Review Summary: Metal goes prog.
Vol. 4 saw Black Sabbath gradually moving away from their classic sound and into more experimental territory. Just over a year later they released Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, their fifth LP, and one which was an even bigger departure from the previous albums.
Sabbath had very much been in transition on Vol. 4, but what that album merely hinted at was explored much further here. While Vol. 4 still largely kept their trademark proto-doom sound intact, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath saw the band incorporate strings, synthesizers, and there is even a guest appearance from Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman (who were recording their album Tales from Topographic Oceans in the studio next door) on the track Sabbra Cadabra.
The writing process for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was even more difficult than Vol. 4. For the first time in his career Tony Iommi ran out of riffs, and this meant that Black Sabbath were stuck. Tony wrote almost all of the band's music, and as he put it, "Ideas weren't coming out the way they were on Volume 4 and we really got discontent. Everybody was sitting there waiting for me to come up with something. I just couldn't think of anything. And if I didn't come up with anything, nobody would do anything". Because of this, the band decided to rent Clearwell Castle in the hopes that its spooky atmosphere would inspire Iommi. Eventually, out of nowhere Tony wrote the main riff of what would become the album's title track and this seemed to spark something in him as the remaining songs all fell into place.
Speaking of the title track, it opens the album with a bang, and is easily one of Sabbath's best opening tracks. The main riff is often hailed as "the riff that saved Black Sabbath" because of the writer's block that Iommi was suffering from at the time. The song showcases the progressive nature that is present throughout much of the album, transitioning between heavy verses and a mellow acoustic chorus.
Although Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is still a metal album, it is the progressive elements that really shine through. Fluff is a beautiful acoustic tune, not too dissimilar to Laguna Sunrise, and my pick for Sabbath's best instrumental. Sabbra Cadabra is probably the most unique song in Sabbath's entire catalogue. It is a love song which starts off with an awesome, catchy riff and Ozzy gives a great vocal performance. Rick Wakeman of Yes appears towards the middle of the song and the outro is an awesome jam session featuring Wakeman and the rest of the band. The most experimental song on the album, Who Are You, is driven entirely by a moog synthesizer that Ozzy apparently had no clue how to use. On Looking for Today we hear Iommi's flute over a nice laid-back pre-chorus. Finally the closing track, Spiral Architect begins with some great acoustic playing and utilizes many different instruments to create a strong atmosphere. Vol. 4, while a great album was still very much a transition and the experimentation did not work quite as well as Sabbath wanted. On Sabbath Bloody Sabbath however, these ideas were fully developed and fleshed out.
Fear not for the lack of heaviness though. If not for the title track, then Killing Yourself to Live is the hardest rocker on the album and has possibly the best outro as well. Then theres A National Acrobat, which has a very groovy main riff and gets heavier towards the end of the song, with Iommi performing some great soloing. This record maybe quite different to previous Sabbath offerings, but it shows that the band can still rock out when they want to, and Iommi's guitar playing is still as strong as ever.
In conclusion, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath proved that the band were not content on recycling the same ideas, thus becoming stagnant, and that the slight stumbles on Vol. 4 did not carry over to this album. Where that album lacked in consistency and flow, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is consistent all the way through and flows flawlessly, making it one of Sabbath's best albums, beaten only by the first three. It even received positive reviews whereas the band's previous releases were slated by critics. It is a perfect example of experimentation gone right, and is perhaps the first ever progressive metal album, showing that the heavy metal pioneers were continuing to innovate.
