Black Sabbath vs Deep Purple

Sabbath. Invented three or four different subgenres of heavy metal with their first few albums, then kicked themselves to the front rank of the NWOBHM during the Dio years. I like some of Purple's stuff, but I've never found any of their albums to be as consistent as Sabbath's best - there always seems to be filler cluttering up the place. (Farmer's Daughter, anyone?)

I gave my vote to Purple but love both, in fact the reason about my vote should be that Purple did more good singles.....

The Dark Elf wrote: Sabbath was much more consistent album-wise over that time period. To be honest, if you have Deep Purple's Made in Japan, that's all you really need from that group.

i agree, even though i was a purple fan in the 70s, even MiJ t hasn't aged well.

Love Purple and have many albums, but Sabbath are my all time favourite band. More original, more exciting, more varied and more progressive. A close contest, but not that close!

Haven't been on here in a long while and I find a discussion on Purple and Sabbath two of the rock bands I grew up with in 1970's onwards. Purple's In Rock for me is the greatest rock album ever it has everything and whilst I love Sabbath's first and Paranoid  nothing touches ' In Rock'  but then again Uriah Heep were better than both of them,ain't that right Mr Easy Living??

DiamondDog wrote: No contest for me - Purple

...is what I would have said some years ago. But I find myself more and more drawn to the doom-gloom and bleak colours of a 70s industrial Birmingham wasteland that formed early Sabbath. Both Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Gillan seems slightly over-the-top and a bit puerile in comparison, but Purple is still wonderful in their own melodic and more playful way.

Tough to decide. Both are seminal bands.  

Purple v Sabbath - well let's see

Sabbath has the superior riffage.

Sabbath. I love Jon Lord's hammond organ playing, but overall Sabbath has better songs, better riffs and was more influential.

Child in Time