Black Sabbath — Sabotage

intothewellsabyss
Jul 28, 2023
6 min read

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

July 28, 1975 — Black Sabbath released their sixth full-length studio album, Sabotage via Vertigo Records in the UK and Warner Bros. Records in the US. (Apple Music or Spotify)

Sabotage was recorded in the midst of a legal battle with the band's former manager Patrick Meehan. The stress that resulted from the band's ongoing legal woes infiltrated the recording process, inspiring the album's title. It was co-produced by guitarist Tony Iommi and Mike Butcher.

The Recording of Sabotage:

Black Sabbath began work on their sixth album in February 1975, again in England at Morgan Studios in Willesden, London. The title Sabotage was chosen because the band were at the time being sued by their former management and felt they were being "𝚜𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜", according to Iommi. "𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚊𝚠𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘," said drummer Bill Ward. Tony Iommi credits those legal troubles for the album's angry, heavier sound.

In 2001, bassist Geezer Butler explained to Dan Epstein, "𝙰𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝚠𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚋𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝‘𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 – 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏."

In his autobiography I Am Ozzy, singer Ozzy Osbourne confirms that "𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚡𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚔“ and that Ward “𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜".

In the liner notes to the 1998 live album Reunion, Butler claimed the band suffered through 10 months of legal cases and admitted, "𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐."

Iommi later reflected, "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 𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚊 𝚁𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 – 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚊 𝚁𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖, 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢."

According to the book How Black Was Our Sabbath, "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.

Osbourne, however, grew frustrated with how long Black Sabbath albums were taking to record, writing in his autobiography, “𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜."

According to Iommi, the Sabotage sessions were the scene of a legendary jam session between Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Iommi's recollection may be inaccurate, however, as records show that Zeppelin were on tour in the US at the time Sabotage was being recorded.

Ward's recollection of the exact timing of the Zeppelin jam session is also fuzzy. "𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗‘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗", the drummer explained. "𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 (𝙱𝚘𝚗𝚑𝚊𝚖)’𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚞𝚝 – 𝚜𝚘, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚊𝚖 𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚞𝚝."

The Compositions of Sabotage:

Sabotage is a mix of heavy, powerful songs and softer experimental tunes, such as Supertzar and Am I Going Insane (Radio).

In 2013 Mojo observed, "𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚔𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚂𝚢𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚜, 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑‘𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜."

In the article Thrash Metal - An Introduction in The University Times Magazine, Vladimir Rakhmanin cites Symptom of the Universe as one of the earliest examples of Thrash Metal, a Heavy Metal subgenre which emerged in the early 1980s.

Tony Iommi describes the song's dynamics in his autobiography Iron Man: "𝙸𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚋𝚒𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚙-𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚢𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚌, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝, 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚊𝚖 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍."

The final part of Symptom of the Universe evolved from an in-studio improvisation, created very spontaneously in a single day and the decision was made to use it in that song. The English Chamber Choir was brought in to perform on the song Supertzar. When vocalist Ozzy Osbourne arrived at the studio and saw them, he thought he was in the wrong studio and left. The title of the Pop-leaning Am I Going Insane (Radio) caused some confusion due to the "(Radio)" part, which led people to believe the song was a radio cut or radio version. However, this is the only version of the song: the term "𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚘-𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕" is rhyming slang for "𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕".

The Writ is one of only a handful of Black Sabbath songs to feature lyrics composed by vocalist Osbourne, who typically relied on bassist Butler for lyrics. The song was inspired by the frustrations Osbourne felt at the time, as Black Sabbath's former manager Patrick Meehan was suing the band after having been fired. The song viciously attacks the music business in general and is a savage diatribe directed towards Meehan specifically ("𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚗? 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚗?"), with Osbourne revealing in his memoir, "𝙸 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝙼𝚎𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝."

During this period, the band began to question if there was any point to recording albums and touring endlessly "𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚠𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜".

Thematically, The Writ and Megalomania are intertwined, according to drummer Ward, as they both deal with the same tensions arising from these ongoing legal troubles.

The brief instrumental Don't Start (Too Late) is an acoustic guitar showpiece for Iommi, titled for tape operator David Harris who often despaired at Sabbath being prone to start playing before he was ready.

Album Art & Layout:

The front cover art of Sabotage has garnered mixed reactions over the years and is regarded by some as one of the worst album covers in Rock history. The inverted mirror concept was conceived by Graham Wright, Bill Ward's drum tech, who was also a graphic artist. The band attended what they believed was a test photo shoot for the album cover, thus explaining their choice of clothing. Said Ward, "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗‘𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎’𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝. 𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚢".

Ward, in fact, was wearing his wife's red tights in the photo. Wright recalls in the book How Black Was Our Sabbath that the plan was for each band member to appear on the cover dressed in black and had been instructed to bring some stage clothes for preliminary photos, but when they arrived no black costumes had been laid out by the designers and "𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚍." The designers "𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚝, 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝, 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝙱𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚒𝚝, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎."

Noteworthy:

In early 2022, an unsanctioned documentary was released detailing "𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑‘𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎".

The Release of Sabotage & Critical Reception:

Released on June 28, 1975, Sabotage peaked at No. 7 on the UK albums chart and at No. 28 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US. It was certified Silver (60,000 units sold) in the UK by the BPI on December 1, 1975 and Gold in the US on June 16, 1997, but was the band's first release not to achieve platinum status in the US.

For the second time, a Black Sabbath album initially saw favorable reviews, with Rolling Stone stating “𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑‘𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚍, 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛."

Later reviews were also favorable; Greg Prato of AllMusic said that “𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑‘𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚂𝚒𝚡" but noted that "𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚅𝚘𝚕. 𝟺 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎."

Guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen told Nick Bowcott of Guitar Player Magazine in 2008 that the riff to Symptom of the Universe was the first Tony Iommi riff he ever heard and that "𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢‘𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘."

In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked it 32nd on their 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time list.

The Sabotage Tour:

The band toured the US in support of Sabotage in 1975, which included a filmed appearance for the prestigious series Don Kirshner's Rock Concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Sabbath played Killing Yourself to Live, Hole in the Sky, Snowblind, War Pigs and Paranoid. During Iommi's guitar solo during Snowblind, plastic snowflakes were dropped from above on the audience and the band, a gimmick used during the band's live shows during this period.

According to the book How Black Was Our Sabbath, "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙻.𝙰. 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝." Due to the band's expanding use of orchestras and other new sounds in the studio, the tour in support of Sabotage was the first in which Black Sabbath used a full-time keyboardist onstage, Gerald "Jezz" Woodroffe. Black Sabbath toured with openers KIϟϟ, but were forced to cut the tour short in November 1975, after vocalist Osbourne was injured in a motorcycle accident.

Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells