Strange Things That You've Noticed (or Thought You've Heard) in Black Sabbath songs.

[Nero]

This is a thread to discuss strange things that you've noticed (or thought you've heard) in Black Sabbath songs, hence the thread title.

FYI, this thread is not intended to discuss backmasking.

I started it because I've noticed/heard two things.

1) Does somebody yell "Chicken!" at the beginning of Hole in the Sky?

2) If you listen to the last few seconds of Children of the Grave, doesn't it sound eerily like the first few seconds of In the Flesh, from Pink Floyd's The Wall?

[Josef_K]

hmm... yeah it could be "chicken" that's someone's yelling... makes no sense but I don't think it should ^^. I have listened to the ending of children of the grave and the beginning of In the Flesh over and over now and I don't understand what you are talking about. I'm not sure I am listening to the correct official in the flesh though as I am too lazy to bring forth my vinyl... but with the ending of children of the grave you mean after the creepy voices saying "children... of the grave..." over and over again right? cos after that I can hear a sitar or something, but there is no such thing in In the Flesh right? In the Flesh begins with some subtle keyboards and then this drum part that scares the shit out of you, if I am listening to the correct version.

[Monster Boy]

About 0:46 into the song "Cornucopia" I hear what sounds like a shout in the background, maybe it's Bill Ward letting out an ecstatic Yawp because he finally got the drum part right?

[From Beyond]

on the original vinyl I'm pretty sure it was "what are you - CHICKEN!!? I don't have the best remaster but it would seem that you would be able to make it out there..

[Axeman77]

This is a pretty stupid one because you can't really stop it, but in Killing yourself to Live studio version there's alot of feedback on tonys guitar at certain points.

---------- Post added at 05:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:02 PM ----------

About 0:46 into the song "Cornucopia" I hear what sounds like a shout in the background, maybe it's Bill Ward letting out an ecstatic Yawp because he finally got the drum part right?

I've never noticed that!

[Icy Sun]

For the Black Box versions of Sabotage and Vol 4 I heard the "What are you - CHICKEN" at the beginning of Hole in the Sky, and for Cornucopia I heard something weird at 0:46 but it didn't sound like a shout, it sounded more like a strange sound effect.

I've never noticed anything strange myself.

[Ray Rules]

Since I own regular editions, I didn't noticed anything usual...

[Pink Led Rush]

I remember listening to War Pigs, which scared the crap out of me, and in the middle of Iommi it sounds like someone saying my name, and it is in the studio recording cause I hear it everytime. Don't know what it is, I know it's not my name, but it sounds like it. LOL I remember the first couple times I heard it threw my headphones I would take them off and go downstairs to see if someone needed me. haha

[Billy Underdog]

I've never noticed anything strange myself.

maybe that's because you're strange yourself, so it don't seem that strange? :-P

[BSParanoid]

it sounds like someone saying my name

Kinda OT, but on that same note it scared the hell out of me the first time I listened to Megadeth's rendition of Paranoid and it got to the part where Dave shouts out "NICK!!!!!" at the end. (My name, obviously.) It just was so unexpected that it caught me way off guard. I later found out it was Nick Menza that it was directed at but still freaks me out to this day.

I always thought that whatever is at the beginning of Hole in the Sky was just a bunch of random, cocaine-induced noises. I just listened again... it is chicken. lol

Edit- There's also a strange sound effect that sounds like burping sprinkled throughout the song.

[Monster Boy]

I remember listening to War Pigs, which scared the crap out of me, and in the middle of Iommi it sounds like someone saying my name

The middle of Iommi? Could you clarify that one?

[ecoelectric]

There is no problem with other strange things that you hear as long as we enjoy the songs

[Mauricio]

On the very beggining of Iron Man during the first drum beats, if you listen carefully you can hear Bill Ward (or someone else) making some kind of noise with his mouth.

[MH1986]

On the very beggining of Iron Man during the first drum beats, if you listen carefully you can hear Bill Ward (or someone else) making some kind of noise with his mouth.

this mouth noise bugs the shit out of me. I wish they'd have done another take or cut the tape to get rid of it. Love the song, but aaargh it bugs me.

[Monster Boy]

On the very beggining of Iron Man during the first drum beats, if you listen carefully you can hear Bill Ward (or someone else) making some kind of noise with his mouth.

Never noticed that, nice one! A similar sort of thing: In the beginning of Changes, you can hear Ozzy getting ready to sing, this gross little mouth opening, spittle kind of sound. (at least I think that's what it is, about 4 seconds in)

[Icy Sun]

maybe that's because you're strange yourself, so it don't seem that strange? :-P

lololololololol

[Wicked Cricket]

Durring the middle of Dirty Women, when Ozzy starts singing "oh dirty women, they don't mess around.." you can hear a grunting noise each time those super heavy and dirty chords are struck, I always thought it sounded so cool, so tough, it's what seperates Sabbath from the boys... it's probably Ozzy over dubbing or possibly recording before the vocal line was added, but if you have a set of head phones on or just listen real close, you can distinctly hear it. The other thing I love about Sabbath, is Iommi's sqeaking noise as he runs the power chords up and down the neck, something you don't hear very often from other bands, esp. back in the day... so coooool. And at the end of Children Of The Grave, you hear an organ playing a riff, towards the end of that eary feedback that sounds like ghosts, very similar riff to what we would later hear on You Won't Change Me.

[sn0wb1ind0zzy]

On the very beggining of Iron Man during the first drum beats, if you listen carefully you can hear Bill Ward (or someone else) making some kind of noise with his mouth.

I was just about to mention this! Sounds like someone licking their tongue or something!

[Lord Necros]

This is getting absurd. When I listen to Black Sabbath, when the mood is right, some times, every now and then. Me and my wife can hear myself FART!

[BackStreetKid]

Ugh! The one in Iron Man makes me cringe!

[jacksabbath]

probably an obvious one: on NIB after geezers bass intro you can hear the volume get turned up on the amp as hes about to play the main riff. also, not directly a sabbath point, but on bill wards 1st solo album at the end of The track sweep 2 soundbytes can be heard. black sabbath can be heard at 3:33 and paranoid at 3:52. also another interesting point with bills 1st solo album on the 1st track mobile shooting gallery, at 5:00-5:10 a woman says something like "doctor jane hamilton, doctor blair". this same exact piece is heard on queensryches operation mindcrime at 0:16 of the first track i remember now...weird huh?

[777Jep]

At the end of "Sabbra Cadabra", you can hear Ward put away his sticks. In the same song, around 2:24, you can hear some kind of "Yeah!" in the background.

[DiosSword]

At the very beginning of "Lord Of This World," right after Tony starts playing, there is kind of a squeaking sound.

My guess is that it is either Bill pulling the lever on his snare drum to bring his snares into place (I used to be a drummer and my snare drum made a similar sound) or else the floor vibrations from Tony's guitar caused his snares to rattle a bit.

Remember, these first few albums were recorded on a shoestring budget in facilities that would today be regarded as very primitive and there really wasn't much of a way to keep such sounds from showing up on tape.

That said, fast forward to 1981 and Rush's Moving Pictures album, which was recorded hi-tech (for its day) at Le Studio in Quebec. A friend of mine has long maintained that around the middle of "The Camera Eye" he can hear Geddy Lee belching and/or farting (too much Heinz Baked Beans and Molson Golden?). I hear kind of a murmuring, but that's it.

Jacksabbath: That "hospital communication" you mention is relatively common. I've heard it in movies and TV shows now and again, but the first place I heard it was on Operation: Mindcrime.

[NoWayOut]

At the very beginning of "Lord Of This World," right after Tony starts playing, there is kind of a squeaking sound.

My guess is that it is either Bill pulling the lever on his snare drum to bring his snares into place (I used to be a drummer and my snare drum made a similar sound) or else the floor vibrations from Tony's guitar caused his snares to rattle a bit.

Remember, these first few albums were recorded on a shoestring budget in facilities that would today be regarded as very primitive and there really wasn't much of a way to keep such sounds from showing up on tape.

That said, fast forward to 1981 and Rush's Moving Pictures album, which was recorded hi-tech (for its day) at Le Studio in Quebec. A friend of mine has long maintained that around the middle of "The Camera Eye" he can hear Geddy Lee belching and/or farting (too much Heinz Baked Beans and Molson Golden?). I hear kind of a murmuring, but that's it.

Jacksabbath: That "hospital communication" you mention is relatively common. I've heard it in movies and TV shows now and again, but the first place I heard it was on Operation: Mindcrime.

its the squeeking of bills drum stool. hes making himself comfortable before blasting off into metal heaven.

[Pope On Rope]

on the original vinyl I'm pretty sure it was "what are you - CHICKEN!!? I don't have the best remaster but it would seem that you would be able to make it out there..

replace 'chicken' with 'trippin'

[Cyberbeast]

I've always wondered what Ozzy was yelling at the beginning of "Hole in the Sky." It could be "trippin" or even "chicken" as Ozzy loved to blast his shotguns at his chickens on his farm in order to get them to "lay" lol.

As far as the end of "Children of the Grave," it always reminds me of the theme song to the 80's horror franchise "Friday the 13th." Anyone else think so?

[Pink Led Rush]

The middle of Iommi? Could you clarify that one?

LOL, meant to put Iommi's solo, but anyway, the beginning of Lord of this World also has a wind chime for a few seconds. There's lots of little stuff in almost all the songs. Iommi's guitar almost always squeeks when he riffs and you can hear it a lot more in the earlier albums.

[mikesline]

i like in mid section of supernaut how bill ward used the (fish) -wooden instrument and wooden stick
"bill told me it was him" who is on recording.

[BSParanoid]

Speaking of Supernaut, does anyone understand what that guy that shouts out on the Asbury Park '75 version of the song during a break in Bill's drum solo?

[Ochlocracy]

Speaking of Supernaut, does anyone understand what that guy that shouts out on the Asbury Park '75 version of the song during a break in Bill's drum solo?

I'm pretty sure he yells "All drum solos are boring"

[BSParanoid]

Lol, I thought you were trolling me when I read that... Sounds about right, actually.

[LD67]

On the Paranoid Album, the odd hidden track called "blowing on a jug". I found that to be quite odd !

[Pink Led Rush]

On the Paranoid Album, the odd hidden track called "blowing on a jug". I found that to be quite odd !

That was on Sabotage bro

[wheels77]

I'm pretty sure that the squeaking or whatever in Cornucopia is some kind of fret noise or feedback.

[turch118]

Something I picked up on when I first heard this at 10 years old...in the middle of "Warning" at about the 5:26 mark it sounds like Tony is falling behind. Too strange to be intentional.

[Billy Underdog]

I love the fact that all replys here are about ozzy-era songs.. just shows who the real mystery sabbath was.. :-)

(No, i'm not a big Ozzy-solo fan in particular, i'm talking about a band...)

[MH1986]

I love the fact that all replys here are about ozzy-era songs.. just shows who the real mystery sabbath was.. :-)

(No, i'm not a big Ozzy-solo fan in particular, i'm talking about a band...)

The reason probably being that during the 1970's bands had less to work with production wise. By the time the 80's rolled around they had more to work with to make their recordings more polished. There is a huge difference in production quality between Black Sabbath and Heaven and Hell for instance. Their songwriting became more focused during the 80's, in the 70's their music kind of flowed to where it needed to be also. That's both a good and bad thing for both periods I think. Both approaches bring something unique to the table and that's why I enjoy all sabbath lineups, they all bring something new to the table as far as songwriting is concerned.

There is simply a huge difference stylistically between the different sabbath lineups, whether that be with Ozzy or with Ronnie, Ian, Glenn, or Tony. They all do it differently. That's one of the reasons how I accept them all, none of them are just templates of another where they insert new players and the same songs pop out. The one constant is the killer riffs Tony rips out of his guitar, but the songs flow very differently from one lineup to another.

[Billy Underdog]

The reason probably being that during the 1970's bands had less to work with production wise. By the time the 80's rolled around they had more to work with to make their recordings more polished. There is a huge difference in production quality between Black Sabbath and Heaven and Hell for instance. Their songwriting became more focused during the 80's, in the 70's their music kind of flowed to where it needed to be also. That's both a good and bad thing for both periods I think. Both approaches bring something unique to the table and that's why I enjoy all sabbath lineups, they all bring something new to the table as far as songwriting is concerned.

There is simply a huge difference stylistically between the different sabbath lineups, whether that be with Ozzy or with Ronnie, Ian, Glenn, or Tony. They all do it differently. That's one of the reasons how I accept them all, none of them are just templates of another where they insert new players and the same songs pop out. The one constant is the killer riffs Tony rips out of his guitar, but the songs flow very differently from one lineup to another.

Or maybe it was all the acid and pot they took in the 70's... :-P

[MH1986]

Or maybe it was all the acid and pot they took in the 70's... :-P

yeah, that probably had something to do with it as well.

[jacksabbath]

anyone notice on ozzys no more tears album, the track desire contains what sounds like an english bloke saying "alright, me old son?" at 3:21? as well as another strange sound just before it?