User Profile
Tom Kellar
I enjoy several types of music, but mostly rock of all types: Southern, metal, progressive, grunge and more. Of course, user reviews tend to be higher. We do not get our music for free and are not paid for our opinions. Unless we are given an album, or try an experiment, we are buying works from artists that we have enjoyed. But I plan to be very stingy with full 5-star ratings, saving them for flawless masterpieces which are ALL KILLER NO FILLER. I expect to be giving many 3 to 4.5 scores.
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Tom Kellar's Album Reviews
This is a strong Black Sabbath album, although it shows the slow decline from the career peak of "Paranoid". This was their earliest which I did not hear until I started buying CDs instead of records and tapes.
The songs on "Vol. 4" are all over the place in quality. On the debut, there were multi-part song suites. On "Paranoid", a couple songs were given unnecessary double titles, like they were 2 distinct songs each. On this album there are some tracks which really are 2 songs jammed together. "Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener" is a good, heavy opener, the latter part a fast, driving instrumental. The excellent "Tomorrow's Dream" is a more radio-friendly tune, the heaviness alternating with a mellower, melodic sound. I've tried for years to like "Changes". I did, briefly, after hearing my brother's "We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll", because of the novelty of a ballad from Sabbath. What's wrong with this song? It's not that it's a ballad, the band has done others which worked, including "Solitude" just the album before. Other metal groups have had good mellow tunes, they aren't poison to the genre. It's not Ozzy Osbourne's fault, he has sung ballads well. It's not the song itself. Check out Charles Bradley, "The Screaming Eagle of Soul" for what can be done with it. It's that annoying, indolent, insolent piano. Those notes seem to say, "Yes, as a matter of fact, this IS all that I am going to play!" Then comes "FX". I looked up the definition of "album filler" and it read, "'FX' by Black Sabbath." If all it takes is making strange noises, I would be a good guitarist. Things are going downhill; we need a superhero to save this album. How about a "Supernaut"? This awesome, heavy tune is a great deep track that casual fans might miss, like "Into the Void" from "Master of Reality". Then comes "Snowblind". This crushing, relentless song is among the band's 5 best. Guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward really shine on this track. This is no "Sweet Leaf Part 2". Yes, the band was using a lot of cocaine, even thanking "The COKE-Cola Company of Los Angeles" in the liner notes. This is no party song, but an acknowledgement of what the drug was doing to the user. "The sun no longer sets me free/I feel the snowflakes freezing me." "Cornucopia" is a heavy tune, running faster at times. Then comes "Laguna Sunrise", a beautiful instrumental. If only Tony had played acoustic guitar like this on "Changes". "St. Vitus Dance" is faster and not as heavy as most Sabbath songs. The lyrics are different for the band, being romance advice to a friend. "Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes" is a good closer. The first is heavy, then speeding up for the "Every Day..." part, before returning to "Under the Sun".
Tony dominates this album. You have to listen to detect Geezer Butler's bass.
This has a lame title and crappy cover. It should be "Snowblind", with a glazed-goggled skier sprawled in a chaise lounge. But "Vol. 10" would be great for metal!
The songs on "Vol. 4" are all over the place in quality. On the debut, there were multi-part song suites. On "Paranoid", a couple songs were given unnecessary double titles, like they were 2 distinct songs each. On this album there are some tracks which really are 2 songs jammed together. "Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener" is a good, heavy opener, the latter part a fast, driving instrumental. The excellent "Tomorrow's Dream" is a more radio-friendly tune, the heaviness alternating with a mellower, melodic sound. I've tried for years to like "Changes". I did, briefly, after hearing my brother's "We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll", because of the novelty of a ballad from Sabbath. What's wrong with this song? It's not that it's a ballad, the band has done others which worked, including "Solitude" just the album before. Other metal groups have had good mellow tunes, they aren't poison to the genre. It's not Ozzy Osbourne's fault, he has sung ballads well. It's not the song itself. Check out Charles Bradley, "The Screaming Eagle of Soul" for what can be done with it. It's that annoying, indolent, insolent piano. Those notes seem to say, "Yes, as a matter of fact, this IS all that I am going to play!" Then comes "FX". I looked up the definition of "album filler" and it read, "'FX' by Black Sabbath." If all it takes is making strange noises, I would be a good guitarist. Things are going downhill; we need a superhero to save this album. How about a "Supernaut"? This awesome, heavy tune is a great deep track that casual fans might miss, like "Into the Void" from "Master of Reality". Then comes "Snowblind". This crushing, relentless song is among the band's 5 best. Guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward really shine on this track. This is no "Sweet Leaf Part 2". Yes, the band was using a lot of cocaine, even thanking "The COKE-Cola Company of Los Angeles" in the liner notes. This is no party song, but an acknowledgement of what the drug was doing to the user. "The sun no longer sets me free/I feel the snowflakes freezing me." "Cornucopia" is a heavy tune, running faster at times. Then comes "Laguna Sunrise", a beautiful instrumental. If only Tony had played acoustic guitar like this on "Changes". "St. Vitus Dance" is faster and not as heavy as most Sabbath songs. The lyrics are different for the band, being romance advice to a friend. "Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes" is a good closer. The first is heavy, then speeding up for the "Every Day..." part, before returning to "Under the Sun".
Tony dominates this album. You have to listen to detect Geezer Butler's bass.
This has a lame title and crappy cover. It should be "Snowblind", with a glazed-goggled skier sprawled in a chaise lounge. But "Vol. 10" would be great for metal!
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