour and then record the next album Mob Rules, the whose title track appeared in the movie Heavy Metal. The unauthorized release in 1980 of the live bootleg Live at Last (recorded at two March 1973 shows on the Vol. 4 tour) prompted the band to properly record a live album on the Mob Rules tour, titled Live Evil. However, during the mixing of Live Evil, internal band problems and nasty accusations developed, which lead to Dio and Appice quitting the band to form Dio. Bill Ward returned to the drum throne, and Ian Gillan of Deep Purple fame became the new singer. This line-up recorded the album Born Again, but once again Bill Ward dropped out of the following tour, this time being replaced by Bev Bevan of Electric Light Orchestra. Although the album surprisingly ended up being one of their most sucessful ones to date (hitting #4 in the UK charts), things didn't last, as Ian Gillan left to reunite with Deep Purple. Drummer Bill Ward once again returned to the fold, and the hiring of new singer David Donato was officially announced in 1984. However, Donato was promptly fired after giving an allegedly horrible interview in Kerrang! magazine. It was at this point that the band's frequent line-up changes, compounded with Ozzy Osbourne's increasing success in his solo career and side-taking from music critics, really ended up putting the band under Ozzy's shadow. The next few years proved to be the most confusing time of Black Sabbath's history. Founding member Geezer Butler quit out of frustration and formed the Geezer Butler Band at this time, which didn't end up releasing any albums. The original line-up of Black Sabbath reunited for one three-song show at Live Aid in 1985. After this, Tony decided to record a solo album and enlisted the help of longtime Sabbath keyboardist Geoff Nicholls (who was finally made an official member) and vocalist Glenn Hughes, formerly of Deep Purple and Trapeze. Tony Iommi also got engaged to famous female heavy metal star Lita Ford, and enlisted the help of her band's bassist (Dave "The Beast" Spitz) and drummer Eric Singer, (later of KISS and Alice Cooper) to round off the line-up. However, record company pressure caused the album Seventh Star to be released as Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi. Around this time, Tony Iommi also acquired the legal rights to the name Black Sabbath. Early in the tour for Seventh Star in 1986, Glenn Hughes got into a vicious fist fight, suffering severe blood clotting in his throat which made him lose his voice. In an emergency, a then-unknown young American singer by the name of Ray Gillen (no relation to Ian Gillan) was tapped for the job and finished the tour. Morale in the band was very high at this point. Then Dave Spitz was replaced by bassist Bob Daisley (best known for his lyric and music writing with Ozzy Osbourne) to record the next album, The Eternal Idol, but left immediately after the recording. But Black Sabbath then hit a devastating series of catasrophes involving mismanagement and financial debt, the latter mainly from poorly planned use of Air Studios in Montserrat, the world's most expensive recording studio. These problems, along with the newly recorded album being indefinitely shelved, led Eric Singer to leave, and eventually Ray Gillen to leave too. The two eventually hooked up with ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee to form the rather successful band Badlands. Singer Tony Martin was brought in to re-record all of Gillen's original vocals note-for-note on the Eternal Idol tapes, and with the addition of one new instrumental song (on which Bev Bevan was re-hired to play percussion), the album was finally released in November 1987, with liner notes that confusingly miscredited both the studio musicians and touring band. This also marked the last album with the Warner Brothers label. A short promotional tour was set up before the album's release, with Dave Spitz re-hired on bass. Bev Bevan quit shortly after for political reasons, as six shows were booked for Sun City, known for its practice of apartheid. Terry Chimes of The Clash was hired to finish the tour. Despite the controversey, Black Sabbath played to racially mixed audiences with enthusiastic response. After the album release, Jo Burt replaced Spitz for the final two months of touring. A significant degree of band stability finally came back to Black Sabbath by 1988 with the staying of Tony Martin and Geoff Nicholls, and the addition of loyal drummer Cozy Powell. Powell, a legendary drummer, had had success with his own band, as well as with Rainbow, Whitesnake, and ELP. Original member Geezer Butler had considered rejoining at this time, but instead ended up joining Ozzy Osbourne's solo band. With session bassist Laurence Cottle, Sabbath released the critically acclaimed Headless Cross album in 1989. An MTV video for the title track recieved considerable airplay, and was released to mostly positive reviews. History (1990s)Immediately after the Headless Cross sessions, full-time bass veteran Neil Murray (a former bandmate of Cozy Powell's in Whitesnake) was hired. This new Black Sabbath line-up of Iommi-Nicholls-Martin-Powell-Murray toured for the Headless Cross album, then recorded and released Tyr in 1990. The group toured extensively throughout 1990 and 1991, as sales for the highly praised Tyr album continued to rise. Then the reunions happened. Tony Iommi cleaned house in 1992 to reunite the clasic 1980s lineup of Black Sabbath. Founding member Geezer Butler, along with Ronnie James Dio and Vinnie Appice, joined up with Tony Iommi once again (this was the same line-up from 1981's Mob Rules and 1982's Live Evil) and together they recorded Dehumanizer (1992). During this time, Tony Martin records and releases his first solo album, Back Where I Belong. Playing to larger audiences then they had in nearly a decade, the rejuvinated Sabbath enjoyed renewed success with the powerful Dehumanizer album and tour. It was around this time that Ozzy Osbourne announced his retirement from touring. He requested that Black Sabbath open up for him on his last two shows at Costa Mesa, after which would be Ozzy's solo set, and the night closing with a reunion of the original Black Sabbath line-up. Dio refused to participate, pointing out that the shows were booked without ever asking him, that Ozzy had strongly slagged him and the band in past interviews, that that Black Sabbath shouldn't be anybody's opening act. Still, the shows were booked with the band hoping that Dio would change his mind. Dio stuck to his word and played the rest of the tour up until the last two shows, then quit to return to his solo band Dio. Rob Halford of Judas Priest was brought in as a last-minute replacement for the two shows in Costa Mesa. Shortly after, it was announced that not only did Osbourne change his mind about retirement, but that the original Black Sabbath line-up was going to record a new album and do a full tour. Contracts were all ready, but all plans fell through when Osbourne decided at the last minute that he didn't want to do it. Meanwhile, ex-singer Ray Gillen died on December 3, 1993 of AIDS-related complications. With the reunion now over, Tony Martin and Geoff Nicholls return to the band. Black Sabbath hires Rainbow drummer Bobbi Rondinelli, who had also played in the early days with Ray Gillen. They record and release Cross Purposes (1994), the first Black Sabbath album to feature founding bassist Geezer Butler since 1983's Born Again. Cross Purposes Live, a CD and video set recorded from the tour, was released in late 1994, after which Bobbi Rondinelli left the group mid-tour. His replacement for the rest of the tour was, surprisingly, original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward. After the tour, both Ward and Butler parted ways with Iommi, Martin, and Nicholls. Geezer Butler then formed his own solo project g//z/r Another reunion was on tap in 1995. This time the Tyr line-upwould again join forces, as drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Neil Murray rejoined Iommi, Martin, and Nicholls for Forbidden, produced by Ernie C. of Body Count and featuring a guest appearance by Ice-T. To this date, Forbidden remains Black Sabbath's most recent full-length studio album recorded by any line-up. After the recording of the album, Cozy Powell left again and was replaced for the tour by a returning Bobbi Rondinelli. Cozy Powell died in a tragic car crash on April 5, 1998. In 1996, Castle Records remastered and re-released Black Sabbath's catalog on CD up through Eternal Idol (1987), and a 1988-1995 compilation titled The Sabbath Stones was released to finish Tony Iommi's contract with the record label. Tony Iommi hooked back up with Glenn Hughes (his voice having long since recovered) and started recording solo material, which was eventually released in 2004 as The DEP Sessions. Since their very beginning, Black Sabbath was never well-liked by critics, and other hard rock bands usually cited other bands like Led Zeppelin as their primary influence. However, By the early to mid 1990s, a number of big heavy metal and even alternative bands were openly citing Black Sabbath as a main influence. 1994 saw the release of at least three Black Sabbath tribute albums, the first and most popular being Nativity In Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath. These bands ended up introducing a new generation of fans to Black Sabbath, with increased the anticipation for the upcoming reunion. The Ozzfest ReunionsIn 1997, Ozzy Osbourne launched his wildly successful Ozzfest metal festival tour, which he headlined on a nightly basis. For the last part of his set each night, he was joined by Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi for a rundown on several Sabbath classics (Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin was on drums). Bill Ward was never asked to play for these shows, with Sharon Osbourne, wife and manager of Ozzy Osbourne, sending a simple message to Bill Ward saying "Your services are not required". However in December 1997 Bill Ward finally joined. With the full original line-up now together, they recorded the double live album Reunion that year on December 4-5. Due to health reasons, Bill Ward was replaced on the following 1998 summer tour by former Sabbath drummer Vinnie Appice, but Ward returned and the original Black Sabbath line-up remains together to this day. Reunion was finally released in the fall of 1998, which included two brand new songs and a separately-sold video. The band held several in-store autograph signings across the US to promote the album. Since Reunion, Black Sabbath has released at least one authorized double-CD compilation, and an eight CD box set. The band had writing sessions together in 2001, and played one new song ("Scary Dreams") on the subsequent tour. However, a new studio album has yet to be released. The band intially began work on a new album in 2001 with legendary producer Rick Rubin, but Ozzy's solo contract and time with the enormous hit TV series The Osbournes has delayed and perhaps killed further progress on the album. The band took three years off before returning to the road in 2004 to headline yet another Ozzfest tour, celebrating their 35th anniversary. ReunionsIn 1985, the original members of Black Sabbath (Iommi/Butler/Osbourne/Ward) reuinted for the Live Aid benefit concert. They only played three songs. In 1992, the 1980-1982 version of Black Sabbath (Iommi/Butler/Dio/Appice) reunited and toured for the album Dehumanizer. In 1992, the original members of Black Sabbath played three songs after one of Ozzy Osbourne's "retirement" concerts in Costa Mesa, California. In 1995, the 1989-1991 version of the band (iommi/Powell/Martin/Murray/Nicholls) reunited for the album and tour for Forbidden. In 1997 and 1998, the original members of Black Sabbath reunited, toured and released Reunion. In 1999, 2001, and 2004, the original Black Sabbath reunited and toured on Osbourne's Ozzfest. They are claiming to release an album featuring new material in 2005. Influence on later musiciansThe band rarely received any critical praise until late in their career ("blundering bozos" was one early description). Osbourne was considered to have a thin voice with average range by many whilst his showmanship, message and personality were given great credit by many others. Despite or some suggest because of all this, widely acknowledged as the most influential pioneers in the heavy metal field. Some of the incidents and characters in the spoof rock documentary This Is Spinal Tap are based on Black Sabbath. For example the Stonehenge stage set idea in the film was taken from a real stage used Black Sabbath for their Born Again tour. InfluencesBlack Sabbath had a unique sound that emerged from diverse influences. Tony Iommi was greatly influenced both by Hank Marvin's playing on Cliff Richard and the Shadows' heavy-guitar based recordings and by jazz guitar, particularly that of Django Reinhardt. Bill Ward has also expressed a fondness for jazz music in general, and for drummer Buddy Rich especially; this jazz influence may be heard on some of Ward's playing with Black Sabbath. Early incarnations of Black Sabbath merged elements of blues, jazz, and rock and paid their dues playing cover versions of songs by heavy rock acts including Jimi Hendrix, Blue Cheer, and Cream. MembersCurrent Members
Original Members
Other Members
Discography
UK hit singles
Did not have a US Top 40 hit. External links
da:Black Sabbath de:Black Sabbath es:Black Sabbath fr:Black Sabbath he:בלאק סבאת' nl:Black Sabbath ja:ブラック・サバス pl:Black Sabbath fi:Black Sabbath sv:Black Sabbath |
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 WordIQ.com - Privacy Policy
::
Terms of Use
:: Contact Us
:: About Us This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Black Sabbath". |