Black Sabbath – Vol 4 album art
Vol 4 is the fourth studio album released by the band Black Sabbath, in September of 1972. It features several classic tracks, including “Tomorrow’s Dream”, “Snowblind”, and “Supernaut”.
The front cover features an interesting use of Gadget which was released approximately a year earlier by Alphabet Photosetting. The 4 is modified.
The monochrome photograph of Ozzy Osbourne with hands raised and two fingers extended was taken during a Black Sabbath concert at Birmingham Town Hall in January 1972 by Keef a.k.a. Keith Macmillan. Read more about the Gadget typeface and the typography of other album covers by Black Sabbath in Nick’s blog post.
During the band’s final show dubbed “Back to the Beginning”, which took place on July 5th 2025, the band called back to the typeface used on this 1972 album, by re-using it for the concert branding, see this dedicated post.
Track list and credits on the gatefold are set in light Kabel, with a heading in bold Gill Sans. The small print is in News Gothic.
Back cover with the track listing in very small Helvetica caps
