Audio CD review:
Black Sabbath - Past Lives

Black Sabbath - Past Lives

Band: Black Sabbath Title: Past Lives Rating: Release Date: 20 August, 2002 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Tomorrow's Dream 2: Sweet Leaf 3: Killing Yourself to Live 4: Cornucopia 5: Snowblind 6: Children of the Grave 7: War Pigs 8: Wicked World 9: Paranoid 10: Hand of Doom 11: Hole in the Sky 12: Symptom of the Univers 13: Megalomania 14: Iron Man 15: Black Sabbath 16: N.I.B. 17: Behind the Wall of Sleep 18: Faries Wear Boots

Editoral Review Hard to believe that the band's original incarnation--Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, guitarist Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler on bass, and drummer Bill Ward--never released a live record in America at the peak of their initial arena-packing success in the '70s. At this point in history, it's hard to know whether to call Black Sabbath the Godfathers of Heavy Metal or the Band That Wouldn't Die. This 18-track double-CD fills the gap, fleshing out the 1980 UK-only Live at Last with nine more early, previously unreleased live Sabbath tracks. If the sound quality is intermittent on the first disc (recorded in Manchester and at London's Rainbow in 1973), that seems only fitting from a band whose members--especially the inimitable Ozzy--have ridden their warts-and-all charms to metal Valhalla. But while that disc's early renditions of "Sweet Leaf," "Snowblind," "War Pigs," and "Paranoid" will more than satisfy Sabbath faithful, it's the newly released material (recorded in considerably better quality at various venues from 1970 to '78) that really underscores the band's dark, endlessly influential legacy. Ozzy's maniacal "Symptom of the Universe" would be enough, but it's only the prelude for the ominous, over-the-top 10-minute rarity "Megalomania," the thumping "Iron Man," a moody, tellingly jazzy take on "Black Sabbath," and the thrashing "Behind the Wall of Sleep. " --Jerry McCulley .. You can see a complete list of all Black Sabbath discography, or go back to the Black Sabbath tabs