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Black Sabbath, sometimes simply called Sabbath, is a British heavy metal band originally composed of Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), 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" (some accounts report that the song name may have been inspired by a 1963 Boris Karloff horror 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 one of the definitive classic heavy metal bands, often ranked alongside Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin was a British band noted for their innovative, influential approach to heavy blues- rock and as one of the most popular and influential bands of the 1970s. They both helped define and transcended the then-emerging heavy metal sub-genre. Early, Deep PurpleDeep Purple is a British rock group. They were one of the first and most famous hard rock bands, and are considered pioneers of heavy metal. Despite their association with the sub-genre, Deep Purple has never been purely a heavy metal band, though many la and Judas PriestJudas Priest is a hugely influential heavy metal band formed in 1969 in Birmingham, England. Often called just Priest or the Priest the band's classic line-up consists of legendary vocalist Rob Halford, the groundbreaking guitar duet of K. Downing and Gle in importance and influence.
Some have gone so far as to argue that Black Sabbath "invented" heavy metal. While this may be overstating the case, there is little argument that Black Sabbath were a profoundly important group in the music's development. A versatile group with many signature sounds, Black Sabbath are sometimes regarded as the ultimate source for the many subgenres (and sub-subgenres) of heavy metal music, including doom metalDoom metal is a form of heavy metal music that emerged as a recognized genre in the mid 1980s. The sound is slow and heavy and intended to evoke an atmosphere of darkness, despair, tension and doom. It is influenced particularly by the early work of Black, death metalDeath metal is a form of heavy metal music which emerged in the United States (especially Florida), Europe (especially the United Kingdom and Sweden) and Canada in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Black metal is often closely related. Death metal has, like, stoner metalStoner Metal and Sludge Metal are often used interchangeably, but some fans make distinctions: Sludge metal has more similarities with grindcore and hardcore punk. There also are similarities to doom metal, but most aficionados consider the two genres dis, and other forms.
With an extremely gifted rhythm section and the extraordinary on-stage antics of Ozzy Osbourne the band enjoyed success with memorable songs and brutal riffs beginning with their first album, the eponymous Black Sabbath ( 1970). Their follow-up album Paranoid (also 1970) brought them greater attention in America and the UK.
The content of the songs (both originals and cover versions) from both albums demonstrated an interest in the occult and black magic. This was a crucial step in establishing the "darkness" and "heavyness" of later heavy metal lyrics, and Black Sabbath were among the first groups 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, 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 many 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. His injured fingertips were often tender, so Iommi downtuned his Gibson guitar a from standard E to D. The resultant slackness of the string allowed Iommi 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 a further three albums, Master of Reality ( 1971), Vol. 4 ( 1972), and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath ( 1973) before management problems and the a label change from Vertigo to WWA disrupted the band's release schedule. The remaining albums by the original line-up are generally less well-regarded by fans. The next album, Sabotage, was not released until 1975 and its follow-up, Technical Ecstasy ( 1976) would be the last Ozzy-Era album in the heavy Sabbath style.
In 1978 the band released Never Say Die! and rumours that Osbourne was to leave the band were proved true in 1979 (Osbourne formed Blizzard of Ozz, swiftly renamed to Ozzy Osbourne Band). He was replaced by Ronnie James Dio but Osbourne's departure was clearly the end of an era for the band.
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