BLACK SABBATH – VOL 4 LP – Nr MINT A1/B1 UK   OZZY

Black Sabbath – Vol 4
(NEMs Records  1976  NEL6005)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Gatefold Sleeve in Excellent condition
– some wear to edges/corners
No Booklet

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are a few surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Black Sabbath are an English rock band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969, by Ozzy Osbourne (lead vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass guitar), and Bill Ward (drums). The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. Originally formed in 1968 as a heavy blues rock band named Earth and renamed Black Sabbath in 1969, the band began incorporating occult and horror-inspired lyrics with tuned-down guitars and achieving multiple platinum records in the 1970s. Despite an association with occult and horror themes, Black Sabbath also composed songs dealing with social instability, political corruption, the dangers of drug abuse and apocalyptic prophesies of the horrors of war.

Black Sabbath are cited as pioneers of heavy metal. The band helped define the genre with releases such as quadruple-platinum Paranoid, released in 1970. They were ranked by MTV as the “Greatest Metal Band” of all time, and placed second in VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” list, behind Led Zeppelin. Rolling Stone called the band “the heavy-metal kings of the ’70s” They have sold over 15 million records in the United States and over 70 million records worldwide. Black Sabbath were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005, the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, and were included among Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Ozzy Osbourne’s heavy drug usage led to his firing from the band in April 1979, after which he began a successful solo career, selling over 100 million albums. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio. After a few albums with Dio’s vocals and songwriting collaborations, Black Sabbath endured a revolving line-up in the 1980s and 1990s that included vocalists Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen and Tony Martin. In 1992, Iommi and Butler rejoined Dio and drummer Vinny Appice to record Dehumanizer. The original line-up reunited with Osbourne in 1997 and released a live album Reunion. The line-up featuring Iommi, Butler, Dio, and Appice reformed in 2006 under the moniker Heaven & Hell until Dio’s death on 16 May 2010.

On 11 November 2011, the original band members announced that they were reuniting and recording a new album. The band performed a headlining slot at the Download Festival on 10 June 2012, with a world tour scheduled to follow. On 2 February 2012, Ward announced that he would not participate in the Black Sabbath reunion unless he was given a “signable contract.” The following day, the other group members announced they had “no choice but to continue recording without him,” but said “our door is always open” for Ward to return to the band.

Black Sabbath Vol. 4 is the fourth album by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in September 1972. The album was originally to be titled Snow Blind In L.A., after one of several songs referring to cocaine use, and features several Sabbath classics, such as “Wheels of Confusion”, “Tomorrow’s Dream”, “Supernaut”, “Snowblind” and “Under the Sun”.

Recording

In June 1972, Black Sabbath reconvened in Los Angeles, California to begin work on their fourth album at the Record Plant Studios. The recording process was plagued with problems, many due to substance abuse issues. While struggling to record the song “Cornucopia” after “sitting in the middle of the room, just doing drugs”, Bill Ward feared that he was about to be fired from the band. “I hated the song, there were some patterns that were just horrible”, Ward said. “I nailed it in the end, but the reaction I got was the cold shoulder from everybody. It was like ‘Well, just go home, you’re not being of any use right now.’ I felt like I’d blown it, I was about to get fired”. However, the seeds were planted for what would eventually be the demise of the classic Sabbath lineup. As Butler told Guitar World in 2001: “Yeah, the cocaine had set in. We went out to L.A. and got into a totally different lifestyle. Half the budget went on the coke and the other half went to seeing how long we could stay in the studio… We rented a house in Bel-Air and the debauchery up there was just unbelievable.” In the same interview, Ward opined: “Yes, Vol. 4 is a great album, but listening to it now, I can see it as a turning point for me, where the alcohol and drugs stopped being fun.”

Music and lyrics

Vol. 4 demonstrates Black Sabbath beginning to experiment with the heavy sound they had become known for. Although some songs are in their trademark style, others demonstrate a soft, orchestral approach. This is exemplified by the song “Changes”. Written by Tony Iommi, it is entirely in the form of a piano ballad with mellotron. Although the band had used piano on some songs previously, it had played only a minor role in the songs.

At least two songs on the album reference the use of cocaine. The lyrics and title of “Snowblind” is an example of this. The song “Snowblind” also had to be re-recorded because the original version features Osbourne yelling the word “cocaine!” after each verse. On the officially released version, “cocaine” is whispered quite audibly after the first verse, approximately 41 seconds into the song. (During live performances Osbourne would again scream the word at the top of his lungs.)

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Black Sabbath.

Personnel

• Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
• Tony Iommi – guitars, piano, mellotron
• Geezer Butler – bass guitar, mellotron
• Bill Ward – drums, percussion