Every riff of "Sweet Leaf" is metallic ideal. I am not aware of another band that achieved guitar riffs of such definitive perfection, only Black Sabbath. Every riff they wrote was unmistakably unique. The riffs for "Sweet Leaf" are the "Sweat Leaf" riffs. There is no confusion. This is much harder to pull off than you'd think, especially where the imperative to obey the principles of heaviness limit your options for what you can play.

Ozzy Osbourne barely had to work in this band. So many of the classic Black Sabbath tunes have a verse vocal, then Ozzy just gets out of the way for the band to rock through instrumental "choruses" and guitar solos.

The guitar solo for "Sweet Leaf" illustrates another unique aspect of Black Sabbath's music, which is that all instruments tended to solo at the same time, almost like a soot-black, demonic Dixieland. Even better, these "solos" aren't really solos as much as meticulously composed melodies that continue on and on, sometimes for as long as the rest of the song combined. I can't think of another heavy outfit who did it or does it the same way.

I used to perform this song regularly with my old group. It's one of the pleasures of my life to have discovered it, inhabited its soul, and have it inhabit mine.