Master of Reality
Encyclopedia
Master of Reality is the third album by the British heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

, released in July 1971. It is sometimes noted as the first stoner rock
Stoner rock
Stoner rock or stoner metal is a subgenre of heavy metal, combining elements of psychedelic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal and doom metal. Stoner rock is typically slow-to-mid tempo and features a bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and 'retro' production...

 album. Master of Reality was certified double platinum after having sold over 2 million copies.

Recording

For the recording of this album, guitarist Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...

, who had injured his fingers in a factory accident years earlier, decided to downtune
Guitar tunings
Guitar tunings almost always refers to the pitch of the open string, though some tunings may only realistically be attained by the use of a capo on an unmodified instrument....

 his guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 down three semi-tones (or one and a half steps
Steps and skips
In music, a step, or conjunct motion, is a linear or successive interval between two pitches which are consecutive scale degrees. Any larger interval is called a skip , or disjunct motion...

 to C-sharp). This reduced string tension, thus making the guitar easier for him to play. Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...

 also downtuned his bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 to match Iommi. The result was a noticeably "darker" or "sludgier" sound that almost two decades later would prove hugely influential on at least three of the biggest grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...

 acts, namely Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...

, Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...

, and Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

.

Master of Reality was recorded at Island Studios in London, UK between February and April 1971. The album was produced by Rodger Bain
Rodger Bain
Rodger Bain is a British former record producer, known for producing heavy metal albums by bands such as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest in the 1970s.-Career:...

, who had also produced their previous two albums. However, this would be his final collaboration with the band.

Music and lyrics

The slow and heavy songs that comprise most of the album are interspersed with quiet ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

s written by Tony Iommi. Two of these, "Embryo" and "Orchid", are short instrumentals serving as interludes. The third, "Solitude", is much longer in comparison and features Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

's soft, woeful vocals. It is largely believed by many fans that Bill Ward sang on "Solitude", as the song's vocals greatly differ from Osbourne's "signature" vocals; however, this is a myth. Ward did not perform vocals for any Black Sabbath song until the band's seventh album, Technical Ecstasy
Technical Ecstasy
- Personnel :* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Tony Iommi – guitar* Geezer Butler – bass guitar* Bill Ward – drums, lead vocals on "It's Alright"* Gerald Woodruffe – keyboards- Release history :-Other resources:...

, on the track "It's Alright".

The lyrics of the song "After Forever", written by Geezer Butler, a proclaimed Catholic, focus entirely on Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 themes. Although the album jacket credits Tony Iommi alone in the composition of this tune, the Black Sabbath Black Box Set refutes the album jacket credit and gives credit to this song (along with "Orchid" and "Embryo") to all four band members in keeping with their wishes to remain a democratic band. At the time, some viewed Black Sabbath as Satanists
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

 (which the band had consistently denied) due to their dark sound, image and lyrics. "After Forever" was released as a single along with "Fairies Wear Boots
Fairies Wear Boots
"Fairies Wear Boots" is a Black Sabbath song from their 1970 album Paranoid.In the liner notes to Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath , Tony Iommi states that the song title comes from when "Geezer and Ozzy were smoking outside and witnessed fairies in the park, running around wearing...

" in 1971. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

criticized the album's Christian lyrics but welcomed the arrangement, while Wilson & Alroy's called the guitar sound "crude but effective".

The song "Solitude" showcases Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...

's multi-instrumental talents, featuring him playing the guitar, flute and piano.

The album opener, "Sweet Leaf
Sweet Leaf
"Sweet Leaf" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song, a hymn to recreational cannabis use, got its title from a packet of cigarettes bassist Geezer Butler bought in Dublin that claimed the tobacco was "the sweet leaf." The song begins with a tape loop of...

", is a song about marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

. "Children of the Grave
Children of the Grave
"Children of the Grave" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song lyrically continues with the same anti-war themes brought on by "War Pigs" and "Electric Funeral" from Paranoid, adding in Geezer Butler's pacifist ideals of non-violent civil disobedience...

" was written about war, peace and revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...

.

Artwork and subtitles

The album cover reads Master of Reality coloured grey, underneath Black Sabbath coloured purple, against a black background. The words are written in a large font with a ripple effect like that of moving water or a waving flag. The first editions of the album came in an 'envelope sleeve' containing a poster of the band, and with the album's title embossed in black lettering rather than in grey. This was the first Black Sabbath sleeve on which the lyrics were reproduced on the back of the sleeve.

On the first North American editions of the album, several songs had subtitles given to segments, making it appear that there were more songs than there actually were. The intro
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...

 of "After Forever" was given the title "The Elegy", the outro of "Children of the Grave" was called "The Haunting", the intro of "Lord of This World" was titled "Step Up", and the intro of "Into the Void" called "Deathmask". This treatment had also been used on the North American editions of Black Sabbath's previous two albums. These pressings also incorrectly listed the album title as Masters of Reality. Subsequent editions corrected the album's title and removed three of the four subtitles (all but "The Elegy").

Release and reception

The album broke the top ten in both the United Kingdom (#5) and United States (#8) and achieved Gold status on advance orders alone. Eventually it sold two million copies in the US. However, critical response of the era was generally unfavourable, with Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...

 giving the album a C- as well as, in a clearly exasperated tone, calling the album "a dim-witted, amoral exploitation."

Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....

 described Master of Reality as "monotonous" in an ambivalent review published in Rolling Stone. However the same magazine would later place the album at number 298 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, compiled in 2003 and in describing the album referred to the band as "the greatest sludge-metal
Sludge metal
Sludge metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that melds elements of doom metal and hardcore punk, and sometimes incorporates influences from southern rock, stoner rock and grunge. Sludge metal is typically abrasive; often featuring shouted vocals, heavily distorted instruments and sharply contrasting...

 band of them all..." The magazine described the album as "the definitive studio relic of Sabbath's golden-hellfire era (1970-74)..."

Thirty years after the album's release, Q magazine (7/01, p. 86) included it in their 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time and described it as "malevolent...casting Black Sabbath as a Titanic-style house band on the eve of Armageddon
Armageddon
Armageddon is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location...

, cranking it as the bomb drops." Another edition of Q magazine that year (1/01, p. 122) gave it 5 out of 5 stars, describing it as "the most cohesive record of their first three albums."

Covers

Songs from this album have also been covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by a variety of bands.

"After Forever" has been covered by Biohazard
Biohazard (band)
Biohazard is a band originally based in Brooklyn, New York. They are acknowledged as one of the earliest bands to fuse hardcore punk and heavy metal with elements of hip hop. The original lineup consisted of Vocalist/Guitarist Billy Graziadei, bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld, guitarist Bobby Hambel,...

 for Nativity in Black
Nativity in Black
Nativity in Black is the name of two Black Sabbath tribute albums that came out in the 1990s and 2000s. The albums were recorded with various heavy metal bands paying tribute to Black Sabbath for their influence on the heavy metal genre of rock music....

, a Black Sabbath tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...

, Aurora Borealis
Aurora Borealis (band)
Aurora Borealis is an American black metal band from Waldorf, Maryland. The band was founded by guitarist Ron Vento and drummer Tony Laureano in 1994...

 for Hell Rules: Tribute to Black Sabbath, Vol. 2, Deliverance on their 1992 album What a Joke
What a Joke
What a Joke is a 1991 album by the Christian speed/thrash metal band Deliverance. It features many short "joke" songs, hence the title of the album. The album speaks out against those who think the idea of combining Christianity and heavy metal is evil, especially in the song "It's the Beat"...

, and by the hardcore band Shelter
Shelter (band)
Shelter is a Hare Krishna hardcore punk band formed by Ray Cappo.-Brief recent history:In 2001, the band released the album The Purpose, The Passion...

 on their 1992 album Quest for Certainty.

The song "Solitude" was covered by UK doom metal
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...

 band Cathedral
Cathedral (band)
Cathedral are a doom metal band from Coventry, England. The group forged a link between early doom metal and a 1990s extreme metal aesthetic, making doom slower and heavier. Their debut album, Forest of Equilibrium, is considered a classic of the genre. They later on changed their doom style,...

 as a bonus track for the European version of the 1994 Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black
Nativity in Black
Nativity in Black is the name of two Black Sabbath tribute albums that came out in the 1990s and 2000s. The albums were recorded with various heavy metal bands paying tribute to Black Sabbath for their influence on the heavy metal genre of rock music....

, and later by Norwegian group Ulver
Ulver
Ulver is a musical group from Norway. Since their first, folklore-influenced black metal release entitled Bergtatt – Et eeventyr i 5 capitler , Ulver’s musical style has been fluid and increasingly eclectic, blending genres such as rock, electronica, symphonic and chamber traditions, noise and...

 on their 2007 album Shadows of the Sun
Shadows of the Sun
Shadows of the Sun is the seventh studio album by the Norwegian experimental band Ulver, released on October 1, 2007 in Europe and on October 2 in the United States. The title was announced on July 13, 2007 and the album was described as "low-key, dark and tragic"...

. The song has also been covered by death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 band Demented Saint.

White Zombie
White Zombie
White Zombie was a Grammy Award-nominated American heavy metal band. Based in New York City, White Zombie was originally a noise rock band. White Zombie are better-known for their later heavy metal-oriented sound...

 covered "Children of the Grave" on Nativity in Black, spawning a single for Nativity in Black. Racer X, Earth Crisis and Neurosis have all covered the song as well.

"Into the Void" was covered by stoner rock
Stoner rock
Stoner rock or stoner metal is a subgenre of heavy metal, combining elements of psychedelic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal and doom metal. Stoner rock is typically slow-to-mid tempo and features a bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and 'retro' production...

 band Kyuss
Kyuss
Kyuss is a rock band, originally from Palm Desert, California. After forming in the late 1980s and releasing an EP under the name Sons of Kyuss in 1990, the band shortened its name to Kyuss. Over the next five years the band released four full-length albums, and one last split EP in 1997 with...

 for the split EP Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age
Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age
Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age is a split compilation EP which was released in December 1997. The first three songs are performed by Kyuss and the last three songs by guitarist Josh Homme's next band, Queens of the Stone Age....

, and by Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...

 on their EP SatanOscillateMyMetallicSonatas.

The hard rock band Godsmack
Godsmack
Godsmack is an American heavy metal band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of founder, frontman and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Shannon Larkin...

 covered the song "Sweet Leaf" as a bonus track for the Japanese special edition of their 2000 album Awake
Awake (Godsmack album)
-Track listing:Japanese bonus tracks-Personnel:Godsmack*Sully Erna - vocals, rhythm guitar*Tony Rombola - lead guitar, backing vocals*Robbie Merrill - bass, backing vocals*Tommy Stewart - drums, backing vocalsAdditional performances...

and for the second volume of the Nativity in Black
Nativity in Black
Nativity in Black is the name of two Black Sabbath tribute albums that came out in the 1990s and 2000s. The albums were recorded with various heavy metal bands paying tribute to Black Sabbath for their influence on the heavy metal genre of rock music....

series.

The riff from "Sweet Leaf" was used as the basis for the Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...

' song "Sweat Loaf", from the album Locust Abortion Technician
Locust Abortion Technician
Locust Abortion Technician is the third full-length studio album by American experimental punk band the Butthole Surfers, released in March 1987...

. That same riff is referenced near the end of "Give It Away" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

.

"Sweet Leaf" has also been covered by American metal band Ugly Kid Joe
Ugly Kid Joe
Ugly Kid Joe is an American hard rock band from Isla Vista, California. The band's name spoofs that of another band, Pretty Boy Floyd. Ugly Kid Joe's sound includes a range of styles, including rock, glam metal, hard rock and heavy metal....

 on their first release, As Ugly as They Wanna Be
As Ugly as They Wanna Be
As Ugly as They Wanna Be is an EP by the American heavy metal band Ugly Kid Joe. It was released in 1991. The title of the album is a parody of 2 Live Crew's 1989 album As Nasty as They Wanna Be....

, and Baltimore hardcore band Next Step Up on their 1995 album, Fall From Grace.

Estonian band Rondellus
Rondellus
In music rondellus is the formalized interchange of parts or voices according to a scheme, often used in English conducti and frequently in English motets of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, but never used for an entire piece...

, in their tribute album Sabbatum, covered the songs "After Forever" and "Solitude" in Medieval style with lyrics translated into Latin. "After Forever" is retitled "Post Aeternitatem" (literally, "After Eternity"), and is sung by a choir of male voices. "Solitude" is sung by male and female voices, accompanied by positive organ
Positive organ
A positive organ is a small, usually one-manual, pipe organ that is built to be more or less mobile. It was common in sacred and secular music between the 10th and the 18th centuries, in chapels and small churches, as a chamber organ and for the basso continuo in ensemble works...

.

Exhorder
Exhorder
Exhorder is an American thrash/groove metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are credited as the purveyors of the groove-oriented thrash sound later made famous by bands such as Pantera, White Zombie, and Machine Head. Initially active from 1985 to 1992, they have since reformed in...

 covered the song "Into The Void" on their album The Law released in 1992.

Stoner doom metal
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...

 band Sleep
Sleep (band)
Sleep is a stoner doom metal band from San Jose, California. Active during the 1990s, Sleep earned critical and record label attention early in their career. Critic Eduardo Rivadavia describes them as "perhaps the ultimate stoner rock band" and notes they exerted a strong influence on heavy metal...

 covered "Lord of this World" on their EP Volume Two
Volume Two (EP)
Volume Two is an EP recorded by Sleep in 1991. It contains a live cover of Black Sabbath's "Lord of This World", and two early recordings of tracks that would appear on Sleep's Holy Mountain. The artwork for the EP is reminiscent of Black Sabbath Vol...

. Corrosion of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina formed in 1982. For almost the majority of its existence, the band has consisted of guitarist Woody Weatherman, bassist Mike Dean , drummer Reed Mullin and vocalist and rhythm...

 also recorded a version for Nativity In Black
Nativity in Black
Nativity in Black is the name of two Black Sabbath tribute albums that came out in the 1990s and 2000s. The albums were recorded with various heavy metal bands paying tribute to Black Sabbath for their influence on the heavy metal genre of rock music....

.

In popular culture

Several bands are named after songs on this album, or the album itself, including the Black Sabbath tribute band Bastard Of Reality, the Dutch metal band After Forever
After Forever
After Forever was a Dutch symphonic metal band with strong progressive metal influences. The band relied on the use of both soprano vocals and death grunts. In February 2009, it was announced that After Forever had disbanded.-Biography:...

, as well as Baltimore's Bullet Therapy (now called After Therapy) when playing live as a Black Sabbath tribute band.

Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats is an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker....

 leader John Darnielle
John Darnielle
John Darnielle is an American musician, best known as the primary member of the American band The Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, and vocalist.-Places Darnielle has lived:...

 wrote a short novel for the 33⅓ book series with this album as a central theme. The book is written in the form of a diary of a young man who has been committed to a mental health treatment facility, and how the teen relates to the world through the songs on the album.

The song "Solitude" was featured as the leitmotif
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...

 for main character, Zombie, in the 1991 motion picture Zombie ja Kummitusjuna (Zombie and The Ghost Train) by Finnish director Mika Kaurismäki
Mika Kaurismäki
Mika Juhani Kaurismäki is a Finnish film director.He is the elder brother of Aki Kaurismäki, and the father of Maria Kaurismäki who graduated from Tampere School of Art and Media in 2008 with her movie Sideline.Mika Kaurismäki has lived in Brazil since approximately 1992 and has made several...

.

Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...

 sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 the guitar riff for Sweet Leaf in his production for the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....

' 1986 song "Rhymin' and Stealin'".

The track Into The Void was featured at the beginning of episode 23 (Hog Heaven) of the ninth season of the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...

.

Track listing

All songs by Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...

, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...

 and Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

 unless noted.

Side one

  1. "Sweet Leaf
    Sweet Leaf
    "Sweet Leaf" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song, a hymn to recreational cannabis use, got its title from a packet of cigarettes bassist Geezer Butler bought in Dublin that claimed the tobacco was "the sweet leaf." The song begins with a tape loop of...

    " – 5:05
  2. "After Forever" (Iommi) – 5:27
  3. "Embryo" (Iommi) – 0:28
  4. "Children of the Grave
    Children of the Grave
    "Children of the Grave" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song lyrically continues with the same anti-war themes brought on by "War Pigs" and "Electric Funeral" from Paranoid, adding in Geezer Butler's pacifist ideals of non-violent civil disobedience...

    " – 5:18

Side two

  1. "Orchid" (Iommi) – 1:31
  2. "Lord of this World" – 5:27
  3. "Solitude" – 5:02
  4. "Into the Void
    Into the Void (Black Sabbath song)
    "Into the Void" is a song by Black Sabbath, released in 1971 on their album, Master of Reality. An early version of "Into the Void" called "Spanish Sid" was released on the deluxe edition of Master of Reality...

    " – 6:13

Side one

  1. "Sweet Leaf
    Sweet Leaf
    "Sweet Leaf" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song, a hymn to recreational cannabis use, got its title from a packet of cigarettes bassist Geezer Butler bought in Dublin that claimed the tobacco was "the sweet leaf." The song begins with a tape loop of...

    " – 5:02
  2. "After Forever (including The Elegy)" – 5:25
  3. "Embryo" – 0:29
  4. "Children of the Grave
    Children of the Grave
    "Children of the Grave" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song lyrically continues with the same anti-war themes brought on by "War Pigs" and "Electric Funeral" from Paranoid, adding in Geezer Butler's pacifist ideals of non-violent civil disobedience...

    " – 4:30
  5. "The Haunting" - 0:45

Side two

  1. "Orchid" – 1:30
  2. "Step Up" – 0:30
  3. "Lord of this World" – 4:55
  4. "Solitude" – 5:02
  5. "Deathmask" – 3:08
  6. "Into the Void
    Into the Void (Black Sabbath song)
    "Into the Void" is a song by Black Sabbath, released in 1971 on their album, Master of Reality. An early version of "Into the Void" called "Spanish Sid" was released on the deluxe edition of Master of Reality...

    " – 3:08


Note that, while the overall timing of "Deathmask/Into the Void" is approximately correct, the apportioning of time of "Deathmask" to "Into the Void" may be arbitrary, as the 3:08 mark of the song falls during "Into the Void"'s middle-8 vocal ("Freedom fighters sent off to the sun ..."). The revised US pressing timings, shown below, compound this likely error.

Side one

  1. "Sweet Leaf
    Sweet Leaf
    "Sweet Leaf" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song, a hymn to recreational cannabis use, got its title from a packet of cigarettes bassist Geezer Butler bought in Dublin that claimed the tobacco was "the sweet leaf." The song begins with a tape loop of...

    " – 5:02
  2. "After Forever (Including The Elegy)" – 5:25
  3. "Embryo" – 0:30
  4. "Children of the Grave
    Children of the Grave
    "Children of the Grave" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song lyrically continues with the same anti-war themes brought on by "War Pigs" and "Electric Funeral" from Paranoid, adding in Geezer Butler's pacifist ideals of non-violent civil disobedience...

    " – 5:15

Side two

  1. "Orchid" – 2:00
  2. "Lord of this World" – 4:55
  3. "Solitude" – 8:08
  4. "Into the Void
    Into the Void (Black Sabbath song)
    "Into the Void" is a song by Black Sabbath, released in 1971 on their album, Master of Reality. An early version of "Into the Void" called "Spanish Sid" was released on the deluxe edition of Master of Reality...

    " – 3:08


Note that the timing of "Orchid" on revised US pressings is incorrect, as it includes the "Step Up" introductory section of "Lord of This World." The timing of "Solitude" on these pressings is similarly incorrect, as it includes the first half of "Into the Void"; the timings of "Deathmask" and "Into the Void" should have been grouped instead.

US-made compact disc pressings of Master of Reality continue to list the incorrect timings of the Revised US LP pressing on the CD booklet. The songs are not indexed on the CD using those timings, however, with breaks between songs properly placed.

2009 Deluxe Edition

A two-disc deluxe edition was released in the UK on 29 June 2009 and in the US on 14 July 2009 as an import. This deluxe edition was remastered by Andy Pearce who also did the deluxe editions of Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath (album)
Black Sabbath is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released on 13 February 1970 in the United Kingdom, and later on 1 June 1970 in the United States, the album reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart and has been recognised as the first main album to be credited...

and Paranoid
Paranoid (album)
Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, the album was the only one by the band to top the UK Albums Chart, and as a result is commonly identified as the band's magnum opus...

.

Disc two (Bonus tracks)

  1. "Weevil Woman '71"
  2. "Sweet Leaf [Studio Outtake - Alternate Lyrics]"
  3. "After Forever [Studio Outtake - Instrumental]"
  4. "Children of the Grave [Studio Outtake - Alternate Lyrics]"
  5. "Children of the Grave [Studio Outtake - Instrumental]"
  6. "Orchid [Studio Outtake]"
  7. "Lord of this World [Studio Outtake]"
  8. "Solitude [Studio Outtake - Alternate Version]"
  9. "Spanish Sid (Early Version Of 'Into The Void')" [Studio Outtake - Alternate Version]"

Personnel

  • Ozzy Osbourne
    Ozzy Osbourne
    John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

     – lead vocals
  • Tony Iommi
    Tony Iommi
    Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...

     – guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

    , flute
    Flute
    The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

    , piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

    , synthesizer
    Synthesizer
    A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

  • Geezer Butler
    Geezer Butler
    Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...

     – bass guitar
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

  • Bill Ward – drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

  • Keef – photography, poster design
  • Mike Stanfod – art direction

Sales accomplishments

RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

 certification
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

Date Designation Total Sales
27 September 1971 Gold 500,000
13 October 1986 Platinum 1,000,000
26 July 2001 2x Multi-Platinum 2,000,000

CRIA
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...

 certification
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

  (Canada)
Date Designation Total Sales
1 September 1977 Gold 50,000
1 September 1977 Platinum 100,000


Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

21 July 1971 Vertigo
Vertigo Records
Vertigo Records today is a UK-based record label operated by Universal Music UK.-History:Vertigo Records was the name Philips Records chose in the late 1960s for its record sub-label to counter the progressive labels of its rivals EMI with Harvest Records and Decca Records with Deram...

LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

6360 012
1992 Castle
Castle Communications
Castle Communications was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane and Jon Beecher. The company was acquired by the American music distributor Alliance Entertainment in 1994 and in 2000 it was absorbed into Sanctuary Records Group...

CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

CA198
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

July 1971 Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

LP BS-2562
12 May 1987 CD 2562-2
UK remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...

ed
29 March 2009 Sanctuary
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...

double CD 2701108
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