BLACK SABBATH - DVD
THE OZZY YEARS: 1970-1985

LABEL:
Cat's Meow
SOURCE:
Various TV Broadcasts
FORMAT:
DVD-R, ALL Region, NTSC
RUNNING TIME:
Approximately 98 Minutes
SOUND/SOURCE:
TV Broadcasts
PACKAGING:
DVD Clamshell with simple, informative graphics
 

BLACK SABBATH

***image2***

SOUND 8 / PACKAGING 7 / PERFORMANCE 8

 
TRACK LIST:

Live at Olympia Theater, London, December 20, 1971:  1. Tune up #1, 2. Paranoid, 3. Hand Of Doom, 4. Rat Salad, 5. Iron Man, 6. Black Sabbath, 7. Tune Up #2, 8. N.I.B., 9. Behind The Wall Of Sleep, 10. War Pigs, 11. Fairies Wear Boots

Live At Long Beach Sports Arena, September 7th, 1975 (Don Kirshner's Rock Concert Appearance):  12. Don Kirshner Intro, 13. Killing Yourself To Live, 14. Hole In The Sky, 15. Snowblind, 16. War Pigs, 17. Paranoid

BBC Top Of The Pops, UK 1978:  18. Never Say Die

Live Aid Appearance, JFK Memorial Stadium, Philadelphia, July 13, 1985:  19. Iron Man, 20. Paranoid

 
REVIEW:

Nice to see some Black Sabbath video come through, too bad the best sources weren't used for this compilation but, it is very good.  This comment is mostly directed at the Olympia Theater footage, which leads off the DVD.  A Lower generation version is available in trading circles, although I think that one is a bit edited - this includes some snipptets of backstage activity.  A portion of this footage has been included in both the official video & DVD releases of "The Black Sabbath Story:  Vol. 1".  The footage is proshot and it's a great performance, which captures the band just starting to hit full-stride with the Paranoid LP recently released.  The cover art has a print error, claiming this performance is December 1977, this is not true of course as it is obviously the early days of the band.  The highlight on this DVD is the 1975 Don Kirshner Rock Concert footage!  This material is less common and is taken from network TV broadcast.  Great quality and the band is in great form!...they left the lights on in the Long Beach Arena, apparently because the TV crews were filming.  It would have been much better with them off!  It would have captured the mood of the show a lot better.  Classic stuff and makes this disc a worthy purchase.  The BBC clip of "Never Say Die" is a very good performance but the synching is a bit off here, and a better generation of video could have been easily sought out.  This too has been officially released on the Sabbath Story Volume 1 compilation.

Of course jumping ahead 7 years makes the title of this DVD an inaccurate one.  The in-between years saw the lead vocalist change from Ozzy to Ronnie James Dio to Ian Gillan, etc.  Finally, a worthy cause to re-unite in 1985.

The Live Aid footage is nice to have but the performance here is nostalgic, at best.  "Iron Man" is painful but they always seem to pull off "Paranoid" adequately.  While a better source may be available for inclusion, the video used here is pretty good.  The sound that day was horrible, at least for the broadcast!...and not the band's fault. 

All in all this is a good compilation for fans in enjoyable quality, though it is a no-frills compilation and a straight video-to-disc dub.


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Jun 16, 2004 - 7:41:00 AM


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