First let me begin by stating that BLACK SABBATH is one of my favorite bands of all time. While most rock fans will cite THE ROLLING STONES, THE BEATLES, THE WHO, LED ZEPPELIN, AEROSMITH, KISS, or any other of the other rock legends as their favorite; I’m not ashamed to say that blues-metal pioneers Tony Iommi (guitars), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums), and everyone’s favorite TV star, Ozzy Osbourne, are the musical gods I worship. That foursome cranked out some superb albums during the 1970’s like PARANOID, SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH, and MASTER OF REALITY, until Ozzy left after recording NEVER SAY DIE (1978) to begin his solo career. After that, BLACK SABBATH picked up ex-RAINBOW vocalist Ronnie James Dio and entered a new phase of their career. BLACK SABBATH Mark II released a couple of classic metal albums HEAVEN AND HELL and THE MOB RULES. I continued enjoying their music even when the egotistical Dio left and DEEP PURPLE vocalist Ian Gillan came into the fold. Though I really dug the album and tour called BORN AGAIN, it was not to be. Not only did Gillan depart, but founding members Geezer Butler and an ailing Bill Ward called it a day. It’s my opinion (which may not agree with yours) that this is where BLACK SABBATH should have officially ended. But sole remaining member Tony Iommi, with the backing of those fools at Warner Brothers records, tried to keep the sinking ship afloat during the 1980s and 1990s with a revolving door of personnel for a band that should have been called THE TONY IOMMI PROJECT or something similar. It wasn’t easy for a true fan like myself to witness my favorite band become a joke to the critics and the world at large, while sell-out Ozzy was achieving mainstream commercial success. Strangely enough, BLACK SABBATH become relevant again with two big reunions, the first one with Ronnie James Dio (which only lasted for one album and a subsequent tour) and the official BLACK SABBATH reformation later at Ozzfest (which restored my faith in old-timer Ozzy that he would put aside his troubles with Iommi to rejoin his old bandmates for the benefit of a new generation). Anyway, during the first reformation with Ronnie James Dio, Warner Brothers rushed out two flawed companion VHS tapes called THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOL 1 & 2. The reason I went into so much detail with the band’s history is to basically state that this legendary band needs to be chronicled in documentary format. THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOL 1 and 2 are certainly lacking and have their share of problems, but until someone else does it right, these two DVDs are all there is.

THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME 1 traces the roots and origins of BLACK SABBATH on an album by album basis and features rare performance footage including N.I.B. Paranoid, and War Pigs. Watch Ozzy and company slay the 300,000 plus crowd at California Jam 1974 with a blistering rendition of Children of the Grave. BLACK SABBATH is a highly visual band and one of the earliest metal groups to experiment with promotional videos. Their hilarious video for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath captures the spirit of similar videos put out by THE BEATLES. There are a couple of other songs here captured live from the NEVER SAY DIE tour including Snowblind, Symptom of the Universe, and Rock n Roll Doctor. My favorite bit on here is a rare performance of the band doing It’s Alright with drummer Bill Ward on vocals (and he sings damn good!). Two more obscure clips round out the package including the Hard Road promo video and Never Say Die from the BBC’s Top of the Pops show. All of these performances are professionally shot and Warner Bros. shows them uncut and without narration. However, the quality suffers due to the vintage of the film elements and the songs range from good (Symptom of the Universe) to downright unwatchable (Children of the Grave). On the whole, though lacking in many areas, THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME 1 covers all the bases of the Ozzy years.

THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME 2 picks up immediately where volume one left off. With Ozzy and Bill Ward out of the picture, Geezer and Tony recruit Ronnie James Dio and Carmine Appice for BLACK SABBATH Mark II. Warner Bros includes the live promotional videos for Neon Knights and Die Young. Once Mark II fell apart, Geezer and Tony continued onward with vocal god Ian Gillan. The interview with this newly revamped version of BLACK SABBATH indicated that everyone was happy with the chemistry. But it was not to be. BLACK SABBATH Mark III didn’t last long and did not have time to film any live footage, so the only representations from this period are the promo videos for Trashed and the bizarre Zero the Hero. The rest of the documentary focuses on the years BLACK SABBATH fell from grace with the videos for No Stranger To Love, The Shining, Headless Cross, and Feels Good To Me. The band redeemed itself somewhat with a reformation of the Mark II lineup with the return of Dio, Geezer, and Carmine Appice. The album was called DEHUMANIZER and the video included here is TV Crimes. When this documentary was put together by Warner Bros in honor of the Mark II reunion, the narrative ends on a positive note as if the newly rejuvenated BLACK SABBATH would last forever. How embarrassing for Warner Bros not being able to control the revolving door politics of one of their most celebrated rock bands.

There are some huge differences between THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME 1 and THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME 2 DVDS. So if you have never seen these home video versions before, listen up. In a nutshell, if you consider yourself a true BLACK SABBATH fan, run out right now and purchase a copy of Vol. 1 on DVD. Do not waste your money on the second volume—it sucks big time. First of all, Vol. 1 consists of some truly rare live footage (check out the alternate lyrics on War Pigs and you’ll see what I mean) while Vol. 2 features NO live footage at all; it’s merely a collection of video promos. Now, the idea of a BLACK SABBATH music video collection IS a good one, but the producers of Vol. 2 (credited to Tony Iommi himself) ruined that prospect by editing down the videos and running narration and interview recollections over the music and visuals. The end result is a totally choppy viewing experience that will make BLACK SABBATH fans wince. Even for those individuals who enjoy the Tony Martin era will shudder when the videos are cut off and lazy narration drowns out the music. The documentary portion itself is a real downer and focuses on the revolving door membership status during the painful Iommi-only years.

The widescreen aspect ratio for these two programs is 1.78.1 which includes 16x9 enhancement. This has a negative effect on some of the old footage resulting in the magnification of flaws. This is especially evident during the black & white sequences. All these performances are from the 1970s so there is plenty of grain. The visual material on THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME 2 is more recent and so the quality is much more precise and colorful. The DVDs include the original weak stereo mix in Dolby Digital 2.0 sound, and fully remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Again, like the video quality, the audio remastering varies from source to source, but overall it is pleasing considering the vintage of these performances. THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME 2 looks and sound better than Vol. 1, but that can’t save it from being one of the worst rock n roll documentaries ever produced. The interview segments and narration for both volumes are crisp and clear, with the exception of the archive interviews which often suffer from some distortion. Extras include the Band History with pictures of their album covers. There is also an interview with the late Cozy Powell who joined the band for a brief spell, and an interview with one of BLACK SABBATH’s early managers.

With the success of the original lineup reunion and the subsequent Ozzfest tour, the success of Ozzy’s TV show, and the remastered releases of band’s CD catalog, BLACK SABBATH is now more high profile than ever, with a whole new generation of fans. The band deserves some kind in-depth documentary tribute, but these two DVDs are not it. THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME 1 barely qualifies as a proper documentary, but the abundance of rare live footage is enough to make fans overlook the shortcomings. For instance, the documentary never mentions the internal power struggles that plagued BLACK SABBATH for years. Instead, THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME 1 takes a light tone with the band members and features interviews with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler ribbing each other over their drugged out onstage antics. The DVD presentation is very well done, but be aware that some of the footage is poor quality. The great thing about this DVD is the Dolby Digital 5.1 remastering. The original sound clips from the VHS tape version were in mono sound. It is a real treat to witness these old performances with Dolby Digital 5.1 dynamics. Considering the long history of this band, the extras section is quite slim. As for THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME 2, save your money and get the awesome BLACK SABBATH: THE LAST SUPPER reunion show on DVD instead.

THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME ONE is available from DVDEmpire.com

THE BLACK SABBATH STORY VOLUME TWO is available from DVDEmpire.com

-- Brian Cleary

BACK TO

MUSIC DVD REVIEW INDEX 

DVDCULT HOME