We’re not too far from on the 2006 induction Ceremony for the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame. The ceremony will be 3/13/06, held in NYC (rather than Cleveland, where the Hall resides). The class of 2006 includes Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Herb Alpert/Jerry Moss. I have an old, beat up record guide from Rolling Stone, circa 1979, and thought it would be interesting to review what the premier rock critics thought of these eventual hall-of-famers back then.
Today’s inductee: Black Sabbath: At the time the guide was published, Ozzie and the boys had released 9 albums, including 3 which ended up on the recent Rolling Stone list of 500 best albums of all time. But, back then, only the ultra-classic “Paranoid” got more than 1 star (out of 5) and it only managed 2. Here’s what rock critic Ken Tucker had to say: “These would-be English Kings of Heavy Metal are eternally foiled by their stupidity and intractability. In the early seventies their murky drone was all the more appealing for its cynicism – the philosophy that everything is shit, and a flirtation with pre-Exorcist demonic possession. Time has passed them by; their recent stuff is a quaint bore. Their high point was Paranoid, a better example of their goofy malevolence than the We Sold Our Souls anthology, and cheaper."
A quick google says Ken’s still around, currently a TV critic for Entertainment Weekly…..
Full disclosure: I'm a Black Sabbath fan, even had a poster of them on my wall as a youth. I have I have 1/2 dozen of their records on vinyl, but only 2 on CD.
Stay tuned for reviews of the other inductees!
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