MASTER OF REALITY

What a decade were the 70's! Definitely a decade which most youngsters of today, which are hard-core music fans, wished they have lived in, especially there in good ol' Great Britain. So much diversity, so much innovation, so much quality music to be found! One of the many new musical adventures and innovators of that time was the heavy, ''Satanists'', Black Sabbath, led by the master of riffs: Tony Iommi.

1971 was a time in which most of the acclaimed bands had already released their debut and were beginning to mature their songwriting and playing. Black Sabbath was one of them, having released their raw, world-wide famous, gloomy and heavy debut in 1970 for the amusement of all music fans of the time (well they still surprise us, youngsters, who weren't there when it was released).Then came the more concise, but slightly more commercial with two ''hit singles'', Paranoid, containing heavy rock masterpieces such as War Pigs and Faires Were Boots.

Well, Sabbath one year later confirmed the world that they were the masters of heavy and dark rock music; that their two first albums were not an illusion, they were actually the reality. Master of Reality showed the band in a far more matured way, musically speaking, the blues roots were disappearing and Tony Iommi was writing cleverer and more elaborated heavy (and soft) pieces.

This 1971 album by Sabbath was and still is one-of-a-kind. Opening with a repeated 'cough' just to fool the listener, since it's only a matter of time till Tony enters the album with such a bleak sounding guitar accompanied by Geezer's equally dark and sludgy bass. Ozzy is there giving the last ingredient, giving the final touch to a band who needed such a characteristical frontman.

It's no use describing each song since most of you might know them by hard, so I'll just say that with the exception of Embryo, Orchid and Solitude, which are great acoustic/tranquil tunes that fit the album's mood, the rest are hard rocking songs with massive and memorable guitar riffs, smart time changes and engaging performances from the band in general.

So yeah, this album, like dozens of other albums from the 70's, is simply a must for all music fans. Although, of course, if you're not fond of heavy music at all, I doubt you'll get even a bit of enjoyment from this killer proto-metal album.

While I tend to listen more to the rawer debut and the proggier Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Master of Reality still is a masterpiece of rock music.

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