Black Sabbath Albums Ranked

In preparation for my video on the first ten albums of Black Sabbath, I decided to see how people in Internet Land were ranking the albums of Black Sabbath. There are a few I have never heard, and a few more I haven't heard for decades, so I hoped that checking out a dozen rankings or so would give me a good picture of what to expect from Black Sabbath's catalogue.
The ranking list here is an average rank of all 19 Black Sabbath albums from 12 ranking lists I checked.

[@imnotquitedeadyet...320]

Great stuff. I lost track of Sabbath after Mob Rules, but seems like I didn't miss much. 13 seems to have picked up on the old sounds. Looking forward to the next video...

[@musicisajourney]

Yes, I think after Mob Rules there were two attempts at non-Sabbath albums that got called Black Sabbath albums and then ten years of “Who wants to be in the band?” That part is not part of the first ten albums but I’m sure going to mention it!

[@In.Darkness]

Turn Up The Night !

[@kevinbrown1893]

I'm curious how those rankings compare to mine. 19. Forbidden (19) 18. Technical Ecstacy (11) 17. 13 (10) 16. Never Say Die (13) 15. Seventh Star (18) 14. Cross Purposes (17) 13. The Eternal Idol (16) 12. Tyr (15) 11. Headless Cross (9) 10. Black Sabbath (5) 9. Born Again (14) 8. Volume 4 (4) 7. Dehumanizer (12) 6. Paranoid (1) 5. Master of Reality (2) 4. Sabotage (8) 3. Heaven and Hell (3) 2. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (6) 1. Mob Rules (7)

[@musicisajourney]

That’s a pretty cool ranking list. I think the average ranking in the video has a lot of close similarities to your list but also some marked differences. But that’s the cool thing about personal lists. My own list if I made one would also rank some of the same albums as high as you did. But I have recently been appreciating Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die more than how most people seem to do. I love Mob Rules, by the way!

[@Mike-fn3bj]

I personally really like the last two Ozzy albums from the 70s.

[@musicisajourney]

I got them shortly before making this video. Of course there are some great tracks. It was still Black Sabbath after all.

[@docvader82]

The Devil You Know is a sabbath album. I'm sorry, I strongly disagree with it not being included. But hey, it's not my list.

[@musicisajourney]

It's been a few months, but I think as I recall, a couple of people included on their list because, well, it's a Sabbath album in everything but name. But most people were ranking only the albums with the name Black Sabbath. I would argue that Seventh Star is not a Black Sabbath album and was not intended to be. But the label was applied because it would sell the album better.

[@In.Darkness]

Black Sabbath. Hmph,...What about the song "God is Dead"? How can The Prince Of Darkness possibly sing that? ...when Tony Iommi is standing right next to him, alive and well.

[@musicisajourney]

Well, he was getting treatment for cancer. But Tony is still kicking and his fingers keep a picking!

[@In.Darkness]

I'm really suprised You're not wearing a vintage Black Sabbath T-Shirt 🤣 - Canadian haiku ...drink 🍺

[@musicisajourney]

I considered getting one. But most here in Japan are a size too small. Kanpai to your haiku!

[@matthewspaltro7142]

The Eternal Idol???

[@musicisajourney]

I know. Sounds like they’re talking about Ozzy.

[@matthewspaltro7142]

@@musicisajourney Probably, lol.

[@damiangustavorepetto6377]

The devil Y K es la cuarta vez con Dio. H&H, Mob Rules, Dehumanizer. Y ese

[@musicisajourney]

A Dio Black Sabbath album in every way but the name. Yeah, I know…

[@xjr.0]

The first six albums are better than any after. Heaven and Hell better than albums seven and eight, and anything after.

[@musicisajourney]

I’m inclined to agree with you except that my first Sabbath album was Mob Rules, and I still love it except for the final track.

[@xjr.0]

@@musicisajourney I like mob rules pretty well, and I think it's better than stuff afterwards. Sign of the southern cross is awesome.

[@musicisajourney]

@@xjr.0 Sign is my favourite track. Born Again should have had better production. After that, I’m not excited about anything really.

[@musicisajourney]

Yeah, it's like this new Tony Martin box set came out and I'm like, "Yeahhh... But... nahhh. I'm good." If I had the money, maybe...