One of the most praised guitarists from the last decades, Slash carved his name in the history of Hard Rock with his compositions in Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver. He was born in Hampstead, London, England in 1965 and lived in the country until the age of 6, moving in 1971 to the United States.
Over the decades the musician gave his opinion on many other artists, including heavier bands like Black Sabbath that released their first two groundbreaking albums when Slash was still living in England. The band was a big influence to the guitarist and Rock and Roll Garage selected the two Black Sabbath albums that Slash said he loves.
The 2 Black Sabbath albums that Slash said he loves
“Black Sabbath” (1970)
The Black Sabbath self-titled debut album recorded by Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne in only a few days in 1969, released months later in 1970 is one of the records that Slash said over the years that is one of his favorites.
Talking with Metal Hammer in 2020, he was questioned which album he would give to a kid that asked him what Heavy Metal. He chose the classic first Sabbath record. “Nothing can touch Black Sabbath in terms of nailing the sound of metal. (…) “Tony Iommi a “fucking genius”.
That album had famous songs like the title-track, “N.I.B”, “The Wizard”, “Behind The Wall Of Sleep” and “Evil Woman”. It reached number eight on the United Kingdom album charts. Also number 23 on the United States Billboard 200 when it was released.
In 2014, Slash had already listed that album in an interview with Music Radar as one of the records that changed his life. He also called the record “pure evil”. “This was another very eventful record for me, Sabbath’s debut album. In my opinion, there is no more ominous rock ‘n’ roll record than this one. I don’t care what band you come up with. Black Sabbath’s first album tops them all. On every level. It’s the sound of pure evil,” Slash said.
The guitarist was lucky enough to have the original Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne on his self-titled solo album released in 2010. The Prince Of Darkness performed the song “Crucify The Dead”. He also honored Ozzy in 2014 at the MTV EMA, performing the classic song “Crazy Train” alongside Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, with Ozzy watching them in the audience.
“Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” (1973)
Another Black Sabbath album that Slash revealed to be one of his favorites is the classic “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” (1973). That record has the same famous line-up that co-founded the band. Curiously, the famous riff of the title-track was coinceived by Tony Iommi when the band was trying to record part of the album at the haunted castle. Called Clearwell, the castle was located in the forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. Iommi and the band said many times that they had seen ghosts while they were in there.
In an interview for Planet Rock in 2020 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sabbath, Slash revealed that the title-track is his favorite song from the band. “My first favorite Sabbath song is ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’. I think is the heaviest Metal song of all time. Tony Iommi is a great guy but very unassuming.”
Slash continued:
“A lot of the really legendary guitar players, especially, are very just sort of low-key, you know. They just like forget who they are when you’re hanging out with them. Because they don’t give oof that air of like ‘I’m great’. You know that they are,” Slash said.
He told Matt Pinfield in 2022 that he loves all the early stuff done by Sabbath. But he said that “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” was the one that had the biggest impact on him.
“I also love the ‘Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath’ record (Besides the debut album). I mean, really all those records. But the first one and the ‘Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath’ record probably had the biggest impact on me. And the title track, that breakdown towards the end of the song. There’s just nothing that’s ever come out that’s heavier than that. Not one band that I can think of has a riff that is as heavy as ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,’” Slash said.