I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: BLACK SABBATH-Master of Reality.

I recently reviewed this album.  And in light of this book I investigated some of the things that Darnielle’s character mentions.

First: according to Wikipedia, the US release of the LP/cassette DID have “extra” tracks on it.  When you listen on CD, and see the time settings of the songs, it’s kind of understandable what they are.

I have no idea what “The Elegy” is supposed to be (as part of “After Forever”) (unless it’s the intro part…no time is given in Wikipedia).  But “The Haunting” after “Children of the Grave” times perfectly to the “Ch Ch Children” part at the end of the song.

“Step Up” which, as he mentions, is a ridiculous name for a Sabbath song can be seen as the 30 second intro riff to “Lord of This World” as it is very different from that song.

The most unlikely “extra song”  is “Death Mask” as part of “Into the Void.”  The timing claims that it is the first half of the song.  The song changes at the 3 minute mark but it also reverts back to the original, so this “song” is specious at best.

But I do appreciate the book for giving some insight into the songs that I hadn’t considered before.

[READ: August 31, 2010] Master of Reality

When my friend Andrew told me about this book (and the series), I assumed it was writers (or musicians) writing about their favorite albums.  I had no idea it would be like this (and, I don’t know if they are all like this).

Darnielle has created a fiction (I assume) about a young man in a psych ward in 1985.  As part of his time there he is told to write in his diary every day.  After the first or second day (in which he just writes Fuck You!) he learns that Gary, the man in charge of him, is reading the diary.  And soon, he begins to use his diary as a way to get his Walkman and cassettes back (they were taken from him when he entered the ward).

Specifically, he wants Master of Reality back.  And he begins to explain to Gary–this uptight prick of a man, this man who controls his life, this man who won’t even allow him to listen to music, this man who is so tight and controlling and such an abject failure of a man–exactly why Master of Reality (which Gary should take from the cubbie and listen to right now) is an amazing, mind altering piece of work.

And so, every day, the diary entries continue to talk about Master of Reality (as well as what is going on in the ward) until he is informed that he is being transferred to the State facility where he will stay until he is 18.

Although this isn’t a novel per se (except that it kind of is), I won’t give away the rest of the story (which I found surprising and hard to put down).  Suffice it to say that those diary entires account for only half of the story.  The rest is a neat twist on what we’ve seen.

And indeed, his assessment of Master of Reality is spot on good stuff.  From the sludgy tunings to the peculiar lyrics (even to the insults about the song “Solitude” (was it really written by Ozzy’s dad?) are right on.  In fact, I learned a thing or two from this boy who has listened to the album more intently than I have.

I just have a hard time believing that this Sabbath devotee didn’t know that Tony Iommi tuned down his guitar because of his finger accident (by 1985 even I knew that!).

The other thing I’m surprised about is how much the writer liked Black Sabbath’s Born Again (with Ian Gillan on vocals).  It’s generally considered to be a pretty lousy record, although I admit I loved it at the time too.  But I haven’t actually listened to it in about 15 years, so what do I know?

Actually I just listened to a couple of tracks on YouTube, and they are pretty good (although “Digital Bitch is gawdawful).