Black Sabbath:
Home > Music > B > Black Sabbath > Discography
Albums | Compilations | Singles | Videos | Other
Black SabbathMaster of Reality Release Date: 1971 08 zz Running Time: 34:23 Label: Hurricane Records Rating: ![]() |
With Paranoid, Black Sabbath perfected the formula for their lumbering heavy metal. On its follow-up, Master of Reality, the group merely repeated the formula, setting the stage for a career of recycling the same sounds and riffs. But on Master of Reality Sabbath still were fresh and had a seemingly endless supply of crushingly heavy riffs to bludgeon their audiences into sweet, willing oblivion. If the album is a showcase for anyone, it is Tony Iommi, who keeps the album afloat with a series of slow, loud riffs, the best of which -- "Sweet Leaf" and "Children of the Grave" among them -- rank among his finest playing. Taken in tandem with the more consistent Paranoid, Master of Reality forms the core of Sabbath's canon. There are a few stray necessary tracks scattered throughout the group's other early-'70s albums, but Master of Reality is the last time they delivered a consistent album and its influence can be heard throughout the generations of heavy metal bands that followed. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Tracks:
| Title | Composer | Time | |
| 1 | Sweet Leaf | Osbourne, Iommi, Ward, Butler | 5:05 |
| 2 | After Forever | Iommi, Butler, Osbourne, Ward | 5:26 |
| 3 | Embryo [Instrumental] | Iommi | :28 |
| 4 | Children of the Grave | Butler, Ward, Osbourne, Iommi | 5:17 |
| 5 | Orchid [Instrumental] | Iommi | 1:31 |
| 6 | Lord of This World | Osbourne, Butler, Iommi, Ward | 5:26 |
| 7 | Solitude | Iommi, Osbourne, Ward, Butler | 5:02 |
| 8 | Into the Void | Butler, Iommi, Ward, Osbourne | 6:11 |
Other Releases:
| Master of Reality [Deluxe Edition] Release Date: 1971 Label: Universal Distribution ![]() |
Browse More Music:

Black Sabbath











