Master of Reality

A lovely gem of a book. An incredible meditation on fandom and teenage pain, and a truly Foucauldian take, in simple and biting language, on the mental institution as one of this culture's most misbegotten engines of conformity and punishment, which stands in here for everything rock, at its best, rebels against.

John Darnielle has been a writer i have enjoyed for some time now. Between his monthly editorials in Decibel magazine and his long running web zine (last plane to jakarta) I have read a good deal of his work. So I was excited to hear he has not only written a book, but a book about Sabbath. Metal is my absolute favorite and Darnielle's approach to metal from the point of view as a music fan, rather then singularly a metalhead, coupled with his deep insight of the obscure has been the drawing point for me to read his material. In this book he tackles one of the great albums from the first heavy metal band. For those familiar with Sabbath, you know one could easily be engulfed by the amount of quality music they have released over their long history. The most popular release has always been they're sophomore release, Paranoid. With hits like the title track, "War Pigs", and "Iron Man", Paranoid was an album that made Black Sabbath a world name. Yet, Darnielle choose to write about Sabbath's less lauded third release. Master of Reality is an album full of Sabbath greats such as "Sweet Leaf", "Children of the Grave" and "Into The Void", but as Darnielle describes in the book, you'll never hear any of these songs waiting in line at the grocery store. Choosing the path less traveled is a passion for Darnielle in his music exploration. In all of his writings he makes a connection with music that you will not find reiterated in the endless blogsphere. This can come from him writing about something different or him skillfully putting cognitive reality to word. In this book though, Darnielle writes a fictional tale of a boy institutionalized, and his cruddy life is explained through his eyes. Darnielle, for a large portion of his lifted, worked in youth mental health facilities such as the scene of this book. He recalls the troubled lives within the padded walls and sterile hell to write a description of Master of Reality as they would see it. The songs often are given multiple meanings as the character's experience changes. All of which are fresh and exciting to understand. This book deals with rage, teen age love, fear, religion, and the struggle to live on past tragedy. I strongly reccomend it to fans of the 33 1/3 series, fans John, fans of Sabbath, and to fans of music.

Amazing book! Go out and buy it today. You don't even have to like Black Sabbath to enjoy the great writing in the book.

Darnielle has a real gift for making simple words (mad, sad, bad) ring true and hit hard when coming from the pen of his 15 year old narrator. This book is not to be missed. I hope he continues to write books as well as music in the future, because obviously his talents run deep.

this sweet, sad little riff of a book succeeds--like the best of the 33 1/3 series--on so many levels at once I'm itching to pick it up and read it through again. whether you are a fan of Black Sabbath (I haven't listened in years), interested in unexpected forms music criticism (the fictional narrator here makes no appologies for being a superfan), or just looking for a compelling story (a proverbial page-turner from the heartbreaking dedication to the last page), this book will not dissapoint. if you've heard Darnielle's music (like, um, Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton) you know the man can tell a story, and Roger's story--too real to be non-fiction and too passionate to be grouped with standard criticism--resonates through all the frustrations and humiliations I've ever experienced. if only I'd had Ozzy to guide me through it... I think I'll pick up Master of Realitiy and give it a listen while I re-read this.