SABOTAGE

In 1975, Led Zeppelin was at the height of their popularity, and as such was one of the biggest acts in the music industry. So it's no surprise that other bands were driven to copy Zep's sound in one way or the other.

Sabotage appears to be Black Sabbath's entry into Zeppelin style rock. The heavy, lumbering Sabbath sound is still there, but the Led Zeppelin influenced touches are unmistakable. Start with the effects on Ozzy Osbourne's voice, which was alread close to Robert Plant in register. Throughout the album, Ozzy's tracks are run through delays, chorusing, double-tracking and such, that serve to make him sound even more like Plant. And most obvious is the riffing. One can hear a piece of Communication Breakdown popping up in one track.

What makes this more of a Sabbath album than Zep is that Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward are not the musicians that Page, Jones and Bonham were at the time. Sabbath's forte was still the dark, ultra heavy riffs. The prog touches, like the choral Supertzar, sound forced, and distract from the primal joy of the original BS albums.

Still, it's a pretty good album.