Ozzy isn’t a rock star. Ozzy is one of us who somehow got to lead a legendary band. His enthusiasm is evidence of that. He’s a fan as much as a performer.
As a full-blown metalhead who has gone on a similar musical journey to yourself, I found this one of the most entertaining music commentary videos ever. I was 15 when I first heard Sabbath and the guitar riffs slayed me, but even then I just had to giggle at the lyrics. I truly believe that hearing those lyrics inspired me to want to be in a metal band. Surely, I could write lyrics as good as that. Spinal Tap allowed me to laugh at what I loved. You've enabled me to do it again
I was so looking forward to this video, now I'm not sure if I like your analysis. Your academic discipline might be causing you to over-think Black Sabbath's initial effort. Not much thought is required. Firstly, they were a group of kids when they wrote their lyrics. Grammar (masses vs. masses), meteorological factors (misty morning, clouds, shadow, etc.) and logic were not top of mind. Again, these kids were having fun, rhyming dark phrases and pounding riffs galore. A review of early Black Sabbath mandates context, especially for academics like yourself and you did cover the times in which Black Sabbath lived, the region where they lived, their ages, their education or lack thereof and their experiences. All this context adds up to four guys looking for fun, fame, women and rock stardom. BTW - Fairies Wear Boots is one of Black Sabbath's greatest musical arrangements - the melodic soloing, the rhythm changes and musical dynamics - the lyrics are mostly dumb and superfluous. Rock-n-roll is supposed to be fun and maybe a little dumb. Your style is entertaining and informative and for this I am thankful. Context is key. Thanks for the fun video. I appreciate your insight and intellect.
I think it was affectionate poking fun. I thought Andy did a good job of showing you why so many people LOVE Black Sabbath but also why there are people (and music critics like Robert Christgau, these types) who turn their noses up at heavy metal.
Great vid, absolutely excellent and very convincing. Interesting also how you compare Ozzy to soul singers. I always thought that his style and Janis Joplins were very similar. Whether she is actually a soul singer is another matter. Could never stand her singing, nor could I that of Robert Plant but Ozzy always sounded great to me. Am not a metal fan at all, but I always thought Black Sabbath were brilliant. I guess because you can hear the blues still so well in their music. Plus they did not feel confined to their genre (as so many metal bands do) because the genre didn't exist yet. The dumbness of the lyrics never occurred to me really because I never really listen to lyrics anyway.
Love this perspective. Sabbath and Priest are two of my favorite bands, and I agree they can be clunky as hell, but in the most brilliant way. To really "get" bands like that, you have to fully embrace the clunk. When Ozzy just screams "YEAH," it's somehow the most profound thing in the world. They created such a forceful sound and they amplify the energy of rock and funk so much that it isn't ruined by the goofiness or the mistakes. Those things just add to the charm, because it's so human.
Looking forward to see on the channel videos on : - Oregon - Michael Naura - Eberhard Weber - Charles Mingus - Jazz Messengers - Egg - Ahmad Jamal - Hatfield and the North - Don Cherry - Gary Burton - Eric Dolphy - National Health - Barry Miles and Silverlight - David Sancious and Tone - Gilgamesh - United Jazz and Rock Ensemble - Area - Osibisa - Arti + Mestieri - Univers Zero - Present Thanks!
I think the first two lines in War Pigs are an example of their dumb genius. Rhyming "masses" with "masses" is totally legit, because they ARE different words. One signifies a large crowd, the other a ceremony. I would love to come up with a lyric that brilliant. Great video by the way- I didn't think I was going to watch the whole thing but your take is so right on the money and unique compared to other Sabbath videos I stayed until the end. Maybe you needed to give a little love to Bill Ward, as he was their actual drummer (who brought the jazz swing to songs like Fairies Wear Boots) and not Geezer.
I'm sorry, but I can't agree that rhyming two homonyms is totally legit. Rhymes are all about the sounds of words, not their meanings. Rhyming two words that sound identical completely destroys the effect, regardless of their dictionary definitions. The opening couplet of "War Pigs" is right up there with that Marty Feldman song where he rhymes "handsome" with "hamstrung" in the pantheon of hilariously awful rhymes.
I've been thinking about the lyrics to War Pigs for over 40 years but never discussed it with anyone. Masses..masses. Thanks, I got a cathartic belly laugh out of this.
Loved it. I could ramble about Sabbath for ages but I won’t. All I’ll say is that they somehow managed to musically transmogrify ‘Mars Bringer Of War’ and yet still sound funky,( not enough people recognise that I feel), within the parameters of a single band,( Geezer is a big part of that with his bass lines although obviously Bill must be within that sphere as well).
If it's a misty morning, one would naturally assume that it would be overcast [clowdy] skies. Tinkling bell maybe a reference to cowbell which tinkles just a bit, later in the song. The Wizard drives the evil away. Makes it into a sunny day. People be happy...when the wizard walks by. Thanks again for the show.
Not from the Black Country, but Wales, three piece Budgie seems to be the earliest integration of power blues and some jazz sophistication in riff heavy packages. '71s 'Homicidal Suicidal' and '73 'Breadfan' were particularly influential on later metal iterations who covered their material. They got 'epic' later in '74 and '75 with longer song forms with 'Zoom Club' and 'Napoleon Bona, Parts 1&2' being highlights. Plenty solos that seem improvisational and are born out as such in their live recordings. Subject material is def working class and generally not dumb. ;)
Listening to heavy metal music really primed me for getting deeply into Fusion a few years later. The levels of intensity and virtuosity are comparable!
I laughed out loud listening to your thoughts on the lyrics of The Wizard - exactly my thoughts when I first heard the song in the 70s! But what a band! I still love their music as much as I did as a teenager.
Thanks. I once heard a comedian poke fun at John Mellancamp for figuring out that "small town" rhymes with "small town". Sometimes stuff just works. It's even worse for movies. They're a jumble of dozens of different perspectives, and they shouldn't work at all most of the time. And when they don't, we get to make fun of them. It's the same reason we have celebrity impersonators. It's making fun of the dumb stuff we like about that person. Ryan George has made a thing of poking fun at even the most celebrated recent films. All of it's dumb in some way. But some of it works, regardless. Those are the ones we remember (mostly). tavi.
Great video! I was listening to your interview on See of Tranquility. You talked about a band called Tram, I searched for that name on TH-cam and found this (obviously not the same band). YT won't let me post links, however listen to Tram's album on YT called Heavy Black Frame. I listened to the first song (Nothing Left to Say), I found it melancholic, haunting and beautiful. Reminded me of Hideway, by Keren O and the Kids. Wiki states that they were part of the 'slowcore' movement, I never heard of that before. They're also from Britain. As far as Sabbath are concerned, I like a lot of their material and understand they're the ones who invented Heavy Metal. However, I always preferred Ozzy's solo career, at least the Randy through Zakk years. Love your channel. Perhaps, you could make a foray into the merch game, some Andy coffee mugs perhaps. Cheers from Canada ,,,
Hahaha.....I love early Sabbath. Bought the single of Paranoid when it came out and wore it out...The Wizard was the 'B' side and I loved it even more than Paranoid. Can't help feel the lyric analysis is pure Spinal Tap.....Hahaha.,.and why does your impression of Ozzy sound like Noddy Holder!!!!! Great stuff!!!!
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer I thought as much......😂🤣 My mate, a brummie barber new the band in the early days. Ozzie lived above his shop and even gave him a copy of the first album....some funny stories, as you can imagine!!!!!
Good video Andy Sounds like we are almost exactly the same age. Same trajectory in music, and ended up being a uni lecturer too. While I have also spent a lot of time seeing bands of many genres, it was Sabbs who started it all....
A brilliant and hilarious analysis, Andy. I saw the band in Sheffield in 1971 and thought they were fantastic but your analysis puts the entire concert into an entirely different perspective. 🤣 Richard
"Just like witches making passes!!!" Black Sabbath may have been the first under underground band. The more that critics hated them, the more fans loved them.
This is a great and thoughtful video, Andy. Full of insight and humour. I am sure that you meant to say that Bill Ward (and not Geezer Butler) is a great drummer. Geezer is a great bassist too. You're right about the clunkiness (Symptom of the Universe came to my mind). There's some interesting social class-related fissures in British rock history, with the likes of Genesis at the other end of the spectrum. Blue Oyster Cult were referred to as 'the thinking man's Black Sabbath' in the mid-1970s but they had some outside writers on a bit of their early stuff - Black Sabbath seemed to be more of a gang who did it all their way.
Black Sabbath were integrated rock theatre who never pretended to be anything else. Looking at the lyrics out of context is a diminished return. The soul in Ozzie's voice made it high quality theatre: they were committed. Inadvertently, Sabbath represented good vs evil. No small thing. Lyrics by anybody taken out of context can be banal stupid, ridiculous and dishonest. In the 1970's Joni Mitchell used love as a euphemism for promiscuity within the context of her tedious self absorption and egoism.
I’ve never been a fan of any metal and probably never will. But I cannot disparage this genre in good conscience. People love it and that alone gives it one aspect of legitimacy. The players are skilled and I respect that. It’s just not my cup of tea! Great presentation Andy!
Dumb music was popular all over the world, in places where people didn't understand English. "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah! She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah! " "I love you… I do, I do, I do, I do, I do". It never mattered what it said, as long as the music of it had a hook of some sort. Does anyone understand what Meshuggah are singing or even care?
Really enjoyed this Andy (and had a right good chuckle on the lyrical analysis). I was a metal head in the 80s, but never got Sabbath as they were a 70s band. I was more into the NWOBHM and also the American hard rock (but we all laughed at the lyrics, absolute and utter nonsense), then thrash turned up, which my friends and i jumped into head first. This led to punk, grunge, Industrial, alternative etc....and eventually to rave, techno & chill music in the early 90s. Now I love all sorts of music, and really into producers too. Funnily enough, the bands I didn't get when i was a metal head in my teens, Sabbath, Zep, Motorhead and early AC/DC is the only stuff i really like of that genre/era now. As much as I would say electronic is my favourite genre (massive Eno fan), King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are IMO the best rock/fusion band in the world right now. I'm not sure i've heard you discuss them yet., I assume you're very familiar.
Speaking as a former kid, Heavy Metal appeals to kids. It gets you excited when you're still quite young. More sophisticated music(s) take more sophisticated people. But nobody is born mature and sophisticated. And you always retain a soft spot for the things of your youth.
An interesting view of black Sabbath. Don't let it put you off buying their records though!! A gig I went to proved to be a great music and song show. They are legendary for a reason.
Andy, I discovered Sabbath (the early Ozzy era) as a young teen in the mid-'80s, and even then I felt the lyrics to some of their songs were bordering on silly. It didn't matter much to me, though, because the feel and the sound of the music captivated me anyway... loved the humor, by the way 😄.
@@jimmycampbell78 The poodle bites The poodle chews it What is your Conceptual Continuity? Well, I told him right then (Fido said) It should be easy to see The crux of the biscuit Is the apostrophe
Brilliant, insightful and entertaining video. genuinely LOL. I was 14 in 1980 so grew up heavily into NWOBHM and all the bands that led to it like Sabbath. I usually watch on my smart TV where liking and commenting is clunky. This video was so enjoyable i had to go to my office computer and react immediately. Keep up all the great content. One of my fave channels at the moment.
You forgot to mention Diamond Head.... Love this by the way born and grew up in Brum, Kings Norton(born 1969) and my teenage years were all about rock music so can really relate to your views about heavy rock and metal. As I grew up fortunately I diversified to listening to every genre. Live in Germany now and friends here love the fact that I grew up in the birthplace of Metal.
Sorry just saw your nod to Diamond Head at the end, again fun video and no I wasn't offended by your Brummie accent as most people can't pull it off !!
cool vid. metal is fun. I totally agree its "not high art" and it's kinda why I like it. Funny how your fav sabbath tune is also Zappa's fav. the black sabbath title track was also influenced by Holst Mars.
Talking of skinheads, you reminded me of Slade. Perhaps not Heavy Metal but surely they were the greatest Black Country ‘pop’ band. Live, Slade could out-crunch anyone, and in the studio they were the opposite to the Bolan/Bowie pretty boy Glam Rock, the antidote to fey, Starchild boogie. They boiled everything down to importance of ‘having a good time’. No faux horror with Slade but they tapped in to what the working class youth identified with…the desire to drink, screw and be ‘noizy’ and ‘crazee’. Even more than Sabbath, Slade’s fans identified with their down to earth image…even Dave Hill’s extravagant dress sense was seen as him taking the piss out of Bowie, The Sweet and the rest. Naturally, after several years Slade tried to become more sophisticated and lost their core fans. Those fans eventually found the likes of Judas Priest and the fledgling New Wave of HM scene, so Slade, bless ‘em, ditched the pretensions and went back to the loud, yobby stuff, giving their career a second wind. I know that Sabbath and Slade are dissimilar bands in lots of ways but they both had the same attitude; the same basic, raw approach and appeal, that it’s no surprise they come from the same area. Slade even took Sabbath’s dumb lyrics a stage further by being unable to even spell properly! Compare Sabbath to Leicester’s Black Widow, a band they were constantly being confused with back in the early days. BW’s Sacrifice is so full of occult imagery that it does become vastly pretentious, and consequently, without the human sacrifice malarkey of their live shows, on vinyl their music doesn’t quite have the effect that they hoped for. BW had sax and flute and supposedly intellectual people debating their mix of music and witchcraft. Sabbath just had the riffs and the stupidity. That was all they needed. Great video Andy 👍 PS Glad to hear Uriah Heep namechecked. Possibly the hardest working band in the country in the early-mid 70s (thanks to their relentless management). Sabbath had the riffs and the horror, Zeppelin had the over-the-top Blues and Tolkien stuff, Purple had the virtuosity, the screaming and the in-fighting, and Heep had those screeching harmonies that Queen picked up on years later. Great band. Cheers 👍
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer it’s amazing that Don’s still around after that terrible accident he had in ‘73. Mick Box the only original Heepster left now 🤔 Btw i’m a Burton on Trent lad myself, several years older than your good self. Does brewing qualify as ‘heavy industry’? 🤣 The town certainly had a unique smell 🙄
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer and I am one of many who would love to hear that Andy. Watching them I got the feeling that here is a band (much like Anvil - their rockumentary has to be one of the best films ever - I trust you've seen it) doing it purely for the love of the medium and sharing that passion than for any monetary reason
Heavy Metal, to me, is defined by the predominance of heavy, pounding guitar riffs or drawn out guitar chords. It must not be slow, Paranoid isn't, but it must be marked and may not swing (so Fairies Wear Boots always felt like an intruder on that album). The riffs are the main feature of the music. The singing is just there as an ornament, as accompaniment to the riffs, as a commentary. Hard Rock is the other way around, riffs are accompaniment to the singing. Born To Be Wild or Black Night are just rock songs played hard, not Heavy Metal. Smoke On The Water qualifies as Heavy Metal because it's really all about that pounding riff. The fact that Ozzy often sang along the riff makes it even clearer: the music mattered most. Helter Skelter is one of the earliest examples of rock music where violent guitar riffing takes that role but the origin goes all the way back to the firat movement of Beethoven's 5th symphony.
I love this. I think not just the lyrics are funny. The heavier the riff, the more it makes me chuckle. Not sure why. I guess I think they are dumb too, yet powerfully moving.
I'm glad you agree with me, Andy. Led Zeppelin were 4 pretentious ***** that wrote pretentious ****, but if you cut the postering and take the roots of their songs (and those were copied from others), you can make great stuff based on their compositions. And Black Sabbath did so briliantly. Like Mozart taking Salieri's doodles, Black Sabbath created masterworks that still make me smile, headbang, listen, ... Great video, even though we totally disagree on those LZ poseurs. I couldn't stomach LZ then, I'm 62, and I still can't, but I've discovered much brilliant music they -through sheer luck?- inspired. It's still a mysterie to me why you love LZ whilst despising the critics that only want to show of their own intelligence and knowledge. For me, they're the same kind of people. By the way, you shouldn't despise them, they're really only just as dumb as Black Sabbath but more pretentious. You should pity them, it's nicer and pity hurts them more. I'll keep watching as long as I don't understand you Andy, so probably for many years.
I don't care what heavy metal music was created after the album sabotage. Sabotage for me is as heavy as it gets. Plus songs likes sabbath bloody sabbath (and wow those melodic parts including that sweetness just so briliant the contrast) same goes for acoustic parts in sabotage
I know they just leagalized mushrooms in Colorado. Did they do the same in Great Britain? BTW, Bill Ward Played drums Geezer was their bass player. "cause smoke and trippin is all that you do" Keep it up, love it!
"One misty, moisty morning, when cloudy was the weather/I met a wizened old man, a-clothed all in leather" - very similar imagery, and a lot better written, IMHO. Turns out to be Mother Goose, not originally by Steeleye Span.
I agree that all the elements of what became metal converged on Sabbath's debut. However, I think Blue Cheer was a catalyst for that heavy sound. I'm not a person who is interested in "who got there first" because so many bands had their heavy moments leading up to it, and there are endless examples of themes and distortion congregating around the evolution of metal. I would also go so far to say that Soft Machine's sheer chaos and volume with the '69 trio brought valuable aspecs of metal, punk and noise to the table. Was Sabbath influenced by all of that? Probably not necessarily directly, but the stage had been set by Blue Cheer, Hendrix and Soft Machine with the ingredients. Sabbath's topical contributions combined with the idea of adding more distortion and heavier playing provided the concentration of creating this new, unnamed genre.
Sabbath had a huge nationwide underground following around about the time of their first album release but had ironically never gigged in London which was primarily why the press disliked them and subsequently were dismissive of their international success and worldwide fame . Warning from the first album was a cover of an Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation tune where Ozzy sang the wrong lyrics ( "I was born without you baby" where it probably should have been "I was warned about you baby" but hey ho lyrics eh ? ) . Evil Woman ( don't play your games with me ) was initially released by the American band Crow who had the same record / publishing company . Sabbath hated it and never performed it live . Behind The Wall Of Sleep is the classic cut from that album which has stood the test of time IMHO ... Heavy riff / drum solos ?! ... Toad by Cream / Ginger Baker ( I nearly said Jack Bruce there lol ) ... In all fairness there's only 50% of Led Zep from the midlands so I don't think that they should really be compared to each other . Plus musically I don't think any of the sabs or zeps buy into being tagged as heavy metal . I think lyrically Geezer came into his own by the time of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage .
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Yes, of course. I get it. I just thought your impersonations were side-splitting. As a teenager I hardly paid attention to the lyrics at all.
Great insight into early Sabbath. Great as opposed to high art, absolutely. Even though musically I prefer later Sabs there are times when those first four albums are just what's needed to blow cobwebs away. The lyrics and music may be dumb and clunky as you say, however we all need a bit of dumb and clunky from time to time just to let off steam and shout 'F**k it' to the world. Then we can recompose ourselves and return to sophistication and complexity until we need another shot of wooooooargh, as they used to say in Kerrang. There's room and a need for it all.😜😝🤯😈✌🤘👍
The deconstruction of "The Wizard" is hilarious :D
Bro,the intro to War Pigs is fucking INSANE! and the "masses" "black masses" rhyme just works,it shouldnt,but it does,brilliantly.
Black Sabbath reigns supreme in the world of heavy music.
I nominate Bill Ward as one of the Most Underrated Drummers of All Time. Who's with me?
Ozzy isn’t a rock star.
Ozzy is one of us who somehow got to lead a legendary band.
His enthusiasm is evidence of that.
He’s a fan as much as a performer.
Black Sabbath not only started Heavy Metal, they were punk pioneers as well.
As a full-blown metalhead who has gone on a similar musical journey to yourself, I found this one of the most entertaining music commentary videos ever.
I was 15 when I first heard Sabbath and the guitar riffs slayed me, but even then I just had to giggle at the lyrics. I truly believe that hearing those lyrics inspired me to want to be in a metal band. Surely, I could write lyrics as good as that.
Spinal Tap allowed me to laugh at what I loved. You've enabled me to do it again
I was so looking forward to this video, now I'm not sure if I like your analysis. Your academic discipline might be causing you to over-think Black Sabbath's initial effort. Not much thought is required. Firstly, they were a group of kids when they wrote their lyrics. Grammar (masses vs. masses), meteorological factors (misty morning, clouds, shadow, etc.) and logic were not top of mind. Again, these kids were having fun, rhyming dark phrases and pounding riffs galore. A review of early Black Sabbath mandates context, especially for academics like yourself and you did cover the times in which Black Sabbath lived, the region where they lived, their ages, their education or lack thereof and their experiences. All this context adds up to four guys looking for fun, fame, women and rock stardom. BTW - Fairies Wear Boots is one of Black Sabbath's greatest musical arrangements - the melodic soloing, the rhythm changes and musical dynamics - the lyrics are mostly dumb and superfluous. Rock-n-roll is supposed to be fun and maybe a little dumb. Your style is entertaining and informative and for this I am thankful. Context is key. Thanks for the fun video. I appreciate your insight and intellect.
I think it was affectionate poking fun. I thought Andy did a good job of showing you why so many people LOVE Black Sabbath but also why there are people (and music critics like Robert Christgau, these types) who turn their noses up at heavy metal.
...also the songs of first album were composed in a couple of weeks or less, Iommi was knocking tunes out Geezer could hardly keep up.
part 2 please please please
loved this
Whats hilarious is hearing you pick apart the wizard lyrics. Its context. Its how it sounds. The music and how ozzie sings it is perfect and unique.
Great vid, absolutely excellent and very convincing. Interesting also how you compare Ozzy to soul singers. I always thought that his style and Janis Joplins were very similar. Whether she is actually a soul singer is another matter. Could never stand her singing, nor could I that of Robert Plant but Ozzy always sounded great to me. Am not a metal fan at all, but I always thought Black Sabbath were brilliant. I guess because you can hear the blues still so well in their music. Plus they did not feel confined to their genre (as so many metal bands do) because the genre didn't exist yet. The dumbness of the lyrics never occurred to me really because I never really listen to lyrics anyway.
So true. I grew up in a musical family. But it was heavy metal that hooked me and inspired me to pick up and learn the guitar.
Another stroke of genius with the lyrics, specifically, The Wizard and Fairies Where Boots was that they don't go on and on and on.
Enjoyed? Andy, I loved every second of this. I laughed and listened and you make total sense. Can't wait for Part Two!
Love this perspective. Sabbath and Priest are two of my favorite bands, and I agree they can be clunky as hell, but in the most brilliant way. To really "get" bands like that, you have to fully embrace the clunk. When Ozzy just screams "YEAH," it's somehow the most profound thing in the world. They created such a forceful sound and they amplify the energy of rock and funk so much that it isn't ruined by the goofiness or the mistakes. Those things just add to the charm, because it's so human.
Splendid! That's the most loving roasting of anything I ever witnessed.
Looking forward to see on the channel videos on :
- Oregon
- Michael Naura
- Eberhard Weber
- Charles Mingus
- Jazz Messengers
- Egg
- Ahmad Jamal
- Hatfield and the North
- Don Cherry
- Gary Burton
- Eric Dolphy
- National Health
- Barry Miles and Silverlight
- David Sancious and Tone
- Gilgamesh
- United Jazz and Rock Ensemble
- Area
- Osibisa
- Arti + Mestieri
- Univers Zero
- Present
Thanks!
I think the first two lines in War Pigs are an example of their dumb genius. Rhyming "masses" with "masses" is totally legit, because they ARE different words. One signifies a large crowd, the other a ceremony. I would love to come up with a lyric that brilliant. Great video by the way- I didn't think I was going to watch the whole thing but your take is so right on the money and unique compared to other Sabbath videos I stayed until the end. Maybe you needed to give a little love to Bill Ward, as he was their actual drummer (who brought the jazz swing to songs like Fairies Wear Boots) and not Geezer.
Yes...when I said Geezer, I meant Bill Ward
I'm sorry, but I can't agree that rhyming two homonyms is totally legit. Rhymes are all about the sounds of words, not their meanings. Rhyming two words that sound identical completely destroys the effect, regardless of their dictionary definitions. The opening couplet of "War Pigs" is right up there with that Marty Feldman song where he rhymes "handsome" with "hamstrung" in the pantheon of hilariously awful rhymes.
It's not like there was nothing else available, how's about "…just like rock stars dodging taxes"?
Yes, Paranoid sounds like Communication Breakdown which also sounds like Eddie Cochran’s Nervous Breakdown which came out before both.
Supernaut is my favourite Sabs song too. Pure groove
Thoroughly entertaining as usual, informative too. Please do part two. I love heavy metal as much as Prog Rock and Jazz Fusion.
I've been thinking about the lyrics to War Pigs for over 40 years but never discussed it with anyone. Masses..masses. Thanks, I got a cathartic belly laugh out of this.
Shout out for the Fishbone poster!
Freddie's dead, duh, duh, de, duh, de, duh.
The flute is a heavy metal instrument ! ( Anderson)
‘There are things that go on in Black Sabbath songs that are quite preposterous.’ 😂
Loved it.
I could ramble about Sabbath for ages but I won’t.
All I’ll say is that they somehow managed to musically transmogrify ‘Mars Bringer Of War’ and yet still sound funky,( not enough people
recognise that I feel), within the parameters of a single band,(
Geezer is a big part of that with his bass lines although obviously Bill must be within that sphere as well).
I was at a party years ago and met a chap who claimed that the outro to 'Behind the Wall of Sleep' inspired the birth of rap and hip-hop
Brum at the time was a hoot !
Saw the Sabs do their sound check at an Ozzfest in 2001, they did The Wizard. Sounded great with Ozzy on harmonica.
If it's a misty morning, one would naturally assume that it would be overcast [clowdy] skies. Tinkling bell maybe a reference to cowbell which tinkles just a bit, later in the song. The Wizard drives the evil away. Makes it into a sunny day. People be happy...when the wizard walks by. Thanks again for the show.
Now
Not from the Black Country, but Wales, three piece Budgie seems to be the earliest integration of power blues and some jazz sophistication in riff heavy packages. '71s 'Homicidal Suicidal' and '73 'Breadfan' were particularly influential on later metal iterations who covered their material. They got 'epic' later in '74 and '75 with longer song forms with 'Zoom Club' and 'Napoleon Bona, Parts 1&2' being highlights. Plenty solos that seem improvisational and are born out as such in their live recordings. Subject material is def working class and generally not dumb. ;)
We need more lyrical analysis!
Looking forward to this video.
Just perfect
I love Sabbath, but Andy’s right some of those Transitions will give you whiplash “ all right now” 🤘🏼
Listening to heavy metal music really primed me for getting deeply into Fusion a few years later.
The levels of intensity and virtuosity are comparable!
I laughed out loud listening to your thoughts on the lyrics of The Wizard - exactly my thoughts when I first heard the song in the 70s! But what a band! I still love their music as much as I did as a teenager.
Thanks. I once heard a comedian poke fun at John Mellancamp for figuring out that "small town" rhymes with "small town". Sometimes stuff just works. It's even worse for movies. They're a jumble of dozens of different perspectives, and they shouldn't work at all most of the time. And when they don't, we get to make fun of them. It's the same reason we have celebrity impersonators. It's making fun of the dumb stuff we like about that person. Ryan George has made a thing of poking fun at even the most celebrated recent films. All of it's dumb in some way. But some of it works, regardless. Those are the ones we remember (mostly). tavi.
Great video! I was listening to your interview on See of Tranquility. You talked about a band called Tram, I searched for that name on TH-cam and found this (obviously not the same band). YT won't let me post links, however listen to Tram's album on YT called Heavy Black Frame. I listened to the first song (Nothing Left to Say), I found it melancholic, haunting and beautiful. Reminded me of Hideway, by Keren O and the Kids. Wiki states that they were part of the 'slowcore' movement, I never heard of that before. They're also from Britain. As far as Sabbath are concerned, I like a lot of their material and understand they're the ones who invented Heavy Metal. However, I always preferred Ozzy's solo career, at least the Randy through Zakk years. Love your channel. Perhaps, you could make a foray into the merch game, some Andy coffee mugs perhaps. Cheers from Canada ,,,
We can get a small idea of Tony without his finger injuries: there are bootlegs of his band Odyssey with Bill on drums
Hahaha.....I love early Sabbath. Bought the single of Paranoid when it came out and wore it out...The Wizard was the 'B' side and I loved it even more than Paranoid. Can't help feel the lyric analysis is pure Spinal Tap.....Hahaha.,.and why does your impression of Ozzy sound like Noddy Holder!!!!! Great stuff!!!!
Ozzy...Noddy both Brummies!!!n (well Noddy is from Bloxwich I think....
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer I thought as much......😂🤣
My mate, a brummie barber new the band in the early days. Ozzie lived above his shop and even gave him a copy of the first album....some funny stories, as you can imagine!!!!!
The Wizard is an amazing tune. Paranoid is a decent tune
Good video Andy
Sounds like we are almost exactly the same age. Same trajectory in music, and ended up being a uni lecturer too.
While I have also spent a lot of time seeing bands of many genres, it was Sabbs who started it all....
Brilliant analysis. Thanks for this video! Spot on, funny, and very interesting. Yes - please do a Part 2. Good impressions of Black Sabbath btw!😅
'The tinkerling bell is not working for me' hahaha -peed mesell at that mate-please continue these -Cheers
A brilliant and hilarious analysis, Andy. I saw the band in Sheffield in 1971 and thought they were fantastic but your analysis puts the entire concert into an entirely different perspective. 🤣
Richard
"Just like witches making passes!!!" Black Sabbath may have been the first under underground band. The more that critics hated them, the more fans loved them.
'Just like Grandma's broken glasses'
@@warmeggs 😂😂😂
@@warmeggs just like grandma passing gasses.
"Bending over and kissing their asses".
This is a great and thoughtful video, Andy. Full of insight and humour. I am sure that you meant to say that Bill Ward (and not Geezer Butler) is a great drummer. Geezer is a great bassist too. You're right about the clunkiness (Symptom of the Universe came to my mind). There's some interesting social class-related fissures in British rock history, with the likes of Genesis at the other end of the spectrum. Blue Oyster Cult were referred to as 'the thinking man's Black Sabbath' in the mid-1970s but they had some outside writers on a bit of their early stuff - Black Sabbath seemed to be more of a gang who did it all their way.
Yes I did mean Bill Ward...sorry
Black Sabbath were integrated rock theatre who never pretended to be anything else. Looking at the lyrics out of context is a diminished return. The soul in Ozzie's voice made it high quality theatre: they were committed. Inadvertently, Sabbath represented good vs evil. No small thing. Lyrics by anybody taken out of context can be banal stupid, ridiculous and dishonest. In the 1970's Joni Mitchell used love as a euphemism for promiscuity within the context of her tedious self absorption and egoism.
I’ve never been a fan of any metal and probably never will. But I cannot disparage this genre in good conscience. People love it and that alone gives it one aspect of legitimacy. The players are skilled and I respect that. It’s just not my cup of tea! Great presentation Andy!
Ronnie`s lyrics and delivrery was far better. But I love Gezzers' "gotta produce a song for Ozzy no matter what" attitude.
Dumb music was popular all over the world, in places where people didn't understand English.
"She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah! She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah! "
"I love you… I do, I do, I do, I do, I do".
It never mattered what it said, as long as the music of it had a hook of some sort.
Does anyone understand what Meshuggah are singing or even care?
Great video, love the humor!
Thanks so much!
Really enjoyed this Andy (and had a right good chuckle on the lyrical analysis). I was a metal head in the 80s, but never got Sabbath as they were a 70s band. I was more into the NWOBHM and also the American hard rock (but we all laughed at the lyrics, absolute and utter nonsense), then thrash turned up, which my friends and i jumped into head first. This led to punk, grunge, Industrial, alternative etc....and eventually to rave, techno & chill music in the early 90s. Now I love all sorts of music, and really into producers too. Funnily enough, the bands I didn't get when i was a metal head in my teens, Sabbath, Zep, Motorhead and early AC/DC is the only stuff i really like of that genre/era now. As much as I would say electronic is my favourite genre (massive Eno fan), King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are IMO the best rock/fusion band in the world right now. I'm not sure i've heard you discuss them yet., I assume you're very familiar.
Excellent. Very entertaining.
Many thanks!
Brilliantly done Andy 😂
Speaking as a former kid, Heavy Metal appeals to kids. It gets you excited when you're still quite young. More sophisticated music(s) take more sophisticated people. But nobody is born mature and sophisticated. And you always retain a soft spot for the things of your youth.
An interesting view of black Sabbath. Don't let it put you off buying their records though!! A gig I went to proved to be a great music and song show. They are legendary for a reason.
Andy, I discovered Sabbath (the early Ozzy era) as a young teen in the mid-'80s, and even then I felt the lyrics to some of their songs were bordering on silly. It didn't matter much to me, though, because the feel and the sound of the music captivated me anyway... loved the humor, by the way 😄.
Hilarious - the most entertaining forty three minutes and nine seconds on YT.
I always thought that the narrator was in a car going home late one night, when suddenly he got a fright. LOL
Wonderful Video Andy
And interesting quote
“vampires and werewolves.... an important ingredient that never gets mentioned…”
😜
@@jimmycampbell78
The poodle bites
The poodle chews it
What is your Conceptual Continuity?
Well, I told him right then
(Fido said)
It should be easy to see
The crux of the biscuit
Is the apostrophe
Saw that copy of The Sonics: Boom on one of your shelves. Nice album to own. Good going!
It was one of many albums given me by Robert Plant....
Brilliant, insightful and entertaining video. genuinely LOL. I was 14 in 1980 so grew up heavily into NWOBHM and all the bands that led to it like Sabbath. I usually watch on my smart TV where liking and commenting is clunky. This video was so enjoyable i had to go to my office computer and react immediately. Keep up all the great content. One of my fave channels at the moment.
Glad you enjoyed it!
You forgot to mention Diamond Head....
Love this by the way born and grew up in Brum, Kings Norton(born 1969) and my teenage years were all about rock music so can really relate to your views about heavy rock and metal. As I grew up fortunately I diversified to listening to every genre. Live in Germany now and friends here love the fact that I grew up in the birthplace of Metal.
Sorry just saw your nod to Diamond Head at the end, again fun video and no I wasn't offended by your Brummie accent as most people can't pull it off !!
Excellent video.
Cheers 🍻
Thanks 👍
cool vid. metal is fun. I totally agree its "not high art" and it's kinda why I like it. Funny how your fav sabbath tune is also Zappa's fav. the black sabbath title track was also influenced by Holst Mars.
LMFAO thanks Andy, it works so well because you can do the accent.
Talking of skinheads, you reminded me of Slade. Perhaps not Heavy Metal but surely they were the greatest Black Country ‘pop’ band. Live, Slade could out-crunch anyone, and in the studio they were the opposite to the Bolan/Bowie pretty boy Glam Rock, the antidote to fey, Starchild boogie. They boiled everything down to importance of ‘having a good time’. No faux horror with Slade but they tapped in to what the working class youth identified with…the desire to drink, screw and be ‘noizy’ and ‘crazee’. Even more than Sabbath, Slade’s fans identified with their down to earth image…even Dave Hill’s extravagant dress sense was seen as him taking the piss out of Bowie, The Sweet and the rest.
Naturally, after several years Slade tried to become more sophisticated and lost their core fans. Those fans eventually found the likes of Judas Priest and the fledgling New Wave of HM scene, so Slade, bless ‘em, ditched the pretensions and went back to the loud, yobby stuff, giving their career a second wind.
I know that Sabbath and Slade are dissimilar bands in lots of ways but they both had the same attitude; the same basic, raw approach and appeal, that it’s no surprise they come from the same area. Slade even took Sabbath’s dumb lyrics a stage further by being unable to even spell properly!
Compare Sabbath to Leicester’s Black Widow, a band they were constantly being confused with back in the early days. BW’s Sacrifice is so full of occult imagery that it does become vastly pretentious, and consequently, without the human sacrifice malarkey of their live shows, on vinyl their music doesn’t quite have the effect that they hoped for. BW had sax and flute and supposedly intellectual people debating their mix of music and witchcraft. Sabbath just had the riffs and the stupidity. That was all they needed.
Great video Andy 👍
PS Glad to hear Uriah Heep namechecked. Possibly the hardest working band in the country in the early-mid 70s (thanks to their relentless management). Sabbath had the riffs and the horror, Zeppelin had the over-the-top Blues and Tolkien stuff, Purple had the virtuosity, the screaming and the in-fighting, and Heep had those screeching harmonies that Queen picked up on years later. Great band.
Cheers 👍
I know people from Slade and Uriah Heap. I played on Don Powell's recent 'Let There Be Drums'.
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer it’s amazing that Don’s still around after that terrible accident he had in ‘73. Mick Box the only original Heepster left now 🤔
Btw i’m a Burton on Trent lad myself, several years older than your good self. Does brewing qualify as ‘heavy industry’? 🤣 The town certainly had a unique smell 🙄
so glad you mentioned D Head
saw them with Saxon on monday - really excellent band. top night out
I have met Brian Tatler a number of times and I would like on my channel to discuss his ground breaking contribution to the history of Heavy Metal....
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer and I am one of many who would love to hear that Andy. Watching them I got the feeling that here is a band (much like Anvil - their rockumentary has to be one of the best films ever - I trust you've seen it) doing it purely for the love of the medium and sharing that passion than for any monetary reason
Yes please Andy, I’m looking forward to another heavy metal video where you talk about Diamond Head. (Prog, fusion and metal fan here.)
Can we get more lyric analysis please, the wizardy thumbs made my evening.
Yes
One of the Desert Island bands.
Love them and know you do as well.
Heavy Metal, to me, is defined by the predominance of heavy, pounding guitar riffs or drawn out guitar chords. It must not be slow, Paranoid isn't, but it must be marked and may not swing (so Fairies Wear Boots always felt like an intruder on that album).
The riffs are the main feature of the music. The singing is just there as an ornament, as accompaniment to the riffs, as a commentary. Hard Rock is the other way around, riffs are accompaniment to the singing. Born To Be Wild or Black Night are just rock songs played hard, not Heavy Metal. Smoke On The Water qualifies as Heavy Metal because it's really all about that pounding riff. The fact that Ozzy often sang along the riff makes it even clearer: the music mattered most.
Helter Skelter is one of the earliest examples of rock music where violent guitar riffing takes that role but the origin goes all the way back to the firat movement of Beethoven's 5th symphony.
I love this. I think not just the lyrics are funny. The heavier the riff, the more it makes me chuckle. Not sure why. I guess I think they are dumb too, yet powerfully moving.
Not a big metal fan, but I loved Sabbath's early music because it was more blues based than later metal.
Just to add - bang on point; the use of satanic horror is a great mix of being atmospheric yet deeply risible
I'm glad you agree with me, Andy. Led Zeppelin were 4 pretentious ***** that wrote pretentious ****, but if you cut the postering and take the roots of their songs (and those were copied from others), you can make great stuff based on their compositions. And Black Sabbath did so briliantly. Like Mozart taking Salieri's doodles, Black Sabbath created masterworks that still make me smile, headbang, listen, ...
Great video, even though we totally disagree on those LZ poseurs. I couldn't stomach LZ then, I'm 62, and I still can't, but I've discovered much brilliant music they -through sheer luck?- inspired.
It's still a mysterie to me why you love LZ whilst despising the critics that only want to show of their own intelligence and knowledge. For me, they're the same kind of people.
By the way, you shouldn't despise them, they're really only just as dumb as Black Sabbath but more pretentious. You should pity them, it's nicer and pity hurts them more.
I'll keep watching as long as I don't understand you Andy, so probably for many years.
The dum dum was a reason I couldn’t get into it. Thought the image was really stupid.
Thanks for this great video!
My pleasure!
I don't care what heavy metal music was created after the album sabotage. Sabotage for me is as heavy as it gets. Plus songs likes sabbath bloody sabbath (and wow those melodic parts including that sweetness just so briliant the contrast) same goes for acoustic parts in sabotage
Great video Andy and hilarious 😂 cheers
Glad you enjoyed it
I know they just leagalized mushrooms in Colorado. Did they do the same in Great Britain? BTW, Bill Ward Played drums Geezer was their bass player. "cause smoke and trippin is all that you do" Keep it up, love it!
Your content is gold for me. I just wish more people were turned on to your channel.
"One misty, moisty morning, when cloudy was the weather/I met a wizened old man, a-clothed all in leather" - very similar imagery, and a lot better written, IMHO. Turns out to be Mother Goose, not originally by Steeleye Span.
Great video Andy! 21:58 Could The Wizard be a metaphor for a drug dealer?
William Burroughs mention?
Black Sabbath is first and foremost a Rock band
I agree that all the elements of what became metal converged on Sabbath's debut. However, I think Blue Cheer was a catalyst for that heavy sound. I'm not a person who is interested in "who got there first" because so many bands had their heavy moments leading up to it, and there are endless examples of themes and distortion congregating around the evolution of metal. I would also go so far to say that Soft Machine's sheer chaos and volume with the '69 trio brought valuable aspecs of metal, punk and noise to the table. Was Sabbath influenced by all of that? Probably not necessarily directly, but the stage had been set by Blue Cheer, Hendrix and Soft Machine with the ingredients. Sabbath's topical contributions combined with the idea of adding more distortion and heavier playing provided the concentration of creating this new, unnamed genre.
Sabbath had a huge nationwide underground following around about the time of their first album release but had ironically never gigged in London which was primarily why the press disliked them and subsequently were dismissive of their international success and worldwide fame . Warning from the first album was a cover of an Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation tune where Ozzy sang the wrong lyrics ( "I was born without you baby" where it probably should have been "I was warned about you baby" but hey ho lyrics eh ? ) . Evil Woman ( don't play your games with me ) was initially released by the American band Crow who had the same record / publishing company . Sabbath hated it and never performed it live . Behind The Wall Of Sleep is the classic cut from that album which has stood the test of time IMHO ... Heavy riff / drum solos ?! ... Toad by Cream / Ginger Baker ( I nearly said Jack Bruce there lol ) ... In all fairness there's only 50% of Led Zep from the midlands so I don't think that they should really be compared to each other . Plus musically I don't think any of the sabs or zeps buy into being tagged as heavy metal . I think lyrically Geezer came into his own by the time of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage .
Hilarious! I'm a huge Sabbath fan and had no idea that I was a fan of the dumbest music ever composed!
Please remember Iove Black Sabbath, and i love the dumb elements
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Yes, of course. I get it. I just thought your impersonations were side-splitting. As a teenager I hardly paid attention to the lyrics at all.
Great insight into early Sabbath. Great as opposed to high art, absolutely. Even though musically I prefer later Sabs there are times when those first four albums are just what's needed to blow cobwebs away. The lyrics and music may be dumb and clunky as you say, however we all need a bit of dumb and clunky from time to time just to let off steam and shout 'F**k it' to the world. Then we can recompose ourselves and return to sophistication and complexity until we need another shot of wooooooargh, as they used to say in Kerrang. There's room and a need for it all.😜😝🤯😈✌🤘👍
LOL Very funny The Heavy Metal Spinal Tap
Maybe everyone gives a happy sigh because the wizard is actually the girl from Ipanema?
Andy, you're reverting to your Brummie roots! Reminds me of Vic and Bobs "Slade at Home". 🤣🤣
Classic....cup a soup?
We did get warning about The Wizard but Warning was on side 2
Going viral in Bahrain !
Andy. Look up black sabbath live in germany 1970 on yt. War pigs has completely different lyrics
Don’t Forget the Peaky Blinders!
Met Tony once. Before that we used to share rehearsal space with his wife's band Drain.
Still far from as cool as my encounters with Little Richard
Love it
Soooo funny.. it all must be true. And reminds of the bad news band arguing..in studio
37:23 "Geezer Butler is an incredible drummer..." lol
Yes...I made a mistake....
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer I came back for a second watch. It was well worth it, you are exceptionally good at this.