Discovering Black Sabbath at the age of 37
Posted on March 18, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment, Personal.
One of the business blogs I read is Fred Wilson over at “A VC“. He regularly recommends music worth listening to. The other day he mentioned Black Sabbath Vol 4. Apart from watching Ozzy on the TV and thinking that “Paranoid” is one of the top twenty best songs of all time, I have never listened to any Black Sabbath.
I headed on over to my fave music site at the minute “AllofMp3.com” to see what they had. This is a very controversial site based in Russia which provides MP3 versions of almost any album possible for rock bottom prices. People like the RIAA in the US claim that they cannot be doing this legally and can’t be giving the correct level of royalties to the performers. I dunno. The only worry I had was handing my credit card details over to a site in Russia. I wondered if I would soon be getting charges on my card for beluga caviar. But it appears to be all above board and I’ve had no problems. Most of the albums come in at about $1.30 (Kill Bill Vol 1 Soundtrack, Garden State soundtrack) but for some reason “The Best of Black Sabbath” was $4.50.
I’m listening to it now. Oh it’s good. Don’t like “Black Sabbath” the song - too like Led Zeppelin at their most bloated, But “The Wizard” is a fabulous song.
Growing up, I really wasn’t in to music. My first ever record was bought for me by my Auntie Lena in (I think) Dolphin Discs. It was “Jailhouse Rock” re-released when The King died. Still a great song! But I remember being in sixth class in primary school and kids talking about Sid Vicious and how cool he was. I had no idea what they were talking about. I think Sid Coyne and Sid Byrne both re-named themselves after the aforementioned Pistol.
Then first year in Secondary School was very confusing. Why would people be engraving electricity symbols on their desks with their biros? Why did people like a German band which I pronounced “Muterhod”. And why did Neil Young in third year have a sleeveless denis jacket with his name in studs on the back? And Brendan wondered why Neil never replied to “hey Neil”!
I spent most of my teens listening to synth pop like Depeche Mode (before they were cool), Howard Jones (who was never cool) and Duran Duran (who I still like, go on flame me). But this deeply offended the music sensibilities of my friend Dermot who started giving me tapes of Led Zeppelin, Leonard Cohen, Stefan Grapelli, Pink Floyd and The Doors. It kinda worked, I became a Doors fanatic and a Cohen fan (still am in both cases).
Of course every girl I ever dated (or married!) thought the Doors were ok but all the rest of em were rubbish. I was force fed a diet of The Smiths, U2 and cool Depeche Mode with the odd foray over to The Pixies, NIN and Smashing Pumpkins. Ok, it worked, I now think “Debaser”, “Girlfriend in a Coma” and “Personal Jesus” are fab songs.
Back in a sec, “Paranoid” has just started………..Back again. Not top twenty, top ten.
I did an exchange trip to Germany when I was 14 where the guy I was exchanging with was a heavy metal fanatic. I spent night after night listening to his AC/DC and (far more importantly to him) Scorpions. I was like an old man: “it all sounds like noise to me, where’s the melody?”. And that was it for nearly twenty years.
It is probably a bit sad that I only started buying heavy metal in my 30’s and even then it was usually “Best Of’s” like AC/DC, Motorhead etc. But I’m with Twenty Major - at least I’m not buying c****ing Damien Rice.
I think Fred’s recommended “Vol 4″ may be my next purchase.
[tags]Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osborne, Fred Wilson, A VC, AllOfMP3, St Kieran’s College[/tags]
11 Replies to "Discovering Black Sabbath at the age of 37"
conor on June 8, 2006
Saw that alright. Scumbags. Stop paying people like Lindsay Lohan to make albums and maybe everyone could sell songs for a song. Yay Rooskies I say. Lenin is finally eradicated!
conor on June 8, 2006
Dammit. Never tested that. Will check it now. Chillin out at Web2.0 Conf in Radisson with what seems like half of EMC Software Dev!! Why aren’t you here?
Conor-Test on June 8, 2006
Testing subscription management. Ignore.
conor on June 11, 2006
Can you check it now Cormac? I had half the plug-in in the wrong place. Read a Readme? Never!
Cormac on June 12, 2006
Yep, I got through to the Comment Subscription Manager this time.
Frank on June 14, 2006
Ah yes, Conor m’lad. I remember listening to Riders on the Storm and The End with you in the blue Opel Ascona in Dunmore East in the late ’80s. Funny how booze and age have completely scuppered most of my long and short term memory but I still remember that really clearly. I think it was during your “black hair” period.
And you also introduced me to Cohen…Suzanne, Chelsea Hotel…
Remember writing alternative words to Jailhouse Rock? “Well Kate threw a party in Tipperary, And Ailish said you boys…..” Hmmm. Happy innocent days eh?
conor on June 14, 2006
Still have all those Bloody Doors albums and can’t stop liking them. My “black hair” period is now known as my “hair” period.
I got Lennies greatest hits recently. Fabulous. Never knew he wrote “Hallelujia” which was made famous by Jeff Buckley (and Shrek). His own version is hilarious it is so cheesy - but awesome at the same time.
I think you are wasted in the drugs industry, you cudda bin a contenda as a lyricist.
Innocent days anyway 
conor on June 14, 2006
That should have been bloody Doors instead of Bloody Doors. Actually that is also a great name for a rock band (as Dave Barry would say).
Daniel Thomas MacInnes on November 14, 2006
I can totally relate to you. I’m 33 and it’s only this past week that I finally sat down with the Sabbath albums. Like you, I’ve heard Paranoid and Iron Man and War Pigs on the classic radio stations a million times, and the cartoonish doom-and-gloom reputation has always been a major turn-off for me. It’s a prime reason why I avoided heavy metal and fell in love with hardcore punk and Seattle grunge.
Most folks just stop listening to new music at some point in their mid-20s. It’s a damn crying shame, because there’s so much great music out there, just waiting for you to discover them. Most of the time, your musical tastes are determined by the social clique you were a part of, and you didn’t venture far off the reservation.
Nuts to that.
So I’ve kept Paranoid, Master of Reality, and Vol 4 in heavy rotation (no pun, maaan) for the past five days, with no letup in sight. I’ve got to detune my guitar and learn all the songs.
It’s quite a rush to discover just how immensely influential Black Sabbath was. Every guitar band of my generation, each and every one of them, owe their existence to Paranoid and Master of Reality and Vol 4. Everything that ever came out of Seattle, every thrash and speed metal band, every underground hardcore punker. Every last one of ‘em. If you’re good you can spot all the guitar riffs that have been cut-and-pasted by all the loyal students. I’ll wager that every single Sabbath riff from the first four albums have been stolen at some point.
So, yeah, fantastic music. The dirty little secret is that, despite the horror and Satan image that dogs the band (and seems packaged to sell to 12-year-old comic-book boys), Sabbath was really a Puritanical hippie stoner band. And the most influential musicians this side of The Ramones.
conor on November 15, 2006
The 70’s have a lot to answer for but I think Sabbath are going to have a big re-evaluation soon. Unfortunately it’ll probably be when Ozzie dies just like it was when Rory Gallagher died.
Cormac on June 8, 2006
See ‘Practical’ problems could stymie AllofMP3.com lawsuit where the BPI are suing AllofMP3.com in the UK courts.
Doesn’t look like they’ll get it shut down without help from the Russians though.