Sabotage is the sixth studio album by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1975.

Recording

Black Sabbath began work on their sixth album in February 1975, again in England at Morgan Studios in Willesden, London. They had a decisive vision to differ the sound from previous album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Guitarist Tony Iommi, who produced the album, said that "We could've continued and gone on and on, getting more technical, using orchestras and everything else which we didn't particularly want to. We took a look at ourselves, and we wanted to do a rock album - Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath wasn't a rock album, really.

Over the years, singer Ozzy Osbourne has often complained in interviews that this album marked the beginning of what he described as Tony Iommi's studio production obsession. Sabotage took considerably longer to record and produce than each of their preceding albums, making it the most costly Black Sabbath album to that point. In comparison, the band's first album, Black Sabbath (1970), took only twelve hours to record at a cost of a few hundred pounds.

Music and lyrics

The album is a mix of heavy, powerful songs such as "Hole in the Sky" and "Symptom of the Universe", and softer experimental songs such as "Supertzar" and "Am I Going Insane (Radio)", which are similar to their previous album. The title of the latter caused some confusion due to the "(Radio)" part, which lead people to believe the song was a radio cut or radio version. However this is the only version of the song. It should be noted that the term 'radio-rental' is Cockney rhyming slang for 'mental'. The song itself is very different from the typical Ozzy Osbourne-era Black Sabbath song. It features no heavy guitar riff; instead, a keyboard riff is prominent. The song concludes with an "insane laugh" which carries into "The Writ".

Artwork

The album cover is a photograph of the band members standing in front of a large bronze mirror. Their "reflections" face the wrong way, and are simply copies of each band member's real image. This is the first album to feature all of the band members on the cover.

Stoner rock band Camarosmith's debut album cover pays homage to Sabotage, reproducing it with the members of the band instead of Black Sabbath.

Release and reception

Sabotage was released on July 28, 1975. For the second time, a Black Sabbath album initially saw favourable reviews, with Rolling Stone stating "Sabotage is not only Black Sabbath's best record since Paranoid, it might be their best ever", although later reviewers such as Allmusic noted that "the magical chemistry that made such albums as Paranoid and Volume 4 so special was beginning to disintegrate".

Sabotage cracked the top 20 in both the United Kingdom and United States, but was the band's first release not to achieve platinum status in the US. Songs such as "Hole in the Sky", and "Symptom of the Universe" became fan favourites, with the latter's chugging riff even cited as an early example of thrash metal. Black Sabbath toured in support of Sabotage with openers Kiss, but were forced to cut the tour short in November 1975, following a motorcycle accident in which Ozzy ruptured a muscle in his back.

Track listing

All songs written by Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward.

Side one

1. "Hole in the Sky" – 3:59
2. "Don't Start (Too Late)" – 0:49
3. "Symptom of the Universe" – 6:29
4. "Megalomania" – 9:46

Side two

1. "The Thrill of It All" – 5:56
2. "Supertzar" – 3:44
3. "Am I Going Insane (Radio)" – 4:16
4. "The Writ" – 8:09

On some of the first vinyl/cassette releases (and all of the remastered versions of the album) there is a short, 23 second hidden track titled "Blow on a Jug" at the end of "The Writ". Recorded at very low volume, it features Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward goofing around in the studio.

Personnel

• Ozzy Osbourne – lead vocals
• Tony Iommi – lead guitar
• Terry "Geezer" Butler – bass guitar (miscredited as "Tony 'Geezer' Butler" in the story of the band on the Canadian CD issue)
• Bill Ward – drums
• Gerald "Jezz" Woodruffe – keyboards
• Will Malone – arranged English chamber choir
• David Harris – tape operator and saboteur

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Notes
United Kingdom	July 28, 1975	NEMS
United States	???	Warner Bros. Records
Canada	???	Warner Bros. Records
Worldwide	???	Vertigo Records
United Kingdom	1986	Castle Communications	this includes a bonus track: a live version of "Sweet Leaf", taken from the Live at Last album.
United Kingdom	2004	Sanctuary Records

References