Black Sabbath Story 1

Starring:Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne
Studio: Sanctuary Records
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
This chronicle of the heaviest metal band of all time will be an eye-opener to those who only know Ozzy Osbourne as that goofball dad on MTV: 30 years ago, he fronted one of the hardest-hitting and loudest rock groups around. An hour-long compilation of interviews, videos, and performance footage that, while short on length, is long on substance, The Black Sabbath Story, Volume One unearths several vintage clips that show the band at its artistic and commercial zenith: "N.I.B." and "War Pigs," filmed at concerts in Paris; a performance of "Paranoid" from Belgian TV; and a rarely seen video of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath."

Amazon.com

This chronicle of the heaviest metal band of all time will be an eye-opener to those who only know Ozzy Osbourne as that goofball dad on MTV: 30 years ago, he fronted one of the hardest-hitting and loudest rock groups around. An hour-long compilation of interviews, videos, and performance footage that, while short on length, is long on substance, The Black Sabbath Story, Volume One unearths several vintage clips that show the band at its artistic and commercial zenith: "N.I.B." and "War Pigs," filmed at concerts in Paris; a performance of "Paranoid" from Belgian TV; and a rarely seen video of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath."

Customer Reviews:

You Won't Regret Owning It.......2007-01-29

I bought this video on VHS over 10 years ago and nearly wore it out. Great footage of the original Sabath line - up. We get to hear a new song called "War Pigs" from the "new album", with Bill Ward playing a single bass drum kit. The whole band wears jeans and sneakers in early footage and in a few short years Bill has a double bass and the band is wearing platform shoes w/satin (?) pants. This is the best overview of Sabbath from the 70's. The interviews are apparently from the era before the Reunion when apparently they didn't anticipate Ozzy returning. It's actually a pleasure hearing the interviews with Tony and Geezer without Ozzy's big mouth. Another great thing about this video is that the interviews are in between songs not during them and now that it's on DVD you can actually skip over the parts that you don't like. Also includes bonus track "A Hard Road" not on the VHS version. Tony and Geezer tell Ozzy stories and reminince about the early days. Personal favorite is the one about Ozzy beating up a doped up fan who was beating up his little boy in the audience. Overall, it seems short and will make you want to rewind (skip backward) to hear it again. This isn't one of those documentaries that drags on forever (e.g. Some Kind of Monster - ugh), but rather keeps you watching and holds your interest. Also it doesn't contain any back biting or bad mouthing just good natured remininces from Tony and Geezer.

Great history of Sabbath.......2006-07-26

I have had this video now for almost 10 years, and it is now available on DVD. But to this date, there is no DVD that even compairs to this one as far as the history and footage shown. The live videos and rare tunes played in this documentary is worth every penny i originally paid for it. I still can't believe the footage from Ontario motor Speedway in 1974, showing the massive crowd that Sabbath played, just spectacular. This video covers through early 1978, and touches on Ozzy leaving, but you'll need tape two to see that. On DVD, the 1978 year is completed on DVD 1 ending with "a hard road" and ozzy leaving. So this is a must have for any sabbath fan, and don't foget to buy the Black sabbath story Volume 2 to complete the set.

A tad disappointing..........2005-12-31

I enjoyed the band interviews that are interspersed throughout the DVD--although there were no (recent) Ozzy interviews--and particularly the interview with the band's first manager, Jim Simpson, who had some interesting insights to share on the band's origins. I also thought the "Band History" section of the DVD as a whole was pretty informative (there's even a brief Cozy Powell interview).

Having said all that, I was disappointed in the overall production of this DVD from the moment I opened it up. The sound isn't all that great, but I can forgive that considering how old a lot of the footage is. But the major sins are:

* No insert booklet (That spells C-H-E-A-P. I mean, come on!)
* The "Extras" section is comprised solely of two 90-second interviews with Tony Iommi, in which he grumbles about the state of modern heavy metal, and Bill Ward, and I'm not really sure just what he was talking about.
* The "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" video has almost two minutes lopped off the end
* The live footage of "Symptom of the Universe" and "Snowblind" was taken from the "Never Say Die" tour. I would rather have seen footage from when those songs were released.

I noticed in a couple of the reviews that some people mentioned the DVD being shorter than the 85 minutes advertised. Although I haven't timed it, I think if you add up all the various features ("Band History," etc.) it will be closer to 85 minutes.

I almost gave this DVD 2 stars for not even having a booklet, so I will recommend it with an asterisk.

Brief, but Great Overview of this Great Band's Early History.......2004-05-08

I bought this tape and Vol. 2 back in 1997, a few years after they had been first released. (I remember being overjoyed to discover that now I could get Black Sabbath on VHS.) It is absolutely essential for anyone who calls themselves a Black Sabbath fan. I don't mean this as demeaning to those fans who don't have it, it's just that I had thought that I knew the whole Black Sabbath story and still learned new things about the way they were during Ozzy Osbourne's tenure with them.

In this video, we get great performances from Black Sabbath doing some of their best songs, such as "N.I.B.," "War Pigs," "Paranoid," and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath." Actually, my favorite video is the last one: a BBC Top Of The Pops performance of "Never Say Die" from their 1978 album of the same same name, their last one with Ozzy. There are many insightful interviews, especially with Tony Iommi, who gets credit only for being a great guitarist but not enough for being an intelligent, throughtful and well-spoken individual. He is quiet-mannered, yet is forthcoming when talking about the band, and reveals some very interesting information which showed how much I didn't know about them. Drummer Bill Ward and bass guitarist Tony "Geezer" Butler are also very forthcoming, the latter in particular about his drug abuse. And yes, one of the videos shown is the Bill-Ward sung "It's Alright!" THE BLACK SABBATH STORY really is essential for helping you understand the whole story about one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

MOST RECOMMENDED, FOR FANS AND CURIOUS ALIKE

Good, But Not Enough.......2004-01-01

The video of this has been around ten yrs or more, so I wasn't expecting anything new. What's here is good ~ I get a kick outta the color version of them playing Children Of The Grave at an outdoor Cal Jam 74'...it's a strange juxtapostion between the atmosphere of the crowd, and the message of the song.

The opening track, N.I.B., is taken from a film that was made for TV in Paris, 1970, and as to why this ~ the ultimate live Sabbath footage ~ hasn't been released on DVD is beyond me.
This is when they were fresh and had a spark fueling what/how they played. Would you like to remember them as rock stars of the late 70's, or as a really freaky underground drug band of the early 70's?!..ha!..face it, that's when they cranked out their best material.

Anyway, a complete and comprehensive Sabbath DVD is yet to be:
it would need the entire Paris 70' footage, the Don Kirshner rock show footage, those hokey colored-gel background video's that are available on the Musikladen DVD, the COMPLETE footage of the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath video, and hopefully some other rare footage of them pre-1973, that I'm sure exists somewhere.

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