VOLUME FOUR

By the time the band was recording this fourth release their idea pool began to run dry. Of course there wasn't much of a departure from the Black Sabbath formula set on their previous releases so Vol 4 still manages to hold its own between two juggernaut releases that surround it.

Wheels Of Confusion/The Straightener is easily the weakest album-opener among the first six albums even though The Straightener part of the song does save it from becoming completely uninteresting. Unfortunately the weak opening track sets a mood for the rest of the material which means that we get songs that aren't on par with the past achievements but, at the same time, not uninspired enough to be tossed aside as complete filler. Tomorrow's Dream is a good example of that particular phenomenon that we will hear more of later on.

Other than that, Vol 4 is primarily known for the highly enjoyable rockers like Supernaut and Snowblind, the semi-cheesy Changes and... FX. That last one is a track that always made me wonder what those guys were smoking when they recorded it! I guess it's clear that I'm not that enthusiastic about this album and the reason for that is the lack of new ideas from the band members. After all, they were still only in the beginning of their career and it's uncommon for a band to lose their spark on a fourth album, especially since the previous release was a complete masterpiece! Luckily, Black Sabbath managed to the regroup and release another pair of excellent albums before relapsing into another phase of weakness with results that can be considered mediocre at best!

Vol 4 is definitely not as bad as some of the later Ozzy-era albums would get but that's really not an excuse enough to make up for the fact that this record is somewhat of a black sheep of the family.

***** star songs: Snowblind (5:31)

**** star songs: Wheels Of Confusion/The Straightener (8:14) Changes (4:46) Supernaut (4:45) Cornucopia (3:54) Laguna Sunrise (2:53) Under The Sun/Every Day Comes And Goes (5:50)

*** star songs: Tomorrow's Dream (3:12) FX (1:43) St. Vitus Dance (2:29)