Black Sabbath (album)

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Black Sabbath

Studio album by Black Sabbath
Released	February 13 1970 (UK) June 1 1970 (U.S.)
Genre	Heavy metal
Label	Vertigo (UK) Warner Brothers (U.S.)
Producer(s)	Rodger Bain
All Music Guide Image:4.5 stars.svg link Sputnikmusic Image:4 stars.svg link
Black Sabbath chronology
	Black Sabbath (1970)	Paranoid (1970)

Black Sabbath is the self-titled debut album of the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath released in the UK on Friday 13 February 1970. The record sleeve featured an inverted cross on the inside cover with an apocalyptic poem written inside. This was done without the band's input or permission, and likely helped foster their image as "agents of the Devil" in the eyes of the media (in addition to the "The Devil's Third" played on the guitar in the title track.)

In 2003, the album was ranked number 241 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

[edit] Track listing

"Black Sabbath" (Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne) – 6:21
"The Wizard" (Iommi, Ward, Butler, Osbourne) – 4:23
"Wasp/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Bassically/N.I.B." (Butler, Iommi, Osbourne, Ward) – 9:44
"Evil Woman" (Dave Wagner, Dick Weigand, Larry Weigand, Kink Middlemist, Harry Nehls) – 4:42
"A Bit of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning" (Aynsley Dunbar, Moreshed, Dmochowski, Hickling) – 14:27

[edit] Miscellanea

The original American and Canadian releases of the album had "Wicked World" in place of "Evil Woman" due to conflicts over publishing rights, while the 1996 remaster of the album featured both. The NEMS version was the same as the European version, but placed "The Wizard" as the last track of the album. Both "Evil Woman" and "Wicked World" are found in the Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978) box set version of the CD.

The intro to "Behind the Wall of Sleep" is called "Wasp", the intro to "N.I.B." is called "Bassically" and the ending (incorrectly labeled as the intro) of "Sleeping Village" is called "A Bit of Finger".

"Behind the Wall of Sleep" is a reference to the H.P. Lovecraft story Beyond the Wall of Sleep.

"N.I.B." does not stand for "Nativity in Black". Drummer Bill Ward had a beard that singer Ozzy Osbourne said looked like the nib of a fountain pen. The band named the song after the nib and added initials so the name would be more mysterious.

The short intro "A Bit Of Finger" to the song "Sleeping Village" was originally called ЛЄНИН (Lenin) and was about the world's first socialist state (The Soviet Union). It was also considably longer (fleshing out to a supposed 3 minutes). The original lyrics that speak of Lenin's revolution were removed from the final draft (at the Warner executives request), leaving the three remaining verses.

[edit] Credits

Ozzy Osbourne – vocals, harmonica
Tony Iommi – guitar
Geezer Butler – bass guitar
Bill Ward – drums, vocals
Tom Allom – engineer
Barry Sheffield – engineer

Discography
Black Sabbath
Ozzy Osbourne \| Tony Iommi \| Geezer Butler \| Bill Ward
Dave Walker \| Ronnie James Dio \| Vinny Appice \| Ian Gillan \| Bev Bevan \| David Donato \| Glenn Hughes \| Dave Spitz \| Eric Singer \| Ray Gillen \| Tony Martin \| Bob Daisley \| Jo Burt \| Terry Chimes \| Laurence Cottle \| Cozy Powell \| Neil Murray \| Bobby Rondinelli \| Mike Bordin \| Geoff Nicholls
Studio albums: Black Sabbath \| Paranoid \| Master of Reality \| Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 \| Sabbath Bloody Sabbath \| Sabotage \| Technical Ecstasy \| Never Say Die! \| Heaven and Hell \| Mob Rules \| Born Again \| Seventh Star \| The Eternal Idol \| Headless Cross \| Tyr \| Dehumanizer \| Cross Purposes \| Forbidden
Live albums: Live Evil \| Cross Purposes Live \| Reunion \| Past Lives
Compilations: We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll \| Under Wheels of Confusion \| The Sabbath Stones \| Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978 \| Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978) \| Greatest Hits 1970-1978