Music Review
Copyright (c) 1994, Thomas Van Hook
All rights reserved



Blackest Sabbath -- Black Sabbath 1970-1987 by Black Sabbath
Phonogram Records  CD 838818-2
 Copyright 1989 Koln, Germany

Track Listing
  1.  Black Sabbath -- From the album "Black Sabbath" (1970)
  2.  Paranoid -- From the album "Paranoid" (1970)
  3.  Iron Man -- From the album "Paranoid" (1970)
  4.  Snowblind -- From the album "Black Sabbath Volume 4" (1972)
  5.  Sabbath Bloody Sabbath -- From the album "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (1973)
  6.  Hole In The Sky -- From the album "Sabotage" (1975)
  7.  Rock & Roll Doctor -- From the album "Technical Ecstacy" (1976)
  8.  Never Say Die -- From the album "Never Say Die" (1977)
  9.  Lady Evil -- From the album "Heaven And Hell" (1980)
10.  Turn Up The Night -- From the album "Mob Rules" (1981)
11.  The Sign of the Southern Cross/Heaven And Hell [Live] -- From the album
      "Live Evil" (1983)
12.  Children of the Sea [Live] -- From the album "Live Evil" (1983)
13.  Digital Bitch -- From the album "Born Again" (1983)
14.  Seventh Star -- From the album "Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi"
      (1986)
15.  Born To Lose -- From the album "The Eternal Idol" (1987)

In today's culture, things change at light-speed with a certain regularity.  
After all, what may have been "in" this morning, might not be "in" by the end 
of lunch.  And so it goes with rock and roll.  Bands come and go with the 
changing popular attitudes.  Very few hang on to the very end of the last 
member's career.  Black Sabbath, however, is one of those bands.  With a 
career that now spans over three decades, they have proven themselves to be 
the most influential of all the "doom and gloom" bands.  With only two former 
members selling their own solo projects (Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio), 
Black Sabbath has never been a launching-pad for the careers of others.  
Instead, guitarist Tony Iommi has carved a niche for the band in the annals of
 Heavy Metal.

This particular Compact Disc might be a little hard to find in the United 
States, as it is a "Greatest Hits" compilation made and sold in Germany.  I 
was lucky enough to get a copy of it while I was stationed overseas at Sembach
 Air Base.  Included with the tracks is a sleeve that chronicles the band's 
history and the various lineups that the band has had.  I highly recommend 
this album for anyone who is a Black Sabbath fan and would love to have the 
complete history of Black Sabbath (at least the history up until early 1989.

The material is culled from every point in the band's career with the 
exception of one album -- "Master Of Reality," released in 1971.  It would 
have been nice if a track from that album had been added.  Regardless, this 
album has all of Sabbath's best hits and makes for a very good introduction 
for the new fan that hasn't heard all of Sabbath's material.  With such 
Sabbath standards as Iron Man, and Paranoid, the album covers the usual ground
 one would expect.  Unexpected pieces of material for this compilation are the 
two "live" tracks from the album "Live Evil," which was a tremendous flop for 
the band in sales.

Outstanding Track -- Born To Lose
Lackluster Track -- Rock & Roll Doctor
Overall Grade -- B+


     Black Sabbath Lineup

Lead Vocalists  -- Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes,
                    Tony Martin
Guitarist       -- Tony Iommi
Bass Guitarists -- Geezer Butler, Dave Spitz
Drummers        -- Bill Ward, Vinnie Appice, Bev Bevan, Eric Singer
Keyboardist     -- Geoff Nichols

