I have listened to a LOT of Black Sabbath in my whole life. I remember listening to them as far back as when I was 11 years old or so. Having only one brother who’s 11 years older than me, and who listened to this kind of music, I grew up listening to it too.

Impossible to create a single Top 10 list for Black Sabbath. Not only the band has release something like 200 songs, but they have also gone through some many line-up changes. Even though Tony Iommi, the main songwriter, has always been the band’s keystone, each incarnation of the band has produce unique high quality work. The music sounded slightly different, as it was tailored to the person singing on it. Iommi himself said, and I quote: "The biggest difference of course is in the way they sing; Ronnie likes to sing across my riffs while Ozzy follows the riff. Ronnie also has quite a different way of writing."

I’ve never been one of those fans who say "Black Sabbath is only Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne". Quite the contrary: I enjoy work produced by all the line-ups. So I decided to split my Black Sabbath: one list for each singer who has been with the band in more than one album (Ozzy, Dio, Tony Martin), and will also have a list to cover the other singers (mainly, Gillan and Hughes).

The importance of this band is huge. They’ve created Heavy Metal as we know it. Heavy, eerie, intense. Pretty much every metal riff out there can be traced down to the work of Black Sabbath. At one point, a new wave of metal showed up, called Thrash Metal, which made huge use of powerful riffs played with downstroke picking, much like Sabbath’s "Symptom of the Universe". Then, bands started to down tune their guitars to sound heavier, much like Sabbath’s "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". Then, bands started to add musical instruments that aren’t usually associated with metal, much like Sabbath’s "The Wizard". This band was always ahead of their time, and paved the road for all metal bands that came after them, regarding of the ridiculous number of sub-genres created (melodic, death, speed, gothic, etc.).

I’ve also been a huge fan of metal bands that have two guitarists. Black Sabbath, however, is unique in the sense that Geezer Butler is such a powerful player, that his bass lines are always pounding our ears while Iommy goes on a guitar solo. Geezer compensates for the missing rhythm guitar.

Ozzy isn’t exactly a good singer (my personal opinion); he’s always been limited in his range and technique, but his voice contributed a lot to the eerie sound of the band, and he deserves every bit of credit for being one of the founders of this music genre.

On November 11 of 2011 (11-11-11), something interesting happened to me: I wake up, pick up my iPhone looking for the time. This is what I see:

Shortly after, I see it on the news that the four original members of Black Sabbath are getting together to record an album and tour. That for me was huge. I felt so inspired by it I had to go up to my office/home studio and record my own version of one of my favorite songs by them: Symptom of the Universe! You can out my full story on that and checkout the song and video here.

It is very unfortunate that the band had political issues and Bill Ward decided to fold from this reunion. His style was very unique. When I think ACDC or Ramones, I think of easy 4:4 drum beats. When I think Black Sabbath with Bill Ward, I think quite the opposite. He used to play weird rhythms that fit perfectly with the band’s music.

When the album 13 came out, I was bummed by Bill not being on it, but regardless, there were still 3/4 of the original band in there, and they didn’t let me down. I enjoy the album a lot. It sounds like old Black Sabbath, but recorded in recent times. The songwriting is there, the bass and guitar tones are there. Damn, by the time I started listening to the band, Ozzy was long gone, so I was happy to somehow follow the process of the band putting out one more album like that, and making it so that the album was #1 all over the globe.

So here we go: my Top 10 Black Sabbath list with Ozzy on vocals!

(rest assured that I could have easily added at least another 10 songs to this list, but I need to keep it within 10…)...

#10: End of the Beginning

This is the beginning of the list... or the end, considering that we're beginning at the end of the list... I'm glad that the band managed to get back together and put out a great farewell album. It'd have been even better if Bill Ward was on it, but oh well... anyway, I do like the album 13 a lot, it does sound like old Sabbath, and hearing Tony's guitar riffs and tone followed by Geezer's pulsing bass is always great! This band is the essence of Metal! No Sabbath, no Metal!!

#9: Snowblind

Good old Sabbath! Songs from around this time takes me back to when I was 10 years old or so… this is the core of what I listened to growing up!

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#8: Faires Wear Boots

Just pure goodness!

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#7: Sweat Leaf

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#6: The Wizard

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#5: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

This song has it all… that opening riff grabs you by the balls right from the start. Then it goes into an acoustic piece, and when you’re feeling all relaxed, here comes that heavy main riff again! Finally, that breakdown riff that takes us to the end of the song. That stuff is heavy! I used to play this song live with Descent Into Madness, and it was a lot of fun!

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#4: War Pigs

This song is 45 years old, but its lyrics are still just as relevant as it was back then. The music itself is classic, and the guitar solo is just the way I like it: sounds like a little song within a song, with memorable melodies I feel like singing to.

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#3: N.I.B.

Many Metallica fans praise Cliff Burton for his work such as on the intro to For Whom The Bell Tolls, or Anesthesia. His style, the distorted tone of his bass and wah pedal. Unfortunately, many of those fans aren’t aware of where Cliff got those things from. They should find their answer in this song: Geezer Butler!!

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#2: Symptom of the Universe

For me, this is the birth of Thrash Metal. Period. That intro riff is the essence. So simple and yet so powerful. This song never gets old for me. The first half of the song is heavy and powerful as it needs to be, and then there comes the second half, acoustic, laid-back… one could never see it coming. This song is simply perfect.

#1: Black Sabbath

…and THIS is what’s known as Heavy Metal. Metal songs don't need to be always fast, don’t need screaming, don’t need overly distorted guitars, don’t need complex arrangements. This song proves it. It is at least 45 years old, and it’s still as heavy and relevant today as it was when released. Well, maybe even more relevant, since it has served as the basis to an entire genre of music. I always compare this song to the movie The Exorcist. When I listen to this song and when I watch that movie I think how it was when they first came out… the shocking effect they had on people. For sure the creators didn’t know they were creating classics that would stand the test of time so strongly. Black Sabbath, the song, the album, the band… always eerie, always heavy, always unique, always ahead of their time.

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For your convenience, I’ve created a "Top 10 Black Sabbath (with Ozzy)" Play List on YouTube. :)