It's probably cheating recommending a whole album, but this is one of the darkest and heaviest Sabbath albums and my personal favorite. I don't want the newbie to start at "Paranoid". How many times do you already hear "Paranoid" and "Iron Man" on a classic rock station, anyways? The reason to buy that album is for "War Pigs," but that deserves another post of its own.

When listening to "Master of Reality" for the first time, you'll suddenly realize that Soundgarden must've studied this album like the bible. "Sweet Leaf," holy shit! Ozzy is singing a love song about his stash: starts with a bong cough (Tony Iommi couldn't handle a hit and the band secretly taped it), then the coughing echoes till there's nothing but regeneration leading into "Bwah, wah...na, na, na...ba, na" (use devil horn sign and proceed to bang head to the rhythm). Ozzy first tries to get his pot's attention, "Alright now, won't you listen?" He proceeds to talk about the time that they first met, then sings,"You introduced me to my mind and left me wanting you and your kind....I love you!" I don't smoke pot, but listening to that song, I've got to wonder what it's all about. I mean, Sir Paul McCartney wrote "Got To Get You Into My Life". I hope I don't need to explain that he was not talking about a girl in that song.

There are a few slow numbers on this album, but most are crank worthy. The song that I absolutely love to crank to is "Into the Void." On this one Ozzy kind of takes a back seat and lets Tony Iommi lay down some brutal riffs. This is where one will hear how much Kim Thayl was influenced by Iommi. I really can't explain how much this series of guitar riffs means to me. The riff starts out like one guy slowly walking down the alley. You think that you can take him, but then his friend (Geezer Butler's bass) pops out behind a dumpster. You start to think that there might be a chance to get out alive, then Bill Ward's Drums beat you down to the ground. It's all over, you think, then it cuts to a slightly faster guitar riff--sans the rhythm section. This is where that first guy drags you to the gutter. Then the rhythm section hits you even harder, pummeling your brain 'till the blood drains from your ears into the sewer. You're down for the count, now.

These are my two faves on this album, but all the tracks are good.

Play it loudest!