Journey to Black Sabbath's 13: Introduction

Next week Black Sabbath will release 13, their first full-length studio album since 1995's Forbidden.* That alone is cause for celebration, but the fact that Ozzy Osbourne is providing vocals for the first time since 1978's Never Say Die is the real selling point.

In anticipation of the new release (and before I provide a complete track by track review) I will spotlight 13 key tracks from the Ozzy Osbourne era during the next few days. This list will be derived from the 8 studio albums that the band recorded and released between 1970 and 1978. It will not include either of the two studio tracks that the band recorded with Ozzy for the 1998 live album Reunion.

With only 13 songs and such a strong catalog I'll jettison some of the more obvious/popular songs that would normally appear on a list like this. I feel that excluding these songs will open slots for some great songs that I feel are worth covering.

* In 2009 the Dio era lineup recorded The Devil You Know under the moniker Heaven and Hell. The band recorded and toured under this name to avoid creating confusion with the active, yet on hiatus, Ozzy fronted version of the band.