Before the world recognized Black Sabbath as heavy-metal forefathers, the band members wrote a song that gave them the chills. “We knew instantly that ‘Black Sabbath’ was very different to what was around at the time,” guitarist Tony Iommi says of the piece that gave the group its name. “We always wanted to go heavier than any other band,” bassist Geezer Butler says. “I thought the song would be a flop, but I also thought it was brilliant,” drummer Bill Ward says. “I still think it’s brilliant.” “When we played that song for the first time, the crowd went nuts,” Butler says. Half a century has passed since Black Sabbath first scared the bejesus out of rock fans with their eponymous anthem. The song opens with the sound of a powerful thunderstorm and ominous church chimes before crashing into its lumbering, iconic riff. The guitar chords lurch seismically, each one like a gut punch before quieting down just enough for Ozzy Osbourne to paint his own vivid portrait of fear — “What is this that stands before me, figure in black which points at me?” It’s a scene so unnerving that he eventually pleads to the heavens, “Oh, no, NO,… Read full this story
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Heavy Metal, Year One: The Inside Story of Black Sabbath’s Groundbreaking Debut have 228 words, post on www.rollingstone.com at February 11, 2020. This is cached page on VietMaz. If you want remove this page, please contact us.