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According to Wikipedia, the Black Sabbath album Born Again went platinum in the UK, although it did not do anything like as well elsewhere. I was surprised when I read this, as I had previously been under the impression that my brother was just about the only person in the entire universe who actually bought a copy. I have never heard anyone else admit to owning a copy, and I have never known anyone else express a liking for either the album or for any song on it.

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I like the album. I bought a copy for my brother for a birthday or Christmas present in the mid eighties I guess, when did it come out? It could have been years old at that point when I bought it. He would not listen to it, 'cuz it wasn't Ozzy. He is 8 years older than I am. I like it more than the Ronnie Dio albums, and I like Dio. I've always been freaked out by the cover because it looks like the baby in the "It's Alive" movie which I never saw, but had nightmares just from the previews and posters. That is just about the whole story.

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  • 4 months later...

I remember getting a cassette copy of Born Again for my brother to give him as a Christmas present, probably around '85 when I was 15. He is 8 years older and a big Sabbath fan, but was not into the cassette, and just accepted it politely on account of it's not being an Ozzy album. It's an ugly cover, but a great cover, only Mob Rules had a better cover, but at the time I was not aware of the Ronnie years that were just ending, I just knew my brother was into Sabbath, and Iron Man had been my favorite song when I was 6 or so. The funny thing is that Dio albums were scary to me at that time, but I thought Born Again was a cool looking album cover, so go figure. Anyway, hope you like my story.

 

It always reminded me of this movie poster...

its_alive_poster_01.jpeg?resolution=0

well, if you read my two posts you will find that my story has not changed a whole lot in the year since I recounted it originally, a careful comparison will reveal some discrepancies. Perhaps we will never know how I truly felt about the album cover for Born Again in or around 1984, but it does seem clear that "It's Alive" pretty much freaked my shit in 1974 when I was 4.  

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  • 3 months later...

The debut is a pretty good choice regardless. Sabbath are worth checking out through to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath/Sabotage (can't remember which precedes the other right now but the later one is what I mean so...). After that I only get into Dehumanizer but there are some good songs on Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules.

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4 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

The debut is a pretty good choice regardless. Sabbath are worth checking out through to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath/Sabotage (can't remember which precedes the other right now but the later one is what I mean so...). After that I only get into Dehumanizer but there are some good songs on Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules.

^ What this man said.

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  • 1 month later...

Black Sabbath is an incredible track, and as everyone always points out it was probably the birthing of true heavy metal. Paranoid is a great song too. But can't say I ever got into them in a big way. Would like to say that's because they were a bit before my time, but think it's more than that. Guess I should probably hang my head in shame at this point.

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Black Sabbath is an incredible track, and as everyone always points out it was probably the birthing of true heavy metal. Paranoid is a great song too. But can't say I ever got into them in a big way. Would like to say that's because they were a bit before my time, but think it's more than that. Guess I should probably hang my head in shame at this point.

Maybe try some of their deeper and less radio friendly albums. My favorite is Master of Reality, but Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is also incredible. As a thrash guy, you'll have to hear Symptom of the Universe off of their Sabotage album, which was a precursor to thrash metal.

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk

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3 hours ago, Thrashman said:

Black Sabbath is an incredible track, and as everyone always points out it was probably the birthing of true heavy metal. Paranoid is a great song too. But can't say I ever got into them in a big way. Would like to say that's because they were a bit before my time, but think it's more than that. Guess I should probably hang my head in shame at this point.

No shame in that, I've been subjected to Sabbath for decades and it took me until a few years ago to develop any taste for them. Something about Ozzy's voice puts me off and the bluesy feel of the riffs never appealed to me. I found their simplicity boring. But one day the overall energy of their early recordings made sense all of a sudden.

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I can take or leave Ozzy as a vocalist.  The real talent in Sabbath shines through on the likes of "Master of Reality" and "Sabotage" when Butler and Ward get those little jazzy, bluesy runs going leaving Iommi to fire off his riffs.

 

This is one of the greatest Sabbath tracks ever:

 

Ozzy was always the weakest link in the Sabbath chain. It's all about those crushing riffs, grooving basslines, and Gene Krupa/Buddy Rich inspired spazzy drumming, and on those first 6 albums, they had them in spades.

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  • 1 month later...

Born Again is fantastic. It was a holy shit amazing tour to see live. It is hard to get a copy of in the U.S. Some form of business blocking choked the distribution. Folk lore around it was Sharon Osborne and her music Mogul family was doing the blocking. I ordered mine used from the UK to get a valid copy.

The Album most like it in songs and production is Bible Black with Ronnie. If you like born again you should give that one a listen.

Ian can sure sing. Born Again is some of Ian Gillan at his raw and emotional best. Just great delivery.

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  • 3 months later...

i'd recommend all the albums from all Era's to anyone lol, couldn't choose any album i listen to the most as every single one gets played ALOT! Headless Cross, TYR and Cross Purposes are Classic Sabbath albums, with all the Ozzy ones and Dio's Heaven and Hell & Mob Rules, would never leave the TM Era out if i were to recommend Sabbath albums to someone

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  • 2 months later...

Black Sabbath are one of the greatest bands of all time! I'm hardly being original with that proclamation but it needs regular saying nonetheless.

There's no way Ozzy was the weak link. There wasn't one. Those first six albums are untouchable, and the vocals are a big part of that for me.

I also love the 'story' of Sabbath. As a narrative it's brilliant. Humble background, severed finger, speedy success, drugs, break ups, middle era struggles, Ozzy's solo stuff, Sun City, revolving door of awesome vocalists, Sharon, reunion, bye bye Bill, farewell tour. What a story.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It must be said technically Ozzy isn't much of a singer. His vocal delivery being so tortured is a significant contributor to the overall sound of those early albums. Adding another dimenion and furthering the atmosphere produced by excellent composition. Honestly I'm not overly fond of Sabbath post-Ozzy and consider Dehumanized the best album after he left. That period represents a shift in the sound of Sabbath away from the menacing doom towards a more orthodox heavy metal approach which is still ok but lacks some of the magic they once had.

 

That's just my opinion though. Something we can all agree on though is their deserved place amongst the pantheon of metal gods.

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12 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

It must be said technically Ozzy isn't much of a singer. His vocal delivery being so tortured is a significant contributor to the overall sound of those early albums. Adding another dimenion and furthering the atmosphere produced by excellent composition. Honestly I'm not overly fond of Sabbath post-Ozzy and consider Dehumanized the best album after he left. That period represents a shift in the sound of Sabbath away from the menacing doom towards a more orthodox heavy metal approach which is still ok but lacks some of the magic they once had.

 

That's just my opinion though. Something we can all agree on though is their deserved place amongst the pantheon of metal gods.

Perfectly understandable opinion.

Me, I think if I had to pick just ONE album of theirs, it would be... "HEAVEN AND HELL"!

From an historical and pseudo objective point of view I would say that their single most relevant record is their self titled debut, nonetheless "HAH" to me is a perfect album and one whose songs move me so much. The performance is stellar, the songwriting is otherworldly and diverse, the lyrics are intriguing, meaningful and yet foggy and prone to misunderstanding (which I love)... besides I love the fact that it is a "prove 'em wrong" kind of record. What does this Dio guy think he's gonna do? He's done without Rainbow, nobody will hear from him again. Where do Black Sabbath think they can go without Ozzy? They'll be gone for good... WRONG!

I also love the fact that Ozzy too somehow inexplicably managed to put out an equally outstanding album.

I deeply love the original Black Sabbath, but thank God they split from Ozzy after "Never Say Die"! I couldn't be more grateful for that.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2017-6-8 at 6:58 AM, Skull_Kollektor said:

Perfectly understandable opinion.

Me, I think if I had to pick just ONE album of theirs, it would be... "HEAVEN AND HELL"!

From an historical and pseudo objective point of view I would say that their single most relevant record is their self titled debut, nonetheless "HAH" to me is a perfect album and one whose songs move me so much. The performance is stellar, the songwriting is otherworldly and diverse, the lyrics are intriguing, meaningful and yet foggy and prone to misunderstanding (which I love)... besides I love the fact that it is a "prove 'em wrong" kind of record. What does this Dio guy think he's gonna do? He's done without Rainbow, nobody will hear from him again. Where do Black Sabbath think they can go without Ozzy? They'll be gone for good... WRONG!

I also love the fact that Ozzy too somehow inexplicably managed to put out an equally outstanding album.

I deeply love the original Black Sabbath, but thank God they split from Ozzy after "Never Say Die"! I couldn't be more grateful for that.

It was definitely good that Ozzy ended up leaving Black Sabbath - for both parties.

Look at the songwriting and production in 'Heaven and Hell' compared with 'Never Say Die', it's like a completely different band playing completely different music. Then look at 'Blizzard of Ozz' and you have the same thing, totally different style of music to 'Never Say Die'. It's just weird, and I think they all just needed the balls to stop trying to write a 'regular' Sabbath album and spread their wings a bit. 

Although in relation to Ozzy, having Bob Daisley and Randy Rhoads writing the songs certainly helped...

A lot of people are head over heels in love with 'Heaven and Hell', and while I really like it, I just don't feel that passion. I much prefer 'Blizzard of Ozz'. 

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