VOLUME FOUR

Ah, Black Sabbath, the antithesis of good in music. Excuse me, antithesis of good.

I won't try to go into deeper analysis of which song particularly influenced what in a days to come (like I know), or which song might be squeezed under the prog rock blanket: this is simply an outstanding rock album (metal album, let's say it) which solid songs, solid as a rock, but they're also clever and enjoyable. In a word, they're good, without any excuses.

Multi-part "Wheels Of Confusion" with science fiction atmosphere (and their song closest to prog IMHO), catchy "Tomorrow's Dream", Mellotron laden ballad "Changes", short and scary, sound effect "FX", again catchy hard rock/metal "Supernaut"...the same goes for "Snowblind" , "Cornucopia" & "St. Vitus Dance","Under The Sun" oh what an intro. All that doom started here, listen you will find SEPULTURA and hundreds of others - but that is a sidenote - because the song counts, and they are unique. "Laguna Sunrise" , gorgeous acoustic instrumental (with some keys)...it seems out of place on the album, just like "Changes", right? Well, yes and no, it belongs to the spirit of band's experimentation, show also a brighter side of Sabbath and...actually justifies the overall dark picture of album.

In a word, this is intelligent hard rock. Give it a try if you didn't yet, because it's worth it. If you're more into it, you'll probably agree with my rating without much explanation...