Time to celebrate the 50 years release date for Master of Reality with Black Sabbath!
Dear followers. Long time since you had an update from my hand. Mainly because there haven’t been interesting albums to celebrate, in my opinion. Except compilations and live records. The pause came with good timing though, since our vinyl bar here in Ceske Budejovice re-opened after a long covid lock-down, and we have been on holiday in Croatia in July as well. Now everything is back to normal, but when I view the calendar for the next month’s releases, it will be also limited with posts in the near future. I might not find everything, so if you have suggestions – please use the form hitting the button on the 50 Years main page.

One album I missed though, was Indelibly Stamped with Supertramp, released June 25, 1971. Sorry for that. Someone might think “what about Fireball with Deep Purple?”. And you are right of cause, the album came on the marked in the US July, 1971. But, first of all, the release was not an official release. Maybe one could say that it kind of “slipped out” during their promotion concerts in US. Second, it haven’t been possible for me to find which day that actually happened/started. So I will stick to the official release date in UK, which will be celebrated 1. September this year.

Back to the album in topic, Master of Reality:
The album was recorded in the Island Studios in London from February to April 1971. Released almost a year after the major success, Paranoid, it really had some competition to live up to. And in my opinion it did. Not that it is better that Paranoid, but I think the criteria for a successful follow-up was fulfilled. As you know, heavy metal is not my favorite genre, but Black Sabbath is one of my favorite bands anyway – especially in this period, where Ozzy Osbourne were still present in the band.

The early receptions didn’t receive a lot of positive critics, but it certainly did some years later. Ended up peaking as number 5 on the UK chart and by some considered as the best heavy rock album ever. I would not go that far, as Paranoid is better.. If you are not familiar with the album it is highly recommended. Not much more to say, just listen!

Oh, a funny gimmick on the opening song, Sweat Leaf: Osbourne brought Iommi a joint during the recordings, which caused the him to cough loudly. They obviously chose to keep it as is, instead of a re-take 🙂
Please notice that there is a different track sets on the UK and US release, just in case somebody wondered. The tracks below are from the UK first press version.

Ozzy Osbourne – lead vocals
Tony Iommi – guitar, synthesizer, flute, piano
Geezer Butler – bass guitar
Bill Ward – drums, percussion