Yes, yes - As already pointed out, Sabbath was pioneers, and did undoubtedly forge the metal genre as it is today, so I'll restrain from praising them in that sense. Heh.

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality Lyrics and Tracklist | Genius

This verse is about the person feeling empty, but now has something to look forward to thanks to the "sweet leaf". Sweet leaf is slang for marijuana, but the way the lyrics are written makes the reference feel subtle, and is further enhanced with the slow and stoner riffs and Ozzy's energized vocals. When it's not about drugs, however, the lyrics can get spiritual. Take the lyrics to "After Forever" for example, where this verse quotes: Bangs, Lester (25 November 1971). "Review Master of Reality". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012 . Retrieved 3 March 2011. Into The Void - Starting with the slowest and heaviest of riffs (heavily accented by Geezer's bass), it later morphs into a slightly faster section featuring Geezer's bass prominently. This chugs on nicely until about 3 minutes in until a triple-time section drops in to shake things up a little. After this we return to the heavy chug previously established. There's also a nice patented Iommi 'dual guitar' solo in here as well.That’s me,” recalled Tony. “Ozzy rolled this big joint… I had a couple of puffs and nearly choked myself. They left the tape running and it turned into the ideal start for Sweet Leaf.” Let's not beat around the bush: Into the Void is the heaviest song of all time. Sure, you get louder songs and about more gruesome subject matter, but it doesn't get any better than the closing minute and a half of Iommi riffage. Butler and Ward also jam a little at the end, too! The whole thing is a masterpiece in the pleasure-pain see saw: the guitars are mixed a bit too loudly and panned rigorously in the last sections, but it's the kind of pain that gives its way to ecstasy and repeated listens. Master of Reality is heavy. Sure, it’s heavier than anything until at least Welcome to Hell but that, again, isn't of great consequence as: This music on this release is very aggressive but at the same time it's very melodic there's a lot of great music encased within this release. It is one where you see a lot of raw emotion but at the same time you also find a lot of real issues with the music from a lyrical persepctive. This is a release from a band that has already been able to observe some of the things going on around them on their first two records. It is the bookends that are really what's encouraging and also very spectacular. The following is a scan of a cassette tape sleeve from what I believe to be a Polish release of the album

Master of Reality – Rolling Stone Master of Reality – Rolling Stone

Not all of this, incidentally, was rendered in La Brea sinks of lugubrious bass blasts — several of the songs had high wailing solos and interesting changes of tempo, and “Paranoid” really moved. If you took the trouble to listen to the album all the way through. The contradictory message ("Think for yourself and don't let others dictate your beliefs! By the way, Christ is the only answer.") will aggravate those who pay attention, so I advise just immersing yourself in the riffs and letting them flow over you, because musically speaking the song is still a treat - yet another showcase for Iommi's fuzzy riffs, with the repetitive structure set against Ozzy's chantlike vocals giving the song a hypnotic quality.Recorded at the same bowel-churning pitch, Lord Of This World was a rolling boulder of a song, while Into The Void’s telepathic proto-sludge groove belied the challenges of catching it in the bottle, with drummer Bill Ward struggling to ride the shifting time signatures and Tony writing in his memoirs that Ozzy tripped on the flows of warped poetry. As I wrote above that could describe the entire album. After Forever and Children Of the Grave are the albums stronger moments but like all the other numbers, they fall somewhat flat because of two problems. First are the vocals, the way he ends the lyric lines in the verses of After Forever, or the unbelievably awful delivery during the opening lines for Lord Of This World, which is a song that perfectly represents my second problem. The music. I love the rhythm of Children Of The Grave,” notes Geezer. “It was unique at the time, a menacing, marching vibe. The downtuning definitely summoned the advent of doom metal and heaviness in general. Too many bands to mention have told me they were inspired by it.” Moving on, every musician sounds pretty inspired here. The guitar is obviously the most important instrument of this album; Tony Iommi dominates everything here with his amazing riffs really shining. Almost every riff is, indeed, very catchy and heavier than the ones featured on the band's past records. So, we can find here Iommi's riffs in their heaviest form, that's for sure, even though “Volume 4” also has a couple of interesting heavy ones. He doesn't solo as frequently as on “Paranoid” but the solos still play an important role on the majority of the songs. Ozzy Osbourne delivers a competent performance, with his unique voice, even though he isn't, technically speaking, the best singer out there. This verse is about being open-minded about a god existing, which the band written to prove that they weren't Satanists. However, the subtlety is what makes this work extremely well, with the questions leading to multiple answers, and suggesting that it can be good or bad should there be a god or not. While the lyrics are simple on paper, their subtle tone enhances the themes, and they would be further executed by the instruments and vocals.

Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality (2021, Purple, Vinyl) - Discogs Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality (2021, Purple, Vinyl) - Discogs

Orchid is a nice little ditty to open up Side Two which could have used some expansion, but whatever length, it does not prepare anyone for the menacing swagger of Lord of This World. As soon as that riff bursts out of the gate, you know you're in for a wild ride. Unexpectedly, the song slows down and sleazes along effortlessly. Ozzy's vocals are upfront and confrontational, presumably from the point of view of Mr. Skydaddy himself. "You're searching for your mind, don't know where to start" is an epic, put-you-on-the-spot opening lyric, and the song turns even darker; "the soul I took from you was not even missed, yeah!" And then, comes cowbell! Woo hoo! More epic doom riffing; "Lord of this world!!!", return, more cowbell. We had proved against all odds that we were a viable band, much to the annoyance of our critics,” bassist Geezer Butler reflects, a half-century later. “We were full of confidence with our first two releases [which ultimately went gold and platinum], our tours were selling out everywhere, so we knew our instincts were right about our music. It felt like we were an unstoppable juggernaut.”

Terence "Geezer" Butler (bass) - With the mentality "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," Geezer continues in his trademark fashion. His detuned bass (relatively matching Iommi's tuning) lends a heaviness to the album not seen in other bands around the time. Highlights include Sweet Leaf, in particular in the under the guitar solo (more like band solo) Master of Reality is a 34 minute journey that ebbs and flows. The slower songs contrast with the heavy songs and the darker songs contrast with the lighter ones. It's that perfect balance that makes this one of the most metal and heavy albums Sabbath ever did. Solitude is a slow and solemn song that takes the listener down into a deep abyss. All of a sudden the song is over and the closer Into The Void just crushes you with the buzz saw intro. I feel like without Solitude, Into the Void wouldn't be as heavy. They both work with each other and they both need each other to be successful. Note that, while the overall timing of "Deathmask/Into the Void" is approximately correct, the apportioning of time between the two parts of the song may be arbitrary, as the 3:08 mark occurs during "Into the Void"'s middle-8 vocal section ("Freedom fighters sent off to the sun ..."). The revised US pressing timings, shown below, compound this likely error.

Master of Reality – Black Sabbath Online Master of Reality – Black Sabbath Online

The band also seemed to be tighter as a unit with a much more focused vision. The Sab Four always had fantastic chemistry but the structures on this album are more fully realized than anything that had come before. Nothing on Paranoid could’ve ever reached the speeds of the charging “Children of the Grave” and while the tempo shifts on songs like “Sweet Leaf” and “Into the Void” are nothing new, they were never this purposeful. The band was clearly done meandering around and not a single second is wasted, effectively bridging the gap from the psych blues jams of “Warning” and “N.I.B.” to the elaborate journeys of “Megalomania” and “Wheels of Confusion.”Unfortunately, the religious virus also rears its zealot head, in “After Forever,” which is a great Yardbirds-type arrangement nevertheless and despite its drubbing us over the head with “God is the only way to love” it does have the great line “Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope?” Man distraught at the loss of his lover – be it through death or more worldly reasons like his incessant flatulence in the bedroom, for the purposes of this narrative I shall assume the second is the case. Orchid” suffers from the same plight as “Embryo,” except it is a little more developed. The bowed bass is pretty cool. Meh. The truth is that you can fast forward through most of this album and not miss anything spectacular, ninety percent of it is totally dispensable and the other ten percent just doesn't matter. The phrase “nothing happened” can never be more literally stated about an Ozzy era release than this.