History Trivia / BlackSabbath

* Creator/{{Hipgnosis}} designed the covers for ''Technical Ecstacy'' and ''Never Say Die''.

** Tony Iommi said in his book that ''Never Say Die'' is hard for him to relate to due to the album's disastrous creative process, such as Ozzy leaving and coming back, the freezing cold Toronto studio that was used, and having to come up with almost all of the songs at the studio instead of jamming and gradually coming up with stuff beforehand (this is why the album is so all over the place in terms of sound). He did however say that there was some stuff on the album he liked, but never specified what.

** According to Tony Iommi's autobiography, Cozy Powell was originally meant to stay on for ''Dehumanizer'', but there was still bad blood between him and Dio from their time in {{Music/Rainbow}}.

* CreatorBacklash: ''Forbidden'' hasn't been very liked by the band, even at the time. Then-vocalist Tony Martin said in a later interview that it was mainly a "filler album" done to get out of a deal with the label.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: "Warning" was originally recorded with an incredibly long Tony Iommi solo rumoured to last over 30 minutes, which producer Rodger Bain cut out most of in order to actually fit the song on the album.

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** Then there's also the case of their managers cheating them off most of their money. Sure, they got cars and fancy houses... only to later find out they didn't actually own any of it.
* OneOfUs: Bill Ward is very up to date with modern metal bands (unlike a lot of artists from his era who tend not to listen to anything beyond 1980 or so). Metal bands he frequently features on his radio show include Slipknot, Arch Enemy, and Mastodon.
* ThrowItIn: In the music video for ''No Stranger To Love'' there's a short clip of the camera going round a corner. A man is seen walking around the corner, and seems to back away as soon as he notices the camera, implying he wasn't supposed to be there.

** "War Pigs" was originally called "Walpurgis" and was based on the occult instead of warfare. It was changed due to being too Satanic. Rough demos and bootlegs reveal the original lyrics to reference bodies being burned to ash, rats being eaten, priests being burned alive, churchs being destroyed and Satan himself leading the Black Mass. "War Pigs" is one of the greatest anti-war songs ever, but a proper studio recording of "Walpurgis" could have been ''the'' greatest song about the occult.
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* HeyItsThatVoice: Music/IceT appears on "Illusion of Power".
* Creator/{{Hipgnosis}} did the cover art for ''Technical Ecstacy'' and ''Never Say Die!''

* ThrowItIn: In the music video for ''No Stranger To Love'' there's a short clips of the camera going round a corner. A man is seen walking around the corner, and seems to back away as soon as he notices the camera, implying he wasn't supposed to be there.

--->''"The only problem was the album cover, which had been done before the name change and now didn't make any sense at all. What did four pink blokes holding shields and waving swords have to do with paranoia? They were pink because that was supposed to be the colour of the war pigs. But without "War Pigs" written on the front, they just looked like gay fencers".''
--->''"They're not gay fencers, Ozzy," Bill told me. "They're ''paranoid'' gay fencers."''

** ''Paranoid'' was originally supposed to be called ''War Pigs'', but the record company was afraid of protests by supporters of UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar (which the UK ''wasn't involved in'', but officially supported at the time) and had the title changed. The original cover, a distorted picture of a man with a sword and shield jumping from behind a tree, was kept however. In his autobiography, Ozzy describes his annoyance at this:

** ''Paranoid'' was originally supposed to be called ''War Pigs'', but the record company was afraid of protests by supporters of the Vietnam war (which the UK ''wasn't involved in'', but officially supported at the time) and had the title changed. The original cover, a distorted picture of a man with a sword and shield jumping from behind a tree, was kept however. In his autobiography, Ozzy describes his annoyance at this:

** "War Pigs" was originally called "Walpurgis" and was based on the occult instead of warfare. It was changed due to being too Satanic. Rough demos and bootlegs reveal the original lyrics to reference bodies being burned to ash, rats being eaten, priests being burned alive, churchs being destroyed and Satan himself leading the Black Mass. "War Pigs" is one of the greatest anti-war songs ever, but a proper studio recording of "Walpurgis" could have been ''the'' greatest song about the occult.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: "Warning" was originally recorded with an incredibly long Tony Iommi solo rumoured to last over 30 minutes, which producer Rodger Bain cut out most of in order to actually fit the song on the album.

*** Similarly, "Snowblind", the song that was originally going to be the TitleTrack, was meant to have "Cocaine!" shouted at the end of every verse, but a compromise was made, and the studio version ended up with a single whispered "cocaine" after the first verse. However, to this day, the band's live performances of the song always include the "cocaine!" shouts.

*** Similarly, the title track of "Snowblind" was meant to have "Cocaine!" shouted at the end of every verse, but a compromise was made, and the studio version ended up with a single whispered "cocaine" after the first verse. However, to this day, the band's live performances of the song always include the "cocaine!" shouts.

** Executives changed the title of ''Snowblind'' to ''Vol. 4'' at the last minute due to the obvious drug reference. This was not necessarily a bad thing.

** Likewise, the ''Born Again'' album with [[Music/DeepPurple Ian Gillan]] was not intended to have been a Black Sabbath album.

** Executives changed the title of ''Snowblind'' to ''Vol. 4'' at the last minute.

* ExecutiveMeddling: ''Paranoid'' was originally supposed to be called ''War Pigs'', but the record company was afraid of protests by supporters of the Vietnam war (which the UK ''wasn't involved in'', but officially supported at the time) and had the title changed. The original cover, a distorted picture of a man with a sword and shield jumping from behind a tree, was kept however. In his autobiography, Ozzy describes his annoyance at this:
-->''"The only problem was the album cover, which had been done before the name change and now didn't make any sense at all. What did four pink blokes holding shields and waving swords have to do with paranoia? They were pink because that was supposed to be the colour of the war pigs. But without "War Pigs" written on the front, they just looked like gay fencers".''
-->''"They're not gay fencers, Ozzy," Bill told me. "They're ''paranoid'' gay fencers."''

** Basically everything they ever did, resulting in Black Sabbath's reputation as "the most ripped-off band in the world".

** Likewise, the ''Born Again'' album with [[DeepPurple Ian Gillan]] was not intended to have been a Black Sabbath album.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: "Warning" was originally recorded with an incredibly long Tony Iommi solo rumoured to last over 30 minutes, which producer Rodger Bain cut out most of in order to actually fit the song on the album.

* ExecutiveMeddling: ''Paranoid'' was originally supposed to be called ''War Pigs'', but the record company was afraid of protests by supporters of the Vietnam war (which the UK wasn't involved in, by the way) and had the title changed. The original cover, a distorted picture of a man with a sword and shield jumping from behind a tree, was kept however. In his autobiography, Ozzy describes his annoyance at this:

* Creator/{{Hipgnosis}}: Did the cover art for ''Technical Ecstacy'' and ''Never Say Die!''

* HeyItsThatVoice: [[IceT Ice-T]] appears on "Illusion of Power".

* ExecutiveMeddling: ''Paranoid'' was originally supposed to be called ''War Pigs'', but the record company was afraid of protests by supporters of the Vietnam war (which the UK wasn't involved in, by the way) and had the title changed. The original cover, a distorted picture of a man with a sword and shield jumping from behind a tree, was kept however. In his autobiography, Ozzy describes his annoyance at this:
-->"The only problem was the album cover, which had been done before the name change and now didn't make any sense at all. What did four pink blokes holding shields and waving swords have to do with paranoia? They were pink because that was supposed to be the colour of the war pigs. But without "War Pigs" written on the front, they just looked like gay fencers".
-->"They're not gay fencers, Ozzy," Bill told me. "They're ''paranoid'' gay fencers."
** Executives changed the title of ''Snowblind'' to ''Vol. 4'' at the last minute.
** ''The Seventh Star'' was supposed to be Tony Iommi's first solo album, but the record company pressed him into putting the Black Sabbath name on it.
** Likewise, the ''Born Again'' album with [[DeepPurple Ian Gillan]] was not intended to have been a Black Sabbath album.
** The ''We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n' Roll'' compilation and the muddy, inaudible ''Live at Last'' album were released without the band's consent.
** Basically everything they ever did, resulting in Black Sabbath's reputation as "the most ripped-off band in the world".

* {{Mondegreen}}: In the song "Warning," Ozzy heard the lyrics of the original as "I was born without you baby" and sang it throughout the song. The Lyrics are really "I was '''warned''' about you baby," causing the song to make little sense.