B-side Changes Length 5:45 | Recorded 1973 | |
Released 1 December 1973 (UK)
January 1974 (US) Label Castle (UK)
Warner Bros. (US) Writer(s) Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward | ||
"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" is a song by British rock band Black Sabbath. It is the title track of the band's fifth album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. It was released on the album in 1973. The song is the opening track on the album.
The main riff in the song has been recognized as "the riff that saved Black Sabbath" because Tony Iommi, who wrote most of the band's music, was suffering from writer's block at the time. They resorted to drastic measures (including renting out the supposedly haunted Clearwell Castle to live in) to inspire him.
The song has been dropped from Black Sabbath's sets. It was rarely played live in the 1970s, and when the band reunited they only performed the first half in completion, with Ozzy dropping out of the song and not singing the final two verses. By the year 2000, it was dropped from their set entirely, until it emerged a few years later when the band played the riff a few times as an introduction to "Paranoid". It continued as the introduction to "Paranoid" for every show of their 2012–2014 Reunion Tour.