Various Artists - A Slow And Quiet Sabbath (2020) UPDATE

There have been so many good suggestions of artists who have covered Black Sabbath in a lounge style that I've decided to update the whole album. Thanks to Star Studded Sham for telling me about Hellsongs, and also to Anonymous for the tip about Casualties Of Jazz. A shame to lose The Lounge Brigade, but their other two Sabbath covers are already taken, and I'll leave the original post up so you can choose yourself, or mix and match 

A regular correspondent Fredrick Beondo recently pointed me in the direction of an interesting album, which was by a band called Jazz Sabbath. From the name you might think that it would be Black Sabbath songs done in a jazz style, and you'd be exactly right. However, not only is it a fine album in itself, but Rick Wakeman's son Adam has even made a documentary about the band, which explains the whole back-story and is well worth a watch here. The first thing that occurred to me after I'd listened to it was that it reminded me that Swedish popsters The Cardigans had covered 'Iron Man' on their 'First Band On The Moon' album, which got me thinking it there were any other cool versions of Sabbath songs, and surprise, surprise there were. 'Iron Man' wasn't The Cardigans' first attempt at a Sabs cover, as they did 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' on their first album, and Hellsongs cover heavy metal songs acoustically, with their version of 'Paranoid' being particularly fine. Similarly, Rondellus are an Estonian music ensemble who have released an album of Sabs songs done in a medieval style, and there must be something about the band that appeals to the Swedes, as Lisa Ljungberg has recorded a lovely version of 'Air Dance' on her 'Seven Seas' album. Charles Bradley gives 'Changes' a soul make-over, and only this year Ruthie Foster covered 'War Pigs' for her new soul/blues release. Finally we have two great jazz groups - Casualties Of Jazz are a Hammond B3-led trio, and then there's Jazz Sabbath themselves - the inspiration for this whole album - which I hope shows the heavy metal pioneers in a new light. The album is titled after the painting by Nicolas Gouny that I found online, which seemed perfect for the cover.

Track listing

01 Iron Man (The Cardigans)
02 Sweet Leaf (Casualties Of Jazz)
02 War Pigs (Ruthie Foster)
04 Air Dance (Lisa Ljungberg)
05 Paranoid (Hellsongs)
06 Fairies Wear Boots (Jazz Sabbath)
07 Changes (Charles Bradley)
08 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (The Cardigans)
09 Planet Caravan (Rondellus)