Black Sabbath
by Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath
Year: 1970
Release date: 1970-02-13
Overall rank: 255th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,182 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1970 (12th)
Award Top 100 albums of the 1970s (60th)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (255th)

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Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath: Deluxe - Digipak with Bonus Tracks [New CD] Bonus
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Black Sabbath Black Sabbath Label: BMG/Sanctuary Recorded: 1970 CLASSIC SABBAT
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Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath NEW Sealed Vinyl LP Album
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Black Sabbath bestography

Black Sabbath is ranked 2nd best out of 47 albums by Black Sabbath on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Black Sabbath is Paranoid which is ranked number 50 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 18,706.

Black Sabbath album bestography « Higher ranked (50th)
Paranoid
This album (255th)
Black Sabbath
Lower ranked (306th) »
Master Of Reality

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Black Sabbath track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 85 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Black Sabbath rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 255th | 1970s rank: 60th | 1970 rank: 12th
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 AAL2014Top 100 Music Albums of 197040/1003
2026Marswolf68Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s3/10020
2026tyleraeppsTop 21 Music Albums of the 1970s13/219
2026 ssteveTop 29 Music Albums of 19703/295
2026wizardalienGreatest Debut Albums100/100 -
2026Marswolf68Top 100 Greatest Music Albums6/10094
2026culwinTop 33 Music Albums of 197011/333
2026Johnnyo100 debut (2 B deleted)6/19 -
2026mrmcrookTop 100 Music Albums of the 1970s22/10016
2026MasterOfPuppetsTop 12 Music Albums of 19701/125
2026OlliTop 65 Music Albums of 19703/655
2026timosbuechereiTop 100 Greatest Music Albums18/10082
2026matterhornriderTop 56 Music Albums of 19709/564
2026 zags7000Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s76/1005
2026timosbuechereiTop 77 Music Albums of the 1970s4/7719
2026FlapJackJoeyTop 100 Greatest Music Albums72/10028
2026stareaterogni0nTop 26 Music Albums of the 1970s2/2619
2026leniadTop 101-200 Greatest 1970s Albums12/68 -
2026 neilgeeTop 100 Music Albums of 197012/1004
2026steve397Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s21/10016
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 839
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 6,292
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Black Sabbath collection

Black Sabbath ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,182 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 1,182 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 
03/13/2026 21:11 Superunknown  Ratings distribution  28771/100
 
95/100
 
03/01/2026 03:15 stareaterogni0n  Ratings distribution  37472/100
 
75/100
 
02/28/2026 21:46 DaveH68  Ratings distribution  1,36376/100
 
100/100
 
02/22/2026 14:11 Deckard  Ratings distribution  13085/100
 
100/100
 
02/20/2026 19:14 Kronikal433  Ratings distribution  15493/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 83.3/100, a mean average of 82.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.0.

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Black Sabbath comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 60 comments |
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Rating:  
100/100
From 03/10/2026 15:51 | #313509
56 years ago, February 13, 1970, the debut album with the alarming name BLACK SABBATH was released.
The album featured harsh, dark, and difficult-to-listen-to music with scary-horror lyrics sung by a vocalist with a very unusual, strange, but attractive voice.
This album was the first step towards the development of powerful and diverse genres in alternative music at the time, particularly heavy metal, and later, thrash, death, speed, doom, and more were influenced by the Sabbat's creations.
Interestingly, the Sabbat performed songs from this album at all their concerts for 55 years.
This album deserves the highest rating! Sabbath - respect and admiration!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/02/2025 07:28 | #310784
I was a 12 year old in 1970 living in, as Ozzy and the guys would see it, the wrong side of Birmingham. For those who are not aware, football is a religion in Birmingham and the city is split across the city centre and your either a villain (supporting Aston Villa), or if you come from the south of the city you’re a bluenose (supporting Birmingham City). I’m a proud bluenose and the band all support the villa. Never the Twain shall meet. Until……..

Birmingham is the quintessential blue collar city. Back then, The home of British Leyland and heavy industry. The city of a thousand trades. If you wanted it built, Birmingham could do it with highly skilled tradesmen. That was our identity and it was a rough place to grow up but we didn’t think of it that way as kid. It was just Birmingham.

What we didn’t have as teenagers was our own identity as far as music, not like Liverpool with The Beatles or London with The Stones. Then along came The Sabb.

The first time I heard the self titled album I wasn’t interested in Gezzer’s politics, although this became more important and relevant as I got older, no, it was the first time that I heard anything that sounded like the city that I loved. Industrial, visceral, something that actually had a physical effect on you.

We didn’t know that a whole new genre of music was being created in our city, me and my friends had simply found the music that felt like our city. Didn’t matter which side of the city you lived, there was no divide as far as the band were concerned.

Ozzy famously hated putting music into genre but I do feel proud that, more than 50 years later, and after many sub genre of heavy metal, my city is still the place where it was born.

Ozzy and the band mean a huge amount to me and although my musical palette has expanded hugely since my early teens I still love going back to Black Sabbath for a fix on a regular basis
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 07/24/2025 18:10 | #310275
Rest in peace, Ozzy.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/27/2025 18:33 | #307801
Um álbum de estreia excepcional, a primeira faixa, é icônica
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
50/100
From 02/11/2025 22:33 | #307557
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Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (0 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 07/21/2023 19:37 | #298258
There are very few albums which have “blown me away” on first listen, this was the first to do so. I was 13 in 1971 when I heard this round at a mate house on what would now be described as a very crappy “stereo”. Two sides of vinyl which changed my musical direction for years to come. The bedrock of a whole genre of music. Amazing stuff
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 02/22/2023 11:41 | #294329
One of the most influential and important albums in metal music. It might lack the consistency and heights they reached on later releases but it is still a solid debut with some phenomenal playing on here. It still sounds just as heavy today with the guitars on N.I.B. being a testament to that. This really does feel like the birth of something exciting and I get that feeling every time I listen to this record. Overall, great performances, great songs and a unique style leads to a thoroughly enjoyable album that is full of potential.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/22/2023 22:15 | #293189
Genial começo! A atmosfera pesada do Heavy Metal nascendo.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/06/2022 17:07 | #289351
Classic. One of the first metal albums
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 01/14/2022 06:04 | #279304
Almost perfect first album from one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time if not the greatest.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1970
1. Paranoid by Black Sabbath
2. After The Gold Rush by Neil Young
3. All Things Must Pass by George Harrison
4. Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel
5. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band by John Lennon
6. Bitches Brew by Miles Davis
7. Moondance by Van Morrison
8. Cosmo's Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival
9. Led Zeppelin III by Led Zeppelin
10. Fun House by The Stooges
11. Let It Be by The Beatles
12. Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath
13. Loaded by The Velvet Underground
14. Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek & The Dominos
15. Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
16. American Beauty by Grateful Dead
17. Abraxas by Santana
18. Deep Purple In Rock by Deep Purple
19. Tea For The Tillerman by Cat Stevens
20. Morrison Hotel by The Doors