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Editorial Reviews

Product description

This 29-track collection gathers the key tracks from Black Sabbath's earliest days and most popular era with Ozzy Osbourne as co-founder and frontman. Includes the rare ""Evil Woman,"" a non-LP single available on compact disc for the first time in the United States
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: BLACK SABBATH
Title: SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE: ORIGINAL BLACK SABBATH (1
Street Release Date: 10/22/2002
Domestic
Genre: HEAVY METAL

Amazon.com

Completely besting the once-classic and classically named best-of, We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n' Roll, Symptom of the Universe captures one of rock's heaviest tidal forces in all their glory--and in some more compromising moments. Ranging from the eponymous dirge that opens the set to the boogie-laden energy of more minor Sabbath gems like "Evil Woman" and "After Forever," this two-disc overview doesn't skimp on stone-cold gems like "Paranoid," "War Pigs," "Iron Man," and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath." The second CD serves up the solo acoustic "Snowblind," a piano-and-Ozzy interlude, "Laguna Sunrise" (from the album Black Sabbath, Vol. 4), and the silly, aptly named "Fluff." Here the quartet reaches beyond their grasp, eschewing the grinding, hefty sound that fit Ozzy's flat vocal delivery like a glove; this stuff isn't great, but it's revealing. Decades after their debut, Sabbath's dystrophic rejoinder to '60s and '70s rock still energize nearly all hard rock. So this is rock history, and a blast at that. --Andrew Bartlett

Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 5.75 x 0.75 inches; 7.14 ounces
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ universal
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ January 23, 2007
Label ‏ : ‎ universal
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00006LHW1
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #129,926 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #8,123 in Classic Rock (CDs & Vinyl)
- #11,855 in Metal
- #57,458 in Rock (CDs & Vinyl)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 99 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

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Erick Bertin

Ultimate Black Sabbath

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2002

Verified Purchase

For those of you out there looking to get started on Black Sabbath, this might be a great place to start. Indeed, with 29 songs, these 2 cd collection is a really good one, only surpassed by some european boxed sets consisting of 4 and sometimes even 5 cds. However, bear in mind a couple of things: if you want to have only a taste of Sabbath and not the whole thing, then maybe prior collection " We sold our souls for r n'r" would be a good choice, but on its cd edition, it only includes 14 songs going from their debut album up until "Sabbotage", therefore excluding "Technical ecstasy" and "Never say die". On the other hand, for those of you out there who, like me, own the cassette edition of "We sold...", this is a fantastic opportunity to upgrade your collection: you get all 16 songs originally included plus a 13 song bonus, including the previously unavailable in America "Evil Woman". You cannot beat that without having to pay over 50 bucks for one of the aforementioned boxed sets! This is a must for any and every Sabbath fan, and for those who want to know "that band where Ozzy played before the tv show(????)", this is also a bargain.
GET IT NOW!!!

7 people found this helpful

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Cynn02

Great compilation

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2021

Verified Purchase

I like this collection because it has songs that I never heard before. It's 2 CDs it comes with a book that tells the history of the band. It has the favorites and the obscure.

One person found this helpful

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SueBhoney

Good songs

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

I am a huge Ozzy fan so this cd was a must buy. Most the songs are great. Some are good. Others I didn't really like but it's Black Sabbath. I can't complain. I highly recommend to any Sabbath or Ozzy fan.

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2013

Verified Purchase

This two CD set collects some of the greatest songs from Black Sabbath's early catalog. I think the selection is well chosen and hits the highlights of their early career. I can listen to both the disks straight through without issue in song selection. I think the mastering sounds good. Many of the songs on this CD sound better than the ones on the early CD's I have so I pretty much have these songs on my regular rotation. In my digital catalog these songs have replaced the versions from earlier CD's I have. I only have the other songs not found in Symptom of the Universe digitized from the original CD's.

Highly Enjoyable CD and must have for any Black Sabbath collection or anyone looking for nice package of early stuff.

3 people found this helpful

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Stephen J Haines

Great Collection

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2021

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Love this compilation. Great set for beginners, who may not be familiar with Black Sabbath.

One person found this helpful

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N. Chandran

superlative compilation! now how about ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2005

Verified Purchase

... releasing a similar collection of non-ozzy sabbath - especially the dio, gillan and glenn hughes period?

the ozzy cd set btw hasn't left my cd player in a week since i got it. that's almost the only thing i listen to nowadays! superlative compilation!

trivia : n.i.b - btw did you know that the menacing n.i.b actually referred to geezer butler's pointed beard which was like a "pen nib"? they just added the dots in between the alphabets to make it look more cool! the title btw has nothing to do with the song - they used it because they didnt have a title for the song! hoo hoo!

5 people found this helpful

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singarimbun agam

The best of Black Sabbath album for Forever.

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2013

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I laked Black Sabbath befor 30 years a go and i look the concert in West Germany 2 time . The Band is true the first for metal music and later come experient rock metal the Budgie group .

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JB

Awesome Sabs Compilation

Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2020

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Sure the complete series is best and buy it iif you can...but if not this is a great "best of collection". Buy it now!...or regret it forever1

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Mr Alan Danton

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2018

Verified Purchase

Excellent

sabbath

bonne compilation de sabbath

Reviewed in Canada on February 9, 2017

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cd usagé et en bonne etat parfait pour le prix et c`est un bon cd meilleur compilation

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Marbisca

Forse la migliore raccolta dei Sabbath di tutti i tempi.

Reviewed in Italy on May 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

Forse la migliore raccolta dei Sabbath di tutti i tempi. Finalmente una assortimento sensato dei loro migliori pezzi in una bel cofanetto.
Qualitá sonora medesima a quella degli originali in CD.

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Sylvain

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on September 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

Great CD, great delivery.

Carmen

Don't think I got the one I really wanted.

Reviewed in Canada on April 1, 2019

Verified Purchase