 | | |
| | Black Sabbath, Vol.4 | | | Music Artist : | | Black Sabbath | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Warner Bros / Wea | | Release Date : | | 1990-10-25 | | Store Price : | | $11.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $10.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
|
|
|
|
|
CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener
2. Tomorrow's Dream
3. Changes
4. FX
5. Supernaut
6. Snowblind
7. Cornucopia
8. Laguna Sunrise
9. St. Vitus Dance
10. Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes
| |
Other Artist Albums
|
|
|
|
Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
|
 The Problem Children of Classic Rock at their (almost) best
Submitted on: 2009-10-09 |
|
"Black Sabbath Vol. 4" another fine example of the fathers of metal in their prime, although I don't think it's on quite the same level creatively as "Paranoid" and "Master of Reality". Rest assured, it's pretty darn close. It's full of Tony Iommi's one-of-a-kind riffs, which always manage to be extremely heavy and catchy at the same time. "Supernaut" is a highlight, as has already been noted many times. It's one of Sabbath's most ecstatic-sounding songs, with lyrics about breaking free from society's death-grip. It contrasts nicely to "Cornucopia", which is what I see as a bizzaro version of "Supernaut", being similarly themed but ripe with darkness both lyrical and sonic. There is a slight sense of the band not having quite the same drive and energy as they do on "Paranoid" and "Master of Reality", however, but it must be understodd that those two records are very hard acts to follow for even the era's greatest bands.
This album is essential Black Sabbath that does not disapoint. Buy it. |
|
|
|
Heavy riffing and variety within and between songs. 75/100
Submitted on: 2009-08-18 |
|
It's not unusual for any of this band's first three albums to get accorded the honour of "best Black Sabbath album". Their third album, "Master of reality", pretty much is the prototypical Sabbath album from then on. Even albums after that, up to "Sabotage", have their fans, who view that album as the band's best. From my point of view, "Vol.4" is down a notch in quality from "Master of reality", but up to, and including "Sabotage", the band have a remarkable consistency of output, quality wise.
Best song:
Changes - a slow tempo song with heartfelt lyrics. Ony the piano and the synthesiser are utilised. Melodic, with Ozzy providing good presence on vocals.
Next best:
FX - an experimental instrumental track, perhaps featuring a guitar or something like that. Maybe it is also a synthesiser. Here the synthesiser sounds like it is providing incidenctal music for a sci-fi or horror movie.
Cornucopia - the guitar sound makes this track sound like Swamp Rock.
Supernaut - grinding guitar and has a Lenny Kravitz vibe to it (think "Are you gonna go my way". For that matter, sometimes this song brings to mind the riffs in Pseudo Echo's version of "Funky Town").
Under the sun - the intro brings to mind their debut album's vibe of Gothic Rock. Can be read as a statement of the band's Philosophy, although, contrasting this song with their previous "After forever", it has to be remarked that a Black Sabbath 'philosophy' seems more of a mask which they wear and discard for something else later...like The Sex Pistols with their superficial embrace of anarchy and, remarkably, fascism (as if those two philosophies aren't like oil and water)! Drummer Bill Ward provides some big drum fills in this song. Outro is good too...it's like a rock band's version of Tubular Bells.
The rest:
Wheels of confusion - an epic 8:14 in length. Intro features a wailing blues sound and then steps into a Steppenwolf type riff (think "Born to be wild") on both guitar and bass. Guitar has a buzzing sound to it and the vocals lack presence. A prog-rock kind of song.
Tomorrow's dream - has a boogie rock vibe to it with tinny percussion (sort of like a cow bell). Guitars sound synthy and the vocals lack presence, again.
Snowblind - a riff song with a nice vocal shift in it, where it becomes more melodic. Lead guitar is bluesy and I think the song features the violins at the end. Has a synthesiser too.
Laguna sunrise - the second instrumental on this album. Has two accoustic guitars and what sounds like a symphony, perhaps...violins do feature in this song. A gentle, melodic track.
St.Vitus dance - has a BIG sounding riff (heavy and grating). Instruments have a greater presence in this song than other songs on this album. Think that my notes on this song subbest that the percussion on this song is like that in 60's pop...a "She loves you" type vibe, or something of the sort.
Recommendations:
Master of reality
Black Sabbath albums after "Vol.4".
Blue Cheer's debut album. In my view, this band were the first to have a heavy metal album. Very influenced by Jimi Hendrix's sound.
If, like me, you enjoy Black Sabbath's experimental tracks, you might want to try out Vanilla Fudge's debut album, which came out before Black Sabbath was created, and was also heavy sounding, for its time. |
|
|
|
 4, as in 4 in a row of perfect albums.
Submitted on: 2009-05-21 |
|
| Here I am sitting here nearly 40 years after the release of this album and I'm trying to figure out why this doesn't really sound dated at all. It's still fresh sounding. Anyway, this album is damn near perfect just like the 3 albums prior to it. One thing that appears on this album is Ozzy's "true" voice. I don't know, for some reason, his voice is a bit deeper, a bit more pronounced starting with this album, and it's this style that most people know him by. It's not too far off of his first two solo albums, actually. Anyway, quit reading this and pick it up for yourself! |
|
|
|
My favorite Ozzy era Black Sabbath Album
Submitted on: 2008-07-30 |
|
| This album kicks. A masterpiece of metal. An awesomeness I can't seem to justify in words except to say, check it out and see for yourself. |
|
|
|
Where it started to slip
Submitted on: 2008-06-11 |
|
Still a five star favorite, still an absolute must have... "Supernaut" and "Snowblind" are my favorite Sabbath songs, by far. "Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener" is awesome, and the "Laguna Sunrise" is an (out of character, sort of) but cool acoustic piece.
However, I DETEST the ballad "Changes". Hate it, hate it, hate it. Don't know why, don't care. Sorry, but Ozzy's voice just makes me cringe on this one and it always has... other than that, it's an awe inspiring album, and still great (if not on the level of the first three). |
|
|
|
