Bmg Vinyl & CDs

Review: 1975's Black Sabbath album, Sabotage, was written at a time when the band were caught up in an ongoing legal battle with their former manager. That is what gave the album its title and no doubt fuelled some of the more abrasive and angry tracks. The newly remastered reissue is now paired with a complete live show that was recorded during the band's 1975 tour. Of the 16 tracks, 13 have never before been released. As well as a special new booklet with further fan delights, two extra tracks feature on a bonus 7" with artwork that replicates a rare Japanese version of the single.

Review: RECOMMENDED
How can heavy metal-ers not get excited about this one? While sporting a pretty serious price tag, this Super Deluxe edition of Black Sabbath's seminal fourth album is certainly one for the collectors, who will delight in the 11 additional studio recordings featured in the huge amount of bonus material here, which include snippets of studio dialogue, false starts and more rough around the edges nuances that bring the work to life.

As for the LP itself, it was something of a landmark moment in the band's journey - shifting the intensity and ferocity up at least three gears and then sticking a brick on the throttle to hold it in place. Perhaps Mojo's take on things puts it best; ""If booze and dope had helped fuel Sabbath's earlier albums, Vol. 4 is their cocaine ... Despite their spiraling addictions, musically Vol. 4 is another ambitious outing". Enough said.

Review: Capturing the era of Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio on vocals following Ozzy Osborne's departure, Live Evil was the first officially sanctioned live album from Birmingham's foremost heavy metal pioneers. The album came together in 1982, drawing on shows from Seattle, San Antonio and Dallas on the Mob Rules tour, and now it has been given the deluxe reissue treatment. As well as the original mix of the album, there's an entirely new mix of the album from the original analogue master tapes by long time band associate Wyn Daivs, complete with a 40-page hardback book featuring new liner notes and replicas of the original concert book and poster form the Mob Rules tour.

Review: From any one of their landmark genre-defining metal albums to the scores of live documents, there are many ways to approach the monumental legacy of Black Sabbath, but this box set is the perfect distillation of the best of the band honed into a two-disc collection. Focused on those breakthrough years with Ozzy Osborne, there are just too many classic tracks to count on here, whether it's the harmonica baiting sludge of 'The Wizard' or the motorik drive of 'Paranoid' you're after. A perfect primer for newcomers, or a handy capsule of all the best bits - it's Black Sabbath, need we say more?

Review: While the tenure of both Ozzy Osborne and Ronnie James Dio as vocalists for metal giants Black Sabbath has been documented, praised and repressed ad nauseam, little discussion is often rewarded to Tony Martin, who actually served as the band's second-longest standing frontman. Finally catalogued in this new box set, Anno Domini: 1989-1995 offers up newly remastered versions of Headless Cross (1989), Tyr (1990), Cross Purposes (1994), and Forbidden (1995), with the latter being remixed entirely by guitarist Tony Iommi for the occasion. Complete with an additional booklet, never before seen photos, a Headless Cross poster and a replica concert book from the Headless Cross Tour; this is the ultimate Martin-era fan service that will be long overdue to many a veteran metalhead.

Review: The Black Sabbath Hand Of Doom box set provides the ultimate collection for fans who opt to live in a world where the group never had any other vocalist apart from Ozzy Osbourne. Providing picture disc represses of all eight LPs released during the original frontman's tenure from 1970 to 1978 (2013's reunion album 13 is not included), the collection boasts the self-titled 1970 debut, the same-year follow up Paranoid, as well as the iconic slew of Master Of Reality (1971), Vol 4 (1972), Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973), Sabotage (1975), Technical Ecstasy (1976) and Never Say Die! (1978). Limited to 3000 copies (which isn't a large amount when considering how vital Sabbath's early material still is to this day) and complete with a large coloured poster, fan service rarely gets as ideal or essential as Hand Of Doom.