The band's dark, riff-heavy sound from the late 1960s defined a new genre.
For the full picture, listen to 'Black Sabbath' and 'Paranoid.' Those tracks frame everything that came after.
Their first album in 1970, 'Black Sabbath,' established a heavy, dark sound that felt different from the psychedelic or blues-rock trends of the time. Songs like 'Paranoid' and 'War Pigs' gave their music a weight that made some listeners uncomfortable, which contributed to their reputation as an outsider band. That early work became a blueprint for what would later be called heavy metal.
Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham in 1968 with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, Tony Iommi on guitar, Geezer Butler on bass, and Bill Ward on drums. In 1970 they released 'Paranoid,' which included songs like 'War Pigs' and 'Iron Man,' solidifying their sound.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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