Music and Lyrics
The slow and heavy songs that comprise most of the album are interspersed with quiet acoustic songs written by Tony Iommi. Two of these, "Embryo" and "Orchid", are short instrumentals serving as interludes. The third, "Solitude", is much longer in comparison and features Ozzy Osbourne's soft, plaintive vocals. It is largely believed by many fans that Bill Ward sang on "Solitude", as the song's vocals greatly differ from Osbourne's "signature" vocals; however, this is a myth. Ward did not perform vocals for any Black Sabbath song until the band's seventh album, Technical Ecstasy, on the track "It's Alright".
The lyrics of the song "After Forever", written by Geezer Butler, a proclaimed Catholic, focus entirely on Christian themes. Although the album jacket credits Iommi alone as the composer of this song, the Black Sabbath Black Box Set refutes the album jacket credit and gives credit to this song (along with "Orchid" and "Embryo") to all four band members in keeping with their wishes to remain a democratic band. At the time, some viewed Black Sabbath as Satanists (which the band had consistently denied) due to their dark sound, image and lyrics. "After Forever" was released as a single along with "Fairies Wear Boots" in 1971. Rolling Stone reviewer Lester Bangs criticized the Christian theme of "After Forever", but welcomed the arrangement, while Wilson & Alroy's called the guitar sound "crude but effective".
The song "Solitude" showcases guitarist Iommi's multi-instrumental talents, featuring him playing guitar, flute, and piano.
The album opener, "Sweet Leaf", is a song about marijuana and is named after a brand of cigarettes bought in Ireland.
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