"Blow On the Jug." The story is that Sabbath played a gig with the opening act being just a guy blowing on a jug. They were very impressed and when they were recording the Sabotage album, Bill and Ozzy just started jamming on a song they made up on the spot. The engineer recorded it and slipped it in at the end. That's Bill on the piano.
that was on the first Summerjam..and the crowd went bonkers when Mungo Jerry was playing In the Summertime,,, with one of the bandmembers blowing in a jug for that typical sound. Not their opening act, but just one of the acts that got to play before them. Black Sabbath thought is was some sort of competition, and thought it was weird that a band blowing on jugs got the crowd wild.
@@Heathcoatman Hell yeah. Had it since 1975 when I was 14. Rocked out to it all these years. Got the old vinyl and later got the CD. Masterpieces indeed!
Along side sabbath bloody sabbath has to be..Sabotage put the cherry on the cake..brought the 2 albums after and left them..had to..too rainbow priest,imo..I tried.
6 completely solid albums in a row makes them legendary. I like some things on their last 2 albums but the first 6 are unquestionably great. This song is further proof Ozzy is a great singer with a unique voice and persona. It's very few bands that can compare to this success.
"Technical Ecstasy" & "Never Say Die" don't get the credit they both deserve- after "Sabotage" they really had to struggle in order to keep coming up with fresh musical ideas. It ain't easy by a long shot : great songs don't grow on trees !!!
Black Sabbath: biggest, best, most influential band in the history of Rock and Heavy Metal. Mainly for their sacred albums from the 70s. In addition to the exceptional records with Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Tony Martin.
Best vocal performance of Ozzy's career, hands down. Definitely a Top 5 Sabbath song, for me, and far and away my favorite Sab album. So happy you finally got to this one. Loved how much you got into the track. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is waiting for you. You will not be disappointed.
This is exactly what I said to some friends recently, because this is personal; Sabbath were being ripped off by TWO sets of lawyers and Ozzy was ANGRY, evident on this and 'Megalomania'.
Was going to comment about it being Ozzy’s best vocal performance but I’ll just agree with your comment. Fantastic album by my favourite has to go to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the first album I ever bought with money saved from delivering newspapers as a very young lad.
Picked up this cassette as a preteen in a $1 bin. Didn’t know much about Sabbath, but even as a kid, I knew this was greatness. Now at the age of 55, they are hands down my favorite band. The Ozzy years were 🔥
Singer here. Yes, that was Ozzy doubling his vocal an octave lower. I believe this album was the first time he did it (it actually was in Megalomania, too), and it became a trick he leaned heavily into during his solo career, especially as he aged. Adds so much depth to the sound.
@@FamilleTraub Slowing the tape like that also makes it play back at half the speed. Modern technology can drop the pitch like that without affecting the BPM, but mid-70s tech wasn't capable of that, at least not with something as intricate as vocals. Varying tape speed was used back then, but typically what you'd do is set the tape faster or slower and record a take to that backing track. Then when you brought the speed back to normal you'd have a perfectly synced track that would be pitch shifted. To do that on this song, you'd need Ozzy to sing twice as fast as normal, so you could speed it up and have him an octave lower. That's a big ask. So, I would be surprised if it were anything other than him just singing down the octave, which is totally in his range.
Geezer is very fond of a wah pedal, usually just left cocked. Ozzy wrote the lyrics on this one - a love letter to Patrick Meehan (bad manager). Another Sabbath album with at least 3 masterpieces on. What a band. "Blow On A Jug' - by Ozzy and Bill :)
Really? Ozzy wrote the lyrics for this one? I wasn't aware of that and I'm surprised to learn that. The lyrics are quite a similar style in general to what/how Geezer was writing during this period.
@@montag4516 Yeah in his book Ozzy said that writing this song is one of the few things he can truly say he's proud of from around this time due to his personal issues. Geezer may have polished it up a bit though.
@@montag4516in Tony's autobiography he said ozzy wrote some of the lyrics for this song, I wouldn't be surprised if geezer wrote most of it. Ozzy definitely wasn't a great songwriter so I'd find it very surprising if he wrote the majority of this so in inclined to believe tony
I've been loving this Sabbath rabbit hole you've been on! Ah, the countless hours as a youngster playing along with Sabbath cassette tapes. Who better to learn from than the riff master himself. 🤘
Great to see your reaction to this Sabs classic Andrew. The lyrics are especially scathing of their ex manager. Please check out Hole in the sky, also from Sabotage next……an absolute monster!
I really like the first half of The Thrill of it All off this album (great groove with Ozzy in prime form). Symptom of the Universe and Hole in the Sky are killer tunes.
Black Sabbath: biggest, best, most influential band in the history of Rock and Heavy Metal. Mainly for their sacred albums from the 70s. In addition to the exceptional records with Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Tony Martin. Greetings from Brazil!
Sabotage is my favorite Sabbath album from the Ozzy era followed by Sabbath Bloody Sabbath as a close second. Ozzy's vocals on The Writ sound "manic" for lack of a better word. You can almost hear the cocaine coursing through his veins on this track. Brilliant!
Great reaction as always, Andrew! This is a great song, aimed at their ex-manager who was embroiled in lawsuits with the band at the time (hence the title of "The Writ"; a reference to being served with legal papers) over ripping off the band. The key lyric here is "Of all the promises that never came true you're gonna get what is coming to you." More important than anything else, though, is that Tony Iommi is the tough guy sitting down!! The guy standing up dressed up is Geezer! "Blow on a Jug" was originally not intended to be on the album, but was added as a bit of sarcastic fun after being recorded with Bill and Ozzy screwing around. At a 1970 festival, Sabbath, Free and Traffic were all upstaged by Mungo Jerry literally blowing on jugs, so this is a joking song about that, haha! I'm sure the bass effect is at least a wahwah, probably supplemented by something like a flanger or a phaser.
I already was listening to Sabbath when I was 15 years old but.. I was 19 years old when I first listened to this album(the original vinyl owned by my friend's dad). This was early 90's. and I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was like "Wait!!... Are you telling me that Symptom of The Universe was written and recorded in 1975???!! You gotta be kidding me!!". Still to this day I feel like this album is one of those where time stands still. It never gets old. Same thing with Paranoid. Those albums are Ageless. A lot of musicians, music historians and critics claim that Sabotage is the first ever Prog Metal Album. And I have to agree.
I heard it in 1975 ,I was 13 and instantly fell in love with the bands sound. My parents listened to Elvis, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Sly & Family Stone, Motown, and I really enjoyed that music...,but SABOTAGE WAS ANOTHER BEAST that got into my soul and has never left. BLACK SABBATH BECAME MY FAVORITE BAND & SABOTAGE BECAME MY FAVORITE ALBUM . AND 47 YEARS LATER NOTHING HAS CHANGED Except my age! 🤘🗣💨🤘
For me he started to get too high (probably in more ways than one) and a bit whiney starting with Technical Ecstasy. The albums after this are still good, but here, he's perfect.
Hi Andrew, that ending part on the writ is called (BLOW ON THE JUG) that is OZZY & BILL WARD just drunk & screwing around on the piano ,I've read somewhere that Ozzy & BILL where best of friends and drinking buddies and one of the producers was in the studio and heard them messing around so he decided to hit the record button and happened to catch this little ditti and put it on the album (just like the Beatles did with It's Her Majesty on the Abby Road Album)
This morning I put "Technical Ecstacy" (the album subsequent to Sabotage) on the turntable for the first time in ages, and was pretty much stunned by Geezer's bass. This is an album I bought on the day it was released and did play quite often despite its rather bright and sibilant production. However, with some major recent upgrades to the system (around £4k on the phono stage and amps) the detail is flooding out now. All of the albums are being revisited 😄 Definitely worth you checking a few tracks.
Soundgarden covered "Into the Void", but with different lyrics. Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Nirvana were all huge Sabbath fans. Alice bass player was in Ozzy's band when he joined Alice in Chains and Jerry Cantrell wrote a couple of songs for Ozzy. Jerry used Mike Bordin (Faith No More) and Robert Trujillo (Metallica) for a solo album when both of those guys were still In Ozzy's band.
It's so good to see that you are getting the Sabbath bug. I first heard them in '77 and have been one of my 2 favourite bands (with Jethro Tull) since that time. They really do get under the skin - 4 individuals whom together just produced musical magic for 8 marvellous years. One of my lifetime ambitions was to see the fab foursome perform together, but had given up by the early nineties. So you can imagine my joy when they reformed for the two Reunion concerts in 1999 @ Birmingham NEC!!! I went to both nights. I was worried how Bill would do because of his health problems, but I needn't have worried. They were SUPERB. I haven't seen any of the various other 'farewell' gigs since then & I'm not interested unless Bill Ward returns to the drumkit. Thanks again for the reactions.
You pretty much nailed it. Sabbath was dealing with a lot of legal issues with their former manager at the time of this albums creation, and I believe had to record this album entirely at night while they spent their days in court. That's why you can both hear and feel the passion and anger both in the bands playing and Ozzy's singing. They were all pretty pissed about the situation and felt like they were being well... Sabotaged, hence the name of the album. Speaking of Ozzy's singing, this album has THE best vocal performances of his entire career. The song is essentially an attack on their former managed and lyrically this might be my favorite Sabbath track. "Rob the dead, they don't feel a thing, leave the living for another day" is such a good line. God I love this album.
You are correct sir, also I saw an interview of Ozzy about what was going on and he said I'm not a lawyer I'm a singer and I just want to sing rock n roll and make people happy 🤘
It's blow on a jug. Bill on piano w Ozzy singing . It was something they used to do stoned for fun. Wasn't originally part of the tune. The engineer recorded them doing it and added it in without their knowing. Bill refers to that part as "that fucking song".
Definitely Ozzy's high point as a vocalist. I had heard that Bill was actually threatened to be kicked out of the band while they were recording Sabotage - he, like all of them, was so out of his mind on coke that he had a hard time restraining himself on a lot of the mid tempo straight forward parts, he basically was throwing drum solos into every song and speeding up the tempos. In any event, probably their creative height as a band.
One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite Sabbath albums. I believe the effect on the bass is an envelope follower. The dynamics and attack of the bass triggers it and it could be used with either a phase shifter or flanger. I love how the low level of the bass forces the listener to turn up the volume, only to get hit with a wall of sound, when the band kicks in.
I am loving watching and listening to your reactions to Black Sabbath, every video. The Sabotage album is just amazing, if you react to Hole In The Sky, you should let it run into Don’t Start Too Late and Symptom Of The Universe, I know you’ve already done SOTU a couple of times, but these three songs flow into each other (on the original vinyl album), you won’t be disappointed!
Hope you check also out stuff from Ward´s first solo album "Ward One: Along the Way", it has some great songs, "Bombers (Can Open Bomb Bays)" and "Jack's Land" for example, both with Ozzy on vocals and killing it as often, but overall a very interesting album, his second solo album "When the Bough Brakes" is damn fine too even though he does not play drums on that one himself.
I'd like to see your take on 'Dirty women' or 'Gypsy' from the Technical ecstasy album, it's a treasure trove of emotional Sabbath material - my favourite Sabbath album.
Backstreet Kids - It's okay, horrible synths (Sabbra Cadabra did it tastefully) You won't change me - Pretty good, a little piercing production-wise It's alright - Bit weak, love the middle section riff Gypsy - Weak, corny lyrics All moving parts - Weird lyrics, good riffs, horrible synths return Rock n roll doctor - Not great, cheesy, horrible synths again She's gone - A pretty song but not sure I believe it Dirty women - Pretty good. The drums sound weird too 6.75 out of 10
Hole in the Sky and Symptom of the Universe need to be heard. I love how they end the song with some hope and happiness after spewing their hatred of their manager for the first part of the song.
Sabotage remains my favorite album for this song and Megalomania.... Amazing works of art... Ozzy is the greatest vocalist of all time for me. This album had the most dynamics of all albums, and thats saying a lot when it comes to Sabbath
I listened to all the Sabbath you do but don't think i have heard you do Fairies Wear Boots or Electric Funeral. Those 2 are must listen. You are doing a great job, keep it up!
The great "Blow on the Jug" is Bill Ward singing and playing piano. Apparently they're mocking a guy who used to blow into some empty bottles at concerts and people thought it was amazing. They didn't know that it was recorded and never meant for it to be released.
Bought a cheap Sabbath best of,I think it was called The Collection part 2,on Castle records in 1985 when I was 15. When this song hit my ears there was a definite sea change in my listening habits. Up until then it was all about KISS. Sabbath and The Writ in particular did something to my brain that I've thankfully never recovered from. I'd heard Sabbath before from my older brother but didnt take much notice. Its as if I have a BS and AS to me ( Before Sabbath vs After Sabbath ). It was really cool seeing your first reaction to this song. I've hipped quite a few people to the song over the years and its always cool to see minds blown. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Cheers
Just gonna say, I love these Sabbath reviews. You've done almost all my favorites from the Ozzy years this far. Overdubbing started right at the first record. Iommi did two solos on top of each other right from the very first records so that the guitars sounded full. Geezer and Bill Ward are a monster rhythm section. Thanks for what you do. Cheers from Maine US
Great to hear your reaction to this, but bear in mind, when most of us first heard these songs, we were stoned and completely immersed. Once again I recommend this album as a complete work, in order
The Bass effect in the opening back in my day could be duplicated by a stomp pedal called bassballs. I saved up and bought one just for this song. It was awesome.
Been loving your reactions, I have been a Sabbath fan since like 81, 12 years old for me, I am also a bass player, and always thought it was just a phaser that was on the bass. A good friend, and much more experienced musician, informed me that it is a parapedal. They are no longer made but it was a cross between a wah and a phaser. I was part right haha. I checked it out on UA-cam videos and it sounds right to me.
Yeah Blow on a Jug isn’t a part of the song at all. It is a hidden “song” added only many years later on the remaster I believe. Yes, Ozzy wrote the lyrics and I love how venomous the delivery is. Thanks Andrew. Hole in the Sky and Thrill of it All are pure Sabbath classic as well.
Wrong! Blow on the Jug was on the original 1975 vinyl album that I bought in 1975 when I was 13 years old ( it was my very first BLACK SABBATH ALBUM that I ever heard because,my cousin who was 14 played it for me. Then he played Toccata from ELP's album Brain Salad Surgery
I hear Phaser on the intro bass. And phaser with wah or auto wah on the next bass solo. There may be chorus but I can't tell. I've tried with and without and it's a minimal difference. Hopefully someone will have some more to add. ✌️🧡🤗
IMO one of the best B.S. albums, Ozzy the best front man EVER and the riff master Tony, and the Geezer smashing the bass. Not to forget Big bang Bill pounding out the beat. Pound for pound the best band ever graced us with their brilliance.
I got this album in 75 just join the Marines a big Sabbath fan Sabotage by very favorite album by Sabbath I've got them all the Writ is my favorite on this one Bloody Sabbath the album before would be National acrobat you want to dig deep for Sabbath those two songs on those two albums is the best you can get absolutely pure masterpieces without a doubt
1975. ..Sabotage Tour. My first concert. On Ozzy's Birthday. December 3rd . Madison Square Garden. Aerosmith opened and I didn't even know who they were.
1975 Dec 7th Greensboro NC with Ruby Starr and Savoy Brown opened up for Sabbath. Tony Iommi played a brilliant guitar solo that evening even though they were not happy about the way Savoy Brown were booed by the restless crowd waiting for Sabbath .
I'm pretty sure the lyrics are directed toward the former record label and management of the band in the earlier days where they screwed them over. Basically where the original 4 didn't even own the rights to the first 6 albums, paid pennies for the music they created, and paid pennies for tours they did. Eventually, they had to pay the former manager off which I'm sure was a vast amount of money leaving them with next to nothing.
Their manager cheated them out of ownership of their songs...Ozzy wrote all the lyrics for this song...angry!!!...lawyers were in the studio observing the recording sessions...I don't know if they had broke free of the contracts at this point...
“Blow on a jug” Ozzy and Bill being on their way to another planet - sort of. “Sabotage” were Sabbath at their peak. The parameter from where other hard rock bands are measured.
Andrew, you really need to give Deep Purple (and Ian Paice) a good solid listen, as well. I guarantee you'll come to the same conclusion you came with regards to Bill Ward. I know you've reacted to a couple of their songs and some covers of their songs, but there's a WHOLE lot more to explore from their catalogue. Just as Sabbath is the precursor to the heavier sub-genres of metal, so is Deep Purple the precursor to metal's more melodic sub-genres.
At my age, discovery of hard rock led me to regard Purple as one of the '3' alongside Sabbath and Zeppelin. I still remember 1st time hearing Ian Paice's single kick speed during his solo on MULE from the Made in Japan live album. I should add ZZ Top soon after . . . .
Yes, 'In Rock' would be a treat for Paicie' affectionardo's!....Child in time, Flight of the Rat, Living Wreck ( which they almost did not out on the album (!)
The hidden track at the end is "blow on a jug" you can hear Bill a bit at the end. If you wanna hear him sing try "it's alright" from Technical ecstasy, or just his solo work (with Ozzy on vocals) with bombers can open bombays.
Section starting at 8:49 sounds a lot like 'Only Women Bleed' from Alice Cooper's 'Welcome To My Nightmare' album. Both Sabotage and Welcome To My Nightmare were released in 1975. Genius struck twice.
That’s Geezer in the blue coat and white pants. Tony is seated. Give a listen to Looking for Today off of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Love the drumming on that song. I truly enjoying your ongoing deep dive on Sab. My all time favorite band since ‘73
I discovered Sabotage among my older brother’s records when I was around 12-13 (44 now) and it changed my life forever, I was like “wtf is that”, it blew my head off right away. It’s by far my favourite Black Sabbath (although the first 5 are also solid 10’s) and their heaviest as well.
Ozzy sang perfectly for early Sabbath. He was definitely not the technically best singer, but the work with his voice he was able to put in was brilliant and he actually had decent vocal range. Same goes for his solo career.
I don’t really understand what you mean when you say he’s not technically the best singer, compared to what? Ozzy’s a phenomenal singer. Check out the Paris live performances. Who wants to hear an opera singer? Not me. Ozzy’s distinctive and original.
I get you but I think it’s more that he’s not as conventional as those two but when you listen to early Sabbath and the peak of Ozzy’s vocals on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, his vocals and range are phenomenal, so I would argue he’s just as great technically. He’s also superb at the eerie Ballads with Sabbath, showing his amazing range.
@@richardfairlamb9728 You're absolutely correct. I'd rather listen to Ozzy then any "classically trained" singer he thinks is good. Ozzy is very passionate with great melodies. I guess OP doesn't hold soulful and bluesy singers in high regard. That takes technique.
@@zdenkonouzovsky6947 I prefer Ozzy to Dio and Gillian. I like how Ozzy sounds more then Dio and I think Gillian is a bit overrated. If not a lot overrated.
Yep, 'Blow on the Jug' was a satire song based on an opening act in a German festival in 1970 I believe. Ozzy and Geezer was stunned by what they witnessed. The mini song appears on some album pressings of Sabotague but mostly appears in Deluxe and Box Sets. On a side note the southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas and others often used the jug as an extra instrument.
I’m pretty sure the story of their outfits is that they didn’t know they were going to pose for the album cover and were wearing “everyday” clothes they just happened to have on at the time (questionable style, but hey, they were rockstars!)😆
the writ is another epic song off of sabotage great closer for sabotage as far as drumming i would go with the thrill of it all after symptom of the universe for wards drum fills on sabotage
I'm very late, but I haven't seen anyone else say it. As far as I know, the only effect on the bass is a wah pedal, which Geezer helped pioneer on bass with N.I.B. Perhaps there's a chorus or flange effect, but the core of the sound you hear is a wah/envelope filter.
I'm sure it's already been mentioned but this is about the writ served on the band by Patrick Meehan, their manager until he was fired in 1975. His father was also involved, hence the "A poisoned father who has poisoned his son" lyric. The bit at the start, with the hysterical manic laughter and the slowed-down baby crying, and the Jew's (or Jaw's) harp all go towards making this one of their most outstanding masterpieces.
Blow on the Jug is Ozzy and Bill both drunk, Bill on the piano. Black Sabbath was asked to play a festival which turned out to be the first Summerjam..and the crowd went bonkers when Mungo Jerry was playing In the Summertime,,, with one of the bandmembers blowing in a jug for that typical sound. Not their opening act, but just one of the acts that got to play before them. Black Sabbath thought is was some sort of competition, and thought it was weird that a band blowing on jugs got the crowd wild.
9:50 thats geezer youre pointing out with the cursor while calling him tony iommi. tony is seated. hair style through you off i imagine, at one point or another 3 of the 4 had the hair and mustache look that GEEZER has here.(never ozzy).
"Blow On the Jug." The story is that Sabbath played a gig with the opening act being just a guy blowing on a jug. They were very impressed and when they were recording the Sabotage album, Bill and Ozzy just started jamming on a song they made up on the spot. The engineer recorded it and slipped it in at the end. That's Bill on the piano.
Munjo Jerry British rock band. In the Summertime.
that was on the first Summerjam..and the crowd went bonkers when Mungo Jerry was playing In the Summertime,,, with one of the bandmembers blowing in a jug for that typical sound. Not their opening act, but just one of the acts that got to play before them. Black Sabbath thought is was some sort of competition, and thought it was weird that a band blowing on jugs got the crowd wild.
It was an electric jug. Pretty strange.
"Sabotage" is my favorite Black Sabbath album. It totally rocks. Love it! 😎👍
Easily their best (IMO). Symptom, The Writ, Hole in the Sky, The Thrill of it All. Just all masterpieces.
@@Heathcoatman Hell yeah. Had it since 1975 when I was 14. Rocked out to it all these years. Got the old vinyl and later got the CD. Masterpieces indeed!
The heaviest album they put out. Deep lyrics.
Absofuckinlutely. BEST Sabbath Album.
Along side sabbath bloody sabbath has to be..Sabotage put the cherry on the cake..brought the 2 albums after and left them..had to..too rainbow priest,imo..I tried.
This album in my opinion never gets the respect it deserves. I love it
Always 1 album like that.
6 completely solid albums in a row makes them legendary. I like some things on their last 2 albums but the first 6 are unquestionably great. This song is further proof Ozzy is a great singer with a unique voice and persona. It's very few bands that can compare to this success.
100% with you!
Agreed!
I really like Technical Ecstasy, great riffs, and great drums. Probably, their most experimental of that era.
"Technical Ecstasy" & "Never Say Die" don't get the credit they both deserve- after "Sabotage" they really had to struggle in order to keep coming up with fresh musical ideas. It ain't easy by a long shot : great songs don't grow on trees !!!
Black Sabbath: biggest, best, most influential band in the history of Rock and Heavy Metal. Mainly for their sacred albums from the 70s. In addition to the exceptional records with Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Tony Martin.
Two most influential bands of all time. The Beatles and Black Sabbath 👍
Best vocal performance of Ozzy's career, hands down. Definitely a Top 5 Sabbath song, for me, and far and away my favorite Sab album.
So happy you finally got to this one. Loved how much you got into the track.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is waiting for you. You will not be disappointed.
This is exactly what I said to some friends recently, because this is personal; Sabbath were being ripped off by TWO sets of lawyers and Ozzy was ANGRY, evident on this and 'Megalomania'.
Was going to comment about it being Ozzy’s best vocal performance but I’ll just agree with your comment. Fantastic album by my favourite has to go to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the first album I ever bought with money saved from delivering newspapers as a very young lad.
💯
My favorite ozzy sabbath song
The deep cry it opens with is Ozzy's son from his first marriage, and his cry is slowed down to make it deeper.
OMG that's haunting
I NEVER HEARD THAT LOUIS OSBOURNE WAS EVER A VOCALIST OR HAVING A DEEP CRY...I CALL FALSE...
@@fasteddie777666tony said in his autobiography that the laughs and crystal were on some old tapes they found in the studio
Yeah that was not Ozzy's kid. Just a random tape they found in the studio, slowed way down.
This song really sounds like the band jamming and grooving and just letting Ozzy vent all of his anger on the mic. Very much an atomic blues piece.
The ending is like a hammer
So evil so dark and honest..best band the world has ever seen period
Saw this tour, and they were monsters on stage. Unbelievable.
Picked up this cassette as a preteen in a $1 bin. Didn’t know much about Sabbath, but even as a kid, I knew this was greatness. Now at the age of 55, they are hands down my favorite band. The Ozzy years were 🔥
This was a fantastic album, but not their best. In their pomp Black Sabbath were the greatest band on earth
I think this is my favorite Sabbath album
A different a fenomenal drummer
A different a spectacular bass
A creator a great guitar a strong voice sabbath is all in one
Singer here. Yes, that was Ozzy doubling his vocal an octave lower. I believe this album was the first time he did it (it actually was in Megalomania, too), and it became a trick he leaned heavily into during his solo career, especially as he aged. Adds so much depth to the sound.
I've been told (by another Sabbath diehard/music engineer) that the doubled vocal is just Ozzy with the tape slowed down to make it lower..
@@FamilleTraub Slowing the tape like that also makes it play back at half the speed. Modern technology can drop the pitch like that without affecting the BPM, but mid-70s tech wasn't capable of that, at least not with something as intricate as vocals. Varying tape speed was used back then, but typically what you'd do is set the tape faster or slower and record a take to that backing track. Then when you brought the speed back to normal you'd have a perfectly synced track that would be pitch shifted.
To do that on this song, you'd need Ozzy to sing twice as fast as normal, so you could speed it up and have him an octave lower. That's a big ask. So, I would be surprised if it were anything other than him just singing down the octave, which is totally in his range.
of course he sang an octave lower, lisyen to solitude
@@GregMcNeish
he did it on some songs on Sabbath bloddy sabbath to
exactly
Andrew, to fully appreciate these Black Sabbath songs, you have to listen to the complete album from start to finish...
Geezer is very fond of a wah pedal, usually just left cocked.
Ozzy wrote the lyrics on this one - a love letter to Patrick Meehan (bad manager).
Another Sabbath album with at least 3 masterpieces on. What a band.
"Blow On A Jug' - by Ozzy and Bill :)
Really? Ozzy wrote the lyrics for this one? I wasn't aware of that and I'm surprised to learn that. The lyrics are quite a similar style in general to what/how Geezer was writing during this period.
@@montag4516 Yeah in his book Ozzy said that writing this song is one of the few things he can truly say he's proud of from around this time due to his personal issues. Geezer may have polished it up a bit though.
@@montag4516in Tony's autobiography he said ozzy wrote some of the lyrics for this song, I wouldn't be surprised if geezer wrote most of it. Ozzy definitely wasn't a great songwriter so I'd find it very surprising if he wrote the majority of this so in inclined to believe tony
My aunt gave me this album on vinyl in1984 she had bought it new . Awesome channel, im 55 my favorite band ever
Thanks for react to many Sabbath songs! Sabbath for ever!!!
Thanks for recognizing the greatness of Ozzy. He shines in Gypsy too. Cheers!
Yes in Sabbath bloody Sabbath also vocals killing it, and lyrics also, sabotage also has a killer super epic instrumental, supertzar
I've been loving this Sabbath rabbit hole you've been on! Ah, the countless hours as a youngster playing along with Sabbath cassette tapes. Who better to learn from than the riff master himself. 🤘
yup!
Great to see your reaction to this Sabs classic Andrew. The lyrics are especially scathing of their ex manager. Please check out Hole in the sky, also from Sabotage next……an absolute monster!
I really like the first half of The Thrill of it All off this album (great groove with Ozzy in prime form). Symptom of the Universe and Hole in the Sky are killer tunes.
Black Sabbath: biggest, best, most influential band in the history of Rock and Heavy Metal. Mainly for their sacred albums from the 70s. In addition to the exceptional records with Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Tony Martin. Greetings from Brazil!
Sabotage is my favorite Sabbath album from the Ozzy era followed by Sabbath Bloody Sabbath as a close second. Ozzy's vocals on The Writ sound "manic" for lack of a better word. You can almost hear the cocaine coursing through his veins on this track. Brilliant!
Its more the anger i think too.
If you know the thematic of songs, the name of album, the genesis with lawyers in studio
Ozzy has done low and high voices together his whole career. Not every song of course, but definately enough to pick out for sure.
Bass is through a wah-wah pedal. You were pointing to Terry Butler regarding dress code.
Great reaction as always, Andrew! This is a great song, aimed at their ex-manager who was embroiled in lawsuits with the band at the time (hence the title of "The Writ"; a reference to being served with legal papers) over ripping off the band. The key lyric here is "Of all the promises that never came true you're gonna get what is coming to you." More important than anything else, though, is that Tony Iommi is the tough guy sitting down!! The guy standing up dressed up is Geezer! "Blow on a Jug" was originally not intended to be on the album, but was added as a bit of sarcastic fun after being recorded with Bill and Ozzy screwing around. At a 1970 festival, Sabbath, Free and Traffic were all upstaged by Mungo Jerry literally blowing on jugs, so this is a joking song about that, haha! I'm sure the bass effect is at least a wahwah, probably supplemented by something like a flanger or a phaser.
@@jayedwards4787 I didn’t request this. But it is a great request.
I already was listening to Sabbath when I was 15 years old but.. I was 19 years old when I first listened to this album(the original vinyl owned by my friend's dad). This was early 90's. and I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was like "Wait!!... Are you telling me that Symptom of The Universe was written and recorded in 1975???!! You gotta be kidding me!!". Still to this day I feel like this album is one of those where time stands still. It never gets old. Same thing with Paranoid. Those albums are Ageless. A lot of musicians, music historians and critics claim that Sabotage is the first ever Prog Metal Album. And I have to agree.
This is epic
I heard it in 1975 ,I was 13 and instantly fell in love with the bands sound. My parents listened to Elvis, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Sly & Family Stone, Motown, and I really enjoyed that music...,but SABOTAGE WAS ANOTHER BEAST that got into my soul and has never left. BLACK SABBATH BECAME MY FAVORITE BAND & SABOTAGE BECAME MY FAVORITE ALBUM . AND 47 YEARS LATER NOTHING HAS CHANGED Except my age! 🤘🗣💨🤘
Ozzy's vocals really stood out as unique & very interesting here before he went solo.
For me he started to get too high (probably in more ways than one) and a bit whiney starting with Technical Ecstasy. The albums after this are still good, but here, he's perfect.
Hi Andrew, that ending part on the writ is called (BLOW ON THE JUG) that is OZZY & BILL WARD just drunk & screwing around on the piano ,I've read somewhere that Ozzy & BILL where best of friends and drinking buddies and one of the producers was in the studio and heard them messing around so he decided to hit the record button and happened to catch this little ditti and put it on the album (just like the Beatles did with It's Her Majesty on the Abby Road Album)
Hole In The Sky, PLEASE DO NEXT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This morning I put "Technical Ecstacy" (the album subsequent to Sabotage) on the turntable for the first time in ages, and was pretty much stunned by Geezer's bass.
This is an album I bought on the day it was released and did play quite often despite its rather bright and sibilant production. However, with some major recent upgrades to the system (around £4k on the phono stage and amps) the detail is flooding out now. All of the albums are being revisited 😄 Definitely worth you checking a few tracks.
Soundgarden covered "Into the Void", but with different lyrics. Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Nirvana were all huge Sabbath fans. Alice bass player was in Ozzy's band when he joined Alice in Chains and Jerry Cantrell wrote a couple of songs for Ozzy. Jerry used Mike Bordin (Faith No More) and Robert Trujillo (Metallica) for a solo album when both of those guys were still In Ozzy's band.
And Pearl Jam’s Mike Mcready is on Ozzy’s new album. 2nd song. Awesome tune.
@@tidball oh yea, forgot about that. Good call.
@@tidballI've seen vids of pearl jam sneaking in bits of War Pigs into the ending of Evenflow
It's so good to see that you are getting the Sabbath bug. I first heard them in '77 and have been one of my 2 favourite bands (with Jethro Tull) since that time. They really do get under the skin - 4 individuals whom together just produced musical magic for 8 marvellous years. One of my lifetime ambitions was to see the fab foursome perform together, but had given up by the early nineties. So you can imagine my joy when they reformed for the two Reunion concerts in 1999 @ Birmingham NEC!!! I went to both nights. I was worried how Bill would do because of his health problems, but I needn't have worried. They were SUPERB. I haven't seen any of the various other 'farewell' gigs since then & I'm not interested unless Bill Ward returns to the drumkit. Thanks again for the reactions.
You pretty much nailed it. Sabbath was dealing with a lot of legal issues with their former manager at the time of this albums creation, and I believe had to record this album entirely at night while they spent their days in court.
That's why you can both hear and feel the passion and anger both in the bands playing and Ozzy's singing. They were all pretty pissed about the situation and felt like they were being well... Sabotaged, hence the name of the album. Speaking of Ozzy's singing, this album has THE best vocal performances of his entire career.
The song is essentially an attack on their former managed and lyrically this might be my favorite Sabbath track. "Rob the dead, they don't feel a thing, leave the living for another day" is such a good line. God I love this album.
You are correct sir, also I saw an interview of Ozzy about what was going on and he said I'm not a lawyer I'm a singer and I just want to sing rock n roll and make people happy 🤘
Such a unique song. Just blows me away with the unexpected transitions. Incredible
Ozzy always did his own voice doubling. On Black Sabbath as well as on his solo stuff :)
Not on the first sabbath record.
Paranoid maybe too.
@@Nissardpertugiu and who did it there? I mean it didn't even have a lot of effects on the vocals or
It's blow on a jug. Bill on piano w Ozzy singing . It was something they used to do stoned for fun. Wasn't originally part of the tune. The engineer recorded them doing it and added it in without their knowing. Bill refers to that part as "that fucking song".
Definitely Ozzy's high point as a vocalist. I had heard that Bill was actually threatened to be kicked out of the band while they were recording Sabotage - he, like all of them, was so out of his mind on coke that he had a hard time restraining himself on a lot of the mid tempo straight forward parts, he basically was throwing drum solos into every song and speeding up the tempos. In any event, probably their creative height as a band.
One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite Sabbath albums. I believe the effect on the bass is an envelope follower. The dynamics and attack of the bass triggers it and it could be used with either a phase shifter or flanger. I love how the low level of the bass forces the listener to turn up the volume, only to get hit with a wall of sound, when the band kicks in.
I am loving watching and listening to your reactions to Black Sabbath, every video. The Sabotage album is just amazing, if you react to Hole In The Sky, you should let it run into Don’t Start Too Late and Symptom Of The Universe, I know you’ve already done SOTU a couple of times, but these three songs flow into each other (on the original vinyl album), you won’t be disappointed!
Hope you check also out stuff from Ward´s first solo album "Ward One: Along the Way", it has some great songs, "Bombers (Can Open Bomb Bays)" and "Jack's Land" for example, both with Ozzy on vocals and killing it as often, but overall a very interesting album, his second solo album "When the Bough Brakes" is damn fine too even though he does not play drums on that one himself.
I'd like to see your take on 'Dirty women' or 'Gypsy' from the Technical ecstasy album, it's a treasure trove of emotional Sabbath material - my favourite Sabbath album.
The drums are epic on thoses records
Dirty Women is freakin' awesome!
Backstreet Kids - It's okay, horrible synths (Sabbra Cadabra did it tastefully)
You won't change me - Pretty good, a little piercing production-wise
It's alright - Bit weak, love the middle section riff
Gypsy - Weak, corny lyrics
All moving parts - Weird lyrics, good riffs, horrible synths return
Rock n roll doctor - Not great, cheesy, horrible synths again
She's gone - A pretty song but not sure I believe it
Dirty women - Pretty good.
The drums sound weird too
6.75 out of 10
Hole in the Sky and Symptom of the Universe need to be heard. I love how they end the song with some hope and happiness after spewing their hatred of their manager for the first part of the song.
Geezer was known to use a Tycobrahe Parapedal, as did Iommi. I've often wondered if they flipped the pedal backwards when playing it.
Sabotage remains my favorite album for this song and Megalomania.... Amazing works of art... Ozzy is the greatest vocalist of all time for me. This album had the most dynamics of all albums, and thats saying a lot when it comes to Sabbath
HELL YES! IMPORTANT TO HAVE THIS IN YOUR LISTENING HISTORY
Love it
I listened to all the Sabbath you do but don't think i have heard you do Fairies Wear Boots or Electric Funeral. Those 2 are must listen. You are doing a great job, keep it up!
The great "Blow on the Jug" is Bill Ward singing and playing piano. Apparently they're mocking a guy who used to blow into some empty bottles at concerts and people thought it was amazing. They didn't know that it was recorded and never meant for it to be released.
Bought a cheap Sabbath best of,I think it was called The Collection part 2,on Castle records in 1985 when I was 15. When this song hit my ears there was a definite sea change in my listening habits. Up until then it was all about KISS. Sabbath and The Writ in particular did something to my brain that I've thankfully never recovered from. I'd heard Sabbath before from my older brother but didnt take much notice. Its as if I have a BS and AS to me ( Before Sabbath vs After Sabbath ). It was really cool seeing your first reaction to this song. I've hipped quite a few people to the song over the years and its always cool to see minds blown. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Cheers
You bet! 🙏
Great song great reaction. Nobody takes you there like sabbath does.
Yup what a roller coaster
Just gonna say, I love these Sabbath reviews. You've done almost all my favorites from the Ozzy years this far.
Overdubbing started right at the first record. Iommi did two solos on top of each other right from the very first records so that the guitars sounded full.
Geezer and Bill Ward are a monster rhythm section.
Thanks for what you do.
Cheers from Maine US
Great to hear your reaction to this, but bear in mind, when most of us first heard these songs, we were stoned and completely immersed. Once again I recommend this album as a complete work, in order
Imagine being alive in this era of rock I’ll probably be dead but I would have died happy😂 great reaction
Geezer on the left Tony sitting
Yep.
I could watch this over and over and indeed I have.
Me too!👍🏻
the end is blow on the jug, if i remember right, something ozzy and bill ward did for a joke
Thanks Jeff!
The Bass effect in the opening back in my day could be duplicated by a stomp pedal called bassballs. I saved up and bought one just for this song.
It was awesome.
Been loving your reactions, I have been a Sabbath fan since like 81, 12 years old for me, I am also a bass player, and always thought it was just a phaser that was on the bass. A good friend, and much more experienced musician, informed me that it is a parapedal. They are no longer made but it was a cross between a wah and a phaser. I was part right haha. I checked it out on UA-cam videos and it sounds right to me.
Nice Darryl!
One of my favorite Sabbath tunes. It just kicks ass from beginning to end. Just freekin' incredible.
Ozzy once said that the album was a therapeutic help for him
Yeah Blow on a Jug isn’t a part of the song at all. It is a hidden “song” added only many years later on the remaster I believe.
Yes, Ozzy wrote the lyrics and I love how venomous the delivery is.
Thanks Andrew. Hole in the Sky and Thrill of it All are pure Sabbath classic as well.
'Blow on a Jug' is on my original vinyl that I bought in 1979 but isn't on the CD version (non-remastered) which I probably bought around 1990.
Wrong! Blow on the Jug was on the original 1975 vinyl album that I bought in 1975 when I was 13 years old ( it was my very first BLACK SABBATH ALBUM that I ever heard because,my cousin who was 14 played it for me. Then he played Toccata from ELP's album Brain Salad Surgery
@@johnecker4217 I stand corrected! Awesome.
@tidball it's all good my friend. I didn't mean to sound like a jerk when I replied to you the first time. Sorry about that ✌️
I bought the album in 75 and Blow On A Jug was on it then
I hear Phaser on the intro bass. And phaser with wah or auto wah on the next bass solo. There may be chorus but I can't tell. I've tried with and without and it's a minimal difference.
Hopefully someone will have some more to add.
✌️🧡🤗
Someone mentioned a specific pedal I'm unfamiliar with but it definitely effects the 'envelope' like a Dr. Q would do but manually.
Ozzy showing he was above the others that followed in Sabbath. He's voice is unbelievable on here!
As good as -- maybe. Hardly above. But fortunately it's not a competition for most of us.
@@wardka You have your opinions as does everyone.
@@manictree5436But you're the one turning it into a contest.
My favorite album, ozzy's best vocally!
Thankyou Matt! I see Andrew caught 'Blow on a Jug' . . . .
IMO one of the best B.S. albums, Ozzy the best front man EVER and the riff master Tony, and the Geezer smashing the bass. Not to forget Big bang Bill pounding out the beat. Pound for pound the best band ever graced us with their brilliance.
I always loved the intro. In the studio they found a tape that just had a baby crying. They decided to slow it down and use it here as the intro.
Oh wow
my fav sabbath album
This song changes so much throughout that it reminds me of Opeth. Crazy
Iommi is the one sitting on the cover photo
Got it!
I got this album in 75 just join the Marines a big Sabbath fan Sabotage by very favorite album by Sabbath I've got them all the Writ is my favorite on this one Bloody Sabbath the album before would be National acrobat you want to dig deep for Sabbath those two songs on those two albums is the best you can get absolutely pure masterpieces without a doubt
Yes, you can definitely hear Black Sabbath when you listen to Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. (Not so much in Nirvana or Pearl Jam.)
Yep! Soundgarden was the only big Seattle band I thoroughly enjoyed listening to. I remember Axl Rose praising Cornell before the band hit big.
Soundgarden had a lot of influence from Black Sabbath, thank god!
If Andrew reacts to Slaves and Bulldozers and Jesus Christ Pose he will be impressed in every way.
1975. ..Sabotage Tour. My first concert. On Ozzy's Birthday. December 3rd . Madison Square Garden. Aerosmith opened and I didn't even know who they were.
1975 Dec 7th Greensboro NC with Ruby Starr and Savoy Brown opened up for Sabbath. Tony Iommi played a brilliant guitar solo that evening even though they were not happy about the way Savoy Brown were booed by the restless crowd waiting for Sabbath .
@richardhincemon ,
On the 3rd in NY a dude threw something and it hit Iommi in one of his hands. That's cool you saw them 4 days later.
I'm pretty sure the lyrics are directed toward the former record label and management of the band in the earlier days where they screwed them over. Basically where the original 4 didn't even own the rights to the first 6 albums, paid pennies for the music they created, and paid pennies for tours they did. Eventually, they had to pay the former manager off which I'm sure was a vast amount of money leaving them with next to nothing.
I thought you would dump your coffee on yourself when that loud first part of the writ hit your headphones
🤣🤣
Their manager cheated them out of ownership of their songs...Ozzy wrote all the lyrics for this song...angry!!!...lawyers were in the studio observing the recording sessions...I don't know if they had broke free of the contracts at this point...
“Blow on a jug”
Ozzy and Bill being on their way to another planet - sort of.
“Sabotage” were Sabbath at their peak. The parameter from where other hard rock bands are measured.
Andrew, you really need to give Deep Purple (and Ian Paice) a good solid listen, as well. I guarantee you'll come to the same conclusion you came with regards to Bill Ward. I know you've reacted to a couple of their songs and some covers of their songs, but there's a WHOLE lot more to explore from their catalogue. Just as Sabbath is the precursor to the heavier sub-genres of metal, so is Deep Purple the precursor to metal's more melodic sub-genres.
At my age, discovery of hard rock led me to regard Purple as one of the '3' alongside Sabbath and Zeppelin. I still remember 1st time hearing Ian Paice's single kick speed during his solo on MULE from the Made in Japan live album.
I should add ZZ Top soon after . . . .
Yes, 'In Rock' would be a treat for Paicie' affectionardo's!....Child in time, Flight of the Rat, Living Wreck ( which they almost did not out on the album (!)
The hidden track at the end is "blow on a jug" you can hear Bill a bit at the end. If you wanna hear him sing try "it's alright" from Technical ecstasy, or just his solo work (with Ozzy on vocals) with bombers can open bombays.
Bill also sang on «Swinging the Chain» the last song on «Never say Die»
Stargazer from Rainbow, you need to hear Cozy Powell. please and Thank You
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Love The Writ, but a favor of mine is Swinging The Chain… I think Bill is on Lead Vocal on that one as well.
Section starting at 8:49 sounds a lot like 'Only Women Bleed' from Alice Cooper's 'Welcome To My Nightmare' album. Both Sabotage and Welcome To My Nightmare were released in 1975. Genius struck twice.
That’s Geezer in the blue coat and white pants. Tony is seated. Give a listen to Looking for Today off of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Love the drumming on that song. I truly enjoying your ongoing deep dive on Sab. My all time favorite band since ‘73
I discovered Sabotage among my older brother’s records when I was around 12-13 (44 now) and it changed my life forever, I was like “wtf is that”, it blew my head off right away. It’s by far my favourite Black Sabbath (although the first 5 are also solid 10’s) and their heaviest as well.
Sabbath made some of the best final songs to end their albums! Just another reason they're the best band ever!!
You get a mini album in every song!
Ozzy sang perfectly for early Sabbath. He was definitely not the technically best singer, but the work with his voice he was able to put in was brilliant and he actually had decent vocal range. Same goes for his solo career.
I don’t really understand what you mean when you say he’s not technically the best singer, compared to what? Ozzy’s a phenomenal singer. Check out the Paris live performances. Who wants to hear an opera singer? Not me. Ozzy’s distinctive and original.
I mean compared to Dio or Gillan for example. I meant his vocal technique might not be perfect. And yes indeed he was a very unique singer.
I get you but I think it’s more that he’s not as conventional as those two but when you listen to early Sabbath and the peak of Ozzy’s vocals on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, his vocals and range are phenomenal, so I would argue he’s just as great technically. He’s also superb at the eerie Ballads with Sabbath, showing his amazing range.
@@richardfairlamb9728 You're absolutely correct. I'd rather listen to Ozzy then any "classically trained" singer he thinks is good. Ozzy is very passionate with great melodies. I guess OP doesn't hold soulful and bluesy singers in high regard. That takes technique.
@@zdenkonouzovsky6947 I prefer Ozzy to Dio and Gillian. I like how Ozzy sounds more then Dio and I think Gillian is a bit overrated. If not a lot overrated.
Absolutely one of my favorite Sabbath songs. They have soooooo many great songs. My favorite bad of all time. Them and RUSH
bass sounds like that southern springy instrument that held in the mouth and played w a finger.
Yep, 'Blow on the Jug' was a satire song based on an opening act in a German festival in 1970 I believe. Ozzy and Geezer was stunned by what they witnessed. The mini song appears on some album pressings of Sabotague but mostly appears in Deluxe and Box Sets. On a side note the southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas and others often used the jug as an extra instrument.
Thanks for the info!
You are very welcome. Let me just say I discovered your channel recently and I appreciate what you bring. @@AndrewRooneyDrums
I’m pretty sure the story of their outfits is that they didn’t know they were going to pose for the album cover and were wearing “everyday” clothes they just happened to have on at the time (questionable style, but hey, they were rockstars!)😆
Great transition Ozzy scream crying into the start of The Writ
the writ is another epic song off of sabotage great closer for sabotage as far as drumming i would go with the thrill of it all after symptom of the universe for wards drum fills on sabotage
Ozzy puts so much intensity in this song it had to be a challenge for the band to keep up. Of course they did.
Wonderful stuff
I'm very late, but I haven't seen anyone else say it. As far as I know, the only effect on the bass is a wah pedal, which Geezer helped pioneer on bass with N.I.B. Perhaps there's a chorus or flange effect, but the core of the sound you hear is a wah/envelope filter.
I'm sure it's already been mentioned but this is about the writ served on the band by Patrick Meehan, their manager until he was fired in 1975. His father was also involved, hence the "A poisoned father who has poisoned his son" lyric. The bit at the start, with the hysterical manic laughter and the slowed-down baby crying, and the Jew's (or Jaw's) harp all go towards making this one of their most outstanding masterpieces.
Blow on the Jug is Ozzy and Bill both drunk, Bill on the piano. Black Sabbath was asked to play a festival which turned out to be the first Summerjam..and the crowd went bonkers when Mungo Jerry was playing In the Summertime,,, with one of the bandmembers blowing in a jug for that typical sound. Not their opening act, but just one of the acts that got to play before them. Black Sabbath thought is was some sort of competition, and thought it was weird that a band blowing on jugs got the crowd wild.
9:50 thats geezer youre pointing out with the cursor while calling him tony iommi. tony is seated. hair style through you off i imagine, at one point or another 3 of the 4 had the hair and mustache look that GEEZER has here.(never ozzy).