Significant longplayers from yesteryear
28 July 2025
For the past few weeks metal pioneers BLACK SABBATH dominated the (rock) news.
On July 5th, Ozzy and the band played their final concert. A massive event baptized
‘Back To The Beginning’ featuring an incredible cast of famous hard-rocking guests.
Then last week the surprising and shocking news of Ozzy‘s passing
came in. Whether you’re a metal/Black Sabbath fan or not, you should
have at least heard of a madman, named Ozzy. He was 76.
And today it’s the 50th anniversary day of their 6th LP SABOTAGE.
The longplayer was released on 28 July 1975, today 50 years ago.
Geezer Butler (bassist) about the album’s title: “Around the time of Sabbath Bloody
Sabbath, we found out that we were being ripped off by our management and our record company. So, much of the time, when we weren’t onstage or in the studio, we were in
lawyer’s offices trying to get out of all our contracts.
We were literally in the studio, trying to record, and we’d be signing all these affidavits
and everything. That’s why it’s called Sabotage – because we felt that the whole process
was just being totally sabotaged by all these people ripping us off.”
Sabotage‘s front cover got mixed reactions over the years. By some it’s regarded
as one of the worst album covers in rock history. The inverted mirror concept was
conceived by Graham Wright, Bill Ward‘s drum tech, who was also a graphic artist.
The band attended what they believed was a test photo shoot
for the album cover, thus explaining their choice of clothing.
Rolling Stone Magazine: “Sabotage is not only Black Sabbath’s
best record since Paranoid, it might be their best ever.”
The album peaked at #7 in the UK and #28 in the US.
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