Consider the opening 0:51 of War Pigs. It explodes like a bomb hitting the ground in one of those WWII aerial films - simultaneous heavy guitar, bass and cymbal crash. While the chord sustains, a few more bombs are seen falling beneath us, through a grey sky towards a black and white city below. Listen to the guitar at 0:07, this kind of hammered-on note an octave above the root. It is like the sudden moment of impact, with the waves of destruction rippling outward. Away to the west, tanks crawl slowly across farm fields, prepared to blow away anything in their way. At 0:31 a warning siren in a nearby town calls for everyone to evacuate.
At 0:52 the pace quickens with sharp stabbing chords and pulse-quickening hi-hat. Ozzy Osbourne begins to sing at 1:03:
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses (or my preference, 'smell each other's stinky asses')
I like the double meaning of 'mass'. Similar to 'please please me' by The Beatles. The rest of Geezer Butler's lyrics are good, and it's a great anti-war song but (hey, but butt me whoa yeah, like I butt you, haha), you know what? I've never liked Ozzy's voice all that much. That's all I'm going to say about it.
Tony Iommi plays fantastic guitar throughout: those triplets at 1:29, the trill at 1:34, the descending chords at 1:48, the little bend at 1:50, the chug and slash part from 2:08-2:17 and the riffs that accompany Politicians hide themselves away. Beginning at 3:30 he plays several solos that overlap until around 4:20. I love those pitch bends from 4:13-4:18. A very clever guitarist.
Bill Ward plays excellent drum fills everywhere, particularly at 1:38, 1:52, 1:57, 2:02 and on and on, through Iommi's solo, and 5:28-5:30. Geezer Butler holds it all down with his mighty bass playing.
The final 2:12 is a section called 'Luke's Wall'. It's a pretty cool way to end the song. Some great drums in this part, too. And bonus: no Ozzy.
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