Hole In The Sky

In my entire record collecting career, one of the highlights has to be completing the Vertigo Four for Black Sabbath. Buying those first four Sabbath albums, all as complete UK Vertigo swirl label first pressings, was a huge accomplishment that pushed my spending limits and had me stressing overtime until they arrived safely on my doorstep in excellent condition. It took me about three years to get them all, but in reality, my Sabbath mission was far from complete. I still had more original UK pressings for the band in my sights.

Even though I own the majority of the Ozzy and Dio-era Sabbath albums on vinyl, there was one record that has always eluded me...Sabotage. Having owned it on CD for years, I knew Sabotage well enough, and there have been times where I would call it my favorite Sabbath album...but still, it was embarrassing to admit that this piece of vinyl was still a hole in my collection.

Having left Vertigo behind after Vol. 4, and then making a brief stop on the WWA label for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the band found themselves on NEMS for the first UK pressing of Sabotage. Following in the footsteps that Doug laid down with his blog post back in 2013, I knew that this was the pressing that I had to chase. Thankfully, prices drop considerably after the Vertigo Four, so it didn't put a strain on the savings account when I finally grabbed one. I don't know if it is due to the textured cover, or what, but this sleeve is in amazing condition considering that it is over 40 years old.