For such an in-depth Sabbath fanatic (of all eras) like myself, I would have to say this did keep my interest for the hour or so it is. The critics and the commentary will hold your interest, but the serious Sabbath fan will still be left with much disappointment and will recognize many errors, some of which I will list below, for the casual Sabbath fan who might want to get more in-depth will all eras of the band, and may not understand some of the flaws..
- The DVD states this is inside Black Sabbath from 1970-1992, though Dehumanizer (1992, w/ Dio) is omitted, and the panel only discusses a select few albums from between those years, even some of the better Ozzy albums are omitted.
- The panel makes mention of/slags Cross Purposes (1994), which came out after 1992 obviously. Cross Purposes, for you newcomers, was a great album and had a fantastic album and touring Sabbath line-up.
- While discussing the Tony Martin era, they use footage from the Cross Purposes tour, which again took place in 1994. However, it is MISLABELED as being shot in 1992 (again, the casual Sabbath fan might not even recognize this). This is incorrect, as A. I saw this tour and it was definitely in 1994, and B. Sabbath was touring with DIO in 1992.
- In relation to the footage used with Tony Martin in 1994, better footage of the Martin years COULD and SHOULD have been used, ie. stuff from the Headless Cross or Tyr tours would have been more complimentary here. Not only does the Cross Purposes tour of 1994 not fit the timeline for this DVD, but Tony Martin was sick much of this tour, and overall was shaky, especially on the footage they use from the Cross Purposes Live DVD in England. Last but not least, the panel then comments negatively at times on some of the classic Ozzy-songs that Tony does with the band at this exact show...duhh, he wasn't feeling his best so naturally the output may have been bad?
- The panel makes mention to Dio "making two records with Black Sabbath", he actually made three (Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules, and Dehumanizer), all which fit the 1970-1992 DVD timeline. If you count the Live Evil cd of 1982, that equals 4.
- Last but not least, nothing is mentioned about the FANTASTIC Born Again LP from 1983 with Ian Gillan, nothing from Seventh Star (1986 - turbulent time for band and line-up changes, but still a GREAT record), and Eternal Idol (1987). It is as if these eras didn't even exist, which is a total travesty.
If you want to spend 20 bucks, you may enjoy this. But there are better and more informational Sabbath dvds and books out there that hold more water.
