Vol. 4
| Black Sabbath
Vol. 4
Vol. 4 is the fourth studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath, released in September 1972. It was the first album by Black Sabbath not produced by Rodger Bain; guitarist Tony Iommi assumed production duties. Patrick Meehan, the band's then-manager, was listed as co-producer, though his actual involvement in the album's production was minimal.-"Wikipedia"
Critic Reviews
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All Music
Vol. 4 is a less cohesive effort than its two immediate predecessors, but is all the more fascinating for it. Die-hard fans sick of the standards come here next, and some end up counting this as their favorite Sabbath record for its eccentricities and for its embodiment of the band's excesses.
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Metal Archives
Vol 4 as much as it steps away from what made Black Sabbath the icon they were, doesn't abandon their roots by any means. There's no dark imagery conjured up here in the lyrics, but when Vol 4 gets heavy, it's the kind of stuff that has transcended upon the sounds of other bands to follow.
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BBC
Working on the commercially astute basis of not fixing something that’s not broke, the Sabbs offer up yet more riffs of doom and associated heaviness. Hugely popular with the punters, particularly in America where their years of unrelenting touring were now paying top dividends, Vol.4 is careful not to tamper with what was now a successful formula and therein lays the problem.
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ultimate Classic Rock
Osbourne delivered some of the standout vocal performances of his career on Vol. 4, singing with a range and clarity throughout that surpassed everything he had previously done. But some tracks suffered from mixing issues, with both the band members and their technical support team dealing with drug issues.
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Sputnik Music
Vol. 4 is a very enjoyable record thanks mostly to the strength of its high points. It is a mixed bag but this can be forgiven since the band are in transition, and they have to be admired for experimenting and incorporating new sounds.
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Head Heritage
On “Vol 4” Sabbath’s sound remained heavy as ever but like all their previous albums, the instrumentation would once more get re-shuffled in importance.
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Metal Forces Magazine
Well, they can. Vol. 4 boasts another classic cover, seemingly more rock ’n’ roll than sinister, and yet this opus boasts some of Sabbath’s heaviest stuff, as Sabbath themselves take over the production duties from Rodger Bain, who twiddled the knobs on the first three records.
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Treble Zine
Vol.4 clearly shows the glory days of Sabbath while they were at their peak before the original lineup was dissolved a mere six years later.
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Escapist Magazine
Even when some tracks felt a bit too normal in comparison to the rest, they always have something about them that brings your attention right back to the album. That's not the only big advantage, however; it definitely helps to prove that Black Sabbath isn't a one-trick pony, and that whatever they wanted to do, they had some idea of how to go at it.
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Super Seventies
So Black Sabbath Vol. 4 is both a confusing and an exciting album. Good but not great. In the long run Vol. 4 may be a more durable effort than Paranoid, but the two are so dissimilar I hesitate to ignore them. And it's still impossible to tell whether the comparative lack of fire here is due to inferior engineering, or to a decreasing savagery in Sabbath's playing.
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Louder than War
The band was riding the crest of a wave; and the drug fuelled madness of Vol. 4 is a joy to behold. The opening, lonesome riff to Supernaut is a blood pumping delight as Ozzy shrieks about reaching out and touching the sky.
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Consequence of sound
Sabbath’s most underrated record: …and their most ambitious up to that point. They were starting to stretch out their arrangements, locking into instrumental grooves and extended solos. The songs hit with massive intensity; however, Vol. 4 suffered from its lack of a radio-friendly single.
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