Updated 26th August 1998 This is a showcase for classic items. It is intended that the
Vault should become a quality on-line archive. If you'd like to
see something here then contact us. Volume 4 - Black Sabbath - 26th August 1998. Classic, genre-defining heavy
rock from the early 1970's. Rhythm Killers - Sly and Robbie - 20th May 1998. Seminal reggae / dance / rock
beats from 1987.
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Black Sabbath - Vol 4 Released 1972 Track Listing
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Black Sabbath. Heavy metal thugs, wild men, purveyors of Satanist noise...? These are common misconceptions regarding musicians who comprised one of the most influential guitar-oriented bands of the last three decades. In fact they played a style of rock music which has now become the fractured sub-genres of heavy metal, thrash-metal, death-metal et al. 'Volume 4' is often overlooked in favour of more obvious early Sabbath albums such as 'Paranoid' or 'Sabotage'. True, this album does showcase the riff / rhythm oriented sound which has been copied ever since. However it also showcases a band who were at their peak, experimenting with intelligent lyrical content on tracks like 'Under The Sun' and 'Wheels of Confusion'. It also features experiments with sound ('FX'), song structure ('Under The Sun') and song style and pace. The latter is most evident on the accoustic 'St. Vitus' Dance', the well known 'Snowblind' and on 'Changes', a plaintive ballad sung by Ozzy Osbourne that grates at first listening but which really works if listened to objectively. For the musos, Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) provide a pounding rhythm to underpin the more uptempo tracks, whilst Tony Iommi unleashes his trademark guitar riffs to awesome effect, especially on 'Supernaut', a little known masterpiece (although covered by Pigface and Trent Reznor early in their careers). The playing is as tight as any that has ever been laid down on a rock album, the whole being much greater than the sum of its parts. Seminal tracks such as 'Supernaut' and 'Under The Sun' represent timeless heavy rock and would not sound out of place on a modern release by Slayer or Prong; the structure and feel of these tracks literally define thrash metal, but with a restless experimentation that few modern bands could achieve. A good friend had never hear this album before but was familiar with 'Snowblind'. I played him my original vinyl copy of the album. A rock fan of longstanding, he immediately went out and bought a copy on CD. If you like heavy rock, follow his example and you will not be disappointed. Mad Pierre, 26th August 1998 |
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