BLACK SABBATH THREE-PACK AVAILABLE NOW
The early Black Sabbath albums are monoliths of heavy metal, among the first signs of the heavier direction that rock would take in the 70’s—Remember, some of this stuff was recorded while the Beatles were still together. The band was formed by four working-class kids from Birmingham, with an interest in horror films and very loud guitars. This week we present faithful cover versions of one key song from each of the first three albums. This is where metal started getting its threatening image—Even today, you might not want to sing too loud when your parents are around.
Black Sabbath: “N.I.B.”
Black Sabbath: “War Pigs”
After the horror themes of their first album, nobody expected Black Sabbath to come up with an anti-war protest song. But the second album “Paranoid” led off with this, one of the more enduring Sabbath tunes. Originally written about Vietnam, the song had proven relevant over the years: When a reunited Sabbath performed it on their 2005 tour, they showed photos of both Hitler and George W. Bush. “War Pigs” is also one of the most-covered Sabbath songs, done in recent years by Cake, Gov’t Mule and the Dresden Dolls.
Black Sabbath: “Sweet Leaf”
After dealing with Satan and war, Black Sabbath found a cause they could really get behind: “Sweet Leaf” is nothing less than one of the most blatant pro-marijuana songs in rock history, and perhaps the first real pro-pot anthem. (At one point, Ozzy even sang “I love you!” to his drug of choice). Sure, you expect hippie bands to endorse pot, but Sabbath did it while sounding as heavy as ever. (If the guitar part sounds familiar, it’s the one the Beastie Boys sampled on “Rhymin’ & Stealin’.”)This led off the third album “Master of Reality,” a disc so influential that one 90’s band named themselves after it.
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“I Want My, I Want My DLC!”
The songs in Rock Band are only the beginning. Each week we’ll be rolling out more downloadable songs, essential tracks (and sometimes whole albums) from every era of rock history. Check the Rock Band website to find out what’s new.
Tracks will usually sell for $1.99 each; with three-pack specials costing $5.49. (On the Xbox 360, that’s 160 Microsoft Points per track and 440 per three-pack). Occasional special or discounted tracks may cost a dollar more or less.
Downloadable content for the Xbox 360 is available through the XBOX LIVE marketplace. Downloads for the PLAYSTATION 3 version of Rock Band are available through the PLAYSTATION Network Store. In each case, the songs are downloaded onto your hard drive.
If you’re playing solo, you can start rocking right away. For head-to-head or multiplayer online, all players will need to download the song.