When it comes to metal, it doesn’t really get any more massive than 1970’s Black Sabbath. The band that almost singlehandedly invented the genre with their 1970 self-titled debut album would see its original lineup collapse under the weight of heavy drug use and artistic stagnation by the end of the decade. But in 1973, at the time they released their fifth album, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the band was firing on all cylinders.

Here, with the title track of that monumental release, are Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy Osbourne, the original Black Sabbath.

Alex Skolnick (Testament), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth), and Brad Gillis (Night Ranger) were among the many talented musicians who came together for the Randy Rhoads Remembered concert held on Saturday, January 25, 2014 at The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA, as tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne guitarist.

Along with the aforementioned guitarists were many other players, each of whom performed their favorite favorite Ozzy/Randy song played through a replica Rhoads rig accompanied by a house band dubbed “The Madmen,” featuring, among others, Rudy Sarzo – Rhoad’s friend and bandmate in both Quiet Riot and Ozzy — on bass, and co-organizer of the event, Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Ozzy, Foreigner), on drums. There were also special guest appearances by Randy’s brother Kelle Rhoads on vocals; Phil Soussan (Ozzy) on bass, and Neil Turbin (Anthrax) on vocals.

A highlight of the night came when most of the guitarists assembled on stage with acoustic guitars in hand to perform Randy’s classical piece “Dee” (from the first Ozzy solo album, Blizzard Of Ozz). You can watch video of the all-star finale here below.

The always omnipresent “Iron Man,” Black Sabbath guitarist and co-founder Tony Iommi, can now add another accolade to his illustrious career: an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Coventry University in Coventry, England “in recognition of his contribution to the world of popular music.”

You can view the video here below of Iommi receiving the honorary doctorate last week.

After basically re-sculpting and redefining the entire hard rock genre, and then using what he did in Sabbath as a precursor to the Heavy Metal boom that followed and continues to be passionately revered by scores of fans globally, Tony Iommi created riffs for a multitude of songs that are instantly recognizable to the sound, attitude, and style of the band, by the staunchest fan or the lightest Sabbath treader.

Black Sabbath is coming to Universal Studios Hollywood!

This fall, the theme park’s famed Halloween Horror Nights will feature an all-original horror-themed 3D maze called Black Sabbath: 13 3D, a new attraction based on the legendary band’s lyrics that will also include scenes inspired by their latest album, 13.

While going through the attraction, guests will reportedly face Lucifer and his bride, blood-soaked dead bodies, and bubbling pools of “radioactive water,” all while songs inspired by classic Black Sabbath tunes “Luke’s Wall,” “Iron Man,” “Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” “Electric Funeral,” and the haunting “Black Sabbath” boom at high volumes through the confines of the maze.

The maze’s design contains “horrifying graveyards, disturbing madhouses, and bone-chilling battlefields,” along with imagery of the godfathers of heavy metal themselves – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler, the co-founders of Black Sabbath, currently on tour promoting 13, their first studio album together in 35 years.

Check out the announcement video here below, which includes a preview of the new attraction.

Classic Albums: Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Netflix | Amazon | Google Play | YouTube
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Matthew Longfellow
Starring Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, Henry Rollins, Jim Simpson, Tony Allom, Deena Weinstein
Eagle Rock Entertainment
Originally Released: June 30, 2010

With drummer Bill Ward‘s birthday today, May 5, and with all the news surrounding the upcoming Black Sabbath album, 13, (despite Ward not being involved), I thought it would be timely to delve back into the past for this week’s streaming review. This week, we take a look at the band’s classic album called Paranoid, a ground-breaking release that established them as an international phenomenal, and put Black Sabbath’s name down on the history books as the first heavy metal band.

The significance of Paranoid, in union with the other first four releases by Black Sabbath, is unparalleled. Combining musical influences of rock and roll, blues, jazz, swing, and classical; and swarming it among darker occultist lyrical topics, the band laid down a basis that would not only establish their own careers, but also form the basis for all metal bands that would follow as well as all of the subgenres to break off from metal. Black Sabbath’s contributions to the early development of metal are incomparable to all who would follow.