Black Sabbath are expanding their masterful Vol. 4 album, home to fan favorites “Snowblind” and “Changes,” with several discs of rarities and previously unreleased music for a super deluxe reissue, out February 12th.
The box set, which comes either in four-CD or five-LP packages, contains 20 never-before-issued outtakes, live recordings, and the original album remastered.
The bonus material includes six outtakes, including an instrumental version of “Under the Sun,” all of which engineer Steven Wilson has mixed for the release. It also includes alternate takes of several songs with false starts and fly-on-the-wall studio dialogue. There are several versions of album opener “Wheels of Confusion,” a full take of the interstitial track “The Straightener,” and versions of “Snowblind” and “Under the Sun.”
Additionally, the collection includes recordings of the band playing live around the U.K. in 1973 and booklets containing quotes from the era, rare photos, a poster, and previously unpublished early cover art for the album featuring its original title, Snowblind.
“We were going to call this album Snowblind because we’d discovered that magic white powder, but the record company said, ‘No way,’” Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne told Rolling Stone in 2004. “We did so much fucking coke making it.”
“We came to L.A. to record and we stayed at a house in Bel Air,” guitarist Tony Iommi recalled. “At the end of the day, it was all dope, booze, drugs, fucking chicks. Oh, dear, we had some fun in that house.”
“The coke was good when it was working,” Osbourne recalled. “We used to sniff and jam for days, recording everything on big spools of tape. But it was the beginning of the end. Cocaine was the cancer of the band.”
Vol. 4 was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic when it came out in September 1972. It reached Number Eight in the U.K. and Number 13 in the U.S. It has been certified silver in England and platinum in the States.
Vol. 4: Super Deluxe Edition CD Tracklist
Disc One: Original Album Remastered
1. “Wheels of Confusion / The Straightener”
2. “Tomorrow’s Dream”
3. “Changes”
4. “FX”
5. “Supernaut”
6. “Snowblind”
7. “Cornucopia”
8. “Laguna Sunrise”
9. “St. Vitus Dance”
10. “Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes”
Disc Two: Outtakes – New Mixes
1. “Wheels of Confusion / The Straightener” *
2. “Changes” *
3. “Supernaut” *
4. “Snowblind” *
5. “Laguna Sunrise” *
6. “Under the Sun” (Instrumental) *
Disc Three: Alternative Takes, False Starts & Studio Dialogue
1. “Wheels of Confusion” (False Start with Studio Dialogue) *
2. “Wheels of Confusion” (Alternative Take 1) *
3. “Wheels of Confusion” (Alternative Take 2) *
4. “Wheels of Confusion” (Alternative Take 3) *
5. “Wheels of Confusion” (Alternative Take 4) *
6. “The Straightener” (Outtake) *
7. “Supernaut” (Outtake) *
8. “Supernaut” (Alternative Takes with False Starts) *
9. “Snowblind” (Alternative Take 1 – Incomplete) *
10. “Under the Sun” (False Start with Studio Dialogue) *
11. “Under the Sun” (Alternative Take with Guide Vocal) *
Disc Four: Live in the UK 1973
1. “Tomorrow’s Dream” *
2. “Sweet Leaf” *
3. “War Pigs”
4. “Snowblind” *
5. “Killing Yourself to Live”
6. “Cornucopia”
7. “Wicked World” (Includes Excerpts of:)
i. Guitar Solo
ii. “Orchid”
iii. “Into the Void”
iv. “Sometimes I’m Happy”
8. “Supernaut” / Drum Solo
9. “Wicked World” (Reprise)
10. “Embryo”
11. “Children of the Grave”
12. “Paranoid”
* previously unreleased
From Rolling Stone US
