Although this was not quite the end of the road for Black Sabbath’s career, this album suggested that the band were running out of time as a unit together. Universal Records requested that Black Sabbath release this compilation as a “contractual obligation”. This came in 2009 as a result. It only features material from the original Black Sabbath lineup of Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass guitar) and Bill Ward (drums). This was likely done as a response to their earlier compilation released by Black Sabbath released in 2007 named The Dio Years, focusing on songs in the Ronnie James Dio era of Black Sabbath. In any case, Black Sabbath has been a hugely influential band over several decades of recording. This should be an exciting and essential listening experience as a result, even for a compilation. Let’s hear it.

Paranoid is the signature tune from Black Sabbath. It begins with an awesome and crunchy guitar riff, launching into a brilliant song about mental health decline. Very great to hear, even after all these years, this sounds fantastic and completely different to anything else ever recorded. Ozzy Osbourne’s vocals here are fantastic, along with the rest of the band. Really awesome listening, the fuzz-laden guitar solo here is really awesome as well. A great, great song, and something that sounds really fresh, inspired and original to this day. A really cool tune to hear, this stands tall to this day. Excellent song from start to finish.

Iron Man is another legendary tune from Black Sabbath. It begins with a slow kick drum, before launching into doom and gloom Gibson SG guitars and a legendary piece of music about said character in the song title who is neglected by people, only to assume revenge on the human race. Kind of like a science fiction/horror theme going on here (AI maybe?), this is nonetheless a brilliant song to listen to. All four members of Black Sabbath play wonderfully here, and Ozzy Osbourne sounds marvellous here. A brilliant and effortless sounding tune, this is a classic in both Rock and Metal history. A really fantastic listen, the second half has a dramatic change leading up to a blistering guitar solo that sounds dramatic and addictive to hear. All in all, a clever and enjoyable song. This is immortal music that will not die. Although this was recorded and released way back in 1970, it is light years ahead of its time. Near the end is an extended jam section that sounds wonderful and musically brilliant, fitting the song perfectly. Tony Iommi’s guitars here do sound great, as does Geezer Butler and Bill Ward’s rhythm section respectively. Excellent.

Changes is a piano ballad about love lost. It’s fairly unusual as a Black Sabbath piece but makes perfect sense if you have ever gone through a serious breakup (at least as a male). Emotional, wonderful and extraordinary, Black Sabbath deliver a wonderful song at hand. Ozzy Osbourne sings from a wonderful and deeply emotional place in this song, and he does sound really great as a result. This is the sort of music that sounds sad, moving yet pleasantly inspired. Some great lyrics are present as well. All in all, this is a fantastic listening experience that, quite simply, works a treat. It’s a real tear-jerker sort of piece to listen to. The piano and spacey mellotron make this piece come alive as well. This is a fantastic tune and is something worth your ears for sure, and it doesn’t sound quite like a traditional Black Sabbath tune, either. A very wonderful listen, and super sad as well. Great song.

Fairies Wear Boots begins with some palm-muted and delayed guitar parts (simultaneously), along with some interesting drum fills. It quickly launches into a really cool tune that is one of the more underrated listens from Black Sabbath out there. A really great listening experience, this is a great jam styled piece from the group. After some time, it launches into the main section of the song which sounds really fantastic and glorious. It’s actually about drug use, although it may seem otherwise. Ozzy Osbourne puts in one of his better vocals here, and Tony Iommi’s guitars fill the mix nicely, alongside Geezer Butler’s thumping basslines and Bill Ward’s fine drumming. A really top-notch tune that sounds wonderful, this is a powerful and interesting listen. In the second half the jam from the start of the song returns and this is very suspenseful as a result. It launches quickly back into the main verses afterwards, and this song really comes alive here. Ozzy gets into a real Rock God mode and begins screaming and singing away into an almost psychotic mode on this song. The song concludes brilliantly with a direct lyrical reference to recreational drug use, and some fantastic guitar parts played in the outro. Awesome.

War Pigs begins with some extremely heavy guitars and backing from the group, just sounding warped and demonic. It also has some interesting sirens here as well, suggesting a world full of chaos. Eventually, the stop/start guitars and hi-hats enter, followed by Ozzy Osbourne’s awesome and wonderful vocals, being one of the greatest singers of Rock music. He sounds really great and fantastic here, just delivering a superb listen and the band quickly follow. This is fantastic and really enjoyable throughout, with some absolutely killer riffs to hear. With lyrical references to corrupt politicians, chaos and war, Black Sabbath kickstarted the 1970s and Heavy Metal music in general here. This is, without a doubt, an amazing and brilliant listen throughout. The playing and musicianship by Black Sabbath perfectly match Ozzy’s deep and wonderful vocals throughout this song. Tony Iommi plays like a real Rock God as well as the rest of the group. The second half of this song has some eerie and very dark musical and lyrical themes present which sound scary, followed by some more wonderful and dark playing by the group. Once Ozzy concludes singing, some different riff-based progressions enter here, and this Heavy Metal tune powers along nicely. In all seriousness, this is a fantastic song and a wonderful tune to listen to, even many decades later on. Great to hear, Black Sabbath were a force of nature that was undeniably powerful. Great music and musicianship are here, all the way through to the sped-up outro. Legendary.

Never Say Die is one of the later Ozzy Osbourne original era Black Sabbath tunes. It sounds like a bit of an oddity on this compilation, as the song itself is okay, but not fantastic. Regardless, it is still not outright bad, but just a little out of place here. A good song to hear, but certainly not a great song, this is okay, but isn’t something really worth repeated listens. This song and its namesake album that it is from marked a low point in Black Sabbath history, just not being the best of the best from the legendary group. In any case, this is proof that even the mighty Black Sabbath had its flaws. The ending is quite good, however.

Children Of The Grave begins with some palm muted guitar and thumping bass lines in sync, before launching into a fantastic sounding piece of music that sounds really legendary, complete with rolling drums. Ozzy Osbourne’s voice has quite a lot of reverb on it here, and it is a more interesting Black Sabbath tune to hear. The playing and singing by the group, nonetheless, is superb and fantastic to hear. This is one of the best and most underrated Black Sabbath songs ever made. Near the middle of this song is a cool progression and change, before launching into a more melodic and interesting section with some keyboards in the background. It quickly returns back into the main section of this song, complete with stereo panned and interesting drumming by Bill Ward. Ozzy returns on vocals and sounds really brilliant here. Soon enough, this launches into a magnificent and awesome dual-tracked guitar solo section that simply sounds fantastic. Great music, indeed. There is a guitar led breakdown before this song enters into a spacey conclusion led by guitars that are absolutely fantastic, and worth hearing. The song title is whispered here as well. There is a quick fade out of this song shortly afterwards.

The Wizard begins with some sparse harmonica that sounds excellent. It eventually launches into a fantastic early Black Sabbath song that sounds really awesome, heavy and dark. A drum solo section enters, along with some expressive electric guitar being played. Soon enough, it returns back into the main section of music at hand, with some great singing by Ozzy Osbourne. This is about the mystical medieval being, although this whole song is a bit of a drug use reference in general, especially if you pay attention to the lyrics. Still, this sounds really great and amazing. An awesome tune to listen to which is one of the better Black Sabbath songs from early on, this tune defines cool. The guitars and harmonica duke it out throughout, rivalling each other for their presence in the mix. Obviously influenced by the Psychedelic Rock of the late 1960s, Black Sabbath play and sing very well here. Excellent tune from start to finish.

Snowblind is a fairly obvious reference to Cocaine use. It begins with some drop-tuned riffs that are heavily distorted and launches into an excellent piece of Heavy Metal. Ozzy Osbourne’s singing here is really top-notch, and this is an anthem for drug users out there. Really cool to hear, no matter if you are a drug user or not, this is a sensational listening experience with a great fusion of sound. Towards the middle, this piece gets melodic before Ozzy sings: “My eyes are blind, but I can see…” which sums it up really. These guys loved their drugs, too. Soon after that is a very cool and melodic guitar solo that is very expressive, and fits the tune perfectly. In the second half, the main verses resume their course and Ozzy sings very well, as per usual. Soon afterwards is a riff change, and the band completely change course from this point onwards. Black Sabbath has always been fairly underrated as a group, and this song is merely an example of that. Towards the end enters some keyboard, and this piece reaches a really cool climax, followed by guitar soloing galore by Tony Iommi. Again, very brilliant, all the way through to the fade out.

Sweet Leaf is obviously a song about Marijuana. It begins with an edited and looped cough and launches into a very heavily driven riff piece. A really cool song, regardless if you love weed or not, this is a really fantastic tune to listen to. Even the Red Hot Chili Peppers used the riff from this song on their own smash hit, Give It Away. Layers of guitars, Ozzy Osbourne’s immortal singing and the great rhythm section keep this powering along nicely. A really great and inspired listen, this is for those of you who dig Stoner Rock and historically want to know where it all started with that genre. In the midsection, this changes pace and structure musically and completely, before some excellent drumming and guitar soloing enter, along with some thumping basslines to support it all. This eventually resumes to the main section of the song at hand. “Straight people don’t know, what you’re on about. They’ll put you down, they’ll shut you out…” is a direct example of the truth of weed use, that is, if you love using it. All in all, a really great song. This concludes with repeated gong hits and a sweet fade out. Great music.

Evil Woman begins with a strange sounding intro, before launching right into a fantastic sounding and short-ish song for Black Sabbath (around three minutes long) and sounds like a really great Pop/Rock tune that quite simply, works. It is a good song that is lyrically a warning to young men out there about the dangers of women in general. A little sexist in some ways, but this was released a long time ago when social perceptions of such things were very different. There are some great guitar playing and riffs throughout here, and Tony Iommi proves himself to be a very underrated guitar player here. Nonetheless, this does sound very awesome and catchy. Short, interesting and Poppy, this is a great song by Black Sabbath. Great to hear every moment of it, all the way through to the fade out.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath launches straight into it, with crunchy and delicious sounding guitar riffs that are down-tuned. Ozzy Osbourne sings wonderfully here and does absolutely justice here musically. The song soon leads into a pleasant musical section with acoustic guitars and great clean electric parts, before resuming back into the loud and heavy mayhem. Awesome and really cool to listen to, this music is great, interesting and consistently fantastic to listen to. Ozzy clearly is the star here, although the rest of the band plays to the best of their abilities throughout. Towards the middle are some really cool guitar solos that sound very different in a musical sense. In the second half, Black Sabbath play some killer melodies, eventually launching into the climax which is really deep and different. Ozzy sings in a very high register in this section, sounding like an absolute Rock God. This is followed by some cool guitar riffing by Tony Iommi before the vocals return to surprise you. This is one of the best Black Sabbath songs out there and is never dull for the nearly six minutes that it runs. Once the singing on this song is done, there are a bunch of backward guitars and soloing, followed by a quick fade out. Fantastic music.

Black Sabbath is the definitive song by Black Sabbath. It begins with the sound of rain and thunder, a clock bell chiming and a great deal of suspense. Soon enough, guitars and drums enter, sounding a lot like Gustav Holst’s Mars composition in his famous The Planets suite. Nonetheless, this sounds very theatric and brilliantly fantastic. Ozzy Osbourne’s singing sounds really fantastic, and he sings about encountering the devil himself. A really great tune to hear, this is absolutely top and brilliant, especially if you are convinced that God and the devil both exist. The progressions and playing on this recording are fantastic as well. Ozzy paints a picture of doom, gloom and misery throughout this tune, with plenty of Biblical references, including that of satan. This is a great song to give Christians nightmares, but more importantly, it sounds fantastic to this very day musically. After a while, a palm-muted electric guitar section enters and this tune powers along nicely. Very, very catchy. Towards the end are multitracked guitar parts and a thunderous rhythm section to match to complete this amazing tune. Excellent, and a definitive moment in Rock history. Intelligent and brilliant.

N.I.B. is the last song on this compilation. It begins with a great bass guitar solo, sounding precise and oddly cool simultaneously. This continues on nicely for some time and just sounds super cool. Soon enough, some overdrive/distortion is put on the bass guitar and a riff is played, which is quickly followed by the rest of the band. Ozzy Osbourne sings well here, and the lyrics are intelligent and excellently written. The whole piece is loud, heavy and rocking, and Ozzy Osbourne sounds quite unlike anyone else in Rock history. He sings at the song’s climax, “Your love for me has just got to be real, before you know the way I am going to feel…” which reveals a sensitive side musically to the guy that isn’t always apparent. All in all, this is a brilliant song about trusting the wrong lover in one’s life. In the second half are some brilliant electric guitar solos, backed up by the rest of the band. This sounds super great and is an extraordinary and amazing listening experience. The refrain returns again in the second half, with music that sounds like doom and gloom. The song then resumes into the verses at hand and just sounds undeniably great. Towards the end are some really awesome dual-tracked guitar solos that are excellently played by Tony Iommi. Black Sabbath never fails to amaze and surprise. The song then quickly ends with some crashing drums and open guitar chords. Nice job. The compilation concludes here.

Although this compilation is merely a snapshot of the music that Black Sabbath made, it still sounds amazingly fresh, consistent and good to this day. It is a good one hour of the best of early Ozzy Osbourne era Black Sabbath. If there is any sort of flaw in this compilation, it is the fact that it only focuses on the early material, which is a little inaccurate and disappointing for such a band who have had a very long lifespan. Should you listen to this anyway? Definitely, this is a great example of musical history to this very day. No doubt that these songs inspired the evolution of Heavy Metal in the years to come.

Welcome to the dark side.

9/10