Black Sabbath began work on their sixth album in February 1975 , again in England at Morgan Studios in Willesden , London . The title '' Sabotage '' was chosen because the band were at the time being sued by their former management and felt they were being " sabotaged all the way along the line and getting punched from all sides " , according to Iommi . " It was probably the only album ever made with lawyers in the studio , " said drummer Bill Ward . Iommi credits those legal troubles for the album 's angry , heavier sound . In 2001 , bassist Geezer Butler explained to Dan Epstein , " Around the time of '' Sabbath Bloody Sabbath '' , we found out that we were being ripped off by our management and our record company . So , much of the time , when we were n't onstage or in the studio , we were in lawyer 's offices trying to get out of all our contracts . We were literally in the studio , trying to record , and we 'd be signing all these affidavits and everything . That 's why it 's called '' Sabotage '' – because we felt that the whole process was just being totally sabotaged by all these people ripping us off . " In his autobiography '' I Am Ozzy '' , singer Ozzy Osbourne confirms that " writs were being delivered to us at the mixing desk " and that Ward " was manning the phones " . In the liner notes to the 1998 live album '' Reunion '' , Butler claimed the band suffered through 10 months of legal cases and admitted , " Music became irrelevant to me . It was a relief just to write a song . " Iommi later reflected , " We could 've continued and gone on and on , getting more technical , using orchestras and everything else which we did n't particularly want to . We took a look at ourselves , and we wanted to do a rock album – '' Sabbath Bloody Sabbath '' was n't a rock album , really . " According to the book '' How Black Was Our Sabbath '' , " The recording sessions would usually carry on into the middle of the night . Tony Iommi was working really hard on the production side of things with the band 's co-producer Mike Butcher , and he was spending a lot of time working out his guitar sounds . Bill , too , was experimenting with the drums , especially favouring the ' backwards cymbal ' effect . " Osbourne , however , grew frustrated with how long Black Sabbath albums were taking to record , writing in his autobiography , " '' Sabotage '' took about four thousand years . " According to Iommi , the '' Sabotage '' sessions were the scene of a legendary jam session between Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin . Iommi 's recollection may be inaccurate , however , as records show that Zeppelin were on tour in the US at the time '' Sabotage '' was being recorded . Ward 's recollection of the exact timing of the Zeppelin jam session is also fuzzy . " I do n't even know what album we were working on " , the drummer explained . " But one of John ( Bonham ) 's favourite songs was ' Supernaut ' – so , when they came down to the studio , he wanted to jam ' Supernaut ' . " '' Sabotage '' is a mix of heavy , powerful songs and softer experimental tunes , such as " Supertzar " and " Am I Going Insane ( Radio ) " . In 2013 '' Mojo '' observed , " Opener ' Hole in the Sky ' and the crunching ' Symptom of the Universe ' illustrate that , for all their problems , Sabbath 's power remained undimmed on what was what many consider one of their finest offerings . " In the article " Thrash Metal - An Introduction " in '' University Times Magazine '' , Vladimir Rakhmanin cites " Symptom of the Universe " as one of the earliest examples of thrash metal , a heavy metal subgenre which emerged in the early 1980s . Tony Iommi describes the song 's dynamics in his autobiography '' Iron Man '' : " It starts with an acoustic bit . Then it goes into the up-tempo stuff to give it that dynamic , and it does have a lot of changes to it , including the jam at the end . " The final part of " Symptom of the Universe " evolved from an in-studio improvisation , created very spontaneously in a single day and the decision was made to use it in that song . The English Chamber Choir was brought in to perform on the song " Supertzar " . When vocalist Ozzy Osbourne arrived at the studio and saw them , he thought he was in the wrong studio and left . The title of the pop-leaning " Am I Going Insane ( Radio ) " caused some confusion due to the " ( Radio ) " part , which led people to believe the song was a radio cut or radio version . However , this is the only version of the song : the term " radio-rental " is rhyming slang for " mental "
on tour in the US
Led Zeppelin North American Tour 1975
Sabotage (Black Sabbath album)