The Volume 4 album is 40 years old today (depending on what time you read this). It was released September 25, 1972. Totally killer, really heavy album. Check out my site’s discography page for info on the album, and ordering links if you don’t own it (in which case, why the hell are you reading this)? :)
Seriously, go check it out, and more importantly, give it a listen today!
You make my day dude!!
I didn’y know today is the anniversary. But while going to the college in the morning I just listened to the whole Volunme 4 album!
Now that you ‘ve mentioned it I’m gonna go through the album again.
Volume 4ever!
Volume 4 was such a leap away from the first 3 albums. You could sense the band really wanting to stretch themselves with this one. What an iconic album cover too. This album encapsulates everything that was great about the band at that time.
For mine, Wheels Of Confusion stands as one of THE best album openers from any Sabbath generation. I only hope that they can get themselves together and produce an album that is worthy of their heritage.
Great Album. Under The Sun,Wheels,Supernaut,etc.
So happy and proud to own this album. One of the best albums of the Ozzy era.
As Pudster says- they were really wanted to take the heavy sound into other areas, which became more fully realized on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Vol4 was a transitional, and great album. Master of Reality, despite some of Sabbath most massive trademark riffs, seemed to me to be almost unfinished and half baked compared to Paranoid. Yes, it’s a shame that the only songs the casual listener knows are off the Paranoid album, but it had real conviciton, fully realized songs, and sounded fantastic. Master of Reality I think suffered a bit from muddy sound and post-flower power lyrics. Vol4 was a much more complete album to my ears. And Geezer’s lyrics were maturing as well, as evidenced on “Under The Sun” especially. It totally sets the stage for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage, which in my opinion is where Sabbath really hit their full potential. I love all the original Sabbath albums though. Never Say Die is actually one of my favorites as well. And this is the record that set them exploring further. I remember the day I bought it and listened to it on my friend’s console stereo, while his dad also listened most unapprovingly. Ha. I actually appreciated that though. When I was a kid I felt like the only one who understood Sabbath, and that is why I felt they were “my” band.
I remember it like it was yesterday. My freind Benny, now sadly gone, and I snuck out of school to get the new Sabbath album… The cover with OZZY and that afternoon, listening to it on his old pioneer stereo in his parents basement. In those days, one could make a cassette recording by postioning your cassette radio, where you’d sit to listen to the stereo, and hooking a mike into it and recording your album ‘off the air.’ We played that album to death at his basement and the crude cassette copy, we took along an hung out near the old power station by the river in Queens, NY, under the Hellgate bridge.. it seemed appropriate, in our black leather jackets and jeans and the girls that hung out with us. Years later, I found it in a trunk, the cassette, even though I have allthe albums, vinyl and CD, I’ll pop in the casstte on my car, still have a cassette player in it and drive down to the hellgate bridge this evening after work… crank it up… crude and hissing…. One more time, this one is for you Benny, the girls .. 40 years later, I’m still alive.
Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes
Well I don’t want no demon to tell me what it’s all about
No black magician telling me to get my soul out
Don’t believe in violence, I don’t even believe in peace
I’ve opened the door and my mind has been released
great story, brother. I grew up in the country in NNY and used to chop wood, take long walks, swim in the Grasse River while cranking Vol 4 on my Pioneer boom box. awesome…
Timeless!
That is one of the best albums of all time in Rock,Heavy Metal,and all of music.Good songs and good guitar riffs by Tony Iommi.Good vocals of melody by Ozzy.Good bass fills by Geezer.Good drums by Bill Ward.Good lyrics written by Geezer.This is one of those that will go down in history as one of the most influential pieces of music,ever(it already has).
All the young kids into Lamb Of God and Slipknot need to hear the roots of those bands.Here is a good place to start.There would be no In This Moment or All That Remains without Sabbath.No Avenged Sevenfold without them.No Halestorm without them.
I will be blasting Vol 4 (ipod) and wailing my head off in the car and when I get home from work , I’m gonna grab the vinyl, throw that baby on the turntable and celebrate……won’t my wife be happy?!
Kiss the world with winter flowers
Turn my day to frozen hours
Lying snowblind in the sun
Will my ice age ever come?
I remember cranking up the old stereo back in the day…man did the neighbors think I was trouble. I feel sad for them…they missed out on something great. Lucky for them Disco was right around the corner!!!
The beat was ahead of his time,so far ahead, from that day rock bands from that era up till this present day are the bands they are because of BLACK SABBATH sound.Listen to the “HAND OF DOOM” a timeless lead guitar and drum set.
It just goes to show how fast Metal has changed over the years since the 1970’s.Now there are over hundreds of Metal genres and sub-genres.In the 70’s it was only a few bands(which in reality were more Hard Rock or Progressive).Besides Sabbath,there was only-Preist,Bloodrock,Alice Cooper,The JPT Scare Band,Atomic Rooster,Motorhead(who are actually more Punk),Lucifers Friend,and maybe bands like Blue Oyster Cult.But,Sabbath has stayed Metal throughout the changes.Most 70’s band can only be classified as Hard Rock now.But,Sabbath has remained louder(not counting Manowar)and heavier(not counting speed and death growling vocals,either).
i’ll put it this way been a steel packager for 30 years every weekend i would get 1 to two days to myself .the first cut of that weekend would be wheels of confussion,and yes snowblind.probly my favorite albulm and cover of the band.got it big brother the olive green wb lable and the boys inside.rember tone to the coca cola company in la.laguna beach.yea baby my fovorite band black sabbath.love you boys. ozzy tony geezer and yes you to bill. the best take a boul boys cuz you really deserve it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love rod form pittsburgh pa.
wheels of confusion is such a fantastic song…!!!
The fucking Straightener!!
thx for posting this bit… I gotta say the guitar sound on “Supernaut” is still amazing 40 years later…the intro to “Under the Sun” has gotta be the heaviest riff ever…”Wheels of Confusion” is a prog metal masterpiece! Its amazing to listen to their albums in order, just to hear the different sounds they ended up with. The first LP & Paranoid were rough & tumble, solid hard rock guitar sounds with great interplay between tony & geezer. However, “Master of Reality” was a a psychotrip into the first doom album in history…Nobody ever recorded a whole album tuned down to a C#, with those evil riffs and the end of the world message…Vol. 4 is also a great album, but it’s amazing how they progressed in sound with every release. Sound wise, there are no two Sabbath albums (70-78) that sound the even similar. I could name off ten newer artists off the bat that are good in their own right but their new album sounds like the last one and the one prior to that. Its the curse of the digital age…everything is so fucking perfect and pristine and quantized that finding a great sound BY ACCIDENT , by making a mistake will not happen. Sorry Im going off on a tangent here, but I ‘ve been playing guitar and writing songs for 20+ years… and the music still burns a fire in my heart! Hell i got a tattoo of the Screamin’ Demon on my forearm for a reason… (That’s what i call him, Joe posted the name of the logo-demon is “Henry”, which just seems a lil too quaint for my ugly ass)
Happy 40th anniversary Vol.4 Tommorrows Dream seems appropiate at this time September 25 1972 -September 25 2012 Sincerely Yours Brian Metcalfe Black Sabbath 4ever
good album but ive always thought they could av done better with album cover art. Great lp musically
Ahhh, still my favourite Sabbath album. Whhels of Confusion still kills me. Getting on a plane later and will have the iPod with me for this cracker.
Great album with sloppy cover…
I was introduced to this album as a 12 year old & other albums from this era & they blew me into another void, or maybe the abyss. Deep Purple In Rock was another killer album! What a great album Vol 4 is, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath & Sabotage, the trilogy! Or holy trinity maybe!
This is great but for awhile I didn’t know I had it. My copy is titled Children Of The Grave. Still great though.
I remember it when i listen it the first time in the recordshop. When it starts iíi cry for happines that my band has shuts a great album released. Happy than and still does!
My favorite Sabbath Album
mine too – the first two songs are just awesome, Changes is still a bit rubbish – but luckily i’s quite short. I think Snowblind is my favourite Sabbath song ever – I gotta go put it on again!
Will there ever be a Deluxe edition of this album?
Wow, Volume 4 is 40!!! What an album What a band. Ridiculed at the time in the press but worshipped by the metal heads at the time. Timeless music and getting the credit it deserves now. Sabbath are the true definition of metal and unsurpassed.
The first truly “heavy” album that I ever heard. Opened up whole new worlds! I used to sit and listen to this alblum over and over. Then I bought the cassette, and took it out with me when I graduated high school and went to work on a riverboat pushing barges up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.
“Supernaut” is still my favorite song on the album, with “Wheels” and “Snowblind” right behind.
At 50 years old, I’m a metal fan for life!