I've said it on here a billion times already - alongside Deep Purple and Judas Priest, Black Sabbath are my absolute favourite band of all time. Paranoid was not the first album I ever bought (AC/DC's Back in Black was), but it was the first heavy metal album I ever bought, and still ranks among the absolute earliest pickups in my CD collection. So at this point in time, they're a band I've been listening to religiously forever.
I love all eras of this band, from the original Ozzy Osbourne years, the Ronnie James Dio era, the short-lived Ian Gillan stint and the underrated Tony Martin periods (which has been getting the credit and attention it deserves more recently). Some are better than others of course, but I'm not one of those fake "Ozzy-Sabbath only" fans. There are missteps in this catalogue for sure, but there's albums from every era here amongst my favourites. Speaking of which, my top Sabbath albums are the self-titled debut, Master of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Heaven and Hell and Born Again. Following closely behind are Paranoid, Sabotage, Mob Rules, The Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, Tyr and Cross Purposes... but I like literally every one of their studio albums albums to some degree! Only 13 is mediocre in my books, but even that one has it's moments.
There's a lot of live albums, bootlegs etc. out there too, as you can see. Most of Sabbath's live output is really good, but I have to say I don't think they have any absolute seminal live albums like some other bands do. I adore this band, but they've never topped bands like Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Queen, Judas Priest or Iron Maiden when it comes to live albums. Still, I totally recommend picking up the 2002 live package Past Lives (2 CDs of 70s Ozzy-era live material, including Live at Last), plus the Dio-era Live Evil from 1983 is a classic in it's own right.
As with most of my favourite bands, I have a portion of vinyl. Not a lot, but a few. I don't think I'll ever buy everything again on vinyl due to cost, and the fact I'm simply not a dedicated vinyl junkie. It's nice to have LPs, and I do pick them up occasionally, but I'm far too committed to my CD collection. Either way, it's still nice to play some of these albums on my turntable.
Studio albums:
- Black Sabbath (1970)
- Black Sabbath (1970, Deluxe Expanded Edition)
- Paranoid (1970)
- Paranoid (1970, Deluxe Expanded Edition)
- Master of Reality (1971)
- Master of Reality (1971, Deluxe Expanded Edition)
- Vol. 4 (1972)
- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
- Sabotage (1975)
- Technical Ecstasy (1976)
- Never Say Die! (1978)
- Heaven and Hell (1980)
- Heaven and Hell (1980, Deluxe Expanded Edition)
- Mob Rules (1981)
- Mob Rules (1981, Deluxe Expanded Edition)
- Born Again (1983)
- Born Again (1983, Deluxe Expanded Edition)
- Seventh Star (1986)
- Seventh Star (1986, Deluxe Expanded Edition)
- The Eternal Idol (1987)
- The Eternal Idol (1987, Deluxe Expanded Edition)
- Headless Cross (1989)
- Tyr (1990)
- Tyr (1990, 1999 reissue)
- Dehumanizer (1992)
- Dehumanizer (1992, Deluxe Expanded Edition)
- Cross Purposes (1994)
- Forbidden (1995)
- The Devil You Know (2009)
- 13 (2013)
- We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll (1976, compilation)
- Live at Last (1980, live album)
- Live Evil (1983, live album)
- Live Evil (1983, Deluxe Expanded Edition, live album)
- Reunion (1998, live album)
- Past Lives (2002, live album)
- The Dio Years (2007, compilation)
- Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven & Hell (2010, live album)
- The End: Live in Birmingham (2017, live album)
- Master of Reality (1971)
- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
- Sabotage (1975)
- Greatest Hits (1977, compilation)
- Never Say Die! (1978)
- Mob Rules (1981)
- Born Again (1983)
- Headless Cross (1989)
- Cross Purposes (1994)
- The Star of India Demos & Rehearsals (bootleg, demo)
- Live in New Jersey 1975 (bootleg, live album)
- Masters of Reality 1970-1975 (bootleg, live album)
- Tokyo Heaven: Japan Broadcast 1980 (bootleg, live album)
- Deep Black: The Massachusetts Broadcast 1983 (bootleg, live album)
- Headless in Osaka: Japanese Broadcast 1989 (bootleg, live album)
- Live Costa Mesa, USA 1991/11/15: The Priest Comes to the Sabbath (bootleg, live album)
- Tony Iommi: 8th Star (bootleg, demo)
- Geezer Butler: Plastic Planet (1995)
- Tony Iommi: The 1996 DEP Sessions (2004)
- Tony Iommi: Fused (2005)
- Tony Martin: Thorns (2022)
- Technical Ecstasy Super Deluxe (2021)
- Anno Domini 1989-1995 (2024)
