Black Sabbath: Ranking Every Ozzy Osbourne Album From Worst To Best

Laid down at the Record Plant in California - and almost entirely in a cloud of cocaine - Sabbath's first album made outside of the United Kingdom saw the band start to push against the foundations of the genre they'd helped birth in an intriguing, frequently brilliant fashion.

Having gone heavier on Master of Reality, they committed a surprise 180-degree turn with the piano ballad Changes, while one-time title track Snowblind shows a self-awareness they arguably never topped, though their label balked at the idea of its name lining the shelves at stores.

Though they were without producer Rodger Bain for the first time in their career, Iommi stepped up to duties with an impressive skill, while dual Side A and B closers Supernaut and Under the Sun proved they were still howling riff masters too with some truly melodic metal madness.

if Vol. 4 is remembered for anything outside of its riffs though, then it is undoubtedly the heavy onset of the group's drug and substance abuse problems, with the band reportedly having their cocaine delivered in speaker-box-sized packages for their consumable pleasure.