Which member did Ozzy Osbourne call the best of Black Sabbath?
It takes more than a couple of decent riffs to turn a band from good to great. Maybe it’s the way that they work off each other or their collaboration when they play live, but there’s some sort of ex-factor that kicks in whenever they legends take to the stage or enter the studio that puts them on another playing field compared to any of their competition. And while Ozzy Osbourne does a lot of heavy lifting as the face of Black Sabbath in the press, he knew that there was more than himself that took them into the legendary arenas.
However, if there truly was an “ex-factor” to Sabbath’s music, it must have been developed in Hell. The whole point of their music was about making the kind of tunes that could scare the life out of parents everywhere, and when kids bought that first Sabbath album and were treated by the rainfall and the dreaded tritone lick, it was enough for fans to be scared out of their minds before Osbourne even opened his mouth.
But listening to their music, a lot of it wasn’t strictly rock and roll or anything. They had started as a bluesy band, and while Tony Iommi made frequent use of the tritone in many of his licks, some of his best moments involved him rocking in the same pentatonic box that most blues guitarists start with before going back to the central riff. For as heavy as Iommi’s riffs are, any metal band thrives off its killer rhythm section.
And while Sabbath did have a fair helping of power whenever they made their classics, there was always a jazz flair to the way they played their music. An album like Paranoid is fairly by-the-numbers rock and roll for many people, but the more you listen to a song like ‘Fairies Wear Boots’, the interplay between Geezer Butler and Bill Ward is the kind of rhythm you’d expect out of a swing band, only this time it’s a song about being beat up by a bunch of skinheads.
“Unfortunately, it’s not quite Black Sabbath because Billy’s not there. He’s the best part.”
Ozzy Osbourne
Aside from taking influences from the jazz greats like Glenn Miller, Ward always created the perfect atmosphere for Sabbath’s tunes. He had the power to pummel the listener when he wanted to, but listening to their namesake track, hearing him lay back into the groove during the verses before storming in is like a hunter luring in its prey before it goes in for the kill.
Many of people look back on Iommi’s guitar riffs as one of the central themes of Sabbath, but for Osbourne, he always came back to Ward’s drumming, saying, “I’ve been asked [to reform Sabbath] time and time, and every time I walk out my bloody door somebody’s saying, ‘Will there ever be a chance of seeing you?’ Unfortunately, it’s not quite Black Sabbath because Billy’s not there. He’s the best part, he’s a good part of Black Sabbath, and we’ll be able to play the old stuff with the guitar, but Michael Bordin, my drummer, is gonna be playing drums, it looks like. But we’re just gonna play the best we can.”
Sabbath is Iommi’s baby, but there is some merit to what Osbourne was getting at there. Osbourne knew that he had bigger plans once he transformed himself into a solo artist, but while the incarnation of the band with Ronnie James Dio is fantastic in its own way, not hearing that shuffling rhythm behind the kit compared to the raw power of Vinnie Appice is a bit of an adjustment.
Their name may have been identical to the classic lineup, but pieces of Sabbath were lost when Ward left the fold. Iommi’s riffs were as thunderous as ever, but when it comes to replacing the heartbeat of any band, it’s something that’s felt rather than heard whenever a new record comes out.
