The 500 - #300 - Master Of Reality - Black Sabbath

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #300

Album Title: Master Of Reality

Artist: Black Sabbath

Genre: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock

Recorded: Island Studios (London, England)

Released: July, 1971

My age at release: 6

How familiar was I with it before this week: Fairly well

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at 234 (Moving up 66 spots)

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Children of the Grave

The first time I had a Black Sabbath record in my possession was the winter of 1980 when I snuck it under my jacket, and crept furtively into my suburban home. The album was the band's 1975 release, Sabotage, along with  Led Zeppelin's Houses Of The Holy. At fifteen, I  knew these two discs would not be well received by my parents. Mine was a Christian (Anglican) home and too much explaining would be required to justify this seemingly malevolent cargo. Besides, I didn’t know then what I know now.

I had just returned from the home of my chum Adrian (last name lost to time). He and I had bonded that summer over our mutual love of dirt bikes. He had one. I did not. Regardless, I convinced him that one was in my imminent future and he graciously shared his with me. For several weeks that summer, we ripped up and down the well worn paths of a hill, in a forest clearing about a kilometre from my home. I later learned the area  was known as "Cartoon Hill", frequented on temperate weekends by local high school drinkers and stoners. The area has since been developed as a high-end subdivision and rebranded, Warbler Woods in London, Ontario.

While visiting Adrian's place one winter afternoon, our conversation turned to music and he was quick to show me an impressive collection of vinyl. Hoping to capitalize again on Adrian's generous spirit, I asked to borrow a couple in order to make cassette copies. He obliged. Like many teenagers my age, I had a Zeppelin record, the popular Led Zeppelin IV (#69 on The 500). However, this was my first chance to listen to an entire record by the dark, demonic and very heavy rock band, Black Sabbath.

(l-r) Butler, Iommi, Ward and Osbourne

Black Sabbath was formed in Birmingham, England, when guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward spotted a hastily printed bill on a music shop bulletin board that read: "Ozzy Zig, Needs A Gig. Has own P.A." -- (power amplifier). Iommi and Tony were already in a band called Mythology and the advert led them to bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne who had been jamming with an outfit called Rare Breed.

A replica of the original advert posted by Osbourne

After a few false starts and several names (Polka Tulk Blues, Earth) the band branded themselves after a 1963 Italian horror film that was playing in a repertoire cinema across from the studio where they practised. Dubbed into English and featuring horror icon Boris Karloff, the film was called Black Sabbath -- although the original Italian title was I Tre Volti Della Paura (The Three Faces Of Fear).

Bassist and principal lyricist Butler was the first to remark on the oddity of "people lining up and spending money on scary movies". This led Butler, with the help of his bandmates, to write their first song, Black Sabbath, which appeared on their first album of the same name. (#243 on The 500). At a time of flower power, folk music and peace-loving hippies, the band took a different tack,  ostensibly creating the musical version of horror movies. But more on that when we get to their debut record in about a year.

Black Sabbath (1970), the debut record by Black Sabbath (#243)

Master Of Reality was the third studio record by the English quartet. It is considered by many critics to be a seminal record in the development of several sub-genres of heavy metal, including doom metal, stoner rock and sludge metal. There are some, including Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame, who consider Master Of Reality to be "the first grunge record", influencing the sound that would emerge in the early 1990s.

Black Sabbath in promotional photo for Master Of Reality (1973)

Master of Reality contains one of Sabbath's best known songs, Sweet Leaf, a "not-so-subtle" celebration of recreational marijuana use and a frequent hit at the many basement parties I attended in high school. However, it is the track After Forever that begs discussion.

Single release for Sweet Leaf

With lyrics penned by Butler, the song focused on Christian themes. Although raised a Catholic, he wanted to dissuade the belief among  the media that the band were Satanists. They were not. He was frustrated that many had "missed the point" of their shock-rock tack.  After all, no one thought Boris Karloff was a monster because he played Frankenstein or voiced The Grinch.

In fact, the lyrics in After Forever focus on being open-minded in accepting the possibility that "a God who loves us" exists. In an interview, Butler shared the following:

"A lot of it was because of the situation in Northern Ireland at the time. There were a lot of religious troubles between the Protestants against the Catholics.  I was naive in thinking that religion shouldn’t be fought over. I always felt that God and Jesus wanted us to love each other. It was just a bad time in Northern Ireland, setting bombs off in England and such. We all believed in Jesus—and yet people were killing each other over it. To me, it was just ridiculous. I thought that if God could see us killing each other in his name, he’d be disgusted."

In retrospect, as I crept into my house that winter evening (with two conversational timebombs tucked beneath my ski-jacket), I would have benefited from this information. Butler's talking points would have buoyed my teenage thesis and, perhaps, justified my possession of these records.

I did return them both to Adrian, in excellent condition. However, as is often the case in high school, we drifted apart. He was a generous guy with an easy-going disposition and I'll always remember him for dirt bike rides and Black Sabbath. More about this misunderstood legendary band in 57 weeks when we get to their Black Sabbath debut record...and The Devil's Interval!