Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (song)
"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" | ||||
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Single by Black Sabbath | ||||
from the album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath | ||||
B-side | Changes | |||
Released |
1 December 1973 (UK) January 1974 (U.S.) | |||
Recorded | 1973 | |||
Genre | Heavy metal, progressive rock | |||
Length | 5:45 | |||
Label |
Castle (UK) Warner Bros. (U.S.) | |||
Writer(s) | Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward | |||
Producer(s) | Black Sabbath | |||
Black Sabbath singles chronology | ||||
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"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" is a song by British rock band Black Sabbath. It is the title track of the band's fifth album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. It was released on the album in 1973. The song is the opening track on the album.
The main riff in the song has been recognized as "the riff that saved Black Sabbath"[1] because Tony Iommi, who wrote most of the band's music, was suffering from writer's block at the time.[2][3] They resorted to drastic measures (including renting out the supposedly haunted Clearwell Castle to live in) to inspire him.[2][3]
The song has been dropped from Black Sabbath's sets. It was rarely played live in the 1970s, and when the band reunited they only performed the first half in completion, with Ozzy dropping out of the song and not singing the final two verses. By the year 2000, it was dropped from their set entirely, until it emerged a few years later when the band played the riff a few times as an introduction to "Paranoid". It continued as the introduction to "Paranoid" for every show of their 2012-2014 Reunion Tour.
Covers
- Swedish pop band The Cardigans covered this song on their 1994 album, Emmerdale.
- The thrash metal band Anthrax also covered the song on their 1987 EP I'm the Man.
- Bluegrass band Iron Horse covered "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" on their album Black & Bluegrass: A Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne & Black Sabbath.
- Godspeed covered the song with Bruce Dickinson on the tribute album Nativity in Black.
- Covered by Today Is the Day on the Hydra Head seven inch tribute In These Black Days. Included as a hidden bonus track on their album Temple of the Morning Star.
- Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth released a version as a bonus track on their 2002 album Versus the World.
- Houston heavy metal band Ripper covered this song for their 2015 release 'Third Witness' featuring Steve Sylvester from Death SS on vocals.
References
- ↑ "Julian Cope presents Head Heritage | Unsung | Reviews | Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". Headheritage.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
- 1 2 Gulla, Bob (2009). Guitar gods : the 25 players who made rock history. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 138. ISBN 0313358060.
- 1 2 Lammers, Tony Iommi with T.J. (2012). Iron man : my journey through heaven and hell with Black Sabbath (1st Da Capo Press pbk. ed.). Boston, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306821451.