It’s been said that the only thing that remains constant is change. My favorite Beatle was once John, and now it’s Paul. Also, my favorite Black Sabbath album was once Master of Reality, and now it’s Vol. 4. Of course, I suppose that could change at any time. I’m always open to the possibility, even though I’m known for my stubbornness. At this particular place and time in the universe though, Vol. 4 is generally where it’s at, as far as I’m concerned. Very recently, I finally obtained a beautiful (and complete) Japanese first press for my collection. At almost the same time, my long-awaited copy of Children of the Grave: Master of Reality Recording Sessions 1971 showed up in the mail. Vol. 4 is still my favorite album, but man is this a cool unofficial compilation.
Right away, Children of the Grave seemed to me like a sequel to Behind The Wall of Sleep: Black Sabbath Recording Sessions 1969 by “Graveyard Records”, which was released a few months ago at the end of 2024. There are some subtle hints that this record label may in fact be related to the still on theme, but quite a bit more morbid sounding “Get Your Coffins Ready”, but we mere collectors will never know for sure. You can and should check out my previous article to compare and contrast, but the similarities between the two are certainly there. For a quick rundown, Behind The Wall of Sleep is an outtakes/ alternate versions exploration into Sabbath’s 1970 self-titled album. Children of the Grave aims to give the same treatment to 1971’s Master of Reality. If this is in fact a sequel of sorts, I’m not sure why they would skip Paranoid, but maybe they’ll get back to it eventually? The material is certainly out there.
As previously mentioned, this package is top notch production wise. Just as nice (or nicer) than any official release in recent memory, the artwork is sharp and crisp, and the glossy finish looks great. We get a clear track listing on the back of the jacket, a nice hi-res photo of the lads spanning the gatefold, and a cool hype sticker which is affixed to the front of the actual jacket rather than the plastic wrap. Like Behind The Wall of Sleep, Children of the Grave is also limited to 300 numbered copies worldwide, further adding to the similarities between those two.
Just like Behind The Wall of Sleep, this is a double LP package with a similar design style. Both have records pressed on purple wax, but overall, Children of the Grave sort of looks like a “Spring” themed design to me. The pastel-colored records in combination with the dreamy, sort of liminal color scheme on the cover feels very “Easter Eggs” to me. The pressing itself is fantastic. LP 1 is pressed on purple wax, and LP 2 is sort of a green pastel type of color. The labels look nice and really tie everything together. I’m not sure what the exact record weight is, but these are nice and heavy. Probably close to 180g.
Both of my records were flat and free of defects. I gave them a thorough cleaning before spinning them, both in the VPI and ultrasonic just to be sure that I got rid of any residue from the factory. One peculiar thing I noticed right away is that the grooves are unusually close to the edge of the records. When I dropped the needle where it would normally go, it started right in the middle of the second (albeit sort) track. To actually start these discs at the beginning, you need to really be sure to place the stylus on the edge, taking care not to go too far over, of course. This isn’t really a problem, just something to be aware of.
One major difference between this record and Behind The Wall of Sleep is how the tracks are presented. On Behind The Wall of Sleep, the outtakes and alternate versions of each song are concentrated together. For Children of the Grave, it’s all over the place. There are some versions of “Sweet Leaf” at the beginning and some at the end. While this approach takes away a lot of the listeners ability to hear the song as it “evolves” in a logical progression, it also keeps things more interesting. I imagine it also had something to do with only being able to fit so much music on each side of the disc.
Children Of The Grave: Master Of Reality Recording Sessions 1971
1-1 Tony Coughing Intro 0:09
1-2 Sweet Leaf (take 1) 0:46
1-3 Sweet Leaf (take 5) 5:58
1-4 FX Loop 1 0:22
1-5 After Forever (take 1) 5:19
1-6 Embryo (take 4) 0:30
1-7 Children Of The Grave (take 2) 0:31
1-8 Children Of The Grave (take 3) 6:11
2-1 Orchid (studio outtake) 1:39
2-2 Lord Of This World (take 1) 5:38
2-3 Solitude (take 2) 5:16
2-4 Into The Void (take 1) 6:21
3-1 Sweet Leaf (take 4) 5:26
3-2 After Forever (instrumental) 5:19
3-3 Weevil Woman ’71 (take 1) 3:11
3-4 Children Of The Grave (take 1) 4:49
3-5 In The Graveyard (The Haunting) 1:34
4-1 Spanish Sid (take 1) 6:31
4-2 Spanish Sid (take 2) 6:28
4-3 Spanish Sid (take 3) 6:09
4-4 FX Loop 1:18
The Songs
Speaking of “Sweet Leaf”, we get a lot of it here. Some of these versions are just early attempts, and some are true outtakes. The most noticeable difference in the first version is the lyrics. They sound pretty coherent and thought out, but they are about marrying an actual woman rather than a love song about weed. Subsequent versions have scratch tracks where Ozzy is just making up words to fill in space. Take 5 is also a full version of the track, which appears to be a live in the studio type recording. There is some guitar missing, but this may in fact be the final version before all the overdubs. I wish there was more information on the sleeve or something, but the reality of the situation is that there is probably no living person on earth who knows information like this for sure at this point in time.
There are also a couple different versions of “After Forever”, including an instrumental. These are interesting and the sound quality is fantastic, but they are more or less very similar to the finalized version of the song. “Orchid” is definitely a different take, but it’s just as beautiful and the clarity of the recording is striking. Things start to get a bit weird (in a cool way) with “Lord of this World”. The lyrics are finalized, but the vocal doubling is much more apparent. The most obvious difference, however, is the addition of what sounds like Iommi playing a dobro in the background. It’s refreshing to hear a different take on the song, but thank goodness they decided to cut that part out.
Something I always see popping up on message boards and sub reddits till this day is a widespread disbelief from many fans that Ozzy is signing on “Solitude”. Some people wholeheartedly believe it’s Bill Ward, and others just don’t know who it is. The fact of the matter is that Ozzy was a great singer, especially when he was a young man. If you want to hear a version of “Solitude” that will blow you away even more than the one on the album, this is it. Ozzy approaches this take with even more emotion than what appears on the finalized version, and it’s certainly a standout track on this compilation. There is also a lot of extra percussion, with what sounds like a finger cymbal solo at the end. The flute is a bit less prominent than we are used to hearing, and the song just kind of abruptly ends.
If you aren’t aware, “Weevil Woman” and “Evil Woman” are not the same song, although they are often confused for one another. Evil Woman was a cover that was included on some versions of the original self-titled album, while the track we have here, “Weevil Woman ‘71”, is a demo that was apparently considered for inclusion on Master of Reality. Structurally, this track is somewhat similar to “Evil Woman”, which undoubtedly furthers the confusion between the two. It’s also not available in many places, so I think it’s a great addition this compilation. It’s certainly just a demo, but I think that after you listen to it, you’ll probably agree that dropping it from the record was probably for the best.
Maybe it’s unsurprising, but I believe that some of the most interesting material on this set is found on working versions of “Children of the Grave” and “Spanish Sid”, which was the working title for early versions of “Into The Void”. For “Children of the Grave”, Take 1 is the demo version I’m used to hearing, as it’s included on the deluxe version of Master of Reality… at least on the Japanese SHM CD that I refer to quite often. This is the one where Ozzy yells “save me!” in the beginning, and the lyrics are totally alternate. I’m not sure if they were pre-written or it was just pure freestyling, but this version is worth checking out.
Take 2 and Take 3 of “Children of the Grave” both have false starts, but we do get a full version with Take 3. This is pretty much the final version lyrically, but it’s not the final vocal mix, so you’ll hear an obvious difference there. I think it’s good enough for a final take, but the vocals are a little too clean. The ending bit where Ozzy whispers “children of the grave” is a lot longer than on the final version, and overall, it sounds quite a bit more haunting. In the album version of the song, we can hear a bit of classical music (circus or carousel style), but up until I listened to this particular demo version, I had never given it too much thought.
I’m not sure if “In The Graveyard (The Haunting)” was an official name or what, but essentially, it’s just the last part of “Children of the Grave” which contains the whispering bit. In this version, Ozzy does a lot more whispering of that line, and the carousel or circus music is a lot more prominent. It was at this point that I realized that this is a quite famous piece of classical music called “Over The Waves”, by Mexican composer Juventio Rosas. I spent several years searching for a “lost” piece of carousel style music that was used in the arcade scene of George Romero’s 1978 horror classic Dawn of the Dead, and this particular song is present on a lot of the library LP’s I have amassed. If nothing else, it’s certainly a cool little piece of trivia, and something to listen for on the finished track if you have never noticed it before. Apparently, the line between fun carnival song and creepy doom metal sample is actually quite thin.
Finally, we get three takes of “Spanish Sid” in a row (and some “FX Loop” noise) to round out the compilation. As I mentioned, this is really just “Into The Void” in a different incarnation. Take 1 sounds quite different than the finished song and is at a much faster tempo. The lyrics here are just filler, but if you listen closely, you can start picking out some bits and pieces about the moon, which Ozzy seems seriously preoccupied with during all three versions of the song. Take 2 is very similar, but a little slower and still with moon themed lyrics. Take 3 is fast again and actually has a bit of screaming in it which is strange to hear. This version comes very close to the final “Into The Void”, with the lyrics pretty much finalized. The vocal clarity is quite shocking after listening to the first two versions and reminds me just how difficult this song must be to sing.
This review is structured a little bit differently than my other articles, but rarities and outtakes compilations always seem difficult to write about coherently. Basically, what I can tell you for sure is that if you are a fan of Master of Reality like I am, this record set is certainly worth seeking out while it’s still available. Much like Behind The Wall Of Sleep, Children of the Grave also had a bit of a delayed release, and it seems stores and online sellers that got some are selling out of it rather quickly. I can’t promise it will exactly be cheap, but I think you should be able to find a copy for a good price for the time being.
Children of the Grave: Master of Reality Recording Sessions 1971 provides us with the promised outtakes rarities and then some. The design and sound quality are excellent, but it’s still just a 2 LP set rather than something more extravagant like a box set which I’m sure helps bring the price down. Rating wise, the audio source is a solid 9/10. Packaging and pressing are 9/10 as well. I don’t usually give a rating for the material itself, but in this case, I think it’s applicable. As far as my knowledge goes from collecting official and unofficial material, this is all the MOR stuff I knew about already, and some I didn’t. It’s all worth having and checking out, so a 10/10 there. Get a copy while you still can!