Black Sabbath
In Concert

THE REVIEW

The review I am about to write will not be easy for me because I have to review a band like Black Sabbath, a group I consider the true founder of heavy metal along with the Judas Priest. Since I also listen to doom metal and bands like Cathedral, Candlemass, Pentagram, and doom-death like early Katatonia and early Paradise Lost, for me, it is an immensely important band that has significantly influenced the history of music. I believe it's impossible to list all the bands that have been influenced by Sabbath.

The CD I am about to review is a bootleg of the concert held in Paris during the late 1970 tour after the release of "Black Sabbath" and "Paranoid." The bootleg, despite having low-level production, takes us directly into the atmosphere of concerts from those fantastic years with the very young Sabbath, and in my opinion, in one of the best moments of their career that at the time had just started.

The CD opens with the Sabbath's ''hit'' and their most famous song ever, Paranoid, which the band delivers in a slightly sped-up version. After some brief improvisation with Butler's bass, we move on to the next song, Hand of Doom, slow and destructive like the genre that perhaps took its name from this fantastic song. Then, after this song, Ward hits the snare drum, Ozzy yells at the audience, and the riffs of Iron Man start, taking us directly to the fight between a robot and a man in an apocalyptic atmosphere.... Some arpeggios lead us directly to the dark atmosphere of Black Sabbath, where the band's sound almost approaches dirty and evil blues. With the crowd going wild, we arrive at N.I.B., which, after the dirty blues before, takes us to heavy metal. Unfortunately, it's only an interlude before returning to the dirty blues mixed with hard'n'heavy of Behind the Wall of Sleep. We then move on to a Black Sabbath gem, War Pigs, which after a quiet start, Ward's drums take us directly to a protest song against the Vietnam War, accompanied by Iommi's riffs and Ward's drumming as if possessed. Unfortunately, the CD concludes with Fairies Wear Boots, where it tells the tale of the beatings taken by Ozzy and company from skinheads, with a mid-tempo, and the concert comes to an end.

Before I close my review, I would like to thank everyone who has critiqued my reviews and opened discussions with me, and I wish more discussions could open on this site. I also thank the editors who have always published my reviews, even though some were truly horribly written....

Thank you all, and I look forward to the next review...

Oh, I almost forgot... for those who don't know...

Ozzy Osbourne - vocals

Tony Iommi - guitar

Geezer Butler - bass

Bill Ward - drums