Overview

Adored by their fans and loathed by their critics, across a career that spanned almost fifty years, Black Sabbath divided opinions more than any other band. From heavy psych to heavy metal, this band of Brummie mates ploughed their own unique furrow, releasing a trove of albums along the way and cementing themselves as one of the hardest working live acts on the road. Friendship, ambition, betrayal and jealousy, alongside a yearning for acceptance, interacted with a prodigious appetite for drugs and practical jokes that drove them to the edge. In the hothouse that was Seventies rock 'n' roll all of these elements combined to make what is a truly remarkable story. This is a tale of how four ordinary working class blokes emerged from the Aston area of Birmingham in the late 1960s and helped to redefine music and invent a genre. Along the way each of them overcame personal travails to conquer the world and become one of the biggest bands on the planet. Other members like Ronnie James Dio came and went, but at the centre of it sat the core members, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. Inspiring and heartbreaking in equal measure their journey to the top and their appetite for wilful self destruction is the stuff of showbiz legend, mixing witches' curses and financial mismanagement along the way. In this exhaustive yet concise study Greg Healey examines the history of the band and their music. Looking beyond the myths, Healey seeks to uncover the truth behind what inspired their sound, drove their wild behaviour, and the circumstances that led them to lose everything and then, against impossible odds, try to win it back again. Love them or loathe them, this is Black Sabbath.

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9781912587292

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Greg Healey is a writer, visual artist and musician. He has been writing about music and culture for over ten years for a variety of publications. He was a staff writer for the American arts journal Redefine and in recent years he has become a regular contributor of interviews, features, think pieces and reviews to Shindig! Magazine. Beginning in 2004 Greg became an early champion of net labels and creative commons music, writing for the German net audio bible Phlow and producing and presenting the internationally popular Analogue Island show for Penwith Radio, before going on to become a regular DJ for Dandelion Radio. As a musician Greg has released three albums under the name HealeyIsland and has enjoyed a wide range of radio play, including on BBC Radio 6. He has shown his art works throughout the UK and in Europe and continues to explore ideas around narrative and memory through his video pieces. Greg wrote Not In Front of the Children, a book about the politics and culture of the 1970s childrens TV. Black Sabbath is his second book. He also co-wrote Sharp! Flicknife Records & Other Adventures.

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