BLACK SABBATH released their fourth album, "Vol. 4," on September 22nd, 1972, through Vertigo in Europe and Warner Bros. in America. It was the first SABBATH record not produced by Rodger Bain; Tony Iommi took over, with manager Patrick Meehan credited as co-producer despite minimal involvement. Recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles amid legendary quantities of cocaine — the sleeve thanks the band's dealers — it keeps the crushing weight of "Master of Reality" while pushing further out, into the piano ballad "Changes" and the tape experiment "FX." "Supernaut" was a favourite of both Frank Zappa and John Bonham, and Mick Wall has argued that "Under the Sun" laid a template later followed by IRON MAIDEN and METALLICA. The press hated it; it reached number five in Britain and went platinum in the United States.
