Vol 4

Description

2015 Sanctuary Records UK repress180g Vinyl LP?Vol. 4 is the point in Black Sabbath's career where the band's legendary drug consumption really starts to make itself felt. And it isn't just in the lyrics, most of which are about the blurry line between reality and illusion. Vol. 4 has all the messiness of a heavy metal Exile on Main St., and if it lacks that album's overall diversity, it does find Sabbath at their most musically varied, pushing to experiment amidst the drug-addled murk. As a result, there are some puzzling choices made here (not least of which is the inclusion of "FX"), and the album often contradicts itself. Ozzy Osbourne's wail is becoming more powerful here, taking greater independence from Tony Iommi's guitar riffs, yet his vocals are processed into a nearly textural element on much of side two. Parts of Vol. 4 are as ultra-heavy as Master of Reality, yet the band also takes it's most blatant shots at accessibility to date - and then undercuts that very intent. The effectively concise "Tomorrow's Dream" has a chorus that could almost be called radio-ready, were it not for the fact that it only appears once in the entire song. "St. Vitus Dance" is surprisingly upbeat, yet the distant-sounding vocals don't really register. The notorious piano-and-Mellotron ballad "Changes" ultimately fails not because of it's change-of-pace mood, but more for a raft of the most horrendously clich?d rhymes this side of "moon-June."Even the crushing "Supernaut" - perhaps the heaviest single track in the Sabbath catalog - sticks a funky, almost danceable acoustic breakdown smack in the middle. Besides "Supernaut," the core of Vol. 4 lies in the midtempo cocaine ode "Snowblind," which was originally slated to be the album's title track until the record company got cold feet, and the multi-sectioned prog-leaning opener, "Wheels of Confusion." The latter is one of Iommi's most complex and impressive compositions, varying not only riffs but textures throughout it's eight minutes. Many doom and stoner metal aficionados prize the second side of the album, where Osbourne's vocals gradually fade further and further away into the murk, and Iommi's guitar assumes center stage. The underrated "Cornucopia" strikes a better balance of those elements, but by the time "Under the Sun" closes the album, the lyrics are mostly lost under a mountain of memorable, contrasting riffery. Add all of this up, and Vol. 4 is a less cohesive effort than it's two immediate predecessors, but is all the more fascinating for it. Die-hard fans sick of the standards come here next, and some end up counting this as their favorite Sabbath record for it's eccentricities and for it's embodiment of the band's excesses. - Steve Huey LP Track Listing:1 Wheels of Confusion 2 Tomorrow's Dream 3 Changes 4 FX 5 Supernaut 6 Snowblind 7 Cornucopia 8 Laguna Sunrise 9 St. Vitus Dance 10 Under the Sun Review: A really good - no - A perfect pressing. It sounds tremendous and an improvement. All of the Sabbath re-issues are in my opinion. Bought the original uopn its release and could not believe it. I really thought Sabbath were to disappear after 'Master of reality'. Nothing wrong with it but they had to change. Even my Mother liked it! There are plenty of class moments and probably the best riff ever recorded. 'Supernaut'. A track nobody mentions and it is brilliant! They really knew what they were doing when recording this. Absolute perfection and things were about to get even better - 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' Review: Not much to really say about this record, if anyone know the band well they know what the band was doing when creating this record, and the pressing for the remasters on this just add to that sense of absolutely mind confusion that is this album, each time I listen to it is like listening to it for the first time. It's very much experimental as it is a straightforward sabbath record and it shows. A must buy for any die-hard sabbath fan.