A Young Person's Guide to Black Sabbath

[Zzzptm]

If a younger person came to you and said, "Hey, I just listened to that song Paranoid by the Black Sabbath group, I was wondering if you had any suggestions about what to try of theirs next...", what would your answers be? Do more from that album, try later stuff, go back to the first album, or get straight into the Dio/Martin years?

And then if the youngster wanted more, what would the next set of lessons be? Would you warn about staying away from anything completely or just avoiding it until they've been exposed to most of the good stuff?

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Answering my own question, I think the next track I'd have them listen to would be "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath." Next would be "Symptom of the Universe." Let's get straight to the point, because if you can handle those two, you are ready for a massive voyage. If not, then we gotta head back to port for calmer waters.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I would go with one of the greatest hits albums. We Sold Our Souls... has a pretty good selection of early songs and The Sabbath Stones has a good selection of later songs, but it doesn't particularly covers the Dio era in any detail. So maybe include The Dio Years compilation.

[Charger]

Best of's would be the way to go I think... Between Heaven And Hell would be my choice! That's got a great collection of songs from the Ozzy era couple from Dio and even Zero The Hero...sadly does not cover the TM era so I'd also throw in The Sabbath Stones...and why not The Dio Years as well.

[Vyn]

Interesting question - overall I agree with the "best of" approach, and would probably go that route. "Hey, pick up We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'N' Roll".

But I'm torn between what seems sensible, and using my personal experience to guide it.

It's hard for me to gauge what something like "Black Sabbath" would sound like to someone just now getting into Sabbath. Back in the way back, that song was magic. It wasn't the first one I heard, but the musical landscape at the time was entirely different. Combined with the social mores of the time, and that entire first album felt like more than just great music, it felt subversive. To a kid today, it might sound cartoonish.

[Zzzptm]

Like any self-respecting old-timer, I'd be able to say that kids these days are lucky because they have Tony Martin era and Live Evil remasters/remixes.

I'd agree on holding back with the first album, it is a bit dated because of other bands taking that as a starting place and then going over the top with it. Likewise, I'd steer away from Technical Ecstasy for the new ears.

For a Dio-years intro, though, I'd go with Mob Rules. If you like that one, kid, then there's some great stuff in store for ya...

[Charger]

Yes to Mob Rules!

I would also say stay far far far away from TE and NSD...and I'd also would NOT recommend 13...it's basically just rehashing past glories with very little originality plus the production is weak.

I think my recommendation would go something like "well if you heard the song Paranoid and liked it why not try out some best of's and if you like what you're hearing try out Master Of Reality and hey by the way, they had this other singer who is all kinds of awesome and miles away from the guy on those earlier records why not try The Mob Rules...oh and then they had this guy called Tony Martin, check out Cross Purposes." Then maybe get into bit more detail with other older stuff.

[Zzzptm]

Agree that Cross Purposes would be a great disc to feature Tony Martin with Sabbath.