A real institution when it comes to heavy music, Ozzy Osbourne’s acclaimed work with Black Sabbath not only laid the blueprint for what would become heavy metal, but it was so innovative that its influence is still felt today.
The dark atmosphere and gloomy lyrical content put together with Tony Iommi’s doomy riffs built a sound that continues to inspire generations of bands.
However, when Sabbath started, their sound wasn’t the evil menace that their debut unleashed, instead taking cues from the jazzy blues of Fleetwood Mac.
In a new interview, frontman Ozzy Osbourne explained why the group decided to switch to a style that ended up defining music history:
We started off playing jazz-blues like Ten Years After, the original Fleetwood Mac with Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green, and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Then when we used to rehearse at this community [center]. Across the road was a movie theater.”
“[Tony or Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler] said, ‘Don’t you think it’s weird that people pay money to go and watch horror films? Let’s start doing scary music.’ And one of the earliest things we did was [sings three notes to ‘Black Sabbath’]… That was like, ‘Fuck me, that’s good.'”
A remarkable thing about Sabbath is that due to their early albums’ production, they still manage to sound heavy by today’s standards. When discussing what makes a song sound truly “heavy”, Osbourne revealed the influence behind the band’s crushing sound in the studio:
“When I heard the first two Zeppelin albums, I thought they were fucking unbelievably good. I told Tony, ‘They’re fucking heavy.’ He said, ‘We’ll be heavier,’ and he fucking was right.”
Producer Andrew Watt, who collaborated with the singer on his latest solo albums, added:
“He said to me, ‘When you listen to Sabbath or Zeppelin, what’s the loudest thing in the mix?’ Bass is the loudest thing. That’s what makes it so heavy. And if you listen to [Led Zeppelin’s] ‘Whole Lotta Love,’ ‘Heartbreaker,’ or ‘Dazed and Confused,’ the bass is allowed to sing, and that’s what makes it so heavy.”
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