Tag: black sabbath

black sabbath - steel city blues
CD

Black Sabbath: Steel City Blues (1978)

First off: Rest in Peace, Ozzy Osbourne. You can argue until you’re blue in the face the face, but in the end there is no argument: the man was the personification of heavy metal. No one sounded like him, and no one lived the metal life quite like he did. Even as a doddering family man on reality TV, he still managed to embody spirit and fire that ignited an entire movement more than 50 years ago on February 13th, 1970 when the first Black Sabbath album enveloped the world in its darkened wings. After a night spinning all my favorite records from the man, it was inevitable I would get an entry in today, but I wanted to write about something different, so let’s look at the end of an era. Steel City Blues was recorded live in Pittsburgh in 1978, just as they were recording Never Say Die! A year later he’d be fired, but listening to this live broadcast all I hear is a band still capable of fire and passion.

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Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 5: Big Bands, Deep Cuts

It started with watching Pete Pardo talk about Van Halen on his inaugural entry for Sea of Tranquility’s Favorite Albums to Listen to in Summertime. I’m already planning a “Summer Playlist” in two weeks when I leave for a lengthy (for me) vacation, but Van Halen lingered, and it was a simple matter to put together some kind of “deep cuts” playlist filled with what are – to me – some of the biggest bands I happen to love. So that’s where we’re going this week. Warning: some of these might not be traditionally “deep cuts” – they’re not all buried in the sequencing. Some are favorites from reviled or unpopular albums, at least one was a big hit for another band. And of course one is a Zappa cut. Enjoy the weekend and let’s dig in.

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black sabbath - anno domini cover
CD

Black Sabbath: Anno Domini Box Set (2024)

I was familiar with the Tony Martin era of Black Sabbath, but “familiar” definitely isn’t the same as “knowledgeable” – at that point in my life my musical tastes had run to different, newer sounds: jazz, indie rock, and my discovery of 80s hardcore and punk. It didn’t help that by the time I went back to metal and Sabbath the Martin albums were nowhere to be found (to say nothing at the time of the sole offerings with Ian Gillan and Glenn Hughes on vocals), so onward and upwards to other things. With the release of the Anno Domini: 1989-1995 box set not only did I now have a legit option for checking out these albums more closely, but with the added benefit of remastered audio and – in the case of one – a total remix. With that in mind it was finally time to dive headfirst into the hitherto “lost” era of Black Sabbath, so let’s dig into Headless Cross, Tyr, Cross Purposes, and Forbidden.

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black sabbath - mob rules
Vinyl

Black Sabbath: Mob Rules (1981)

Despite being a massive Black Sabbath AND Dio fan, I’m here to sheepishly admit I rarely if ever listen to the albums the two made together. I usually stick to the first six album for both parties, but when I saw a great condition original pressing of Mob Rules at my shop I couldn’t pass it up and take a chance to dig deeper and see what works, what doesn’t, and how it compares to the discography I tend to stick to. Plus that album art…damn if this isn’t maybe one of the best covers in all of heavy metal.

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