Black Sabbath
Bio.
Black Sabbath are an English rock band. Formed in Birmingham in 1968 by Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Terry Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums). Since then the band has experienced many line-up changes. They have had a stunning twenty two former band members. Originally formed as a heavy blues rock group named Earth, the band began incorperating occult- with horror-inspired lyrics with tuned- down guitars, changing their name to Black Sabbath and achieving multiple gold and platinum records in the 1970's.
As one of the first and most influential heavy metal bands of all time, Black Sabbath helped define the genre with releases such as quadruple-platinum Paranoid, released in 1970. They were ranked by MTV as the "Greatest Metal Band" of all time, and placed second in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" list, behind Led Zeppelin. They have sold over 15 million records in the United States alone. Rolling Stone has identified the band as 'the heavy-metal kings of the '70s'.
Why they are influential...
The group I think is very influential in music history is Black Sabbath. They basically started heavy metal. They were the first real heavy metal band which makes them very influential. You hear a riff or sound a guitar makes, it evolved from Black Sabbath. Thrash sounds are apperent in Symptom of the Universe and epic tones are present in Iron Man and War Pigs. The lyrical ideals of Ozzy Osbourne opened the eyes of many people. They were the heaviest band anyone has heard for that time and they launched a new genre of music with their distorted sound and demonic lyrics. They are truely an amazing band.
Video Review
The video I was going to discuss is one of the most famous songs to date. It is Iron Man by Black Sabbath. You can tell this video is old just by watching it. It was made in the 70's and has trippy colors and camera angles. It is a simple four-man band but together they make a very amazing sound. They are very young in this video also.
Style and Image
Black Sabbath is from the 1970's so they dress kind of like hippies mixed with a hard rocker look. They have the long kind of puffy hair with mustaches. They wear black leather with chains and started the rocker look. Their attitude is kind of these bad-ass British rockers that do what they want and make songs about whatever they want. And they don't really care whose feelings they hurt. This attitude also started bands to push the bounderies of music. Such as controversal lyrics.
Above is a picture of guitarist Tony Iommi.
Target Audience
Black Sabbath's target audience varies from many different age groups. Back when they started the band, the fan base was mainly teens to very young adults. As time went on, teenagers still liked them but the teenegers from when they came out still liked them too. So now a huge range of people like them, all the way from ten-year old kids to adults in their fifties. This is another factor in what makes them so famous. They have such a huge fan base. Everyone knows who they are and at least a couple of their songs.
