500 Words: Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath

With the recent passing of Ozzy Osbourne, I think it’s safe to start this series by talking about what might be the greatest band of all time.

Black Sabbath needs no introduction. Often dubbed the inventors of heavy metal, this band comprised of the now deceased but immortal in our hearts front man Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, Bassist Geezer Butler, and Drummer Bill Ward. The band came out of Birmingham, England in 1968, initally as Earth. The story goes that Iommi lost his fingers in a factory accident and almost had to give up guitar. He chose not to, and created prosthetic fingertips to keep playing, this would lead to his distinct style on the guitar. They would release their first two albums in 1970, their self titled debut being released in February, and the eternally iconic “Paranoid” arriving just months later in September. While initially panned by critics, the band were a commercial success, with the dark, distorted and down-tuned riffs from Iommi, the tight, menacing grooves from Butler and Ward in the rhythm section, and the Osbourne haunting, agonized voice. The band would see numerous lineup changes and released 19 albums, but their seventies run, with Ozzy, was legendary.

The band would hold an influence over the newly named Heavy Metal for decades. The darkness that this band has wasn’t really done before. Sure there were plenty of dark moments in rock and blues throughout time. But the way Sabbath harnessed this darkness was unlike any other band had done before. The sense of doom that the band’s self-titled song evokes is unforgettable, and still evocative today. A huge departure from the hippie counterculture of the 1960s. The gloomy sound they create is drenched in the blues, particularly Hendrix and Cream’s fuzzy, distorted take of the late 60s. But what does Sabbath do so differently? The tritone? Maybe but also maybe not, Hendrix used the tritone too. Osbourne and Butler’s lyrics diving into the occult, war, fantasy, weed, death, and paranoia was a key factor, certainly.

There’s this maniacal quality in Ozzy’s voice, I feel it especially comes out on a song like “Electric Funeral” another cut, in the band’s extensive catalog, slow, doomy, riffs. While Ozzy’s shouts and belts throughout the band’s signature tracks like “War Pigs” and “Paranoid” are seen as the song builds to a climax. The psychedelic, haunting riff with a touch of chromaticism in the verse is what gives the song its sound. Ozzy follows this riff in the vocal melody, and his almost nasal, buzzy, tone adds to the intensity and sense of doom. While every member of this band is quintessential to its sound, Ozzy Osbourne’s voice is such a special piece of it. His voice compliments the riffs so fucking well. His distinct, demented voice is key to what makes a song like “War Pigs” so brilliant. Words cannot describe Ozzy’s voice accurately, Maniacal, anguished, perfect for a song condemning the blight on humanity that is war. It’s simply perfect.