An excellent introduction for one of the bands that set the standard for heavy metal. We Sold Our Soul for Rock & Roll features the original lineup of Black Sabbath, including Ozzy Osbourne on vocals; the songs are selected from the band’s recordings up through 1975. The album features several classic songs, several of which are still on rock radio play lists: “Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” “Iron Man,” and the ballad “Changes.” There’s also the humorous “Fairies Wear Boots,” the vaguel [Read More...]
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I’m not sure what originally attracted me to the vinyl album in the first place. I was a little nervous because I was not a Black Sabbath fan, and wasn’t sure what I was going to get. However, a friend of mine had recommended the group to me and I thought, why not?
From the moment “Black Sabbath” began to play, I was hooked. The heavy bass, the drums, a full heavy sound, and yet so sparse, was outstanding. Looking back when I bought this on vinyl, I was into The Moody Blues and King Crimson, which we now recognize as progressive rock, and listening to Black Sabbath, I see some of the elements I liked so much in progressive rock.
While I still have the vinyl album, I had to have the CD because of its portability. The only regret I have is that two songs were dropped from the dual album set, “Warning” and the awesome, uncharacteristically acoustic, “Laguna Sunrise”. I miss both of these and will have to buy the CDs from whence they came.
If you are a hard-core Black Sabbath fan, then there is probably no point in you owning this CD unless you just have to have everything they ever recorded. Or perhaps, as another reviewer noted, you were looking for something to play at a party that is a Sabbath mix. On the flip side, if you are a casual Black Sabbath fan, then this could really be a good CD for you. However, Black Sabbath is like many great groups in that a “best of” collection really catches only a fragment of the quality of their music. This group is an album group, and not really a collection group.
There is no point in reviewing the individual songs. I like every one. They are fun, full of bass, heavy lead guitar riffs, and drums that beat into and out of the songs to give a flavor that is hard to believe from typically three instruments. There are whimsical songs (”Fairies Wear Boots”, “Am I Going Insane”) that are just plain fun. Songs of warning (”War Pigs”, “Iron Man”), and even a ballad (”Changes”). If you have wondered about the roots of metal, look no more, you’ve pretty much found the tap root. Sit back, crank up the bass, and enjoy.
Here’s where metal all began. Doom, Black metal, Death metal…so many genres began with Sabbath. We Sold Our Souls For Rock ‘N’ Roll is very good place to start a Sabbath collection. Features all their more well known songs such as Paranoid, Iron Man, Changes…etc. A little disappointed that some of the songs that were just as good but not as popular were left out. Also no songs from the Dio era of Sabbath, I admit that that’s not such a big deal though since they only had one good album with him. Again, a great place to start but I would recommend getting the actual albums too. Every Sabbath album is meant to be taken as a whole and, while the songs sound good apart from each other, your missing part of the experience if you just hear one or two songs of a particular album. It’s been more than 30 years since Sabbath started and they are still one of the best. Very few have ever been able to match the ambiance, art and effect Sabbath achieved. Their material is as powerful in 2004 as it was 1970.