Is there really the need for comments on a Black Sabbath "greatest hits" package in today's world? Well, let's review a few things before we decide on that. For starters we live in a world with no real music station to watch outside of a couple of good VH1 shows. The former major player in Rock video now caters more to bling-bling shows or idiotic Prom & Sweet 16 things; more kids who watch those stations know Ozzy more for his appearance as the Rock star on that reality show. We also live in a world where it took the "esteemed" Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame a number of years passed their eligible time frame to vote them in. They opted to place The Pretenders and others ahead and while some were good bands, none were as important to music as the mighty Black Sabbath. Given these factors I say yes, it is high time to review a CD like this, so let's go to it.
No matter what band you find being your favorite in Heavy Metal and Hard Rock most of them say without pause that Black Sabbath was the one that started it for them and the world in general. If you are a musician yourself, there is a good chance that some of the first songs you would ever learn to play would be Black Sabbath songs. I recall two of my own first runs musically were "War Pigs" and "Paranoid" and like many others this would be an opened door to the world of Heavy Rock and its unlimited potential. Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward laid the foundation with their songs and for decades to come would be the Father of all the genres that sprang forth from its inspiration. Not bad for a bunch of young men from Birmingham England if you ask me. Everything you expect to find from the "essential" tracks is here to be enjoyed but this does not speak to the hard core Sabbath disciple. In their eyes a Sabbath best of with less than three CD's is an insult. The 16 tracks here are aimed at the fan who just wants a nice collection for the car or music player and more specifically the new budding Metal music fan to be their education on how this began. There is enough present for them to build from this inspiration and follow on from there. An incredible 20 page booklet with historic photos and biographical liner notes makes this a nice addition to any collection. While I wish a second CD was present to have more songs, this is still a superb release. Young listeners to the Metal it begins here and if this information is new to you, then you have some work to do.
Track Listing
1. Black Sabbath
2. N.I.B.
3. The Wizard
4. War Pigs
5. Paranoid
6. Iron Man
7. Sweet Leaf
8. Children Of The Grave
9. Changes
10. Snowblind
11. Supernaut
12. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
13. Hole In The Sky
14. Rock N Roll Doctor
15. Never Say Die
16. Dirty Women
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