BLACK SABBATH: "33 1/3: Master Of Reality" Book Now Available

BLACK SABBATH's "Master of Reality" is the focus of the first book about a heavy metal album in Continuum Books' popular 33 1/3 series. The 33 1/3 series documents some of the most important recordings ever made.

The 33 1/3 series are low-priced, pocket-sized books. Each is about or inspired by a classic LP. They range from rock and roll's foundations to modern classics. Previous books have explored records by PINK FLOYD, DJ SHADOW, THE KINKS, SONIC YOUTH, VELVET UNDERGROUND, RADIOHEAD, BEASTIE BOYS, and many others. Launched in September 2003, the series now contains over 50 titles and is acclaimed and loved by fans, musicians and scholars alike.

Released on April 15, "33 1/3: Master of Reality" (cover) was written by Decibel columnist and MOUNTAIN GOATS mainman John Darnielle. He describes "Master of Reality" through a fictional character, a fifteen-year-old boy being held in an adolescent psychiatric centre in southern California in 1985. Adolescents in treatment are often required to keep a journal, and they write letters by the dozens: to their parents, to their friends on the outside, to the nurses who confiscate their belongings, to the teachers back at school who've offered them an outlet for their creativity. Our narrator has arrived in treatment with a Walkman and some tapes that are precious to him, only to have them taken away on the ground that their content is part of his greater problem. His various writings, aimed mainly at getting his tapes and Walkman back, will explain how BLACK SABBATH differs from their Satan-worshipping popular image, and how "Master of Reality" is an overtly Christian album, which it is. Our narrator will try to explain BLACK SABBATH like an emissary from an alien race describing his culture to his captors: passionately, patiently, and lovingly.

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