Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is the fifth studio album by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in December 1973. With this album, the band expanded upon their slow, crunching style of music by adding strings, keyboards and more complex orchestral arrangements. Building off the stylistic changes introduced on Volume 4, new songs incorporated synthesizers, strings, keyboards and more complex arrangements. In particular, "Sabbra Cadabra" and "Who Are You?" utilise a Moog synthesizer, a common instrument in progressive rock at the time. Lyrics of some songs on the album were written about problems within the band at the time. "Killing Yourself to Live" was written by bassist Geezer Butler while in hospital for kidney problems caused by heavy drinking. Drummer Bill Ward was also suffering from binge drinking, and the song reflects the problems caused by their "extreme" lifestyles. An earlier incarnation of the song can be heard on the records Live at Last and Past Lives.