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To "The Best of Black Sabbath as defined by the record label publishing this"-truth in advertisingWhen I purchased this, back on the first release, (before the remasters), the feeling after unwrapping and listening that this was an unauthorized production, I don't think any of the members were asked to define the compilation and I guess when band members are doing their own separate things I can understand why. This is akin to a mix tape you may have made to your friends or girlfriend, etc you spent time working on it, you selected the songs and a lot of heart goes into it. I'm still not sure if this was ever sanctioned by Black Sabbath but as Deep Purple and others have found, sometimes record labels need to push product out without the band's blessing. Now you may think I'm nit picking here, but when a band goes through the compilations, they tend to listen to their fans and themselves more importantly which generally defines the album. The track selection wasn't too bad, could have used more from the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath album and it would have honestly hit all areas, new listeners and fans had they pushed it to a 3 cd collection which included material from all 3 eras, Ozzy, Dio (3 albums, technically 4 with the live album), Gillan (1 album) and the 2-3 other singers that had worked on the sabbath albums (so rememberable I forget their names). But it's a good album all together, I just had wished for the $ that the record label could have put more into it.
While the tracks are remastered, nothing too radical has been done, so they still sound great and true to the original sound.With that said, Sab has so many great tunes over the years and different line-ups, that any "best of" collection is going to be subjective and leave out many of the listener's favorites. As noted in other reviews, this disc set heavily favors the earlier albums, especially Paranoid. But, in terms of it being "the best" of Sabbath (the Ozzy years, anyway), it does include the tunes widely considered to be the best (which includes almost everything off Paranoid). I could think of a bunch of other tunes to add in, but am not sure which ones I would give up to make the new ones fit on the two CDs. By the time all the great stuff gets included, you end up with the collective works of the band, or smaller collectives of "The Ozzy Years", "The Dio Years", "The Former Deep Purple member years", etc.As it stands, it may not be what everyone thinks of as "The Best of Black Sabbath", but they are all great tunes that have been remastered and sound great -even after 30-40 years.
A couple days after I ordered it I received an email from the seller stating that 'he was unable to ship my item because he had to go out of town for a week'. What. Although my charge card was refunded, what a waste of time.
Starting with the first album and ending with Mob Rules this includes nearly all of the early Sabbath classics with Evil Woman, which was previously unreleasd in the US and even includes Zero The Hero from the Gillan period. Of all the compilations out ther this is the one that I always come back to. All these songs on 2 discs. Not perfect but better than the rest.
When I want really heavy, sludgey rock, I think of Sabbath. I don't listen to them that often, but almost alone among the music I have (and it's a lot) Sabbath is never background music. When I want to listen to some heavy rock, I don't think "Do I want to listen to Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin". Personally, I believe the two bands are completely different and I enjoy both. Reading reviews of this collection, which incidentally is fantastic, I find a lot of people comparing Black Sabbath to Led Zeppelin. I only own the first four recordings, and now this compilation, and haven't felt the inclination to go further than, say, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Both bands also had the foresight to quit at the top of their game giving them the status of "legends".Sabbath always gives me a special thrill when I listen to them, quite different to any other band. Because Zeppelin, like the Beatles in a different context, are completely untouchable.
I just LISTEN to it. I rarely saw Purple fans making the same comparison. I find the comparison unfair, and indicative of inferiority. I don't listen to it while I work, read or have a shag. When I think of intelligent and experimental rock, I think of Zeppelin.I found the same comparisons being made between Deep Purple and Uriah Heep, with Heep fans always comparing their band to Purple. It's the same here: read Zeppelin reviews and you won't see a mention of Sabbath. It grabs your attention.
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