Photo by Cas Holmes on Unsplash

As I’ve said before, my taste in music is fairly wide- ranging. I love classical, jazz, sixties rock, early country, etc. Two of my favorite songs are “Classical Gas” by Mason Williams, and “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck. I did my best to expose all four of my children to a wide range of music, deciding before my first was born that it was in their own best interests not to limit what they heard.

As it turned out, my eldest has much the same tastes as me. He listens to pretty much everything, and exposes me to music I would never find on my own. My youngest daughter is a Beatles fan, content to listen to them all day long, although  her taste in more eclectic than that. My other two aren’t as interested in music, although my eldest daughter is a Taylor Swift fan (I tried, but there’s no accounting for some people’s taste).

Every now and again I go through my cds looking for something to tickle my ears and occupy me for a mindless hour or two. A couple of days ago I came across my copy of Black Sabbath Vol 4, and had to pop it into the computer for a listen.

I was never a huge fan of the band. In fact, I own this album and their first. I’ve heard some of their other stuff, but it never interested me. Vol 4 was my first exposure to the band and, if you’ll excuse an old and tired cliche, the entire album blew me away. This is not simply a mind numbing bunch of noise. The cuts are tightly crafted and intelligently arranged.

Yes, this is a heavy metal band, but that is a poor description of this recording. It has everything, from screaming guitars to melodic ballads. Overall, this is a much softer and subdued album than their first, which is a head banger’s dream from start to finish.

Listen to it with an open mind. I’m sure you’ll be surprised, especially with track 3 “Changes”, and track 8, “Laguna Sunrise”. They are both beautiful and show a maturity that wasn’t present in their earlier efforts. Together, they are probably the best on the album.

This is a 2021 remastered version, with better clarity than the original.

If you want more of this band, listen to their self-titled first release.