Black Sabbath / YMMV

Audience-Alienating Era:
- Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die consist mostly of typical 1970s rock with lots of keyboards and very few metal elements. Indeed, the only song off either album the band still plays today is "Dirty Women" from Technical Ecstasy. The only on-stage acknowledgement Never Say Die gets is that the flight mask from the Hipgnosis album cover is sometimes on the bass drums. The mask also frequently appears in promotional materials and merch.
- And then there's any Tony Martin-era albums that aren't The Eternal Idol or Cross Purposes.
Awesome Art: The cover of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath◊, originally designed by Drew Struzan, which is often seen as one of the greatest album covers, period!
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: "Supernaut" starts off as a typical heavy number before going off, without warning, into a Caribbean flavored acoustic shuffle, then going back to the main riff as if nothing had happened. Despite, or even because of this, it's a favorite among fans. Justified when you consider they were on a nonstop cocaine binge when recording Vol. 4.
Broken Base:
- Ozzy vs. Dio.
- Born Again & Seventh Star, the only albums they recorded with Ian Gillan and Glenn Hughes singing, are either liked or disliked.
- Not so much the quality of the album itself, but some fans can’t seem to agree on whether or not The Devil You Know should count as part of either the Black Sabbath or the Heaven & Hell moniker. ^note
- The Devil You Know vs. 13 over which was the better Sabbath reunion album.
Covered Up: Not many fans remember who wrote and performed "Warning" and "Evil Woman" before Sabbath. For the record, they were Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation (he is a drummer who played with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Journey and many more) and Crow (a late-'60s / early-'70s band from Minnesota), respectively.
Crazy Is Cool: Ozzy Osbourne. Is he crazy? Yes. He has done enough drugs to kill a horse and infamously once bit the head off a dove, then a bat. (In his defense of the latter, he thought it was a rubber bat rather than a real one.) But is he awesome? Also, yes.
Critical Dissonance: During the 1970s, Black Sabbath managed to become very popular among rock fans, but they were generally loathed by critics.
Epic Riff: So many. "Iron Man", "Paranoid", "Sweet Leaf", "Into the Void", "Children of the Grave", "Supernaut"...
- Rob Zombie once said that any metal band ever is ripping off Black Sabbath, because any good metal riff out there, Sabbath wrote it first, either in a slightly different key, or faster, or slower. Most metal guitarists will say this is pretty much true.
Fandom-Enraging Misconception: Understandably, people giving Ozzy Osborne credit for the accomplishments of the rest of the band, or treating him as the main creative force of the classic lineup (a claim that Ozzy's management intentionally circulated in the 80s) is quick to rile up fans of the band. In particular, attributing classic Sabbath lyrics to Ozzy rather than Geezer Butler is a common mistake.
Fanon Discontinuity: Many examples of this:
- There are no albums between Sabotage and Heaven and Hell.
  - There are no albums after Sabotage, period (13 may be an exception).
- There was no Sabbath when Ozzy left the band.
- There are no more albums after Dio left.
  - There were no albums before Heaven and Hell.
- Basically the only thing that absolutely everybody can agree on is that Forbidden doesn't exist — even fans of the Tony Martin era disown that one.
First Installment Wins: According to a readers' poll published by Kerrang! magazine, Sabbath's debut LP isn't just the best Sabbath album, but the best British rock album. It has also topped multiple "greatest metal albums of all time" lists due in part to its credit in the creation of heavy metal.
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- The song "Iron Man" was specifically written in a way to avoid a lawsuit from Marvel Comics, creator of Iron Man. Today, the song's opening riff is happily used by the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the de facto theme of the superhero. Tony Stark even wears a Black Sabbath T-shirt throughout The Avengers. Even more funnily enough, the song's lyrics even correctly predict the plot of Avengers: Endgame, where Iron Man (as well as the other Avengers) "travelled time, for the future of mankind", and Tony even got to quote the opening lyrics to the song ("I am Iron Man") during his Heroic Sacrifice.
- The band's name in the cover art for Never Say Die!◊ has a bunch of Triforces. Is this where they came from?
Hype Backlash:
- The band’s status as the "greatest metal band of all time" has been met with ire by some metalheads who are baffled by how they still get this status, especially after other bands have come and redefined the genre. Not helping matters was that statement was being used when promoting their The End tour.
- Song wise, two of their most famous tracks, "Paranoid" and "Iron Man", have been unfavorably compared to "Stairway to Heaven" by some in terms of what's considered the most overplayed songs from the band's whole discography. Making matters worse is that they're the only two songs ever played on mainstream radio stations, plus they're off the same album.
Narm: The original treatment of "War Pigs" ("Walpurgis") overshoots the mark a bit when it comes to shock value. Any lyrics that include the words "See them eating dead rat's innards" are bound to inspire at least a few giggles.
Narm Charm:
- For those who like Born Again, Ian Gillan's Metal Screams and Evil Laughs tend toward this.
- The last few seconds of The Writ gives us Blow On a Jug. It’s a ridiculous moment of the band screwing around that doesn’t fit with the overall tone of the song, but it’s too much fun to hate.
- Much like his solo career, anything from the Dio era is this. The lyrics are as cheesy sounding as can be, but his booming vocals make them sound as epic as ever.
Once Original, Now Common: Black Sabbath was pretty much the first true heavy metal band and are often cited as being the pioneers of everything heard in the genre today. At the time there was nothing else on the market quite like them. While they certainly weren't too far removed from most of the heavier British rock acts, their blend of psychedelic and blues-rock sensibilities, jazz-rock and progressive rock dabblings, and grinding were something new and exciting. As if to top it off, there was the often dirge-like tempos with a vocalist who had the style of a blues wailer, but came off as more of a doomsday preacher delivering fire-and-brimstone sermons about dark and frightening topics. While still universally beloved and respected by music critics and metal fans alike, some newer listeners have found it hard to fully understand their impact and what made them so groundbreaking (and controversial) at the time.
Periphery Demographic: The band's relative lyrical and musical sophistication compared to most hard rock contemporaries gave them one among fans of Progressive Rock, to the point where Prog Archives lists them as "prog-related." This is likely helped by Rick Wakeman's appearance on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Black Sabbath served as an Ur-Example of Progressive Metal.
Questionable Casting: Many felt confused when Ronnie James Dio joined the band. Thankfully it proved to be for the better.
Replacement Scrappy:
- Every singer who came after Dio and Ozzy. Even big names like Ian Gillan weren't able to avoid this - hell, Ian Gillan was probably considered the worst. Not because he was a bad singer, but because he was considered a bad match. Deep Purple and Black Sabbath are two very different things.
- Subsequently, all bassists and drummers that came after Geezer Butler and Bill Ward left can be seen as this. The only possible exceptions are Vinny Appice and Brad Wilk.
Sacred Cow: The Ozzy era, in particular the first 3 albums^note are particularly renowned amongst rock and metal enthusiasts as being the earliest forms of metal, and is unwise to say anything negative about them.
Signature Song:
- The Ozzy era gives us anthems such as "Black Sabbath", "Paranoid", and "Iron Man". "Children of the Grave", "War Pigs" and "Sweet Leaf" are all honorable mentions.
- From the Dio era, it’s between "Heaven and Hell", "Neon Knights", "Children of the Sea" and "The Mob Rules". "Voodoo", "Computer God", "I", "Bible Black" and "Lonely Is the Word" being honorable mentions.
- Regarding the Deep Purple-era Sabbath, Ian Gillan has "Trashed", with "Disturbing the Priest", "Zero the Hero" and "Born Again" coming close, Whereas Glenn Hughes has "No Stranger to Love" with "In for the Kill" as a runner up.
- Tony Martin has "Headless Cross" with "When Death Calls," "The Shining," "Anno Mundi," "Psychophobia," and "I Witness" not far behind. He even named his solo band "Tony Martin's Headless Cross."
Squick: The cover for Born Again is absolutely hideous, with the demonic baby superimposed over the indigo background having a nauseating contrast. Granted, Tony Iommi personally approved of the cover, but Bill Ward hated it, and Ian Gillan outright vomited upon first glance. The cover has since gone down as one of the absolute worst in history.
Stoic Woobie: Tony Iommi. His life sucked when he was a kid. His life still sucked slightly less when he grew up. You will never see him complain about it. Not even in his book, when he talks about his emotionally abusive childhood with parents that were constantly fighting, watching his beloved Papa (grandfather) die, losing his fingertips, being beaten up by kids in gangs, etc. Then he grows up and gets swindled out of a lot of money, still gets beaten up by adults in gangs, management screws him over repeatedly (see swindling except a little worse), watches his dad die, etc. etc. Then he gets lymphoma. Poor guy.
Surprisingly Improved Sequel:
- Seventh Star was a definite improvement over Born Again due to Glenn Hughes being a better fit for the band, and the album is a solid mid '80s hard rock album. The only reason it gets so much flak is due to a few filler tracks and its In Name Only aspect thanks to Executive Meddling.^note
- Similarly, 13, both to the previous album with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals (Never Say Die!) and to the band's last album in general (Forbidden).
- Both Dehumanizer and The Devil You Know are this for coming out after two lackluster Tony Martin era albums (TYR for Dehumanizer and Forbidden for The Devil You Know) and for bringing back not only Geezer Butler, but also Ronnie James Dio and Vinnie Appice as well.
- Cross Purposes was an improvement compared to the past Tony Martin era albums, Headless Cross and Tyr, for having a greater focus on darker lyrical themes and more complex guitar and bass riffs. Having Geezer Butler back helps.
Tear Jerker:
- "Headless Cross", which is based on an event that happened during the time of Pestilence in England where a bunch of people suffering went to a headless cross on a hill to pray so they could survive. They didn't.
- "Changes", inspired by Bill Ward's breakup with his first wife. Ozzy himself described the song as "heartbreaking".
Vindicated by History:
- Critics loathed the band back in the 1970s. They fared much better critically in hindsight than upon their initial success, with their downtuned guitar and dour lyrics a major influence on Grunge. Today, they are recognized as one of the greatest hard rock/heavy metal bands of all time.
- For a long time Born Again made frequent appearances on "Worst Albums Ever" lists, and it still does, but more recently it's started to show up on "Most Underrated" lists as well.
- When they get past the fact that it is a Tony Iommi solo album in all but name, many fans find Seventh Star to be a decent mid '80s hard rock album.
- While it's still largely ignored, the Tony Martin era has definitely gained a fair amount of popularity in recent years, although even people who liked him before this surge in popularity still despise Forbidden.
- Technical Ecstasy was reviled due to its shift away from the thick heavy metal sound the band built on, and Ozzy in particular hated it, but today its more appreciated. "Dirty Women" in particular is acclaimed as a showcase of Tony's chops, and as a result it was the only track post-Sabbath Bloody Sabbath to make it onto the Reunion setlist, and was the only track post-Volume 4 to be on the set for Sabbath's last two tours.

YMMV / Black Sabbath

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