I now turn my attention to the music of BLACK SABBATH, a band I've always liked but never loved. For my first post with initial thoughts on them, as well as my comments on "Black Sabbath" and "Paranoid," click the following link:
http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/201 ... ound-zero/

As I've written in my previous IMWAN threads: For those of you who don't know me, I'm revisiting the complete catalogs of artists in my music collection, and posting my thoughts on a few albums at a time. Instead of focusing on my favorites, I'm choosing artists whose catalogs I own but haven't spent enough time with and fully embraced. So far I've covered Van Morrison, Talking Heads, The Band, Roxy Music, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Television, David Bowie and Nick Drake, and I've become a bigger fan of each artist in the process. If you'd like to know more about me and the reasons for starting the blog, check out the "About" page here:
http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/about/

I know there have to be lots of IMWANers who love Sabbath, so I'd love to hear from you. I'm really excited about finally delving into their catalog (even the "lost years" between Dio leaving and the '97 reunion, none of which I've heard before with the exception of "Born Again").

As always, thanks for indulging me in a little self-promotion.

Rich:
Check out my Sabbath albums thread on here-it has all the info you need! I am a certified Sabbath freak-ALL eras. There is no album to dismiss IMO. I'm so pathetic I can tell you every lineup change-and that is not for the faint of heart!
Good luck with it and good listening.

IP, I assume this is the thread you're referring to:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=63197&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit

I try not to read anything about the albums I'm writing about until I listen to them at least once or twice, but I will definitely be referring to this thread as I work my way through their catalog. Thanks for letting me know about this.

If you'd like to read my impressions on the Black Sabbath albums "Master Of Reality," "Vol. 4" and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath," please click this link to my latest blog post. Thanks.
http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/201 ... ock-riffs/

Next up are the final three Ozzy-era albums. I'll be listening to them all week. I don't remember them being as bad as their reputation suggests.

I never thought I would love the last three Sabbath albums from the Ozzy era, especially considering how poorly rated they are by most fans & critics and the fact that they never did anything for me when I played them in the past, but even though each album has a few clunkers, I found the good stuff to be truly amazing. It's a good thing I don't need Sabbath to sound like Sabbath, though, and being a fan of prog-rock, melodic rock and jazz fusion, these albums were right up my alley. Here's my latest blog post for anyone who's interested:
http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/201 ... an-go-eth/

Based on Invisible Pedestrian's earlier Sabbath albums thread (see the link in one of the posts above), I think I may actually like these more than him. Didn't see that coming.

If you'd like to read my impressions of Sabbath in the early '80s, featuring Ronnie James Dio (Heaven And Hell, Mob Rules, Live Evil) and Ian Gillan (Born Again), here's a link to my latest blog post:

http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/201 ... o-the-mic/

I'll be spending the next week or two checking out the albums they released from the mid-80s through the mid-90s, none of which I've ever heard before. I have no idea what I'm in for, but there's gotta be some good music there...right?

Click here for my latest blog post on Black Sabbath. This time, it's the often overlooked albums from the mid-to-late-80s (Seventh Star, The Eternal Idol and Headless Cross). None of them are great from start to finish, but I did discover some phenomenal songs on each, and a surprisingly great vocalist in Tony Martin.

http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/201 ... f-the-80s/

I'm approaching the end of the Black Sabbath catalog. Click this link for my latest post on their first three albums of the '90s: Tyr, Dehumanizer and Cross Purposes. Is anyone here (other than Invisible Pedestrian) a fan of these albums? Next week I'll wrap things up with the final three releases, including their reunion with Ozzy and their reformation as Heaven & Hell with Ronnie James Dio.

http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/201 ... n-the-90s/

Rich:
At least 3 or 4 others have proclaimed their love for the Martin years on here.

My journey through the Black Sabbath catalog concludes with three albums, three singers and two band names: "Forbidden" (with Tony Martin), "Reunion" (with Ozzy) and "The Devil You Know" (as Heaven & Hell, with Ronnie James Dio). Click the link below for my final Sabbath blog post. Thanks for checking it out. I'll be back soon to cover another band, most likely something less dark and heavy. I'm not really a metal head, so six weeks with Sabbath has me yearning for something lighter and more melodic.

http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/201 ... onclusion/

No review of the live Heaven and Hell album?

What, 19 studio and 3 live albums weren't enough for you?

Seriously, though, I don't own that album. Until recently, I didn't own the Heaven & Hell studio album either, but knew it was important to include it in my journey through the Sabbath back catalog. I don't consider live albums essential, for the most part, so I skipped it. Is it any better than "Live Evil"?

Haven't listened to it in a while, but am going to tonight. I'm not a Sabbath completist, so there's a LOT I haven't listened to. For the most part, Sabbath to me is the first four albums.

I always felt the same way, but after spending so much time with their entire catalog the last 6 weeks, I really appreciate a lot of their other releases. I never expected to like anything on "Technical Ecstasy" or "Never Say Die!," but some of the songs on those albums are among my favorites.

Finally listened to Heaven and Hell Live from Radio City Music Hall. Really liked it, but that's probably mostly because it didn't sound like what I expected.

What were you expecting it to sound like? Even though "The Devil You Know" was slightly different than previous recordings by the Dio-fronted lineup, it wasn't so far removed from what we expect from them. I'll definitely check out the Heaven & Hell live CD at some point, but I'm curious why it didn't sound like what you expected.

Dio's voice was deeper than what I thought it would be, but considering how old he was at the time, that probably shouldn't be too surprising.

Dio's voice did drop a bit, but it still had power and once you get used to the drop, you hardly notice.