Product Description

Black Sabbath are one of the most outrageous yet longest-lived bands in the history of rock 'n' roll. This informative, idiosyncratic and beguiling book paints a vivid picture of their colourful early history - interwoven with all the most crucial news stories of the time: from Vietnam to Bloody Sunday and the space programme. Where Rat Salad diverges from routes taken by most rock biographies, however, is in its detailed analysis of the band's first six albums. These chapters - think Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head meets Spinal Tap - occupy about half the book and persuasively explain the appeal of the music, its compositional artistry and its frequently audacious inventiveness. Original and passionate, "Rat Salad" embraces a remarkably diverse cast of characters - from Ozzy Osbourne himself and the other members of the band through to Edith Sitwell, Breugel the Elder, John Milton and Doris Day. The author's hand looms large in the piece. We see him both as a boy and man - from schoolboy ingenue to inveterate devotee - as he looks back at a life populated with love, sex, drugs and death played out against a backdrop of crucifixes and power chords.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127463 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 236 pages

From the Publisher
Nick Hornby meets Spinal Tap meets Revolution in the Head in a winning account of Ozzy Osbourne's Black Sabbath in their early, glory years.

About the Author
Paul Wilkinson was raised in the Peak District and graduated with a degree in Psychology in 1983. Since then, he has worked extensively in the arts and entertainment industry and currently manages an arts centre in east London, close to where he lives. He has played guitar and sung in a number of failed pop outfits: most notably, inept Beatles-copyists The Originals, and close-harmony, cabaret joke-band The Stallions of Love. He has been a fan of Black Sabbath for over thirty years. Rat Salad is his first book.

Customer Reviews

Tasty
Not the kind of book I would normally read but being trapped on a family holiday with nothing else to do I borrowed it off my dad and was massively surprised. It's great. A true feast of a book and, since my knowledge of Ozzie was previously restricted to watching his TV show, it was a real eye opener. An intelligent read. Recommended.

About time!
At long last, a decent book on Black Sabbath! Wilkinson avoids the much told stories of drug abuse, bat biting, and the rest and concentrates on the most important thing - the music. Very close in spirit to Ian MacDonald's 'Revolution in the Head' (by far, the best book out there on The Beatles), 'Rat Salad' is an excellent, entertaining and informative read and is not only the best book out there on Sabbath (the others don't even come close) but is one of the best books on rock I've come across. Beautifully written and truly heartbreaking in places, the book has 'cult classic' written all over it.

A real pleasure
It makes a change to read a music related book that doesn't follow the same cliched patterns as their subject matter. You know the story ... Fresh faced youngsters produce great original music, downward spiral into drugs, depravity and despair, saved by God/Gym/Guru/Betty Ford/whatever - who cares. Hey! here I am/he is folks either dead or clean. I/he did it so you don't have to, now give me your cash!

This is much more interesting and is about the author and his love affair with his favourite band. He examines the era in which the music was created and the events which may or may not have helped shape it. This is intertwined with his own story.

The book takes a look at the classic and most interesting era 1970-76 Sabbath albums, discuss the merits or not of each individual song. It reminded me of the discussions we had at school, although this is much more intelligent and considered than "name the the heaviest songs ever written". If you've read Revolution in the Head by Ian MacDonald you might recognise the format. However, to me this book seemed a little more personal and less like an essay. Before they invented Playstation, Xbox, Computers, and all the other teenage distractions music was really all us working class kids had to alleviate the boredom. Not a complaint I might add, a blessing that enhanced my life considerably.

I might not always agree with the authors opinions but I felt I could relate to them. I have my own story and fave songs. The book is written with sincerity and passion and that really struck a chord (sic) with me. Often passion is what is sadly missing in many of the books written about bands and even though the author is an ardent Sabbath supporter he is also only too aware of the bands limitations as musicians and human beings. Much better than the often, fawning, sycophantic, and insincere or tabloid muck raking so prevalent amongst lazy music authors written only to ca$h in.

Altogether this book is a superb read. For those without music knowledge it may be a little hard to digest some of the more technical, musical commentry. This however, is explained in footnotes and in the Glossary if you can be bothered. I personally found it very hard to put down. So will you, particularly if, like me you love all things 70's, music and Black Sabbath. (Ozzy Oddbin - Sack Sabbath 10/1/07).