Man, isn't Black Sabbath awesome?!!! My all time favorite band. They treated each song they wrote and recorded as an individual piece of art and each member of the band was on the same page musically. They really had something special.😎
There is nothing like OG Black Sabbath. As much as I love RJD, there just isn't another combination of four humans that can just instantly meld into that eerie doom rock blues jazz jambalaya. Geezer and Bill should be required by law to play together.
A little Xmas story from my past. It was 1971 and "Master of Reality" was out in time for my birthday so my brother got it for me. We had the standard console hi fi stereo system of the day in the living room and I played it repeatedly for a couple of weeks. Several days later I went to put it on again and the record was missing from the album sleeve. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. Now for some family history. My dad was a Southern Baptist minister, mother was choir director/church pianist/school teacher. That following Christmas they had their annual open house planned the Sunday afternoon before Christmas where they invited the entire church to drop by the house that afternoon. Now, the turntable was one of those with the spindle that would hold about 20 albums and my parents would fill it with all their Christmas albums for music during the drop in. My brother and myself would disappear to another room where all the kids would come and hang out. Many elderly couples would drop in and stay for a while filling the living room area for the afternoon. A couple of hours passed and we could hear Anita Bryant finish a rendition of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and then a pause while the next album dropped. Well, Iommi's famous cough filled the room and I could hear it from the other room. Tony was already dropping the riff by the time I could run to the stereo and flip the switch for the next album to drop. As I looked around the room at the faces of all these elderly couples all I could see was Dana Carvey's little old church ladies scowl of disgust. All I could do is say " I've been looking for that everywhere." Exit the room. It was like getting "Master of Reality" for birthday and Christmas.
Wonderful story. It reminds me of the day my mother's pastor dropped by to visit her after a surgery. Not knowing who it was, I answered the door with the Born Again album in my hand. He certainly gave it some looks. 😆
As an early teen, I asked my mom to stop at 12th Street News in Wheeling, WV, to pick up this album on her way to Washington, Pa, with my dad. She said, "Son, there's only one Master of Reality, and that's God." Ironically, after examining the lyrics on this much-discussed Sabbath release, I'm not sure that the band would disagree with her. That said, she was true to her work and picked up the album against all her better instincts at the time.
Volume 4 is such a great album. Lots of groove on it. Especially "Snowblind" Its just such a vibe, and the changes are so unexpected with the triples from the best drummer ever.
i like when it gets to this point. You kind of expect all of the things that surprised you initially. Sabbath is hard because it normalizes this insanely proficient rubberbanding of time. It's one of the most difficult things about Sabbath because it becomes dissapointing when you do not hear it in other bands and you're like... "This song is missing something". Sabbath ARE the Spiral Architects! AND IT IS GOOD!
That ending is beyond genius 🎸. Tony Iommi not just created Metal, he inspired "every metal band in the planet including us"-Metallica, Hetfield. Van Halen, to Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, And everything in between. 🎸
And BTW... Us old guys have complained about the sound quality of this album since the day it came out... But we still listen to it to this day because it's still great.. lol
@@AndrewRooneyDrums the 2021 remaster is pretty good! Of course the bad sound quality adds to that "made by a bunch of dudes doing their thing" feeling, so you could argue either way
I am a vocalist and to me Ozzys way of singing is really underrated. Without a real professionalism, he manages to get the best out of his unique voice through passion and a feeling for sound and melody. That's what makes his singing so unique. It's always officially said that most of the lyrics were written by Buttler or Ward, but its Ozzy's idea what is behind it. He just needs help putting those ideas into well-structured lyrics. Even when it officially says Ozzy doesn't know what the song is about because someone else wrote it, there's a small and subtle conspiracy behind it to protect Ozzy and his public image of a crazy confused guy. A lot of the lyrics, including those from his solo career, would be far too serious for some "typical" fans and would question the image they always had of Ozzy. If he sings wrong live and forgets the lyrics, this is probably due to his stage fright. Yes, he thrives on stage, but yes, he also said in several interviews that he still has stage fright to this day. In addition, he was often under drugs on stage or was exhausted from the tours. He is a very sensitive person who is also quickly overwhelmed by stimuli. Ozzy is underrated in every way! And it's likely that the majority of his fans, even after his death, will never know who the real Ozzy was and what his songs really meant. Anyone who has really analyzed every single song he has ever sung will find out that there's a common thread, whether it's songs with Black Sabbath, solo, or with other collaborations.
By 1972, Ozzy parts became really hard to pull off. To Never Say Die for example, No mention to Sabotage , its hard to sing, its really high stuff in full voice.
For Example...The Straightener (the wordless song right after Wheels of Confusion), is the Answer to the lyrics OF Wheels of Confusion. But you have to KNOW who The Straightener IS, to be healed. ^_-
If you listen to old Sabbath demos where Ozzy is ad-libbing lyrics, you'll notice some of the lyrics stick and are worked into the final album version of the lyrics. I 100% agree with you.
Only recently found out that Crazy Train is about the Cold War. I never analyzed the lyrics much - too busy listening in awe to Randy's amazing playing and one of the greatest solos of all time. I just assumed it was about Ozzy's image of being the Crazy Guy and just going with it - " 'Crazy', but that's how it goes". There's always a deeper level with these guys, while others were singing about sex and women, they were singing about addiction or warmongering politicians or 9 to 5 drudgery.
This LP was a life changer for me and 45 years on just sounds better and better with age. Nice one Andrew its great Bill getting recognised for the top drummer he is.
When I first heard Sabbath, I was 13.It was the first time I got goosebumps from listening to music, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I said to myself this is different. Cool to see you getting into them..✌️🎶
Awesome. This album is full of mutated metal monsters...the biggest jump from the last record to this one was in terms of the solos, and Tony's on fire here (with a rolled up note)...
Initially a slow burner for me. Took to some time to get into it, but well worth it. WOC is THE track from Vol 4 for me (and has been for over 40 years). Pure genius.....
Thanks for reviewing this video! This is one of my favorite Sabbath tracks! The guitar playing and production are truly epic! For me, Bill’s drumming is like the glue that holds this song together. IMO, Bill’s playing is brilliant how he uses jazzy yet very heavy percussion to compliment Tony’s guitar playing!
This album is quite something. Both opener and closer, Wheels of Confusion, and Under the Sun (which you already did) are master pieces. And I get what you mean regarding the production, it was the seventies and they mostly just played live and by feel, so I figure they didn't pay much to details sometimes. To be fare a lot of times they were under the influence of a few things 😅😂
You should go through the while Vol 4 LP so we can notice the evolution. And then continue with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage!,,, Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die. What a journey you'll have. Down to the rabbit hole. Merry Christmas everybody saw and Happy New Year 2023 full of Black Sabbath. By the way I discovered Black Sabbath around 1973 and the journey never stop. Cheers!
Great reaction as always! This was a real treat to see this come up, and was a great request! As I recall, this great song and album was deliberately recorded in this fashion, as Iommi was experimenting with what I've heard him recall was "going for a drug induced sound", which makes sense, since they were all doing loads of cocaine at the time. This would explain the sort "haziness" of the recording, which unfortunately (in my opinion) resulted in less punch with the drums and bass, and also explains the haze in the vocal recording as well. The songs and the sound are so unique, though, especially for the time, that this whole album is understandably a lot of people's favorite thing in the world. Every Sabbath album has a very distinctive, unique sound, as Iommi was constantly reinventing the sound. After this, the Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath album came out, in which Iommi completely changed the sound again, to what most people think was their best produced album, which had a very "warm" rich tone to everything.
This was the first Sabbath album that wasn't recorded in England by producers/engineers Tom Allom and Rodger Bain. Patrick Meehan became the manager/producer which forced Tony Iommi into producing the next album and getting help from Robin Black on Sabotage and later returned to produce the infamous Born Again album.
It was their first recording in LA so they were awash in Cocaine. This is Black Sabbath at their best. The recording is all over the place because Tony was like a kid in a candy store with the fancy equipment. He loves this album.
Merry Christmas Andrew. It’s amazing to me how coming late to Sabbath, you have the best analysis of the band I’ve heard. I’ve always felt grunge had more in common with them than the metal bands that followed. Early Sabbath have so much groove and swing. Other great early Sabbath classics: Sweat Leaf, Cornicopia, Hole in the Sky, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Spiral Architect, The Writ. Laguna Sunrise..All absolute classics. A very interesting later one which was sung with Ian Gillan and hugely influenced Guns & Roses is Zero the Hero, one of Iommi’s darkest & nastiest riffs. Enjoy the festive break.
Andrew, I love watching your reactions to Black Sabbath, I grew up listening to all these tracks, I’m 63 now! Try listening to “The Writ”, it’s just one of many totally awesome tracks!
I remember my first thought upon hearing V4 was that Ozzy must have taken voice lessons. Geezer said that V4 was a such a transition that he felt that they seemed to skip an album. It really did initiate a new era for the band.
I read that Bill considered that' his drumming as a professional' really came of age on this album, Vol. 4. Luckily for us, the recording of the drums on Snowblind, first song on side 2, (and the original title for the album), showcases Bill's snare ghost notes, high hat work and snare.....while Supernaut (previously reviewed), gave us Bill's steady hi hat paradiddle opening and that wonderful middle 8..all swing and bouncy, with those deft steel drum overdubs...(which possibly inspired John Bonham to include his very own overdubs in Montreaux, as presented post-humously, on Coda, LZ's closing album, as 'Bonzo's Montreaux'.). So glad you picked up on some of Bill wards 'lost notes' via engineering of the time. Love the music...just does your head in as a drummer, that we don't always have ready access to both of Bill's feet!!....in sections of Wheels of Confusion, Children of the Grave and later on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath!! - all legendary songs and great to play drums on/to as covers/warm-up's/jams. Cheers for posting, and, in agreement with other comments above, the 2021 remaster by Steven Wilson did bring Bill out a bit clearer!!!..BTW. you might just weep when you hear Bill on Snowblind! Happy Christmas, Andy! 🥁💥👍
I wish I could've seen them live soo bad! The end to this song is just amazing. They all just play so damn well together. That final solo is just ahhh! Vol. 4 might just be there best album but it's so hard to pick a favorite or best
In my opinion, this is the greatest Black Sabbath song, assuming we consider Wheels of Confusion and the Straightener as one song. It’s an absolute masterpiece, beginning to end. NIB may be my favorite song to rock out to, but Wheels of Confusion is just on another level.
@@jayedwards4787 I’m curious to know what your top 20 is. I’m not going to criticize your opinion because it’s obviously an opinion, but maybe there’s some hidden gems I missed in your top 20.
Hey, Andrew! Love your reactions to Sabbath. I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this before, but Bill Ward, in a recent interview, said that Gene Krupa was his greatest influence.
Yes, this is the best song of all time. And the band is the best band of all time. I am so happy to see you have become a fan 🤘😊 And you have to make an interview with Bill Ward!
Hi Andy, Enjoy your channel and content. Black Sabbath (original) have been my favorite band for 45 years. To me they are The Beatles of hard rock/heavy metal. The four had a musical (chemistry) connection and when you take one element away, while still good/great, changes the band dynamic too much. Anyway, here's my take on the lyrics. The song is about life. First verse is from the age of awareness to around 7-8 years old when everything is magical and and "illusion". Second verse is from the ages of 7-8 to 13-14 (pre-teen)...One starts to realize and see the holes in the "illusion". Third verse is teenage years and you're confused trying to make sense of the world and the "illusion." Last verse is adulthood you realize everything is an "illusion" and whatever you do doesn't mean much, very nihilistic. The outro part is called "The Straightener". I've read in England that term is used to refer to death, so the outro is one dying. Geezer is such an under rated lyricist. IMO, he's up there with Lennon or any others. The concepts he's come up with over the years and the way he writes is mind blowing. Thanks for another Sabbath analysis. I'm not a drummer in any way shape or form, so you've helped me get some understanding of Mr. Ward's brilliant work.
Awesome track!! What a great reaction to start my new year! That instrumental 'freak-out' that acts as the 'coda' to the song is detailed as 'The Straightener' on some North American pressings, but not titled on original or European releases. Titled or not - it's an absolute banger of a song closer! I loved this song on first listen - and the closer, Under the Sun, is equally up to the task! Vol. 4 is a masterpiece.
Vol. 4 was the first album produced by the band itself, which might explain the problems with the mix. Also, the guys were doing a lot of cocaine, and they all admit that it was having an effect on their work in the studio.
It was their time of exploration and music and boy did they! Why listen to one song when you can listen to four songs in one. It’s like a little adrenaline hit every time that beat switches up and that riff switches and the drumbeat completely changes. Imagine how much music and how many bands wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Black Sabbath. They were pivotal anyway you look at it and they were awesome on top of it! Grew up on it. Put an Iron Man on my dad‘s record Player when I was a kid is how it started.
My all time favourite Sabbath song too ……. Just been waiting for someone to explain the drumming on this song as I feel it’s some of Bill Wards best. 🤘
Sabbath has been my favorite band since I was 15. I'm 59 now. I have every sabbath CD or MP3 out there including bootlegs. I love to see people getting turned on to them at your age. Makes me proud at this day and age. Especially since most of this stuff came out when I was a little kid until we got to never say die. I love it!
But we listened to hard rock as little kids. I hated radio hits. My Mom was a music teacher so we had stereos. I’m 59 also. Age 10 I’m listening to Sabbath, loved it. Thought Frampton Comes Alive was Crap! I liked it dark.lol
@scottsharp3356 I also listened to hard rock at that age. There was a neighbor kid that was 15. Took me to Ted Nugent when I was in 5th grade. I had heard Sabbath, but only a few songs. Iron man, and War Pigs. I heard a lot of Zepplin, Deep Purple, and Nugent, plus many more. It wasn't until I was 13 or 14 I heard Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and was hooked. I got goose bumps. When I heard Rainbow and Sabatoge, it was a metal journey from there. Priest, UFO etc.
Love how Bill uses the cymbals so much on this album. One of my favorites. They did change their sound (again) with the drums and bass less defined, which is unfortunate, but part of the vibe.
The production for Vol. 4 was led by Iommi. He had a difficult time, and the engineering was nearly defaulted to him. He wasn't happy with how it sounded. The next two records are much better produced.
I love to listen to you analyzing the drums and giving hints.I knew nothing about the complexity and the diversity of drum playing untill i watched you man.Great job ! Plis we can all tell you truly love Black Sabbath !
Thank you for the demo. Check out this song for another example of that swing beat you described Iron Maiden Running Free from their self titled 1st album in 1980.
9:37 One of my favourite Sabbath moments. The timing Tony brings to that riff. Note Andrew - Those drumeo videos appear to have mediocre audio from your video's?
I had a friend in high-school that did a silk screen of the Vol 4 cover. He told people who wanted a copy to bring a t-shiŕt. Mostly friends. It turned out perfect. I never know what happened to that shirt but the was about 45 years ago so who knows. Love that cover
Met Bill in the 70s and the rest of sabbath ... I still have the safety pin that they scratched their names on on my wooden cross I made lol I also have the dried up carnation that Bill threw from his drumkit all those decades ago hehe .. one advantage of being a brit back then you could usually meet the bands either before the gig or back stage!
Andrew . Thank you for the video. I love this song. And I agree with you what you were saying . About how the drums are we recorded. I wish the drums were more in the forefront. And how they were recorded. They seem to be a little lost in the recording.
All the best rock drummers, my favorites anyway, always had a jazz background. Both bill and geezer were like a heavy jazz rhythm section. Bills drum parts were always inventive like a drum "riff" to compliment the guitar riff. And he always had that swing about his playing. Vary seldom can you find bill just "keeping time" hes always doing something, that if you listen and pick up on it, is totally awesome!
he's a educated jazz drummer evan before sabbit I feel this is the best album they ever had you imagine me at 18 withe 2 bose 901 and 2 4 ft high jbl tower speakers a 200 watt Macintosh recievers and a lab 400 realistic turn table Jamin to this I loved the 70s aloha
Lyrically, Wheels Of Confusion/The Straightener is Black Sabbath's best song, perhaps only rivaled by the great War Pigs. The lyrics describe the purpose of life itself, from birth 'til death.
Going to see Sabbath in the 70's was like an exodus and when Ozzy came on stage after the intro of 'Supertzar' it was like experiencing your rebirth lol ... Ozzy had the audience in the palm of his hands and he could do no wrong ... he was The Messiah ... Sabbath to me at that time weren't just my favourite band they were my religion lol ... they were always all day events ... the journey to get to the gig ... the meeting up with all the Sabbath fans at the nearest pub ... swapping stories and having a few (lol) beers ... they were the best times of my life and I wouldn't change a thing
Black Sabbath came to me after Metallica. I got to admit, most of my favorite bands are colors. Deep purple blue oyster cult Pink Floyd Black Sabbath Led Zeppelin(is lead a color?) Metallica(more of a sheen) those last 2 were reaches. But Black Sabbath’s first 5 albums just blew me away. And wheels of confusion/the straightener is a favorite track.
Love your Sabbath analysis! Another great band you should check out are Queens of the Stone Age! Led by Josh Homme...they fucking GROOVE. I suggest "Suture up Your Future" "Go With The Flow" "No One Knows" A LOT of great material from them.
I remember a review of this album starting with “no one opens albums with nine minute songs anymore” A new mix of the album would be great, but for some reason most bands (except the Beatles) never go past a remaster
With regards to the feather soft kick drum, notice the part at 2:37 in your video, he’s counting off with the kick whereas convention may leave it to the hi hat… to compensate for annihilating the bass drums on the previous albums? I do recall Bill being unhappy with his bass drum sound on the 2nd album.
I am a Sabbath fanatic since 1971. When my dad bought me, at my insistence Master of Reality, because I had heard Paranoid on the radio the year before. He also bought me Paranoid single. They were, and still are the greatest Heavy rock, blues, Jazz swing, Metal band of all time. Countless bands owe them their living, because without Sabbath there would be nothing. I find it incredibly incredible that so many current new bands, do not reference them. They reference Iron Maiden, Metallica. Hey y'all Iron Maiden came along in 1980. Metallica in I believe 81.with a demo. Both of these bands good as they are, copied the Sabbath blueprint. FACT. Neither one of them, matched the sheer power, versatility, swing of Sabbath. There's nothing they did that was superior. How could it be? Expecting to surpass greatest of all time, is impossible. I naturally have a great many rock albums, 3,074 all genres. I have most of Maiden and Metallica. There's no swing to their music, and certainly nothing heavier than Sabbath. Example. Sabotage
Man, isn't Black Sabbath awesome?!!! My all time favorite band. They treated each song they wrote and recorded as an individual piece of art and each member of the band was on the same page musically. They really had something special.😎
Yup special alright!
50 years ago, Christmas 1972, this was one of my gifts. Sabbath was entering deep into their heyday! What a time to be 12 years old!
me too 12 years old in 72 and a sabbath fan from day one.
It was close to this time Cheech and Chong coined that phrase "I listened to Black Sabbath at 78(rpm) and saw God" from one of their album skits.
Exact timing for me also. Was a great Christmas present.
I was 12 then too.
Same, 12 also. Been a life long fan of everything Black Sabbath.
Love seeing people really understanding Bill's true influence on almost all metal drummers.
Bill and Geezer just feed off each other .....just the best 👍👍👍
There is nothing like OG Black Sabbath. As much as I love RJD, there just isn't another combination of four humans that can just instantly meld into that eerie doom rock blues jazz jambalaya.
Geezer and Bill should be required by law to play together.
Well they wouldn't be playing much since Bill Ward's office not very good
Out of all the great Sabbath songs, this is probably the Best of the best.
A little Xmas story from my past. It was 1971 and "Master of Reality" was out in time for my birthday so my brother got it for me. We had the standard console hi fi stereo system of the day in the living room and I played it repeatedly for a couple of weeks. Several days later I went to put it on again and the record was missing from the album sleeve. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. Now for some family history. My dad was a Southern Baptist minister, mother was choir director/church pianist/school teacher. That following Christmas they had their annual open house planned the Sunday afternoon before Christmas where they invited the entire church to drop by the house that afternoon. Now, the turntable was one of those with the spindle that would hold about 20 albums and my parents would fill it with all their Christmas albums for music during the drop in. My brother and myself would disappear to another room where all the kids would come and hang out. Many elderly couples would drop in and stay for a while filling the living room area for the afternoon. A couple of hours passed and we could hear Anita Bryant finish a rendition of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and then a pause while the next album dropped. Well, Iommi's famous cough filled the room and I could hear it from the other room. Tony was already dropping the riff by the time I could run to the stereo and flip the switch for the next album to drop. As I looked around the room at the faces of all these elderly couples all I could see was Dana Carvey's little old church ladies scowl of disgust. All I could do is say " I've been looking for that everywhere." Exit the room. It was like getting "Master of Reality" for birthday and Christmas.
Wonderful story. It reminds me of the day my mother's pastor dropped by to visit her after a surgery. Not knowing who it was, I answered the door with the Born Again album in my hand. He certainly gave it some looks. 😆
LMAO!!!... Awesome story!!❤️
Awesome story!!! Thanks for sharing that! Priceless
As an early teen, I asked my mom to stop at 12th Street News in Wheeling, WV, to pick up this album on her way to Washington, Pa, with my dad. She said, "Son, there's only one Master of Reality, and that's God." Ironically, after examining the lyrics on this much-discussed Sabbath release, I'm not sure that the band would disagree with her. That said, she was true to her work and picked up the album against all her better instincts at the time.
Volume 4 is such a great album. Lots of groove on it. Especially "Snowblind" Its just such a vibe, and the changes are so unexpected with the triples from the best drummer ever.
Lovin it Dan 👌
Imo objectively best ozzy era album other than maybe sabbath bloody sabbath.
Snowblind is probably my favourite Sabbath track, it's so epic. From a band where it's impossible to choose a favourite...
Didn't know that John Bonham plays for Black Sabbath
@@kamatsutra7031didn’t know Karma Sutra was still a thing
i like when it gets to this point. You kind of expect all of the things that surprised you initially. Sabbath is hard because it normalizes this insanely proficient rubberbanding of time. It's one of the most difficult things about Sabbath because it becomes dissapointing when you do not hear it in other bands and you're like... "This song is missing something". Sabbath ARE the Spiral Architects! AND IT IS GOOD!
Ya know that it should!!
That ending is beyond genius 🎸. Tony Iommi not just created Metal, he inspired "every metal band in the planet including us"-Metallica, Hetfield. Van Halen, to Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, And everything in between. 🎸
I rewind, rewind, and rewind again that last few minutes
Not your typical Sabbath song, this is a musical masterpiece. Shows the band kinda flexing their muscles as you speak.
what an intro into the fourth album
They were also high as kites to the point of splitting up
And BTW... Us old guys have complained about the sound quality of this album since the day it came out... But we still listen to it to this day because it's still great.. lol
Oh right! What a shame
@@AndrewRooneyDrums the 2021 remaster is pretty good! Of course the bad sound quality adds to that "made by a bunch of dudes doing their thing" feeling, so you could argue either way
I am a vocalist and to me Ozzys way of singing is really underrated. Without a real professionalism, he manages to get the best out of his unique voice through passion and a feeling for sound and melody. That's what makes his singing so unique.
It's always officially said that most of the lyrics were written by Buttler or Ward, but its Ozzy's idea what is behind it. He just needs help putting those ideas into well-structured lyrics. Even when it officially says Ozzy doesn't know what the song is about because someone else wrote it, there's a small and subtle conspiracy behind it to protect Ozzy and his public image of a crazy confused guy.
A lot of the lyrics, including those from his solo career, would be far too serious for some "typical" fans and would question the image they always had of Ozzy. If he sings wrong live and forgets the lyrics, this is probably due to his stage fright. Yes, he thrives on stage, but yes, he also said in several interviews that he still has stage fright to this day. In addition, he was often under drugs on stage or was exhausted from the tours. He is a very sensitive person who is also quickly overwhelmed by stimuli.
Ozzy is underrated in every way!
And it's likely that the majority of his fans, even after his death, will never know who the real Ozzy was and what his songs really meant. Anyone who has really analyzed every single song he has ever sung will find out that there's a common thread, whether it's songs with Black Sabbath, solo, or with other collaborations.
By 1972, Ozzy parts became really hard to pull off.
To Never Say Die for example, No mention to Sabotage , its hard to sing, its really high stuff in full voice.
The Man is TOTALLY aware of all that - and MORE! As for me, well.......^_- I AIN'T tellin'!!!!!
For Example...The Straightener (the wordless song right after Wheels of Confusion), is the Answer to the lyrics OF Wheels of Confusion. But you have to KNOW who The Straightener IS, to be healed. ^_-
If you listen to old Sabbath demos where Ozzy is ad-libbing lyrics, you'll notice some of the lyrics stick and are worked into the final album version of the lyrics. I 100% agree with you.
Only recently found out that Crazy Train is about the Cold War. I never analyzed the lyrics much - too busy listening in awe to Randy's amazing playing and one of the greatest solos of all time. I just assumed it was about Ozzy's image of being the Crazy Guy and just going with it - " 'Crazy', but that's how it goes". There's always a deeper level with these guys, while others were singing about sex and women, they were singing about addiction or warmongering politicians or 9 to 5 drudgery.
This LP was a life changer for me and 45 years on just sounds better and better with age. Nice one Andrew its great Bill getting recognised for the top drummer he is.
Those first few measures with Tony playing the blues tears my heart out. I wish there was more of it. I call it Tony's Lost Solo.
Greatest outro of all times of all music s genres.Genius
Definitely one of their best songs. Love this song and it will never get old.
Looking forwards to both Supernaut, with the funkiest of funk rock breaks, and Cornucopia with a riff that Beelzebub said was too scary...
Bill Ward is one of my favorite drummer's. I seen there reunion tour in 99 Bill kicked ass it was like the 70s.
A great present to open on Christmas morning in the US!
GREAT!
Vol 4: best Sabbath album. An absolute masterpiece. React to Snowblind. All the songs on this record are badass, but this one is the most special.
When I first heard Sabbath, I was 13.It was the first time I got goosebumps from listening to music, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I said to myself this is different. Cool to see you getting into them..✌️🎶
Awesome. This album is full of mutated metal monsters...the biggest jump from the last record to this one was in terms of the solos, and Tony's on fire here (with a rolled up note)...
Initially a slow burner for me. Took to some time to get into it, but well worth it. WOC is THE track from Vol 4 for me (and has been for over 40 years). Pure genius.....
Such a deep song about life, and next it’s gone. Ozzy’s vocals really shine. Merry Christmas!
Thanks for reviewing this video! This is one of my favorite Sabbath tracks! The guitar playing and production are truly epic! For me, Bill’s drumming is like the glue that holds this song together. IMO, Bill’s playing is brilliant how he uses jazzy yet very heavy percussion to compliment Tony’s guitar playing!
This album is quite something. Both opener and closer, Wheels of Confusion, and Under the Sun (which you already did) are master pieces.
And I get what you mean regarding the production, it was the seventies and they mostly just played live and by feel, so I figure they didn't pay much to details sometimes. To be fare a lot of times they were under the influence of a few things 😅😂
you can really hear the change in complexity of their music. Bill is a drum god
Extraordinary track, from the time when Sabbath were the greatest band on Earth
Yup totally brilliant
Wheels of Confusion/ Straightener great pick for Christmas 🎄🎄🎄 . Another Sabbath classic Have a great day my friend
The opening track on my favorite album of all times. Black Sabbath - Vol 4. Wheels Of Confusion/The Straightener.
This was their best album and where heavy metal as we know it began. The production is besides the point of what they created.
Yeah, it's my favorite song ever, thank for you reaction!
You should go through the while Vol 4 LP so we can notice the evolution. And then continue with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage!,,, Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die. What a journey you'll have. Down to the rabbit hole. Merry Christmas everybody saw and Happy New Year 2023 full of Black Sabbath. By the way I discovered Black Sabbath around 1973 and the journey never stop. Cheers!
Great reaction as always! This was a real treat to see this come up, and was a great request! As I recall, this great song and album was deliberately recorded in this fashion, as Iommi was experimenting with what I've heard him recall was "going for a drug induced sound", which makes sense, since they were all doing loads of cocaine at the time. This would explain the sort "haziness" of the recording, which unfortunately (in my opinion) resulted in less punch with the drums and bass, and also explains the haze in the vocal recording as well. The songs and the sound are so unique, though, especially for the time, that this whole album is understandably a lot of people's favorite thing in the world. Every Sabbath album has a very distinctive, unique sound, as Iommi was constantly reinventing the sound. After this, the Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath album came out, in which Iommi completely changed the sound again, to what most people think was their best produced album, which had a very "warm" rich tone to everything.
This was the first Sabbath album that wasn't recorded in England by producers/engineers Tom Allom and Rodger Bain. Patrick Meehan became the manager/producer which forced Tony Iommi into producing the next album and getting help from Robin Black on Sabotage and later returned to produce the infamous Born Again album.
It was their first recording in LA so they were awash in Cocaine. This is Black Sabbath at their best. The recording is all over the place because Tony was like a kid in a candy store with the fancy equipment. He loves this album.
since I was 9 years old.....Sabbath & Zeppelin were my all time favorites.....have every song they ever made
Merry Christmas Andrew. It’s amazing to me how coming late to Sabbath, you have the best analysis of the band I’ve heard. I’ve always felt grunge had more in common with them than the metal bands that followed. Early Sabbath have so much groove and swing. Other great early Sabbath classics: Sweat Leaf, Cornicopia, Hole in the Sky, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Spiral Architect, The Writ. Laguna Sunrise..All absolute classics. A very interesting later one which was sung with Ian Gillan and hugely influenced Guns & Roses is Zero the Hero, one of Iommi’s darkest & nastiest riffs. Enjoy the festive break.
Andrew, I love watching your reactions to Black Sabbath, I grew up listening to all these tracks, I’m 63 now! Try listening to “The Writ”, it’s just one of many totally awesome tracks!
From what I understand, this was Tony's first attempt at producing the band. Funny how the guitar is very prominent! ;)
I remember my first thought upon hearing V4 was that Ozzy must have taken voice lessons. Geezer said that V4 was a such a transition that he felt that they seemed to skip an album. It really did initiate a new era for the band.
The cocaine helped a lot...until it didn't anymore
Both Vol4 and SBS are in my opinion,leaders in the genre.
Paranoid,Master and their debut are also excellent,but those two are the peak imo.
I read that Bill considered that' his drumming as a professional' really came of age on this album, Vol. 4. Luckily for us, the recording of the drums on Snowblind, first song on side 2, (and the original title for the album), showcases Bill's snare ghost notes, high hat work and snare.....while Supernaut (previously reviewed), gave us Bill's steady hi hat paradiddle opening and that wonderful middle 8..all swing and bouncy, with those deft steel drum overdubs...(which possibly inspired John Bonham to include his very own overdubs in Montreaux, as presented post-humously, on Coda, LZ's closing album, as 'Bonzo's Montreaux'.). So glad you picked up on some of Bill wards 'lost notes' via engineering of the time. Love the music...just does your head in as a drummer, that we don't always have ready access to both of Bill's feet!!....in sections of Wheels of Confusion, Children of the Grave and later on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath!! - all legendary songs and great to play drums on/to as covers/warm-up's/jams. Cheers for posting, and, in agreement with other comments above, the 2021 remaster by Steven Wilson did bring Bill out a bit clearer!!!..BTW. you might just weep when you hear Bill on Snowblind! Happy Christmas, Andy! 🥁💥👍
I wish I could've seen them live soo bad! The end to this song is just amazing. They all just play so damn well together. That final solo is just ahhh! Vol. 4 might just be there best album but it's so hard to pick a favorite or best
Saw them 4 times in the ozzy era
@@StephenSmall-sf5um so damn jealous duuude
In my opinion, this is the greatest Black Sabbath song, assuming we consider Wheels of Confusion and the Straightener as one song. It’s an absolute masterpiece, beginning to end.
NIB may be my favorite song to rock out to, but Wheels of Confusion is just on another level.
@@jayedwards4787 I’m curious to know what your top 20 is.
I’m not going to criticize your opinion because it’s obviously an opinion, but maybe there’s some hidden gems I missed in your top 20.
@@jayedwards4787 Tell us your Top 20
@@jayedwards4787 Good list, but I think you're looking down on Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener too much
Definitely a reason I love 70's Sabbath, Bill Ward's drumming, reminds me of Keith Moon's style, constant fills
Hey, Andrew! Love your reactions to Sabbath. I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this before, but Bill Ward, in a recent interview, said that Gene Krupa was his greatest influence.
Yes, this is the best song of all time. And the band is the best band of all time. I am so happy to see you have become a fan 🤘😊 And you have to make an interview with Bill Ward!
Great song, great reaction. One of their best songs. Merry Christmas, Andrew.
9:35 first ever and greatest metal breakdown?
"Borrowed" literally millions of times by every metal band in history.
Iconic and masterful tune.
I’m not a musician but welcome to the best heavy metal band. I’m glad you like them.
Hi Andy, Enjoy your channel and content. Black Sabbath (original) have been my favorite band for 45 years. To me they are The Beatles of hard rock/heavy metal. The four had a musical (chemistry) connection and when you take one element away, while still good/great, changes the band dynamic too much. Anyway, here's my take on the lyrics. The song is about life. First verse is from the age of awareness to around 7-8 years old when everything is magical and and "illusion". Second verse is from the ages of 7-8 to 13-14 (pre-teen)...One starts to realize and see the holes in the "illusion". Third verse is teenage years and you're confused trying to make sense of the world and the "illusion." Last verse is adulthood you realize everything is an "illusion" and whatever you do doesn't mean much, very nihilistic. The outro part is called "The Straightener". I've read in England that term is used to refer to death, so the outro is one dying. Geezer is such an under rated lyricist. IMO, he's up there with Lennon or any others. The concepts he's come up with over the years and the way he writes is mind blowing. Thanks for another Sabbath analysis. I'm not a drummer in any way shape or form, so you've helped me get some understanding of Mr. Ward's brilliant work.
Awesome track!! What a great reaction to start my new year! That instrumental 'freak-out' that acts as the 'coda' to the song is detailed as 'The Straightener' on some North American pressings, but not titled on original or European releases. Titled or not - it's an absolute banger of a song closer! I loved this song on first listen - and the closer, Under the Sun, is equally up to the task!
Vol. 4 is a masterpiece.
This is their first US recording. They were hammered, successful, and experimenting because they could! That’s why this is the best! LA
Vol. 4 was the first album produced by the band itself, which might explain the problems with the mix. Also, the guys were doing a lot of cocaine, and they all admit that it was having an effect on their work in the studio.
OUCH!
Great Christmas present, can't wait to unwrap it tomorrow morning! Love the "confusion" in the picture lol Andrew!
It was their time of exploration and music and boy did they! Why listen to one song when you can listen to four songs in one. It’s like a little adrenaline hit every time that beat switches up and that riff switches and the drumbeat completely changes. Imagine how much music and how many bands wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Black Sabbath. They were pivotal anyway you look at it and they were awesome on top of it! Grew up on it. Put an Iron Man on my dad‘s record Player when I was a kid is how it started.
This Song is my Favorite!
My all time favourite Sabbath song too ……. Just been waiting for someone to explain the drumming on this song as I feel it’s some of Bill Wards best. 🤘
Sabbath has been my favorite band since I was 15. I'm 59 now. I have every sabbath CD or MP3 out there including bootlegs. I love to see people getting turned on to them at your age. Makes me proud at this day and age. Especially since most of this stuff came out when I was a little kid until we got to never say die. I love it!
But we listened to hard rock as little kids. I hated radio hits. My Mom was a music teacher so we had stereos. I’m 59 also. Age 10 I’m listening to Sabbath, loved it. Thought Frampton Comes Alive was Crap! I liked it dark.lol
@scottsharp3356 I also listened to hard rock at that age. There was a neighbor kid that was 15. Took me to Ted Nugent when I was in 5th grade. I had heard Sabbath, but only a few songs. Iron man, and War Pigs. I heard a lot of Zepplin, Deep Purple, and Nugent, plus many more. It wasn't until I was 13 or 14 I heard Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and was hooked. I got goose bumps. When I heard Rainbow and Sabatoge, it was a metal journey from there. Priest, UFO etc.
Love how Bill uses the cymbals so much on this album. One of my favorites. They did change their sound (again) with the drums and bass less defined, which is unfortunate, but part of the vibe.
Always loved Bill's 'washey' ride textures, filling out even more space on top of his 'stream of consciousness' top notch playing!
Cool! This is one of my favorite Black Sabbath Songs
Love it
Bill could really swing! IMO he should be in that top 5 influential drummers of all time.
Yup super player
we all knew Bill was the man but isnt it nice to have it realized in detail! lovely stuff
Oh he's a great player
The production for Vol. 4 was led by Iommi. He had a difficult time, and the engineering was nearly defaulted to him. He wasn't happy with how it sounded. The next two records are much better produced.
The Straightener is what a speeding ticket sounds like.
Man, you got my attention! ...and I am from Argentina, litterally the other side of the World for you!
Hola amigo!
I love to listen to you analyzing the drums and giving hints.I knew nothing about the complexity and the diversity of drum playing untill i watched you man.Great job ! Plis we can all tell you truly love Black Sabbath !
Thank you for watching!
I love Prog, fusion, blues, rock, bluegrass, everything that's great, and I love this song.
Andrew Rooney. It would be interesting to see a drum cover especially since you would have liked to see drums higher up in the mix. 😊.
Thank you for the demo. Check out this song for another example of that swing beat you described Iron Maiden Running Free from their self titled 1st album in 1980.
The Jazz feeling to Black Sabbath is what for me made their music more dynamic than most of the heavy metal bands coming up after them.
9:37
One of my favourite Sabbath moments. The timing Tony brings to that riff.
Note Andrew - Those drumeo videos appear to have mediocre audio from your video's?
I've also noticed this. There's good and bad versions of these songs on TH-cam, as well as the remastered versions ofc
THAT reaction made my night!!!
🙌
Message in blood Pantera is a must. RIP vinny paul was amazing.
I had a friend in high-school that did a silk screen of the Vol 4 cover. He told people who wanted a copy to bring a t-shiŕt. Mostly friends. It turned out perfect. I never know what happened to that shirt but the was about 45 years ago so who knows. Love that cover
BW's style is so hard and frustrating to copy as a covers drummer of Sabbath, his style is unique
As drummer Vol 4 album is a masterpiece among the second half of 70's records
Met Bill in the 70s and the rest of sabbath ... I still have the safety pin that they scratched their names on on my wooden cross I made lol I also have the dried up carnation that Bill threw from his drumkit all those decades ago hehe .. one advantage of being a brit back then you could usually meet the bands either before the gig or back stage!
Oh that's fantastic
@@AndrewRooneyDrums a long time ago now Andrew!
Andrew . Thank you for the video. I love this song. And I agree with you what you were saying . About how the drums are we recorded. I wish the drums were more in the forefront. And how they were recorded. They seem to be a little lost in the recording.
Cool t shirt. Your not part of a team or gang. You are part of the Sabbath family
All the best rock drummers, my favorites anyway, always had a jazz background. Both bill and geezer were like a heavy jazz rhythm section. Bills drum parts were always inventive like a drum "riff" to compliment the guitar riff. And he always had that swing about his playing. Vary seldom can you find bill just "keeping time" hes always doing something, that if you listen and pick up on it, is totally awesome!
New years wish....
You interviewing Mr Bill Ward, that would be bloody interesting....
1971, song- Warpigs live in Paris. Phenomenal Drumming. Hardest hitting I've seen ! Good stuff. Live
he's a educated jazz drummer evan before sabbit I feel this is the best album they ever had you imagine me at 18 withe 2 bose 901 and 2 4 ft high jbl tower speakers a 200 watt Macintosh recievers and a lab 400 realistic turn table Jamin to this I loved the 70s aloha
Lyrically, Wheels Of Confusion/The Straightener is Black Sabbath's best song, perhaps only rivaled by the great War Pigs. The lyrics describe the purpose of life itself, from birth 'til death.
Merry Christmas :)
Edit: Ward says Merry Christmas, too..
This is one of the best of saabbath Merry Christmas MATE
Gotta do sabbath bloody sabbath or national acrobat !! Or tomorrows dream off vol4
Going to see Sabbath in the 70's was like an exodus and when Ozzy came on stage after the intro of 'Supertzar' it was like experiencing your rebirth lol ... Ozzy had the audience in the palm of his hands and he could do no wrong ... he was The Messiah ... Sabbath to me at that time weren't just my favourite band they were my religion lol ... they were always all day events ... the journey to get to the gig ... the meeting up with all the Sabbath fans at the nearest pub ... swapping stories and having a few (lol) beers ... they were the best times of my life and I wouldn't change a thing
Bill ward is the most underated drummer of all time!
Black Sabbath came to me after Metallica. I got to admit, most of my favorite bands are colors. Deep purple blue oyster cult Pink Floyd Black Sabbath Led Zeppelin(is lead a color?) Metallica(more of a sheen) those last 2 were reaches. But Black Sabbath’s first 5 albums just blew me away. And wheels of confusion/the straightener is a favorite track.
Love your Sabbath analysis! Another great band you should check out are Queens of the Stone Age! Led by Josh Homme...they fucking GROOVE. I suggest "Suture up Your Future" "Go With The Flow" "No One Knows" A LOT of great material from them.
Yeah, Sabbath are great. Especially Vol. 4 and Master Of Reality. They’re all really good!
💯🙌
Imagine hearing this song in 1972.
Great pick. All Bill Ward stuff is gold.
Yup!!!
Whiplash: Not My Tempo
Bill: You can't handle the Tempo
🤣🤣
I remember a review of this album starting with “no one opens albums with nine minute songs anymore”
A new mix of the album would be great, but for some reason most bands (except the Beatles) never go past a remaster
I grew up with Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult and Zeppelin... But recently also love Mushroomhead and Arch Enemy... You should do both these bands ..
That last part is actually called "The Straightener."
Dissect it after not during. This was meant to be heard in it's entirety it's non commercial,free and raw
With regards to the feather soft kick drum, notice the part at 2:37 in your video, he’s counting off with the kick whereas convention may leave it to the hi hat… to compensate for annihilating the bass drums on the previous albums? I do recall Bill being unhappy with his bass drum sound on the 2nd album.
I am a Sabbath fanatic since 1971. When my dad bought me, at my insistence Master of Reality, because I had heard Paranoid on the radio the year before. He also bought me Paranoid single. They were, and still are the greatest Heavy rock, blues, Jazz swing, Metal band of all time. Countless bands owe them their living, because without Sabbath there would be nothing. I find it incredibly incredible that so many current new bands, do not reference them. They reference Iron Maiden, Metallica. Hey y'all Iron Maiden came along in 1980. Metallica in I believe 81.with a demo. Both of these bands good as they are, copied the Sabbath blueprint. FACT. Neither one of them, matched the sheer power, versatility, swing of Sabbath. There's nothing they did that was superior. How could it be? Expecting to surpass greatest of all time, is impossible. I naturally have a great many rock albums, 3,074 all genres. I have most of Maiden and Metallica. There's no swing to their music, and certainly nothing heavier than Sabbath. Example. Sabotage