Sometimes I worry we talk about the early Black Sabbath albums too much, and that in doing so, we diminish some of the excellent music they made later in their career. However, it’s important to remember that those early Sabbath albums don’t just represent a band’s debut; they represent a very specific and important moment in time, one that saw a cultural shift in music and birthed a range of new artists.
If you ever need to better understand just how ahead of their time Black Sabbath were, you should watch some of their live videos from early on in their careers. The heavy metal pioneers are head to toe in thrills and lace as they sing songs such as ‘War Pigs’ and ‘Paranoid’. Why? Because the heavy metal style hadn’t been invented yet, they were the frontrunners, and with every album and TV performance, more of the metal canon was slowly developed.
Those first albums are talked about so much because it’s where this beloved genre of music began, and the rawness, energy, pain, and frustration embedded in every single second of the albums Black Sabbath and Paranoid are unmistakable. I’m well and truly convinced that those records couldn’t have come out as well as they did without every member of that band.
Of course, one of the most crucial members was Ozzy Osbourne. There are two things about him that made him perfect for Black Sabbath. The first is his voice, as the way he sings is perfect for the kind of twisted music the band were making. The second was his charisma, as he was a likeable person with a wild onstage presence, one that saw him crowned the ‘Prince of Darkness’. Why is Ozzy Osbourne one of the only people in heavy metal to have his own reality show? Because he’s the only one people wanted to watch.
Why Ozzy Osbourne’s voice and charisma made him irreplaceable
Of course, he had his issues as well, as the ‘Prince of Darkness’ label manifested a little too heavily at times. It led to some serious problems with his mental health, caused issues with addiction and also led to an ugly period in his career where he was praising Hitler in an interview. His problems led to his dismissal from the band, and Black Sabbath were left looking for a lead singer, while Ozzy started work on his solo career.
Both ended up being successful; however, it took less time for the former frontman to find his feet. He teamed up with Randy Rhoads and managed to release songs that are still considered classics to this day, such as ‘Crazy Train’. Meanwhile, Black Sabbath went through a few different singers, all of whom had good voices and could go toe-to-toe with Osbourne, but very few of whom had the same energy that fans enjoyed so much.
The result is that when you compare the charismatic singer’s solo albums to the records that the band released after his departure, Osbourne trumps the latter pretty convincingly. He managed to sell over 100 million albums as a solo artist; meanwhile, Black Sabbath only managed 75m. It’s clear why he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once with the band and once as a solo artist, as his legacy is unwavering in both.
As implausible as it may seem, Ozzy managed to outsell Black Sabbath when he was kicked out of the band. Undeniably, there is something about the allure of the lead singer that resonates with listeners regardless of who he is playing with.
