![]() ![]() Finding difficulty in playing lightening runs, his sound therefore adapted nicely to the diabolic image Sabbath were cooking up. This was largely by necessity as he had lost the tips of two fingers on his right hand - kind of valuable parts of the anatomy for a south paw axeman - and had to fit plastic thimbles held on with leather straps to play. Guitarist and lyricist Tony Iommi slowed down the hard rock approach, utilising a dropped tuning and lighter strings, both effecting a darker tone, and sparser riffs. Sure, there’s the gimmicky tolling bells that kick off the eponymous track one on Black Sabbath, the band’s first album, or the distorted “I am the Iron Man” line from Paranoid‘s “Iron Man.” But, there’s more. Musically, Sabbath brought a lot to the table. While musically, there is not a million miles between say Black Sabbath and Cream’s 1968 Wheels of Fire, Clapton, Bruce and Baker weren’t decked out like they were off to a bit of blood letting at the local Satanic gathering in the woods somewhere or singing about being consumed by the fires of Hell. While such bands weren’t necessarily choir boys, no one outside the Bible belts were too worried. It’s taking some liberty to lump any of these in the heavy metal genre. ![]() ![]() Bands like Cream, Led Zeppelin or Status Quo, were about as close as the mainstream listening public got to what might be called metal music. So poncing around in Gothic dregs, dangling giant crosses from their necks, snarling at cameras and peppering troubling lyrics through stark, often apocalyptic songs was no stretch for these Brummie boys.īut, in 1970, Satan hadn’t really made an appearance on the pop music scene in any big way. Bassist Geezer Butler probably just wanted a decent band to drop his revolutionary bottom end lines into. Singer and lead nutter Ozzy Osbourne and drummer Bill Ward were addled and/or air-headed enough to try anything. Sabbath founder Tony Iommi played for a while with Jethro Tull - a band based around the eccentricities of the cod-piece wearing, flute playing Ian Anderson - so he for one was already well versed in musical staging. Black Sabbath just twisted that whole game and made it dark. From Elvis’ pelvis to Hendrix’s flaming guitar, pop music nestled nicely into the comforting arms of dressing up, acting weird and playing a part.īut, that play acting and high-jinx stuff, particularly during the wafty hippy-soaked ’60s, was all about self-indulgent fun. Since the dawn of pop music in the 1950s, an aspect of theatre had always played a part. But, in 1970, that genre was hardly invented when four lads from Birmingham made two landmark albums, Black Sabbath and Paranoid. Layer that image with some heavy guitars, some atmospherics like church bells, add ominous lyrics and what do you have? The basics of a heavy metal band, right? Sure, we know that now. Take some guys, dress them in black and stand them in front of an unkempt country church, preferably under an overcast sky. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |