THE ALBUMS
1970 BLACK SABBATH
All songs written by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler,
Bill Ward [except "Evil Woman" - Wiegard/Wiegard/Waggenor (by band
called 'Crow' from Duluth, Minnesota) and "Warning" - Dunbar].
The album was recorded in only 2 days for 600 English Pound. Release
date was Friday, 13th February 1970. Single: Evil Woman. Reissued in
December 1973 and January 1976.
1970 PARANOID
All songs written by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler,
Bill Ward. Recorded in only 5 days and released on 18th September 1970.
Single: PARANOID. Reissued in December 1973 and January 1976.
1971 MASTER OF REALITY
"After Forever", "Embryo" and "Orchid" written by Tony Iommi, all
all others by Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne.
Released in July 1971 and has sold over 500.000 units in the US before
being released. No single. Reissued in December 1973 and January 1976.
1972 VOLUME 4
All songs written by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler,
Bill Ward. Released in September 1972. Single: Tomorrow's Dream.
Reissued in December 1973 and January 1976.
1973 SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH
All songs written by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler,
Bill Ward. Keyboards played by Rick Wakeman (YES). Released in
December 1973. Single: SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH. Reissued in June 1980.
1975 SABOTAGE
All songs written by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler,
Bill Ward. English Chamber Choir arranged by Will Malone. Released
on July 1, 1975. Single: Am I Going Insane (Radio). Reissued in June 1980.
1976 TECHNICAL ECSTASY
All songs written by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler,
Bill Ward. Keyboards played by Gerald Woodruffe. Bill Ward sings
on 'It's Alright'. Released in October 1976. No Single.
1978 NEVER SAY DIE
All songs written by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler,
Bill Ward. Released in October 1978. First single: NEVER SAY DIE,
second single: Hard Road.
(BLACK SABBATH BEGINS TO SLOWLY BREAKUP STARTING WITH OZZY)
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1980 HEAVEN AND HELL
Music written and arranged by Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio,
Tony Iommi, Bill Ward. Lyrics by Ronnie James Dio. Released in April
1980 UK and May 1980 USA. First Single: Neon Knights, Second Single:
Die Young.
1981 MOB RULES
Music written and arranged by Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio,
Tony Iommi. Lyrics by Ronnie James Dio. Released in October 1981 UK
and November 1981 USA. First Single: MOB RULES, Second Single: Turn
Up The Night.
1983 BORN AGAIN
All songs written by Ian Gillan, Bill Ward, Tony Iommi, Geezer
Butler except for "Hot Line" and "Keep It Warm" written by Ian
Gillan, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler. Released in August 1983. No single.
1986 SEVENTH STAR
Music and lyrics by Tony Iommi. Additional lyrics by Geoff Nicholls,
Jeff Glixman and Glenn Hughes. Released in February 1986. Single:
No Stranger To Love.
1987 ETERNAL IDOL
All tracks by Tony Iommi. Released in November 1987. No single.
1989 HEADLESS CROSS
All tracks written by BLACK SABBATH (Tony Iommi, Geoff Nicholls, Tony
Martin, Laurence Cottle). Release date: 24th April 1989 (Europe). First
Single: HEADLESS CROSS, second single: Devil And Daughter/Call Of The
Wild (Germany). Guest star is Brian May (Queen) on "When Death Calls".
1990 TYR
All songs by BLACK SABBATH (Tony Iommi, Geoff Nicholls, Tony Martin,
Neil Murray, Cozy Powell). Lyrics by Tony Martin. All arrangements by BLACK
SABBATH. Release date: 20th August 1990. Single: Feels Good To Me.
1992 DEHUMANIZER
All songs written by Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi.
Release date: 22th June 1992. First single: TV Crimes, second single:
MASTER OF INSANITY (Germany).
1994 CROSS PURPOSES
All songs written by Geezer Butler, Tony Martin, Tony Iommi.
Eddie Van Halen has co-written "Evil Eye". Release date: 31th
January 1994. No single.
1996 FORBIDDEN
All songs by BLACK SABBATH. Lyrics by Tony Martin except lyrics by Tony Martin and Ice T.
February 1996. Single: Guilty as Hell.
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HIGHEST CHART POSITIONS OF BLACK SABBATH ALBUMS
(UK Germany USA others)
1970 BLACK SABBATH 8 23
1970 PARANOID 1 2 12
1971 MASTER OF REALITY 5 5 8
1972 VOLUME 4 8 13
1974 SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH 4 49 11
1975 SABOTAGE 7 28
1976 WE SOLD OUR SOUL FOR
ROCK'N'ROLL 35
1976 TECHNICAL ECSTASY 13
1978 NEVER SAY DIE 12
1980 HEAVEN AND HELL 9 28
1980 LIVE AT LAST 6
1980 PARANOID (re-issue) 54
1981 MOB RULES 12 29
1983 LIVE EVIL 13 37
1983 BORN AGAIN 4 39
1986 SEVENTH STAR 27
1987 The ETERNAL IDOL 66
1989 HEADLESS CROSS 31 Top 20
1990 Tyr 24 12
1992 DEHUMANIZER 13
1994 CROSS PURPOSES 33
1994 NATIVITY IN BLACK 50 35 (Finland)
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HIGHEST CHART POSITIONS OF BLACK SABBATH SINGLES
(UK Germany USA others)
1970 PARANOID 4 61
1978 NEVER SAY DIE 21
1980 PARANOID (re-issue) TOP 30
1980 Die Young TOP 30
1980 Neon Knights TOP 30
BLACK SABBATH, PARANOID, MASTER OF REALITY, VOLUME 4, SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH
and HEAVEN AND HELL has sold over 1.000.000 units in the USA. MOB RULES has
sold over 500.000 units in the USA.
RESULT ARTIST TITLE CERT DATE AWARD
1 BLACK SABBATH BLACK SABBATH 6/14/71 Gold
2 BLACK SABBATH BLACK SABBATH 10/13/86 Platinum
3 BLACK SABBATH BLACK SABBATH - VOL. 4 11/6/72 Gold
4 BLACK SABBATH BLACK SABBATH - VOL. 4 10/13/86 Platinum
5 BLACK SABBATH HEAVEN AND HELL 1/6/81 Gold
6 BLACK SABBATH HEAVEN AND HELL 5/13/86 Platinum
7 BLACK SABBATH MASTER OF REALITY 9/27/71 Gold
8 BLACK SABBATH MASTER OF REALITY 10/13/86 Platinum
9 BLACK SABBATH MOB RULES 5/13/86 Gold
10 BLACK SABBATH PARANOID 5/7/71 Gold
11 BLACK SABBATH PARANOID 10/13/86 Multi Platinum 3.00
12 BLACK SABBATH PARANOID 10/13/86 Platinum
13 BLACK SABBATH PARANOID 1/31/95 Multi Platinum 4.00
14 BLACK SABBATH SABBATH, BLOODY SABBATH 3/20/74 Gold
15 BLACK SABBATH SABBATH, BLOODY SABBATH 10/13/86 Platinum
16 BLACK SABBATH WE SOLD OUR SOUL FOR ROCK 'N' ROLL 2/7/80 Gold
17 BLACK SABBATH WE SOLD OUR SOUL FOR ROCK 'N' ROLL 5/13/86 Platinum
18 BLACK SABBATH SABOTAGE 6/16/97 Gold
19 BLACK SABBATH TECHNICAL ECSTASY 6/16/97 Gold
20 BLACK SABBATH NEVER SAY DIE 11/7/97 Gold
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THE FOLLOWING SONGS WERE NEVER PLAYED LIVE BY
BLACK SABBATH BETWEEN 1968 AND 1990
Planet Caravan
FX
St. Vitus Dance
Am I Going Insane (Radio)
She's Gone
Breakout
Wishing Well
Over And Over
Ancient Warrior
Nightmare
Lost Forever
Kill In The Spirit World
Nightwing
Solitude
Who Are You
It's Alright
Air Dance
Swinging The Chain
Walk Away
In Memory
Hard Life To Love
Scarlet Pimpernel
The Eternal Idol
Black Moon
Cloak And Dagger.
(Supertzar, Fluff, E5051, and The Gates Of Hell are only heard at live shows on tape)
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THE FOLLOWING SONGS HAVE NOT BEEN PLAYED LIVE BY
BLACK SABBATH SINCE 1990
Virtual Death
Dying For Love
Back To Eden
Cardinal Sin
Evil Eye
What's The Use
Letters From Earth
Sins Of The Father
Too Late
Buried Alive
Jerusalem
The Battle Of Tyr
Odin's Court
Valhalla
Feels Good to Me
Heaven in Black.
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FAMOUS QUOTES BY BLACK SABBATH MEMBERS
"What happened to TECHNICAL ECSTASY sales wise?"
"I think it entered the Mongolian chart at 301" Ozzy - 1978
"Yeah, I was with Jethro Tull for three weeks, so what?" Tony - 1971
"Why shouldn't I tamper around with SABBATH songs. I'm the
singer now, and forgive me for saying so, I'll do things
my own damn way." Dio - 1980
"Well I quite like him really. But Tony has nicked all my
Sinatra albums. Where do you think he gets all his riffs
from?" Geezer - 1975
"What was your worst nightmare?"
"When Ozzy was in the band -uups- sorry, joking about." Tony - 1990
"We were starving, literally starving. If it hadn't been for
Tony's mum, I don't think we would have survived at all. She
used to make up all the sandwiches and give us cigs." Ozzy - 1985
"People keep calling us a teenybop band, thinking that we only
appeal to people below the age of twenty. It's not true, we
get a lot of heads at our concerts these days. " Geezer - 1972
"I joined the band to travel, not to become a rock and roll
star. I didn't even think about making a record when we made
the first album. I was just pleased to be able to say: 'look
mum, look what I've made - my voice on a piece of plastic
forever'." Ozzy - 1974
When asked what the most outstanding moment in SABBATH's ten
year history was, Geezer replied: "When Villa won the League Cup". 1978
"Geezer's only decision he made was in a restaurant between a
sandwich or a beer." Dio - 1983
"We're never going to split. We couldn't be more together now,
because we love each other and because we dig each others
music both individually and as a group." Bill - 1973
"They say we're a hard band. It makes you sick." Ozzy - 1973
"Geezer's got an incredible mind, he can say things for
everybody that we can't say. Y'know like the words of the
songs - he say's everything for the band." Tony - 1974
"You've got to be a commando to play the States." Bill - 1973
"I've been visiting a psychiatrist for some time now. He plays
mind games. He asks things like 'do you masturbate'? and I say
'do you breathe?'." Ozzy - 1975
"Musically, they are completely uncompromising, and would
rather starve than sell out to more commercial forms of music."
Vertigo Press Release - 1970
Apparently Ozzy once referred to SABBATH Mk.3 as "Geezer Butler
and the three Italians".
Allan Jones a former Melody Maker journalist who once deservedly
left the full weight of a shattering hook from Iommi for
continually slagging SABBATH, once described Tony as looking like
a "gypsy violinist in an Earls Court pizza parlour, or more
accurately, like the Italian contestant in next years Eurovision
Song Contest". No wonder Tony thumped him!
"BLACK SABBATH 1994? Better known as 'Electric SABBATH Orchestra'
or BLACK Purple." Dio - 1983
"So it's great to be able to do this [playing 'SABBATH BLOODY
Sabbabth' live]. I mean even he [Tony Martin] can't sing!" Tony - 1994
"My favorite place to be is in my house. It's what I work for.... I
watch TV a lot and adore my dogs. Over in England I like to take them
out and sit on an old log."
- Ozzy Osbourne
formerly outrageous rocker, in Rolling Stone
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FAMOUS BLACK SABBATH STORIES
THE HAUNTED CASTLE
Famous story that happened during the recordings for 'SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH'
was when BLACK SABBATH went to an old English castle where they planned to
perform and maybe to record a little bit.
Strange things happened in the first night. Ozzy felt asleep in a room with
a fireplace. A piece of burning coal felt off the fireplace and the whole room
starts to burn. Ozzy escaped in the last minute. Later on they saw an unknown
person which walked in a room. They followed him but the room was empty and
only door out was locked from the inside. The Ozzy, Geezer, Bill and Tony
started to tell each other horrifiying stories. In the end all were so scared that they had to leave the castle the same night.
Reference BLACK SABBATH The Story vol 1 video
THE BLACK CAT
The mystical side of BLACK SABBATH often centered around the presence of Geezer
Butler. From a child, Geezer had psychic abilities and many of his dreams would
become reality the next day.
On one occasion during the early '70s when Geezer was heavily into the occult,
Ozzy gave him a hand written book some 400 years old. When Geezer took the
ancient book home he had the most frightening experience of his life. A black cat
just appeared in front of him. As he turned back to the book, he found that it had
simply disappeared. Geezer said "It freaked me out, I knew it wasn't a cat - I knew
what it was".
Reference BSAS Vol 4 p 14.
BRANDS HATCH
After a drunken night out, Ian Gillen decided to race a brand new Granada, belonging
to Paul, the then SABBATH tour manager, around a grand prix go-kart track. After
umpteen laps he struck a rock and flipped the machine over leaving it upside down,
completely written off.
Ian left a note on the message board saying "Dear Paul, I've left the Granada down
on the go-kart track and the keys are in it!" Paul was so angry when he discovered
his pride and joy wrecked that he poured petrol over Ian's boat, set it alight and
torched it in true Hawaiin funeral tradition down a nearby canal!
Reference BSAS Vol 4 p 14.
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UNRELEASED BLACK SABBATH SONGS
"Earth rehearsals",There have been many comments about alleged "Earth Rehearsals" on tape trading lists, but apparently they are a hoax and have nothing to do with Black Sabbath. The only known "Earth" recording is the "Song For Jim" demo.
"SONG FOR JIM", unreleased Earth Demo (previous band before BLACK SABBATH).
Parts can be heard on the "BLACK SABBATH Story Volume I" video!
"THE REBEL" unreleased BLACK SABBATH Demo. This song was written by ex Locomotive
keyboards man Norman Haines. Parts can be heard on the "BLACK SABBATH
Story Volume I" video! Reference BSAS Vol 4 p. 14, "BLACK SABBATH
Story Volume I" video.
"That was dropped on us by Jim Simpson. We hated it. It won't be released.
We have landmines set around Jim's house in case he tries to come out to release it."
- Ozzy when asked by a fan on the 1998 autograph tour for the Reunion release. (BSNL 98)
"THE FALLEN" unreleased from the BORN AGAIN sessions with Ian Gillan on vocals.
Reference BSAS vol 4 p.14.
"THE ETERNAL IDOL DEMOS", unreleased demo with Ray Gillen on vocals. Complete
different mix and song variations. Includes the
whole album except 'SCARLET PIMPERNEL'.
"BLACK MOON", original version, different tempo, mix and lyrics.
This was originally recorded while Sabbath were still with Phonogram.
"HEADLESS CROSS DEMOS", unreleased demo, includes 'HEADLESS CROSS', 'CALL OF
THE WILD' and 'BLACK MOON' in different version.'
SONGS THAT WERE RELEASED BY BLACK SABBATH
"SOME KIND OF WOMAN", super fast song (faster than 'LAWMAKER').
Was released with Black Moon on a 12".
"WHAT'S THE USE", Japanese and U.K. only release. Found on CROSS PURPOSES.
"LOSER GETS IT ALL", Japanese and U.K. only release. Found on FORBIDDEN
and THE SABBATH STONES compilation.
"NOTHING IS EASY" although Martin Barre recorded them for the "STAND UP" album.
Reference BSAS Vol. 3 p.14,Vol. 5 p.8.