Black Sabbath setlist goes heavy on Paranoid, mostly shuns Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

    1 of 3 2 of 3

      The setlist that Black Sabbath (without Bill Ward) has been following for the last several concerts on its current tour relies heavily on material from the classic Paranoid album of 1970.

      That's the good news.

      The not-so-great news—for this longtime Sabbath freak, anyway—is that the setlist which will most likely be in effect in Vancouver tomorrow barely touches on what is arguably the band's best album, 1973's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

      Yeah, yeah—I know what you're thinking: "Geez, quit yer whining, Newt. Fer chrissakes—it's Sabbath! Be thankful you're seeing 'em at all!"

      Hey, I am thankful. But I'm also a jaded critic who thinks that the world's best rock music was made in the '70s. And we're supposed to whine about stuff.

      So, like I said, it's great that Sabbath is playing no less than five tracks off Paranoid, including "War Pigs", "Fairies Wear Boots", the instrumental/drum solo track "Rat Salad", "Iron Man", and the title track.

      The band is also playing, according to the setlist, three tracks off its self-titled 1970 debut album, two off 1971's Master of Reality, two off 1972'sVol. 4, and three or four off it's new release, 13.

      The only riffs you'll hear from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath are the few from the title track that Tony Iommi is cranking out as the intro to the encore's "Paranoid".

      Hell—the band's even including a track from one of its weakest albums, 1976's Technical Ecstasy. "Dirty Women" is a decent song, mind you, but still... would it have killed them to sneak in SBS's "Sabbra Cadabra", or "Killing Yourself to Live", or even "Looking For Today"?

      And if that's not enough whining for you, I still stand by the claim I made back in 2011 that Sabbath shouldn't even have reunited unless it planned on playing "Supernaut".

      So there.

      Comments

      10 Comments

      A. MacInnis

      Aug 21, 2013 at 3:16pm

      I still say "Johnny Blade" is a great song. Listened to it again, and while yes, it does have some keyboards, they're mostly in the intro, plus a mid-song flourish or two... There's also some heavy as hard guitar riffage, plus when Ozzy sings that "you know that Johnny's a spider," it sends a chill down my spine. The lyrics are very interesting actually - the song is full of sympathy for a doomed street thug...

      My other vote would be for "Supertzar" off Sabotage - though a full version of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" would be nice.

      You know what, though? This is just quibblin' - I'm FINE with that setlist - especially since there's a few songs off their self-titled debut on it! And "Dirty Women" is a pretty good song... There's plenty for us to work with here...

      Showtime?

      Aug 21, 2013 at 6:07pm

      What time do the go on?

      A. MacInnis

      Aug 22, 2013 at 2:29am

      Hm. Poking through old setlists. There have been occasional playings of "Symptom of the Universe" (in place of "Rat Salad") as well as "Methademic," and "Loner," tho' mostly those were in Australia a few months ago. "Methademic" - one of the super-cool bonus cuts off the new album, only available in certain stores (but findable online) - is actually a pretty great, tough song... I wouldn't mind hearing that...

      Steve Newton

      Aug 22, 2013 at 9:24am

      I agree, Big Al. "Methademic" is actually one of my faves on the new album.
      as for Showtime? doors at 6:30, Andrew W.K. at 7:30, Sabbath whenever Sharon says its okay for Ozzy to start throwing water around

      Ian Gilligan

      Aug 22, 2013 at 2:21pm

      I wish they would just come out & do "Born Again" in it's entirety ...

      Steve Newton

      Aug 22, 2013 at 2:54pm

      I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be legal

      kurt

      Aug 27, 2013 at 9:09pm

      im going to the irvine show tommorrow night, wondering is there an opening act?
      as for the SBS album, love the album, would love to hear SBS, hole in the sky.etc

      Steve Newton

      Aug 28, 2013 at 10:36am

      the only opening act is Andrew WK being a DJ playing classic rock tunes. You can just skip that

      BloodySabbath

      Feb 14, 2014 at 4:33pm

      How dare they not include Spiral Architect!!! Candlemass is playing better Sabbath tunes then Sabbath

      Sab Freak

      Apr 13, 2014 at 10:23pm

      spiral Architect is my favourite sabbath tune as well...... But have lots of faves from them....the best band ever!!!!