MASTER OF REALITY
I start by discussing the cover design. But for this album, it's more like what cover design? If there were to be any criticism of this album, it might be the cover design. When I heard my first Black Sabbath song, and rushed to the store to buy the album, I found this album and all it said was Black Sabbath as it's pictured above in purple letters. The album title, Master of Reality was NOT colored in gray as it appears here. It was pressed with raised letters, and was all black like the background. You could make it out, though, and it was pretty cool. I suppose pictures of this album or images like this one must use a color to enable the title of the album to be viewed. On a side note, this album came with a poster of the band included. Fortunately, I was not so removed from the release date of this album and a poster was still in there when I bought it as a back album. I had that poster on my wall for years. But that was years ago, and I have no clue what ever happened to it at this point in time.
Sweet Leaf
This is it. This great song was the first ever Black Sabbath song I had ever heard. The story goes like this: I was 17 years old. A friend of mine and I were parked in his car at some fast food place to get something to eat and he put on a cassette tape that he had made. It was a mix of several different songs by several different bands. So I was listening to the songs, as I liked the rock songs he had put on there; the usual rock songs of the time, as in Led Zeppelin, Humble Pie, Deep Purple, Allman Bros, Santana, Jethro Tull, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc. But then - when one of those songs had finished, the sound of someone coughing followed, and it increased in volume until it became distorted. Then a heavy metal riff exploded and it was fantastic! It's important to note this was the first time I had ever heard the heavy metal sound, and I was blown away. It was like: Wow, what an incredibly great sound, and what an incredibly great song! Ozzy started singing, and I was sold. I told my friend, that this was fantastic..I asked who were these guys? He told me they were Black Sabbath and that he didn't even like them. I was like, you gotta be kidding! This is the greatest music I had ever heard. If I could give this song a higher rating, I would. So, yes, it's a ten out of ten and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
After Forever
When the Sweet Leaf song was over, I was still recovering from being blown away, when THIS song began. It started with a sound that was like a cross between an organ and a synthesizer, and it sounded GREAT. And once again, the heavy metal power chords blasted away, and I was blown away all over again. Another ten out of ten. I told my friend that he must be crazy not to like these guys. I asked why did he put these two songs on his mix if he didn't like them? He said just to "mix it up" as it was a mix after all. These two songs were the only Black Sabbath songs he had on the tape, but they were hands down my favorite songs on the tape and Black Sabbath instantly became my favorite band.
Embryo
This is a short guitar intro to Children of the Grave. It really shouldn't be rated as it is not on the same level as the other full length songs. But the consensus is that the great song that follows would not be the same without this intro. Tony Iommi once said that this song was influenced by some kind of English folk tune he had heard and played. So, okay, it's from his personal past, and he incorporated it as an intro. Kind of like when Geezer did that all-bass intro to NIB. I didn't rate that one. But I will rate this one. As an intro. And as an intro, it gets a ten out of ten. If any Geezer supporters have an issue, then, okay, Geezer's bass intro to NIB is also a ten out of ten. But this is not the only time Tony Iommi plays an all-guitar intro to a song. He does it again on side two of his album, and he does it again on a later album which I will discuss when we get to it.
Children of the Grave
Once the all-guitar intro fades out, the heavy metal sound begins. But it sounds like it being played from a distance. Then it gets louder and louder and faster and faster. Then it arrives and pounds away. A great iconic Black Sabbath song. A sure-fire ten out of ten. I think Sabbath has performed this song at every Black Sabbath concert I've been to. And I'm glad for that.
Orchid
This song has been described as a break from the heavy metal blasting. It's an all acoustic guitar song showing the world that Tony Iommi is not just a heavy metal guitarist. It's a great song unto itself, but it can also be described as another intro song. Even more interesting is that it's the lead off song for Side Two of the vinyl album. But, again, since these are CDs, there's no side 1 or side 2. It's now a soft break from the hard rock Heavy Metal. So as a break type of song, it's a ten out of ten.
Lord of This World
Once the acoustic sound of Orchid fades out, the blasting chords of Lord of This World begin, easy at first, and then they explode! And for a long time this song was my favorite Black Sabbath song. That's how great this song is. But now I don't know which one is my favorite, I love so many. Oh yeah, it's a ten out of ten. No doubt about that.
Solitude
This is a complete song unto itself, and it is indeed a soft song, a melancholy type of song, with Tony Iommi playing an acoustic guitar and a flute as well. I don't think there's even a drum track on this song. But it doesn't need one. It's a great song, like Planet Caravan was on the Paranoid alum and I might even say it's my favorite of the "soft" songs on the Sabbath albums. So, yeah, it's a ten out of ten.
Into the Void
Another fantastic song. When Solitude fades out, in comes the blasting sound of Into the Void. It has a great intro riff, and evolves into the main riff, and then the drums sound and then Ozzy starts singing. It's a great example of how these four guys came together in a perfect way to make musical history, and wraps up an incredibly great, and all time great heavy metal album. Ten out of ten.
So yes. That was a wrap. The song line up is tops. Too bad the debut album got "sullied" with that "top forty" type song, which wasn't even included at first. But whatever. This album, Master of Reality really does rank as one of the all time great albums in history. What an achievement. Black Sabbath explodes into the world with three all time great albums. That hasn't happened too often.
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