According to Zakk, Ozzy “doesn’t put ‘Sabotage’ in that list” of Black Sabbath’s classic albums.

Zakk Wylde recalled how Ozzy always thought that Black Sabbath’s glory run ended before “Sabotage”, and noted that Geezer Bulter once told him that “Master of Reality” was the most representative record for classic Sabbath.On the whole, the history of Black Sabbath is as riddled with gems as it is with immensely difficult periods for its members, but even staunch advocates for the Dio and the Tony Martin era, or theridiculously underrated “Born Again” featuring Ian Gillan can’t deny the massive legacy of the Ozzy years.

However, the jury is still out on when that original glory run ends — some include every album until Ozzy’s departure in 1979, while others don’t rank 1978’s “Never Say Die!” and 1976’s “Technical Ecstasy” as highly as the first six. During a recent appearance on “The Power Hour” podcast, Ozzy’s longtime friend & collaborator Zakk Wylde said, “Ozz doesn’t put ‘Sabotage’ in that list.” He added (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):

“Ozzy said that the classic run of Sabbath records ended with ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ for him. To him, that was it. He would always measure [the record] by the memories that were attached to making the records. What he always remembers whether he had a good time making it, or he was miserable.”

“That’s the reason why the album’s called ‘Sabotage’ — all the management things they were going through and everything. The wheels started coming off at that point, for them anyways, with all the outside interference coming in, I suppose. The band’s making records, touring, having fun, [and] the world started collapsing at that point with Sabbath.”

Zakk, who’s personally a big fan of the record, also recalled what Ozzy told him after the guitarist praised his vocal performance on it:

“I love his vocal performances on all [the records], but ‘Sabotage’ — all of it; his phrasing, how bluesy his voice is on ‘The Writ’, the whole record. It’s just absolutely amazing. I said, ‘Ozz, were you taking vocal lessons or something?’ And he goes, ‘No, Zakk, just lots of drugs.'”

Zakk also recalled asking Geezer Butler what he thought was the most representative Black Sabbath album, saying:

“I remember when we were working on the ‘Ozzmosis’ record [1995] with Geezer [Butler], and we were going back from the studio one night. And I said, ‘Geez, if you could only have one Sabbath record from the Ozzy years [you could play to someone who] never heard Black Sabbath before [and say], ‘Here you go, this is what Black Sabbath Is’, [which one would you pick]? And Geezer said ‘Master of Reality.'”