In Support Of "Snowblind"

[Charger]

@ my friend Charger:  You certainly can't call Snowblind a light song.  That being said, heavier does not automatically mean better.  Faster does not automatically mean better.  If those are your preferences, that's fine.  But your original comments seem to imply it is a poor song because your preferences are not met.  I felt you were more musically intelligent than this. 

No ofcourse not...it's not JUST because of those reasons I find it poor...I doubt even if it would have more heaviness to it it wouldn't be a good song...the lyrics are just that god awful...and like ZZZ said that whole "cocaine" bit is so over the top cheesy it's not even funny.

To me that song has always been very uninspired sounding...like Iommi just picked his guitar and wankered away something that kind of reminds a riff and the rest of the band just doodled stuff on it...it was clear they were all heavily under the influence of that white powder when they came up with this song. This and Changes will always be the must skip songs when ever I play Vol4.

[Vyn]

I enjoy Into the Void the same as Snowblind. And Into the Void is fantastic. The entirety of Volume 4 was praised with much praise back in the day because Sabbath really stretched out musically on that disk. But I knew people who disliked it simply because it wasn't Master of Reality Part 2.

And keep in mind, that back in the day, no one was aware of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that attended the writing and recording of Volume 4. It was just the new Sabbath album. In their heyday. It sounded new, fresh, and continued to be very different from anything else on the market. As far as Ozzy singing the word "cocaine" that never bothered me, and Sabbath was certainly not the first band to sing about or plainly state a song about cocaine. At the time, cocaine was looked at, in general, the way marijuana is looked at in the United States today. Either with outright acceptance or with a wink and a nod. So in that regard, some might consider it dated.

I think one of the endearing qualities of Black Sabbath is that they were never good at subtlety, their lyricism was straight forward and their message was easy to understand, for the most part. And even though it is obvious the song was about cocaine, actually saying the word fits with Sabbath's SOP and it made the kids all snicker "man, he said cocaine!". I don't think Eric Clapton got the same reaction...

[Jack the Stripper]

^^Thanks for that Vyn. It’s good to get that perspective from someone that was there and lived it at the time. Same with Typhon.

By the time 82-83 rolled around and I heard that song for the first time via Ozzy’s Speak of the Devil album Cocaine was was very much considered an evil drug that was destroying people’s lives. To hear Ozzy yelling Cocaine(not whispering) was kinda shocking and dangerous to me but totally rad at the same time. It fitted his heavy metal madman persona perfectly.

[Typhon]

To me that song has always been very uninspired sounding...like Iommi just picked his guitar and wankered away something that kind of reminds a riff and the rest of the band just doodled stuff on it...

 
It is incredible to me that the 2 guys in the video are able to recognize what makes this song so good while you cannot.  I'll bet you did not watch it.  It surprised me how the 2 dudes were able to convey so eloquently the pleasurable aspects, better than many Sabbath fanatics would.

[Charger]

Well one can't really argue about opinions too much. For me it is and will always be one of the low points of Sabbath's catalogue.

[Vyn]

Well one can't really argue about opinions too much. For me it is and will always be one of the low points of Sabbath's catalogue.

I can dig it. I feel the same way about the Beatles, except their entire catalog is a low point for me. 

[Zzzptm]

Thinking about it - and I'll have to be listening about it later today - it's very much like the main riff of "Wheels of Confusion", which I enjoy very much. I'll have to play the two back to back to see how I feel lately about the tracks...

[Charger]

Well one can't really argue about opinions too much. For me it is and will always be one of the low points of Sabbath's catalogue.

I can dig it. I feel the same way about the Beatles, except their entire catalog is a low point for me. 

On the Beatles we can wholeheartedly agree on.

[Zzzptm]

While listening this time, I was struck at how much the solo has a George Harrison feel to it, speaking of The Beatles... but, hey, Harrison is himself a great guitarist, not surprised to see Iommi borrow a few chord progressions from the guy that just had monster platinum success with a triple album release.

And that "cocaine" is only whispered once in the studio version. I think it's the live versions where Ozzy goes nuts with shouting "CO-CAINE!" after every verse. If so, that's what gave me a negative feel on the song. But coming at the studio version after a long time of skipping it, well...

... I'm going to skip it no more. Point to Typhon from me on this one!

[Vyn]

I do believe that this is the first time I have seen an opinion be changed on the internet. Congratulations for your open-mindedness Z!

[Typhon]

And that "cocaine" is only whispered once in the studio version. I think it's the live versions where Ozzy goes nuts with shouting "CO-CAINE!" after every verse. If so, that's what gave me a negative feel on the song. But coming at the studio version after a long time of skipping it, well...

... I'm going to skip it no more. Point to Typhon from me on this one!

Just when I think I've got this guy pegged as being a stubborn pain in the ass, he throws me for such a loop that I am now a bit dizzy.  While I'm not going to call him my best friend, or anything like that, I will agree with Vyn in that such a display of "open-mindedness" shows some serious class. 

And this was the reason I started this thread, to get Snowblind the respect it deserves.  I am still a touch saddened as to my failed mentorship with Charger, however.

[Jack the Stripper]

While listening this time, I was struck at how much the solo has a George Harrison feel to it, speaking of The Beatles... but, hey, Harrison is himself a great guitarist, not surprised to see Iommi borrow a few chord progressions from the guy that just had monster platinum success with a triple album release.

And that "cocaine" is only whispered once in the studio version. I think it's the live versions where Ozzy goes nuts with shouting "CO-CAINE!" after every verse. If so, that's what gave me a negative feel on the song. But coming at the studio version after a long time of skipping it, well...

... I'm going to skip it no more. Point to Typhon from me on this one!

[Zzzptm]

Well, shucks.

It's a lesson I learned from running the Deep Purple Digest in the late 90s. I was reviewing all the DP albums, one by one, and when I thought I was going to give a solid 6/10 to Come Taste the Band going into that listen, I wound up hearing a totally different album from the one I first heard as a teenager and felt meh about. I came out of that experience as a total Tommy Bolin fan and started getting into his other material.

Coming over here, I let Billy challenge my views on David Bowie and came out richer for that. Charger got me started on Iced Earth, and I've learned I can have fun with that band. JtS got me to listen to Dee-drummed Motorhead, and I'm glad he did. KDC got me to try NMA on for size and Vyn turned me on to Joni Mitchell, of all things... So it doesn't matter to me who presents the musical challenge - an honest investigation requires that I give things a spin with a fresh set of ears. And I must give credit where it's due, happily and freely.

While I'm giving thanks, there's Scott sharing the early BS concert with that old blues tune that was totally fun, Axe had some very interesting guitar work, Thel made some very interesting recommendations, and I can trust Typhon on finding some compelling Renaissance/Classical instrumental music.

It's not always winner winner chicken dinner when I try new things - Billy's black metal and that godawful Zappa album Vyn put on a help/hurt game come to mind - but it's much more likely that I come out better from following up on a recommendation than not.

[BOGBLAST]

Sorry, I know I'm dredging again, but after years and years of listening to Vol. 4 (oh at least forty years) I think I look forward to Snowblind the most, followed by The Straightener. Like someone said it doesn't have to be fast to be heavy, and this song fits the bill. I used to request this at the strip club all the time. 

[Typhon]

^^^^^^