Various Artists - A Slow And Quiet Sabbath (2020)

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 The Lounge Brigade have released a whole album of Sabbath songs done in an easy listening style. 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. Andy Rehfeldt has posted a couple of videos on Youtube where he has extracted Ozzy's vocals and laid them over some cool jazzy chords, which works really well, and the videos are hilarious. 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 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.
UPDATE - Many thanks to MrDave and Anonymous who pointed out another couple of bands who cover Sabbath in an unusual style, and the Casualties Of Jazz would fit right in here, so I've added their 'Wicked World' to the track listing. I'm afraid Brownout were too close to the originals to be classed as either slow or quiet, so they didn't make it.  

Track listing

01 Iron Man (The Cardigans)
02 Paranoid (The Lounge Brigade)
03 War Pigs (Ruthie Foster)
04 Air Dance (Lisa Ljungberg)
05 Sweet Leaf (Andy Rehfeldt [with Ozzy Osbourne])
06 Fairies Wear Boots (Jazz Sabbath)
07 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (The Cardigans)
08 Changes (Charles Bradley)
09 Wicked World (Casualties Of Jazz)
10 Planet Caravan (Rondellus)


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, so you can choose one or the other, or mix and match 

Alternative 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)