Uncover the untold stories behind Black Sabbath's iconic 70s classics. Featuring exclusive interviews with Ozzy, Tony, Geezer, and Bill. Celebrate the resurgence of Ozzy Osbourne, the true Prince of Darkness.
Classic Rock Special: Sabbath & Ozzy
Editor’s Note
THE BIRTH OF BLACK SABBATH • In February 1970, Black Sabbath released their self-titled debut album. This is how four men from Birmingham changed the world.
THE DARK AGES • War, madness, nuclear holocaust – Black Sabbath’s second album, Paranoid, captured the spirit of the times and razed the rock’n’roll landscape.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE • Black Sabbath’s first two albums might have patented metal, but Master Of Reality perfected it, spawning a thousand sub-genres in the process.
THE BOLD TYPE • How Master Of Reality’s artwork came to define Black Sabbath
“I HAD NO IDEA I WAS GOING TO LAST AS LONG AS I HAVE.” • In 2008, Classic Rock gave Ozzy Osbourne a Living Legend Award at the magazine’s awards ceremony. We sat down with the man himself to look back over his life and career.
Going 4 It... • Exhausted and near breaking point, Black Sabbath were hardly ready to start recording a new album. But with a driven Tony Iommi pushing them on and a mountain of narcotics fuelling the slog, they ended up with the classic Vol 4.
THE BAND THAT MADE METAL A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH
bloody hell • Write some songs, get into studio, come out with an album – it had worked before, but when it came to making the follow-up to Vol. 4, Black Sabbath couldn’t even get started. “We’d spend all day farting about and end up with nothing usable.” This is the story of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.
WHEELS OF CONFUSION • For some connoisseurs, Black Sabbath’s greatest album is 1975’s Sabotage, an insanely experimental epic made while they were at war with their manager, unravelling mentally and “flying high, high, high”.
“THEY MARKED OUT THEIR TERRITORY.” • Gene Simmons reveals what happened when Sabbath took Kiss on tour in 1975.
THE MIND-BLOWING STORY OF ROCK’S GREATEST DECADE
“You have disagreements over the years, hurtful things get said, but it all gets sorted in the end” • From knife-carrying gang member to heavy metal pioneer and rock icon with Black Sabbath, and triumphs and tragedy along the way, life has had its heaven and hell moments for Tony Iommi.
METAL GURU • Five great unsung Iommi riffs.
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ELECTRIC FUNERAL • Black Sabbath had roared through the 70s, steamrolling everything in front of them – but booze, drugs and business issues were catching up with them. This is how Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die! marked the end of the original line-up.
CARRY ON SCREAMING! • In 1979, Ozzy Osbourne had been booted out of Black Sabbath and was in bad shape. The future looked bleak – but then he met hotshot guitarist Randy Rhoads and made Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman, the albums that would save his career.
“I’M NOT INTO METAL” • Who’s the kid on the Diary Of A Madman sleeve? That’ll be Ozzy’s son, Louis.
BORN AGAIN • How Black Sabbath lost Ozzy and recruited Ronnie James Dio to make Heaven And Hell, the album that saved them.
GEEZER BUTLER • He went from the suburbs of Birmingham to performing on the world’s biggest stages, helping invent heavy metal along the way. Black Sabbath’s bassist and lyricist looks back on a crazy journey involving defecating singers, religious fanaticism, intra-band bust-ups and a lifelong struggle with depression.
Rock Star. Survivor. Madman. Legend. • From drugs, despondency and dead bats to changing the face of modern metal and gaining unlikely celebrity status, this is the rollercoaster story of Ozzy Osbourne’s solo career.
THE SECOND COMING OF...