The five best Black Sabbath albums
Recently, Black Sabbath announced that they would be reuniting for one final show, putting a full stop to one of the greatest bands to ever take to the stage. “It’s my time to go Back to the Beginning… time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” said Osbourne when discussing the reunion, “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.”
It feels like a monumental moment to officially call it a day with Black Sabbath, as they were one of the first bands to pioneer the heavy metal sound and have been responsible for a range of amazing albums as a result. They have released so much music that it can be tricky for people who aren’t familiar with them to know which records they should be listening to.
There are so many Black Sabbath albums, and each of them represents a different phase for the band. As such, it’s difficult to choose an all-out favourite, but we can narrow the list down to help out any new Sabbath listeners who want to get into the band and give them a place to start.
Here is the definitive list of some of the best Black Sabbath albums ever made and what makes them such classics.
The five best Black Sabbath albums of all time
Black Sabbath’s rawest sounding album: ‘Black Sabbath’
Release Date: February 13th 1970 | Producer: Rodger Bain | Label: Vertigo / Warner Bros
There has never been a debut album that better reflects the surroundings of a band than Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut. It has an incredible raw sound that resonated deeply in the hearts of people growing up in post-war Britain, trapped by a society designed against them. The doom-laden sound of this debut was the perfect metaphor for life at the time, and it set the foundation for heavy metal.
Given that the band was championing a new sound, their record label wouldn’t invest a great deal of money in the recording, so the whole record was pretty much done live. This contributed to the album’s raw sound and, if anything, gave it an even greater impact.
Defining track: ‘The Wizard’
Black Sabbath’s best album with Ozzy Osbourne: ‘Paranoid’
Release Date: September 18th 1970 | Producer: Rodger Bain | Label: Vertigo / Warner Bros
Once the first album was released, the label understood that there was a huge market for Black Sabbath. As such, they didn’t want to waste any time getting them back in the studio to churn out their second record, hence why the release dates of Black Sabbath and Paranoid are so close together. With Paranoid, we got a similar sound as we did on their debut, but with a bit more funding and time put into it.
The result is a much crisper sound, one that highlights the power behind Osbourne’s vocals and shows just how powerful the band sounded. It’s not as raw as the debut, but as a piece of work, it sounds a lot better. Additionally, thanks to introducing songs like ‘Planet Caravan’ and ‘Hand of Doom’, we’re exposed to how versatile Black Sabbath could be as well.
Defining track: ‘Iron Man’
Black Sabbath’s best album with Ronnie James Dio: ‘Dehumanizer’
Release Date: June 22nd 1992 | Producer: Reinhold Mack | Label: I.R.S.
Black Sabbath had a few vocalists during its time as a band; however, its two greatest were Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio. While Osbourne’s best album with the band came in the early days of Black Sabbath, Dio joined later, making it difficult for them to work out what sound they wanted to champion. It wasn’t until he rejoined the band in the ‘90s that they made a truly spectacular Black Sabbath album.
“We decided to make a very heavy Black Sabbath record that had a real natural sound and a ton of doomy riffs […] It has a raunchy sound,” said Iommi, “Something I think has been missing from Sabbath over the last few years. This is very much a classic Black Sabbath record. In fact, I didn’t expect it to come out quite this good.”
Defining track: ‘Master of Insanity’
Black Sabbath’s most underrated album: ‘Technical Ecstasy’
Release Date: October 22nd 1976 | Producer: Black Sabbath | Label: Vertigo
When Technical Ecstasy came out, it flew under the radar for a lot of Black Sabbath fans. The cover didn’t look very heavy metal, and people were put off by what they called a repetitive sound. However, in hindsight, and upon reviewing all of the albums Black Sabbath have released, it’s hard to deny this record is one of their very best.
The guitar work is killer throughout, as Iommi gives the listener some of his hardest-hitting and punchiest guitar lines. Not to mention, Osbourne’s voice is at his best, particularly in tracks like ‘You Won’t Change Me’, which sound both defiant and rock ‘n’ roll simultaneously.
Defining track: ‘You Won’t Change Me’
Tony Iommi’s greatest guitar playing: ‘Forbidden (2024 Tony Iommi Remix)’
Release Date: November 15th 2024 | Producer: Ernie C | Label: I.R.S.
Tony Iommi was never happy with the original album Forbidden because it was heavily influenced by the rapper Ice-T. He was originally supposed to rap on a few songs, but he brought his guitarist and contributed to many of the songs on the album.
“Forbidden has been a thorn in my side for years,” said Iommi. “I knew all about Ice-T and that he was good, but I didn’t expect him to bring along his guitar player to produce the album […] When a band knows its sound and exactly what it wants, bringing in an outsider is very disruptive. I found myself on the sidelines. Our whole situation had become so frail.”
Iommi finally reworked the album in 2024 when he released a remix version over which he had full control. The way he reworked what were quite haphazard songs and managed to pull a good Black Sabbath album out of the ashes shows just how much of a musical maestro Iommi really is.
Defining track: ‘The Illusion of Power’
