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Rat Salad: Black Sabbath, The Classic Years, 1969--1975
A brand-new look at Black Sabbath, one of the most outrageous bands in the history of rock music
This information-rich, idiosyncratic, and beguiling book paints a vivid picture of Black Sabbath at its beginning, from 1967 to 1975---the time in which the band made its greatest Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and Sabotage .
But Rat Salad diverges from routes taken by most rock biographies---its detailed, song-by-song analysis of the band's masterworks is interwoven with a personal account of the news stories and culture of the time, from Vietnam to Bloody Sunday to the space program. These narrative chapters---think Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head meets Spinal Tap meets Nick Hornby---persuasively explain the appeal of the music, its compositional artistry, and its frequently audacious inventiveness.
Original and passionate, Rat Salad embraces a remarkably diverse cast of characters---from Ozzy Osbourne himself and the other members of the band through to Edith Sitwell, Breugel the Elder, John Milton, and Doris Day. The author's hand looms large in the piece, as he grows from schoolboy ingenue to inveterate devotee and looks back at a life populated with love, sex, drugs, and death and played out against a rich sonic backdrop of crucifixes and power chords.
This information-rich, idiosyncratic, and beguiling book paints a vivid picture of Black Sabbath at its beginning, from 1967 to 1975---the time in which the band made its greatest Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and Sabotage .
But Rat Salad diverges from routes taken by most rock biographies---its detailed, song-by-song analysis of the band's masterworks is interwoven with a personal account of the news stories and culture of the time, from Vietnam to Bloody Sunday to the space program. These narrative chapters---think Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head meets Spinal Tap meets Nick Hornby---persuasively explain the appeal of the music, its compositional artistry, and its frequently audacious inventiveness.
Original and passionate, Rat Salad embraces a remarkably diverse cast of characters---from Ozzy Osbourne himself and the other members of the band through to Edith Sitwell, Breugel the Elder, John Milton, and Doris Day. The author's hand looms large in the piece, as he grows from schoolboy ingenue to inveterate devotee and looks back at a life populated with love, sex, drugs, and death and played out against a rich sonic backdrop of crucifixes and power chords.
- GenresMusicBiographyNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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72 people want to read
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April 16, 2019
Black Sabbath is one of my favorite rock bands of all time, top 5 in my personal pantheon without a shred of a doubt. Anyone who knows me understands that I am a huge music fan, and my enthusiasm for rock music from EVERY era has no real boundaries. I always navigate around to the music section of any bookstore that I frequent, always on the lookout for a bio or a music history book that might pique my interest. So it was with “Rat Salad: Black Sabbath The Classic Years 1969-1975.” A Sabbath book that I hadn’t read yet? Cool! Throw that bad boy on the pile!
So I get home with this thing and quickly figure out that I have a true oddity in my hands. Author Paul Wilkinson appears to be something of a British Sabbath superfan. I can’t find any information on any other books that he has written, and the entire effort comes off as a diatribe of truly staggering fanboy excess. It’s like that blog post by that guy that runs that obscure metal website that you kinda like, except that this blog post runs to 240 pages of often dense and contradictory musical opinion. I’m not really sure how this thing even got published since Wilkinson seems to be a rank amateur, although I will say that he knows his way around a bit of music theory. Now you don’t really need to know the difference between an arpeggio and a chromatic scale, but it does help a bit.
Wilkinson also throws a bunch of autobiographical stuff into the book, which I suppose might be interesting if he was anyone of note. As it is it’s like heading down to the pub with your friends and bumping into that guy who just won’t ever shut up and keeps on rambling about the “good old days” when rock music was “authentic.” I mean, he’s not a bad guy, he just gets a few black & tans in him and he goes off like a rocket and then it becomes a race to see how quickly you can make an excuse to get out of there. All of that said, I was still a bit fascinated by the exercise.
The basic premise of this book is that the first six Black Sabbath albums form a cohesive and unified musical statement that just MAY be the best six-album run in the history of rock music. Okay, I can play that game. But we have to establish a few things first:
1. We are not going to debate Sabbath’s place as a “heavy metal” band here. I could argue for days that Led Zeppelin II not only predated the first Black Sabbath album but was in fact a more direct statement of intent than that first Sabs record. And let’s not even bring up Blue Cheer. The term “heavy metal” was meaningless back in the 1970s. It was an amorphous label that was applied in equal measure to bands as diverse as Sir Lord Baltimore and ZZ Top. Sabbath’s place as the originators of a genre is pretty much all revisionism.
2. The author limits himself to only the first six Sabbath albums. He pretty much slags off “Technical Ecstasy” and “Never Say Die” as substandard Ozzy-era records that only served to stain the legacy of the previous recordings. To this I say a hearty “BULLSHIT!” “Technical Ecstasy” is a perfectly solid Sabbath release that improves upon subsequent listenings, and “Never Say Die”.....well, okay…..I’ll concede that “Never Say Die” is kinda sucky, and the Sabs did themselves no favors by taking Van Halen on tour with them, but it’s still part of the Ozzy canon, and it should get props just for that fact.
3. Wilkinson also has no place for any of the post-Ozzy Sabbath, which is just as well. Hell, you could write an entire book on just the Dio years, much less all of the band permutations that Tony Iommi paraded out under the name Black Sabbath. And listen, a lot of that is great music, but it has no place here.
Wilkinson sets up the whole analysis with a bit of band biography interspersed with a few of his own autobiographical nuggets. That whole “first kiss” thing may have been a bit of TMI, but you get what you pay for. Nothing much new here. From there he introduces each of the first six Sabbath records with a quick snapshot of what was going on musically and culturally around the time of release. Then we get the meat and potatoes, a thorough run through of each album, song by song. I personally found it very helpful to listen to each of these albums through Wilkinson’s ears, trying to envision exactly what he was hearing and attempting to translate it through my own personal filters. He makes a few interesting observations, but a lot of this is simply Wilkinson doing a great impression of a trained music critic while trying to deconstruct the catalog of a bunch of guys who were perfectly happy writing odes to marijuana and cocaine interspersed with the odd bit of sociopolitical commentary. I could do the album by album critique for you, but do you really need that?
No. Here’s what you need to know. Go out and buy the first six Black Sabbath records yourself, assuming that you don’t already own them. Listen to them. Form your own damn opinions. Listen, I MIGHT agree with the basic premise that those first six albums form some sort of a unified musical statement that is essentially unparalleled in the annals of rock history….but….I dunno. Maybe. That Stones run from “Beggars Banquet” to “It’s Only Rock and Roll” just MIGHT be better, but now I’m gonna sound like that bloke in the pub who just can’t shut up. And for the sake of being fair, add in “Technical Ecstasy” and “Never Say Die.” You really can’t segregate those albums and still be fair to the legacy that Ozzy Osbourne has with Black Sabbath.
Is this book necessary for your library? Not unless you are some sort of a Sabbath completist. I’ll admit that it’s an interesting little piece of work, but it’s only as good as your willingness to indulge someone else’s opinions on what makes for good rock music. I’d be happy to sit with you over a couple of pints and we could go down that road about Led Zeppelin II, but honestly, don’t you have better things to do? Conversations like that are strictly for slow nights at the watering hole….
“Glory days….they’ll pass you by….glory days…..in the wink of a young girl’s eye….glory days…..glory dayyyyyyyyyysssss……..”
CODA: This is yet another of my old reviews that I polished off, though to be fair this one never made it into publication anywhere. My main advice for anyone who might want to read this book (or any book on Black Sabbath for that matter) would be to invest in a product from Rhino Records called “The Black Box.” This fantastic set contains all eight of the Ozzy-era Sabbath releases on compact disc plus a bonus DVD with several music videos. It also has an 80-page booklet that reduces the history of the band down to the essentials and includes commentary from many notable Sabbath superfans. The discs have all been remastered from the original source tapes and have GREAT sound quality when compared to the previous CD releases of the Sabbath catalog. It’s an older set (2004) and can only be acquired on the secondary market, but it’s worth your money and time to seek it out if you are truly a Black Sabbath fan.
I took my daughter to see Black Sabbath on their final tour back in 2016. We saw them in San Antonio at the last ever North American date that the band will ever play. It was bittersweet without Bill Ward behind the drum kit, but we got 75% of the original band and a couple of hours of majestic music that moved my hardened rock ‘n’ roll heart to tears a couple of times. Ozzy sounded great and Tony Iommi was a human riff machine and for that moment in time all was right with the world. Forget this silly book and just go and get the Black Box and get your Sabbath on. You can thank me later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_B...
So I get home with this thing and quickly figure out that I have a true oddity in my hands. Author Paul Wilkinson appears to be something of a British Sabbath superfan. I can’t find any information on any other books that he has written, and the entire effort comes off as a diatribe of truly staggering fanboy excess. It’s like that blog post by that guy that runs that obscure metal website that you kinda like, except that this blog post runs to 240 pages of often dense and contradictory musical opinion. I’m not really sure how this thing even got published since Wilkinson seems to be a rank amateur, although I will say that he knows his way around a bit of music theory. Now you don’t really need to know the difference between an arpeggio and a chromatic scale, but it does help a bit.
Wilkinson also throws a bunch of autobiographical stuff into the book, which I suppose might be interesting if he was anyone of note. As it is it’s like heading down to the pub with your friends and bumping into that guy who just won’t ever shut up and keeps on rambling about the “good old days” when rock music was “authentic.” I mean, he’s not a bad guy, he just gets a few black & tans in him and he goes off like a rocket and then it becomes a race to see how quickly you can make an excuse to get out of there. All of that said, I was still a bit fascinated by the exercise.
The basic premise of this book is that the first six Black Sabbath albums form a cohesive and unified musical statement that just MAY be the best six-album run in the history of rock music. Okay, I can play that game. But we have to establish a few things first:
1. We are not going to debate Sabbath’s place as a “heavy metal” band here. I could argue for days that Led Zeppelin II not only predated the first Black Sabbath album but was in fact a more direct statement of intent than that first Sabs record. And let’s not even bring up Blue Cheer. The term “heavy metal” was meaningless back in the 1970s. It was an amorphous label that was applied in equal measure to bands as diverse as Sir Lord Baltimore and ZZ Top. Sabbath’s place as the originators of a genre is pretty much all revisionism.
2. The author limits himself to only the first six Sabbath albums. He pretty much slags off “Technical Ecstasy” and “Never Say Die” as substandard Ozzy-era records that only served to stain the legacy of the previous recordings. To this I say a hearty “BULLSHIT!” “Technical Ecstasy” is a perfectly solid Sabbath release that improves upon subsequent listenings, and “Never Say Die”.....well, okay…..I’ll concede that “Never Say Die” is kinda sucky, and the Sabs did themselves no favors by taking Van Halen on tour with them, but it’s still part of the Ozzy canon, and it should get props just for that fact.
3. Wilkinson also has no place for any of the post-Ozzy Sabbath, which is just as well. Hell, you could write an entire book on just the Dio years, much less all of the band permutations that Tony Iommi paraded out under the name Black Sabbath. And listen, a lot of that is great music, but it has no place here.
Wilkinson sets up the whole analysis with a bit of band biography interspersed with a few of his own autobiographical nuggets. That whole “first kiss” thing may have been a bit of TMI, but you get what you pay for. Nothing much new here. From there he introduces each of the first six Sabbath records with a quick snapshot of what was going on musically and culturally around the time of release. Then we get the meat and potatoes, a thorough run through of each album, song by song. I personally found it very helpful to listen to each of these albums through Wilkinson’s ears, trying to envision exactly what he was hearing and attempting to translate it through my own personal filters. He makes a few interesting observations, but a lot of this is simply Wilkinson doing a great impression of a trained music critic while trying to deconstruct the catalog of a bunch of guys who were perfectly happy writing odes to marijuana and cocaine interspersed with the odd bit of sociopolitical commentary. I could do the album by album critique for you, but do you really need that?
No. Here’s what you need to know. Go out and buy the first six Black Sabbath records yourself, assuming that you don’t already own them. Listen to them. Form your own damn opinions. Listen, I MIGHT agree with the basic premise that those first six albums form some sort of a unified musical statement that is essentially unparalleled in the annals of rock history….but….I dunno. Maybe. That Stones run from “Beggars Banquet” to “It’s Only Rock and Roll” just MIGHT be better, but now I’m gonna sound like that bloke in the pub who just can’t shut up. And for the sake of being fair, add in “Technical Ecstasy” and “Never Say Die.” You really can’t segregate those albums and still be fair to the legacy that Ozzy Osbourne has with Black Sabbath.
Is this book necessary for your library? Not unless you are some sort of a Sabbath completist. I’ll admit that it’s an interesting little piece of work, but it’s only as good as your willingness to indulge someone else’s opinions on what makes for good rock music. I’d be happy to sit with you over a couple of pints and we could go down that road about Led Zeppelin II, but honestly, don’t you have better things to do? Conversations like that are strictly for slow nights at the watering hole….
“Glory days….they’ll pass you by….glory days…..in the wink of a young girl’s eye….glory days…..glory dayyyyyyyyyysssss……..”
CODA: This is yet another of my old reviews that I polished off, though to be fair this one never made it into publication anywhere. My main advice for anyone who might want to read this book (or any book on Black Sabbath for that matter) would be to invest in a product from Rhino Records called “The Black Box.” This fantastic set contains all eight of the Ozzy-era Sabbath releases on compact disc plus a bonus DVD with several music videos. It also has an 80-page booklet that reduces the history of the band down to the essentials and includes commentary from many notable Sabbath superfans. The discs have all been remastered from the original source tapes and have GREAT sound quality when compared to the previous CD releases of the Sabbath catalog. It’s an older set (2004) and can only be acquired on the secondary market, but it’s worth your money and time to seek it out if you are truly a Black Sabbath fan.
I took my daughter to see Black Sabbath on their final tour back in 2016. We saw them in San Antonio at the last ever North American date that the band will ever play. It was bittersweet without Bill Ward behind the drum kit, but we got 75% of the original band and a couple of hours of majestic music that moved my hardened rock ‘n’ roll heart to tears a couple of times. Ozzy sounded great and Tony Iommi was a human riff machine and for that moment in time all was right with the world. Forget this silly book and just go and get the Black Box and get your Sabbath on. You can thank me later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_B...
September 28, 2013
Picked this up at a record store for $10...worth the ticket price. At first glance, I pegged it as a straightforward biography of my favorite band in their heyday. When I started to flip through it, I then decided it was more like a personal account of the band through the eyes of a superfan.
Turned out I was wrong twice. Rat Salad is a unique blend of both these genres, but more than anything, it's really a love letter to Sabbath. What's interesting is that Wilkinson takes a surprisingly musical approach to his writing. He analyzes what makes the songs (and band) special. The grammar of music often takes the wheel; fortunately there's a helpful glossary of terms for us philistines. But even with some rather in-depth dissection of the songs, it's always examined through a passionate lens, with quite a bit of humor. Dennis Miller-style footnotes abound here.
Structurally, the book has two chapters per album. The first one warms us up to current events of the time, then segues into what the band was up to at around studio time. The following chapter then details the featured album, including a song-by-song breakdown. This is where the obsessive fan takes over; even short (and bad) Sabbath jams get their day in the sun. It's cool to know that somebody else appreciates a song like "Embryo" or "Don't Start (Too Late)" as much as you do; in other cases, it gave me some new perspective on overlooked entries. Even though I don't like "Fluff" any more than I did last week, I can appreciate some new things about the tune and those like it.
The book was enjoyable overall, but tedious at points and prone to rambling. I felt like I learned quite a bit about the band's discography, but very little new information about the members themselves (of course, reading several other books about a group will do that to you). Wilkinson's own biographical asides were mercifully limited, and usually relatable. A new/young fan of the band may appreciate this fact less than a lifer in Wilkinson's stripe. He often asserts his own opinions as consensus views, which sparked internal debate for me: is Sabbath Bloody Sabbath really considered the band's nadir? By whom? Have they heard the aforementioned "Fluff"?
I wish more books like Rat Salad existed, but contradictorily, I also appreciate the unique, personal feel that reading this book gave me.
Turned out I was wrong twice. Rat Salad is a unique blend of both these genres, but more than anything, it's really a love letter to Sabbath. What's interesting is that Wilkinson takes a surprisingly musical approach to his writing. He analyzes what makes the songs (and band) special. The grammar of music often takes the wheel; fortunately there's a helpful glossary of terms for us philistines. But even with some rather in-depth dissection of the songs, it's always examined through a passionate lens, with quite a bit of humor. Dennis Miller-style footnotes abound here.
Structurally, the book has two chapters per album. The first one warms us up to current events of the time, then segues into what the band was up to at around studio time. The following chapter then details the featured album, including a song-by-song breakdown. This is where the obsessive fan takes over; even short (and bad) Sabbath jams get their day in the sun. It's cool to know that somebody else appreciates a song like "Embryo" or "Don't Start (Too Late)" as much as you do; in other cases, it gave me some new perspective on overlooked entries. Even though I don't like "Fluff" any more than I did last week, I can appreciate some new things about the tune and those like it.
The book was enjoyable overall, but tedious at points and prone to rambling. I felt like I learned quite a bit about the band's discography, but very little new information about the members themselves (of course, reading several other books about a group will do that to you). Wilkinson's own biographical asides were mercifully limited, and usually relatable. A new/young fan of the band may appreciate this fact less than a lifer in Wilkinson's stripe. He often asserts his own opinions as consensus views, which sparked internal debate for me: is Sabbath Bloody Sabbath really considered the band's nadir? By whom? Have they heard the aforementioned "Fluff"?
I wish more books like Rat Salad existed, but contradictorily, I also appreciate the unique, personal feel that reading this book gave me.
February 2, 2008
Outstanding! I loved this book so much and I feel like I've been waiting for it for decades. In Rat Salad, Paul Wilkinson examines the first six Black Sabbath albums from a music theory point of view while putting each of them into the political, social and economical context of the times. Of course, Wilkinson provides biographical details about Sabbath, as one would expect, but includes glimpses into his own past, as well. That sort of thing tends to drive me nuts but, in this case, it not only works but makes the book more interesting. His experiences mirror your experiences and his inclusion of these details adds a personal element you can actually share.
Occasionally, Wilkinson criticizes something about the band, generally to great comic effect. If Wilkinson wasn't able to laugh at the object of his obsession, Rat Salad would not be as good.
It was a real kick to sit down and listen to each album, each song, as I read about them. Wilkinson tackles the task of discussing Black Sabbath's music with equal parts care and delight and his writing is well suited to it. Listening as you read, you'll hear things in a way you haven't heard them before, or maybe not since you heard "War Pigs" or "Supernaut" for the first time. You'll learn things you didn't know about Sabbath and their music. Not knowing music theory, I feel I missed out on some of the discussion but there is a handy glossary in the back to explain the terminology.
It's a relief that there is writing of this caliber about music, that authors like Wilkinson diligently research something folks like me care so much about, get the facts right and put some passion into it. Rat Salad is a revelation and a good time all at once.
Occasionally, Wilkinson criticizes something about the band, generally to great comic effect. If Wilkinson wasn't able to laugh at the object of his obsession, Rat Salad would not be as good.
It was a real kick to sit down and listen to each album, each song, as I read about them. Wilkinson tackles the task of discussing Black Sabbath's music with equal parts care and delight and his writing is well suited to it. Listening as you read, you'll hear things in a way you haven't heard them before, or maybe not since you heard "War Pigs" or "Supernaut" for the first time. You'll learn things you didn't know about Sabbath and their music. Not knowing music theory, I feel I missed out on some of the discussion but there is a handy glossary in the back to explain the terminology.
It's a relief that there is writing of this caliber about music, that authors like Wilkinson diligently research something folks like me care so much about, get the facts right and put some passion into it. Rat Salad is a revelation and a good time all at once.
October 21, 2013
A nice short book about the first six Sabbath albums. Wilkinson's enthusiasm for the band is contagious, and the song-by-song analyses of each record was a great way to discover new facets of their music. Other reviewers complain that he gets too technical in his descriptions, but I found that listening to the records while reading the book helped. All in all, Rat Salad was an enjoyable read that helped me understand the historical and musical context in which the first six Sabbath albums were released.
December 2, 2009
I have to say this is the worst book I've read in a long time, I read up to page 180 using sheer will power, but I couldn't finish, but I still consider that I have read it, because if i didn't I would've gone through THAT for nothing.
August 4, 2007
Amateur U.K. musicologist examines the first six Balck Sabbath albums through the prism of his generally dull personal life. For fans only.
November 26, 2017
I love that this book exists. Sabbath's first six records are really the only ones worth listening to, and when it comes to good, solid critique, this book fills a tragic void. Wilkinson clearly loves the band, loves talking about them, and knows his art and world history in a way that elevates the text to a few cuts above RIP Magazine. The personal anecdotes he includes here can be a little awkward, but it's a small price to pay for reading such a vital and sadly out-of-print book. Reading this will make you love Black Sabbath even more than you already do, and that's a pretty remarkable achievement.
April 2, 2018
Read this awhile ago and I think I thought it was fairly decent, although I do remember Wilkinson being very bitter about Sabbath's final two albums and his refusal to discuss them or consider them worthy of the Sabbath name. Also, I think a feeling of betrayal, but definitely a lot of bitterness. Since I always liked all eight albums, I thought it was a bit much, but some people want their heroes to always stay in their boxes. Decent read for what it's worth, but take it with a grain of salt.
November 8, 2021
I don't like knocking anyone who has the talent and dedication to write a book. Paul's knowledge is excellent regarding social and music history. My real problem is his use of words I have never heard of! "Igneous effluvia", "Chiaroscuro" anyone??? I want to read something without the need of a dictionary or thesaurus at my side. It should be pleasurable, not a chore.
Sorry, I gave up at the first chapter. Pity, I am a huge Sabbath fan and was looking forward to reading this.
Sorry, I gave up at the first chapter. Pity, I am a huge Sabbath fan and was looking forward to reading this.
December 3, 2021
I'm amazed how bad this was given the generally positive reviews. It's vanity press garbage. This is easily the stupidest book about Black Sabbath I've read. The author includes a photo of himself as a child along with one of a schoolmate who kissed him when they were both 7 or something. Why? Its utter garbage.
June 25, 2019
Black Sabbath were a phenomenon. No other band in the 70s and early 80s conjured up dark and devilish images from a musical artist standpoint than Black Sabbath did. Their music was by no means easy listening stuff and although the band members have repeatedly denied any literal dabbling in the occult, the general perception was that they were ‘Satanist’ true and through. That was perfectly okay in the grand scheme of things for everyone involved with the band – negative publicity was good publicity. No?
Aside that, some of us became sworn followers, some of us enjoyed a few tracks of theirs every once in a while. We also had those who pretended that they did but remained clueless to the 'genius-ness' of the music. And then there were those, who loathed and despised the Band. Honestly, real fans like me didn’t really care – to us Sabbath epitomised the music of the era!
Anyway, Rat Salad was a Christmas gift to me four years ago (or there about). A family member came across this unique biography and decided that I’d enjoy it - I am a big fan, you see.
Enjoy the book I certainly did, by the way. I finished it in one sitting! The author, Paul Wilkinson is an extremely devoted Sabbath fan no doubt. He particularly chose the years between 1969 and 1975 to write about, because in his opinion, these were the best periods of Black Sabbath. I wholeheartedly agreed with him but I also thought the two later albums in the 80s with Ronnie James Dio, were brilliant too.
Nevertheless this bio was more towards analysing the songs recorded in the first 6 albums of the band’s career. The Band’s history is well-known now and countless info-materials are available in that regard. So instead, what Wilkinson wrote about in ‘Rat Salad’ were track by track recounts of the musicianship, lyrics, vocal arrangements and the like - intensely scrutinised.
Now before I go further, to appreciate ‘Rat Salad’ you more or less needed these attributes in my opinion;
A true Sabbath fan
Like music of this genre – dark, heavy and brooding
A musician yourself and/or understand the terminology
Have a PhD in English and/or a high score in English 1119
Alas, if you’re a Black Sabbath fan like me then the probable stumbling blocks with Rat Salad will stack up for you on the musician's jargon used by Wilkinson and his advanced English, of course.
By these I mean, Wilkinson used words like vituperative; enjambment; mellifluous; crepuscularity; mellotron and etc. etc. to explain himself. And then he further elaborates with terms such as ‘lowered C sharp tuning’, ‘minor tonic’ and ‘subtonic shift’ and so on and so forth to paint the song structures for you. Boy, these were not easy comprehension for me I tell you.
Having said that, the author does pre-warn you about the book’s content in his ‘Foreword’ section. So I wasn’t perturbed and discouraged. And I think you shouldn't either because there are good arguments about Sabbath's talent in this.
Okay, although the primary topic for ‘Rat Salad’ was aimed specifically at the music and their compositions (first 6 albums), Wilkinson does offer background tales for the albums in question and the songs that inspired them.
He also cleverly adds the historical goings-on of that period; to draw a picture of what the band members and fans alike experienced at that time. Events like the Vietnam War, IRA and troubles in Northern Ireland, America’s space program, Nixon’s Watergate scandal, Margaret Thatcher and the British politics were significant factors that sort of moulded Black Sabbath’s musical direction and creativity per se.
The author also talked about his own childhood and the music scene of the 1970s to add flavour to the book. I truly welcomed these fun and fact filled intervals indeed. Honestly, it made the ensuing tedium of song by song analysis that much more bearable.
So all said, Rat Salad was a fine book and I applaud Paul Wilkinson for this accomplishment. I always considered Black Sabbath a brilliant and intelligent band. ‘Rat Salad’ cements that for me now. These early albums that Iommi, Osbourne, Ward and Butler gave me, were a pleasure then, as there are today and will continue to be as the years roll on.
By offering the world this analytical study of the Band’s songs in those 6 recordings, Paul Wilkinson exemplifies the understated musical genius of Black Sabbath.
1969 to 1975 were, a classic era indeed – it provided a new dawn for the heavy music to come. Here's to the blackest of Sabbaths!
Aside that, some of us became sworn followers, some of us enjoyed a few tracks of theirs every once in a while. We also had those who pretended that they did but remained clueless to the 'genius-ness' of the music. And then there were those, who loathed and despised the Band. Honestly, real fans like me didn’t really care – to us Sabbath epitomised the music of the era!
Anyway, Rat Salad was a Christmas gift to me four years ago (or there about). A family member came across this unique biography and decided that I’d enjoy it - I am a big fan, you see.
Enjoy the book I certainly did, by the way. I finished it in one sitting! The author, Paul Wilkinson is an extremely devoted Sabbath fan no doubt. He particularly chose the years between 1969 and 1975 to write about, because in his opinion, these were the best periods of Black Sabbath. I wholeheartedly agreed with him but I also thought the two later albums in the 80s with Ronnie James Dio, were brilliant too.
Nevertheless this bio was more towards analysing the songs recorded in the first 6 albums of the band’s career. The Band’s history is well-known now and countless info-materials are available in that regard. So instead, what Wilkinson wrote about in ‘Rat Salad’ were track by track recounts of the musicianship, lyrics, vocal arrangements and the like - intensely scrutinised.
Now before I go further, to appreciate ‘Rat Salad’ you more or less needed these attributes in my opinion;
A true Sabbath fan
Like music of this genre – dark, heavy and brooding
A musician yourself and/or understand the terminology
Have a PhD in English and/or a high score in English 1119
Alas, if you’re a Black Sabbath fan like me then the probable stumbling blocks with Rat Salad will stack up for you on the musician's jargon used by Wilkinson and his advanced English, of course.
By these I mean, Wilkinson used words like vituperative; enjambment; mellifluous; crepuscularity; mellotron and etc. etc. to explain himself. And then he further elaborates with terms such as ‘lowered C sharp tuning’, ‘minor tonic’ and ‘subtonic shift’ and so on and so forth to paint the song structures for you. Boy, these were not easy comprehension for me I tell you.
Having said that, the author does pre-warn you about the book’s content in his ‘Foreword’ section. So I wasn’t perturbed and discouraged. And I think you shouldn't either because there are good arguments about Sabbath's talent in this.
Okay, although the primary topic for ‘Rat Salad’ was aimed specifically at the music and their compositions (first 6 albums), Wilkinson does offer background tales for the albums in question and the songs that inspired them.
He also cleverly adds the historical goings-on of that period; to draw a picture of what the band members and fans alike experienced at that time. Events like the Vietnam War, IRA and troubles in Northern Ireland, America’s space program, Nixon’s Watergate scandal, Margaret Thatcher and the British politics were significant factors that sort of moulded Black Sabbath’s musical direction and creativity per se.
The author also talked about his own childhood and the music scene of the 1970s to add flavour to the book. I truly welcomed these fun and fact filled intervals indeed. Honestly, it made the ensuing tedium of song by song analysis that much more bearable.
So all said, Rat Salad was a fine book and I applaud Paul Wilkinson for this accomplishment. I always considered Black Sabbath a brilliant and intelligent band. ‘Rat Salad’ cements that for me now. These early albums that Iommi, Osbourne, Ward and Butler gave me, were a pleasure then, as there are today and will continue to be as the years roll on.
By offering the world this analytical study of the Band’s songs in those 6 recordings, Paul Wilkinson exemplifies the understated musical genius of Black Sabbath.
1969 to 1975 were, a classic era indeed – it provided a new dawn for the heavy music to come. Here's to the blackest of Sabbaths!
December 10, 2018
The concept of this book is good: The author describes every album AND the political and cultural circumstances in the year the album was produced. Some infos what the band did at the time, because of course that's important for the music too - but without making it a biography. He writes about every song, textual and musically. And he made his homework: Many contradictions I found in Sabbath biographys are adressed - I liked that (and felt a little nerdy :)!
But.
The author sounds like the typically Mr.Smartypants. In the introduction he writes, that he comes from another time, where the music was of course better - everything was better! Today it's not possible to produce good music, because there are no more revolutions musically AND otherwise. And sorry, but that's bullshit. I know the thought: "Ah, the 70s, I wish I could travel through time just to witness them." But it's absolutely wrong to claim, that all contentual valuable music died after generation XY. The book also excludes the albums "Technical Ecstasy" and "Never Say Die", which are not my favourites - but it's a proof, that the author prefers his personal favour to completeness. Some of his jokes about the band where funny, but he really carried it to extremes sometimes and after a while it was a little annoying.
Anyway.. the reviews of the songs are interesting, but written with a lack of distance. I am not far into music theory and maybe I am the problem here. But please enlighten me and tell me why "Symptom of the Universe" is an uninteresting song, musically. Some songs get labelled as unnecessary. I liked that he thematized the cover art.
Then we have the statement that, we can't appreciate an album nowadays because the magic of turning the record over is lacking and people who listen to CDs can't concentrate on the music. Yeah, nice that you want to empty your ashtray, Wilkinson, I love to enjoy the whole magic of one album in one row, thank you very much! Wilkinson also writes about personal experiences, like his first kiss in elementary school. That would be funny and charming, but with all my other points of criticism it's just like he missed the mark: He wanted to write a intelligent book for Black Sabbath fans who really are into the music. Sadly I can't really take that serious. As I said: I LOVED the concept and there are many very interesting informations, but please take away all the bumptious nonsense! It's the same effect like someone always wants to distinguish oneself and takes every oppurtunity to show: "Oh, look how clever I am!" The person may know all the things, yes, but listening to them is just not enjoyable.
I just want a new book, written by someone less self-publicising who don't act like Mr. Generation Black Sabbath even if he was a little whippersnapper himself when "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" was released. I don't say you have to swallow your opinion and write down what you noticed and it doesn't have to be written with a big distance all the time. I like to read the personal opinion of an author - but it has to be marked as exactly what it is: A personal opinion.
But.
The author sounds like the typically Mr.Smartypants. In the introduction he writes, that he comes from another time, where the music was of course better - everything was better! Today it's not possible to produce good music, because there are no more revolutions musically AND otherwise. And sorry, but that's bullshit. I know the thought: "Ah, the 70s, I wish I could travel through time just to witness them." But it's absolutely wrong to claim, that all contentual valuable music died after generation XY. The book also excludes the albums "Technical Ecstasy" and "Never Say Die", which are not my favourites - but it's a proof, that the author prefers his personal favour to completeness. Some of his jokes about the band where funny, but he really carried it to extremes sometimes and after a while it was a little annoying.
Anyway.. the reviews of the songs are interesting, but written with a lack of distance. I am not far into music theory and maybe I am the problem here. But please enlighten me and tell me why "Symptom of the Universe" is an uninteresting song, musically. Some songs get labelled as unnecessary. I liked that he thematized the cover art.
Then we have the statement that, we can't appreciate an album nowadays because the magic of turning the record over is lacking and people who listen to CDs can't concentrate on the music. Yeah, nice that you want to empty your ashtray, Wilkinson, I love to enjoy the whole magic of one album in one row, thank you very much! Wilkinson also writes about personal experiences, like his first kiss in elementary school. That would be funny and charming, but with all my other points of criticism it's just like he missed the mark: He wanted to write a intelligent book for Black Sabbath fans who really are into the music. Sadly I can't really take that serious. As I said: I LOVED the concept and there are many very interesting informations, but please take away all the bumptious nonsense! It's the same effect like someone always wants to distinguish oneself and takes every oppurtunity to show: "Oh, look how clever I am!" The person may know all the things, yes, but listening to them is just not enjoyable.
I just want a new book, written by someone less self-publicising who don't act like Mr. Generation Black Sabbath even if he was a little whippersnapper himself when "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" was released. I don't say you have to swallow your opinion and write down what you noticed and it doesn't have to be written with a big distance all the time. I like to read the personal opinion of an author - but it has to be marked as exactly what it is: A personal opinion.
March 25, 2024
Would have been much better without the author's autobiographical stuff in it.
Read
August 6, 2011very interesting look at the first 6 albums (arguably the best released) in black sabbath's long and varied career. good information about the band history and historical contexts of the time, and an in-depth track-by-track dissection about each record. the descriptions can be overly technical, which can become quite confusing and boring at times. but the footnotes and various asides tended to be both informative and funny, and it was great to read about each track whilst re-visiting and re-listening over and over to their awesome back catalogue (i had 90% of the music in this book, for the rest of them youtube came in quite handy!). and 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' remains my favourite album of theirs, by far! :)
July 17, 2008
While I enjoyed this book it somehow fell flat for me. I expected a more studious approach to each song. I felt some of the explanations of the songs were speculative on the author's part. I thought some amazing songs were given half-hearted efforts. I'm aware that rock lyrics don't always have the deep meanings that listeners think, but I would imagine that some of Geezer's lyrics that were give short thrift MAY have had a little more depth than this author delved into. On the flip side, there were many songs that had a lot of background that I appreciated and that would be why I would recommend this book to any Sabbath fan.
September 3, 2012
I am a huge Black Sabbath fan, in fact they are my favorite band. I enjoyed the book but I wasn't a very big fan of Paul's writing style. I thought the writing was a little confusing and not very flowing. I also would have liked to have seen more specific interviews from the band members themselves on their recollections on creating all of the signature masterpieces. Overall, it is always great to read about the original Sabbath and it is great to see more documentation on cementing their legacy as one of the most influential bands of all time.
November 4, 2013
Picked this up hardcover at a book sale. I thought it was a historical/rock bio type book, but turns out to be some fan analysing the first five albums, kinda of like a rock nerd from that film 'high fidelity'..its good how he puts the historical perspective of each album in there, but too often the author craps on about his own personal life, sort of like when you read a fanzine, but this book isnt...i read the whole book through because im a big sabbath fan, but really this book is deceptive, its NOT a rock bio, rather a fan writing about the band as some sort of therapy.
July 3, 2017
Wilkinson narrates Black Sabbath's story in a unusual way, he does not focus on the band members, and what media said about them, as a band biography usually does, instead he writes about each Sabbath's song history, how the world was at that time, and it analyses their music from a music theory point of view.
I recommend this book specially if you know about music theory, and want to know more about this great band music, lyrics and inspirations; and if you do not know much theory, don't worry! There is an appendix at the end.
I recommend this book specially if you know about music theory, and want to know more about this great band music, lyrics and inspirations; and if you do not know much theory, don't worry! There is an appendix at the end.
February 27, 2009
Actually a textbook from a class offered on campus. The book is ok, There were chapters I was more interested in due to "albums" that I liked better. It went a little far into the actual music (tempos, transitions, etc.) than I wanted. The history, etc. was well done.
October 26, 2007
Decent book but not enough about Tony Iommi and "Geezer" Butler as far as I'm concerned.
July 14, 2008
C'mon the heaviest band to ever put notes on a guitar, bass and drums plus the unmistakably perfect vocals of one mr Ozzy
May 10, 2013
Kind of dry analysis of the first 6 albums...song by song. I knew that going into it, but the style kind of fell flat about 1/3 in.
November 11, 2014
Didn't quite get it first time through, but re-read it and really enjoyed it.
July 12, 2015
I am a kind of a fan and did like reading this book, just not big enough fan and didn't enjoy it enough.
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