Thoughts on Master of Reality

For me Sweet Leaf is the best song, so........

Allmusic says Sweet Leaf has "one of the greatest guitar riffs ever committed to record." That seems to be the general consensus, but I have never liked that riff. There are three or four others on the album I like a lot better.

Like you, thellama73, I much prefer Vol. 4, which I think contains many of their best songs ("Wheels of Confusion", "Tomorrow's Dream", "Supernaut", "Snowblind", "Laguna Sunrise", "Under the Sun"). Master of Reality, I think, has two classics: "Children of the Grave" with its ultimate chugging riff and quasi-tribal percussion and Into the Void, which might the heaviest song ever recorded. As for the rest of the record: "Solitude", albeit overlong and monotonous, is quite lovely and may contain the only good vocal performance by Ozzy Osbourne ever ("Planet Caravan" doesn't count because his voice is unrecognizable). "After Forever" is rather strong, but the lyrics are incredibly awful even by this band's standards (I don't object to Christian themes, but Butler's effort to put forth a convincing argument for Christianity backfires immensely) and that upbeat, almost boogie-ish section doesn't gel too well with the 'urgent' main riff. The riff to "Sweet Leaf" is so dumb that it's almost cool again and the fast interlude towards the middle is quite entertaining. Plus, Ozzy contributes maybe his most unintentionally brilliant moment in the way he screams out "my life is freeeeeeeeeeeeee now". "Lord of This World" is one of three by-the-numbers Sabbath songs (the others are "Cornucopia" and "St. Vitus' Dance") that I always think are totally lame but nevertheless entertain me a bit when they're on.The two short tracks are completely dispensable.

So in the end that's two great songs, four okay ones and two minutes of filler. That makes a solid three stars. By contrast, Vol. 4 has six great songs, three okay ones and also two minutes of filler ("Changes" barely makes the "okay" category for similar reasons as "Sweet Leaf": It's so dumb that it's kinda cool.)

My ranking of Sabbath's first six albums looks like this:
1. Vol. 4
2. Paranoid
3. Black Sabbath
4. Sabotage
5. Master of Reality
6. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath


Edited by HarbouringTheSoul - October 21 2012 at 17:14

I've always been a little lukewarm towards Master of Reality too.  It's my least favorite of their first six albums.  But I still like it a good deal.  I always skip Sweet Leaf, thought I do love After Forever and Children of the Grave.

Edited by HolyMoly - October 21 2012 at 17:56

I'm a pretty big fan of myself.  Ohhhhhhhhhh...you mean the other Master of Reality.  

Of their first four, MoR is actually my least favorite.  I think their debut, Paranoid and 4 are much better.  And I agree with the OP, After Forever seems very out of place on a Black Sabbath record.  That song would seem more appropriate on a Neal Morse solo album. 

Into The Void evokes the Cold War. Fortunately we came to our senses. I wonder if Master Of Reality was played in the Kremlin or Pentagon. Sabbath saved the world with that one. if they didn' get the message with Warpigs then this one must have sunk in.

Great album, and the third  consecutive 5 star album Sabbath has from me.
I don't like it quite as much as the first 2, which really speaks to their greatness.

Not much to say, it's everything you want from Sabbath and done well.
Vol 4 is where they start to lose it IMO, though it's a good album. The excessive touring, recording and drug use started to take its toll by that point.


Edited by JJLehto - October 22 2012 at 17:59

I would say Vol 4 is my, well, 4th favorite. Master of Reality is not up there at all on my list. I'm a much bigger fan of their b-side stuff than the staples. My Ozzy years' BS (make of that what you will)  ranking:

1  Sabbotage
2. Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath
3. Never Say Die
4. Vol. 4
5. S/T
6. Paranoid
7. Master of Reality
8. Technical Ecstasy

I would say the gulf in class between 7 and 8 is much bigger than between 1 and 7.

I see MoR as the band progressing beyond their first 2 huge albums; fairly short even by vinyl standards, it contains to me some of Iommi's best work. Sweet Leaf is to me the weakest track on the album & I loved Solitude as soon as I heard it (still do).

Volume 4 built on the foundations set by MoR & in my opinion, still stands up as their masterpiece.

Master of Reality is probably their heaviest soundwise concerning the classics. Quite the guitar tone for its time, and the downtuning added an extra doom factor to the overall vibe. Granted, it's short, but still one of the most played out of their albums I own.