BLACK SABBATH PART TWO: Master of Their World

While Playing my self titled Black Sabbath to death, I stumbled upon this Black Sabbath.  It was odd, different and far more interesting with all the ominous overtones and also came with a poster.  It was also far shorter in length the first two albums.  What made up for length, it made up for strength in music.  There was not a throwaway song on the whole album, but also this album may have great songs, none where featured on any "Classic Rock" radio stations.  I found that kind of odd.  It was not until I picked up Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath that I fully understood why this album was the musicians I liked favorite of all the Black Sabbath albums.  They might have stayed true to the original, but they gave it all and killed it.  

Masters of Reality is another favorite of mine.  Not only is there a band named after this album, but this has some quirky short pieces that set the mood.  It also has a piece that was oddly edited from any American release which to me adds more ominous to an already scary as hell song.  Between the downtuned guitar and bass sound by Geezer and Iommi This made the album heavier then their previous two albums.  Whatever it did to change their sound it worked for many people including the band itself.  On this album the music is not rushed like the first two.  This time the band had time on their side and even though its short, it shows they had time to breathe.

The music to me is some of the greatest they ever did.  I know I talked about how the first album was amazing, but then again, I don't think anyone was up for the assault they were going to give us.  I was impressed with the longer then average length and what a band with that much power can do with it.  This time they squeeze these songs under six and half minutes and very rarely crossover to the next song with such ease.  This time they work toward perfection in the time they have and move on to the next classic song.  

Many people consider this album as their best.  So many bands including Soundgarden, Kyuss, Sleep, Corrosion of Conformity and countless others draw their music from this album.  Masters of Reality to me is dark, subversive and quite unique.  I do wish it has a little more length, but I think this album is what makes it unique.  The time makes up for anything that would be a less then worthy song.  The way the music flows on the album it makes sense that a little more then a half hour passes and you don't even know it.  When it is finished you want to play it again and again and wear out its grooves.  The song "Solitude" gives you a chance to catch your breath before one more onslaught of "Into The Void." comes ready to give you a good kick in the ass.  

An album this good gets many repeated listening.  This album also gives you a gut punch that you will never forget.  As far as album highlights, every song has its own little world.  I would not suggest that you skip songs to hear something that you want to hear.  To me its an album that needs to be played from beginning to end with no breaks.  The length helps you get through it, but after the album is done you might need to play it again to hear it all.  This album is distraction proof and once you listen and put it at loud volume then you will understand that this was a huge game changer that many bands never could even make a faint copy of.  

For further reading I suggest two books that will give you a better understanding then I could give you in a short post.  One, is the Iommi autobiography called Iron Man.  His storytelling is great.  His recall is better then Ozzy trying to tell a story.  The other book is by John Darnielle  of the band The Mountain Goats tell his awesome experience with Masters of Reality.   More like a novella it makes you feel like you are in his world growing up listening to the album with shock and awe.  If you are ready to let out a little energy and a lot of awesomeness then it is time to dive into this.  This album deserves the highest volume you can set on your earbuds or stereo.  Don't forget to rock out and enjoy, Cheers!