Black Sabbath-the Black Sabbath, the original lineup of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward, four childhood friends from the north of England-grew out of the U.K's late-60s blues/hard rock scene, which also included Led Zeppelin, Cream, Blue Cheer, and other greats. Sabbath's sweeping and masterful metamorphosis away from that tradition spawned heavy metal music, inventing the template for everything that would follow. With crushing rhythms, torpedo riffs, haunting songs, and Ozzy's other-worldly vocals, the band conjured a dark, menacing, and resonant sound that reverberates still.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great CD
Comment: One of the best best of albums of all time,only flaw is Iron Man is an abbreviated version.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Less Was Not Enough
Comment: I cancelled this order, once I realized that "Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978" existed. The same songs on this cd can be found on "SOTU", plus 13 more tracks. If you can't take too much "gloom & doom", then this would be the perfect Black Sabbath collection for you.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Greatest Hits 1970-1978
Comment: Finally! We have here the only domestically available remastered versions of Black Sabbath songs. This may be quibbling but the title is completely misleading. Sabbath was NOT a hit making singles group, the only songs here that got chart action as singles were "Paranoid" (61) & "Iron Man" (52). Both of these came from the album Paranoid. There were no other charting singles with Ozzy Osbourne as lead vocalist.

Now, with those small things out of the way, this is the best single disc collection of the Ozzy era of Black Sabbath. All eight albums that Ozzy did with Black Sabbath are represented here. From Black Sabbath we have "Black Sabbath", "N.I.B." & "The Wizard". From Paranoid we have "War Pigs", "Paranoid" & "iron Man". From Master of Reality we have "Sweet Leaf" & Children of the Grave". From Vol. 4 we have "Changes", Snowblind" & "Supernaut". From Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath we have "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". From Sabotage we have "Hole in the Sky". From Technical Ecstasy we have "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor" & "Dirty Women". From Never Say die! we have "Never Say Die". Do I agree with all these selections? No! We always have this sort of problem with any compilation album. Honestly, all of Sabbath's albums should be purchased separately. For those who can't, won't or unwilling, then this IS the one compilation to purchase that represents the Ozzy era of Black Sabbath.

Personally, I feel that Sabotage & Master of Reality are under represented. And the choice of "Never Say Die" from the album of the same name rather should've been "Junior's Eyes". I would've liked to have seen "Megalomania" included from Sabotage; I probably would've done this at the expense of "Changes". "Into the Void" would've been nice to have seen here. Oh well, I can do all that on my laptop.

The liner notes are sufficient & there are some photographs included in the accompanying booklet. Rhino has done its usual outstanding job of remastering. All in all, a worthy product that ably represents the Ozzy era of Black Sabbath. It's not perfect but few compilations are. Enjoy!

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Iron Man is 2 1/2 minutes shorter than the original
Comment: As other people have pointed out, Iron Man is edited on this. On the Paranoid CD it's 5:58; here it's 3:29. A chunk of one solo is removed --poorly--in addition to the premature fade out. Bummer.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: A great introduction.
Comment: This is a great introduction to the greatest metal band of all time. But thats all it is , only an introduction . If you are a newcomer to Sabbath and not sure if you really want to spend the money on all their cd's , then this is for you. If you are already a Sabbath fan and you want a greatest hits, then go for the 2cd "Symptom Of The Universe" or better yet , save up your pennies until you can afford the 8cd box set .

---