Classic Rock Productions once again assembles the Rock Critics, Ex-Sabbath musicians, and classic BLACK SABBATH archival footage for their re-tooled documentary of the British Heavy Metal legends called BLACK SABBATH: ROCK REVIEW. A few years back, Classic Rock Legends made quite a splash on the retro-music scene with the release of their INSIDE THE MUSIC series—a line of DVDs which basically takes a critical perspective (minus the corporate hype) of a particular classic hard rock artist, and explores each release whether good or bad. Of course, much to a Rock n Roll lover’s delight, all these documentaries were accompanied by remastered audio and video archival footage (which in my opinion is the main draw to purchase these things). Recently, Classic Rock Productions revisits similar territory with a new series of discs called ROCK REVIEW that ultimately screams Deja Vu.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of BLACK SABBATH: ROCK REVIEW we must first summarize the previous Classic Rock Legends BLACK SABBATH documentary entitled simply enough, INSIDE BLACK SABBATH. This other documentary, via the opinions of Rock critics and musicians, point out the ups and downs of each BLACK SABBATH album, and the hit-or-miss songwriting and just plain bad decision making of Tony Iommi. For a true documentary, however, INSIDE BLACK SABBATH (as a strict document of SABBATH’s career) suffered in some key areas. The producers left out some major milestones in the history of the band, for instance they don’t even mention the respective BLACK SABBATH albums with either DEEP PURPLE alumni Ian Gillan (BORN AGAIN) or Glen Hughes (SEVENTH STAR) on vocals. With the exception of the vocalist slot, INSIDE BLACK SABBATH does not go into detail about the ever-changing roster of talent to play in the group. BLACK SABBATH studio and touring standouts such as Vinny Appice, Bev Bevan, Bobby Rondinelli, Dan Spitz, Neil Murray, Cozy Powell, etc are never even mentioned. And INSIDE BLACK SABBATH completely ignores the Ronnie James Dio era reunion in the early 1990’s which resulted in the DEHUMANIZER album.

Well, the good news is that with BLACK SABBATH: ROCK REVIEW, Classic Rock Productions makes up for the deficiencies of their previous study of BLACK SABBATH. This slick, well-edited documentary truly covers all the bases that both the documentaries INSIDE BLACK SABBATH and THE BLACK SABBATH STORY fail to mention. The narration and commentary of journalists (like Malcolm Dome among others) who go into detail about every coming and going of the band. These critics tell it like is often scratching their heads when explaining how respected guitarist Tony Iommi further tarnishes the BLACK SABBATH reputation with albums like FORBIDDEN and TYR. With the exception of the SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH promo, BLACK SABBATH collectors should know that all the concert footage shown on BLACK SABBATH: ROCK REVIEW is drawn from the classic California Jam appearance, the Never Say Die 1978 tour, and the Paris 1970s show. The interviews with Tony Iommi are taken from the CAREFUL WITH THAT AXE series, and are cleverly edited into the feature. Following the departure of Ozzy Osbourne, BLACK SABBATH: ROCK REVIEW showcases the rotating vocalist slot with folks like Ronnie Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Tony Martin etc., by playing the video clips of NEON KINGHTS, ZERO THE HERO, THE SHINING, NO STRANGER TO LOVE, and HEADLESS CROSS. Some live footage of Tony Martin era is borrowed from the CROSS PURPOSES Live 1994 concert video. NOTE: None of the music videos or live footage is shown in its entirety.

BLACK SABBATH: ROCK REVIEW is presented in 1.33.1 format. As mentioned earlier, all the live footage is collected from the massive CAL JAM 1974 festival, the NEVER SAY DIE 1978 tour, the Paris 1970 show, and the CROSS PURPOSES 1994 Tour. The quality varies according to the source, with the CROSS PURPOSES having the highest quality because it is the most recent. In contrast, the four songs from the Paris 1970 show are incredibly dark and murky, and you barely make out the original line-up delivering the Hard Rock goods. The Cal Jam footage is a little better, but not much. The professionally filmed NEVER SAY DIE footage holds its age very well. Much of the footage from BLACK SABBATH: ROCK REVIEW features an abundance of murky visuals, scratches, and blemishes. Here is where the disc shines: Classic Rock Productions re-masters all this excellent live clips into DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks. Even the scratchy old footage from 1970 sounds excellent! Both soundtracks are powerful with great depth and clarity. The surround mix is heavily anchored to the front soundstage, with not a lot of overdone musical activity emanating from the rear speakers. The voices of the critics and musicians emanate cleanly from the center speaker.

There are no special features on the disc with the exception of a BLACK SABBATH photo gallery. There are, however, four additional archival performances from the Paris, 1970 show. These four performances are shown uncut, but they are not remastered with stereo surround sound like the main feature (they are presented with mono sound only).

Classic Rock Productions BLACK SABBATH: ROCK REVIEW rectifies the problems of their earlier INSIDE BLACK SABBATH release. Facts-wise, BLACK SABBATH: ROCK REVIEW is the final word on the history of this legendary Heavy Metal outfit and this time they leave no stone unturned. Despite the promise of ultra-rare footage on the packaging, this is the same old stuff we’ve all seen before. Technically, the DVD really shines with the dynamic DTS 5.1 and DD 5.1 surround sound options. Despite these minor problems, BLACK SABBATH purists will want to purchase this DVD for collectors purposes.

 BLACK SABBATH: ROCK REVIEW is available from DVDEmpire.com