Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 10/25/1990
Run Time: 48:17
Years of constant touring, alcoholism, and drug abuse finally began to affect
Black Sabbath around the time of their sixth release, 1975's
Sabotage. While it's not a bad album (in fact, it's one of their most underrated), you can sense that the magical chemistry that made such albums as
Paranoid and
Vol. 4 so special was beginning to disintegrate. But guitarist
Tony Iommi again comes equipped with an arsenal of sturdy, ultra-heavy riffs, as evidenced by the raucous album opener,
"Hole in the Sky," as well as the drug-induced anthem
"Symptom of the Universe" -- both tracks coming as close to
garage rock as
Sabbath ever got. But the album's biggest surprise is the melodic, synth-laced
"Am I Going Insane (Radio)," which is more akin to '70s
power pop than to the band's patented
doom metal (although the lyrics are what you'd expect -- detailing a person's downward spiral into dementia). Although often overlooked,
Sabotage remains an interesting and challenging release.
~Greg Prato, All Music Guide
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