Black Sabbath – Master of Reality – 1971

Master of Reality is the third studio album by British pioneers Black Sabbath. It’s probably the “hardest” so far. There are still blues scales and stuff as it is most Hardrock acts even today. But I feel like there’s also a step toward what would become Heavy Metal on this album. Of course, we all perceive music differently depending on our experiences. Nowadays, Master of Reality isn’t particularly “hard”. But when it was released in 1971 it was probably unprecedented. The songs are pretty simple and not overcomplicated partly because Ozzy tends to sing with the riffs all the time.

So, the riffs are what most people use to say is so special about Blach Sabbath in the beginning. Tony Iommi’s simple but very effective riffs. That may be true but I tend to listen more to Geezer Butler’s basslines. It’s clear that the band wasn’t just one man, Iommi and Ozzy were important for their sound but so were Geezer Butler and Bill Ward on the drums. There are no weak links anywhere which makes the end product reach such a high standard.

With Master of Reality, Black Sabbath cemented their place in Hardrock and Heavy Metal history. It doesn’t reach quite the same height in “hit-songs” as the previous two albums, the self-titled debut Black Sabbath and the second Paranoid. But it sure is a good album!