Live from Radio City Music Hall Review by Rick Damigella Next year may be the 40th anniversary of Black Sabbath, but 2007 will be forever known in the lore of heavy metal as the year of Heaven & Hell.
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Heaven and Hell - Live in Hoffman Estates, IL, September, 2007 Review by Greg Olma For those of you who don’t know who Heaven and Hell is, it is basically Black Sabbath Mk III. Although the original lineup is considered the best (not by this writer), this version definitely has a high regard among all heavy metal fans.
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Dio Review by Mike Korn Interview with Ronnie James Dio from 2000
Various Artists - Bang Your Head 2007 DVD Review by Gary Hill I have to admit that sometimes I get put off by a lot of modern metal festivals. I’m not a big fan of growling death vocals (there are some I can deal with, but few) or other forms of extreme voice tactics.
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Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Review by Gary Hill Released in 1969 in the last days of the hippie era, Black Sabbath`s debut had definite roots in what had come before, but was a major change in tone.
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Black Sabbath have had many lineups, but the one era that seems to always get overlooked is the Tony Martin fronted era.Martin sang on five studio releases, yet more people talk about the Ian Gillan version that only produced one record.
Iommi - Fused Review by Gary Hill Tony Iommi is probably best known as the lead guitarist of Black Sabbath. Arguably along with the other three members of that group Iommi invented heavy metal.
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Black Sabbath - Headless Cross Review by Gary Hill I like every version of Black Sabbath. Certainly the Tony Martin period is one that got less attention than a lot of the others. More...
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell Review by Gary Hill I was a huge Black Sabbath fan when this disc came out. I suppose I should clarify that by admitting that I still am.
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Iommi - Iommi Review by Gary Hill This solo release by Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has quite a bit in common with last year’s Supernatural release by Santana. In both cases you have a guitar legend, who is an almost undisputed originator of his musical genre.
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Girlschool - Legacy Review by Gary Hill In the last issue of Music Street Journal I reviewed the latest Bang Your Head DVD and it featured Girlschool. I saw the band years ago and their performance on that DVD was every bit as potent as they were in their early years.
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Black Sabbath - Live at Hammersmith Odeon Review by Rick Damigella While the reformed Dio-era Black Sabbath (under the moniker Heaven & Hell) are touring to packed venues across the country right now, Rhino Handmade (the short-run, collector’s edition division of Rhino Records) has just released, and sold out of, Black Sabbath Live at Hammersmith Odeon to a rabid Sabbath following.
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Black Sabbath - Live at Ozzfest, 2004, East Troy, WI Review by Gary Hill Ever since their original reunion with Ozzy I have made a point to see Black Sabbath whenever they came around. This time marks the 6th time I saw the lineup, and of all the shows, it was the weakest.
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Dio - Live In Chicago, 2000 Review by Gary Hill There was a time when Ronnie James Dio was one of the most well-known and respected vocalists in the heavy metal genre. His fame may have faded a bit, but several things have not.
Black Sabbath - Live in Chicago, IL, June 8th, 2001 Review by Gary Hill Having seen Sabbath the last couple times around, I was expecting another similar show - a band of living legends performing as legends, going through the motions of repeating the performances from their glory days. Not that that would not have been enjoyable, I signed on for two days of Ozzfest just for that experience two more times
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Black Sabbath - Live in Chicago, January 19, 1999 Review by Gary Hill Black Sabbath really invented the genre of heavy metal, and, to this day performs the genre in a way that many have copied but none have duplicated.
I have to say that I was never a big fan of Dio's solo work when he was huge in the 1980s. I realize now that was a mistake, and have been playing catch up.
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality Review by Gary Hill Black Sabbath’s third album is often overlooked. The first two were really defining a sound so they get more of the limelight.
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Various Artists - Nativity In Black Review by Rick Damigella It is safe to say that while there were forces all happening simultaneously in music in the late 60’s, which would later be regarded as the elements from which heavy metal evolved. One band crawled forth, nay, stomped out of, the primordial ooze of the late sixties music scene to single handedly create an entirely new sound heretofore unheard coming from the speakers of stereos of the youth of the world.
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Black Sabbath - Never Say Die Review by Gary Hill Black Sabbath were arguably the creators of the heavy metal genre, but were never really happy to rest on their laurels for that accomplishment. They generally have pushed the envelope in many ways touching on musical styles which most metal bands consider out of their realm.
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AraPacis - Obsolete Continuum Review by Larry Toering AraPacis are from Canada, led by the husband and wife duo of Jerry Feilden and the amazing Shelle McPherson on vocals.
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GZR - Ohmwork Review by Gary Hill Ohmwork is the latest album by the outfit Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler belongs to as his side outlet. The group is not really a solo project, but more band, therefore it is little like Sabbath in terms of sound. Rather than finding that classic metal approach that Sab created one can expect something more along the lines of modern nu metal with some rap metal thrown in for good measure
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Queensrÿche - Operation Mindcrime II Review by Gary Hill History - in many ways this album (and this review) is all about history. For my money the first Operation Mindcrime album is a true masterpiece that is unmatched by any album by any artist in terms of power and execution.
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Black Sabbath - Paranoid Review by Gary Hill The second album from Black Sabbath, this isn’t quite as revolutionary as their debut, but that’s probably because of how groundbreaking that one was and the fact that this builds on the music they created there. More...
Black Sabbath - Reunion Review by Gary Hill Reunion represents the first performance of all the original members of Black Sabbath as a unit since 1979. The album is a two-disc set that consists of concert recordings from December of 1987 teamed with two new studio cuts. The band is back in all its glory.
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After Roger Glover had left Deep Purple, he was looking for a new project and came upon about titled "The Butterfly Ball." He decided to create an album based on the book.
This is a weird album in the Black Sabbath catalogue.Initially meant as a solo record, the label and management “persuaded” Tony Iommi to release it under the banner of Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi.
Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy Review by Gary Hill A controversial album for Black Sabbath, this disc found them stretching into new and untried directions. The trademarked Sab metal is still present, but it is joined by other diverse sounds.
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Iommi - The 1996 DEP Sessions Review by Greg Olma I can just picture it now. Tony Iommi and a friend are going through a studio to do some "Spring cleaning". They come across a tape labeled "With Glenn Hughes 1996 DEP Sessions".
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Black Sabbath - The End BluRay/CD Review by Gary Hill I have to admit to being a huge Black Sabbath fan. I've seen them live quite a few times. They are one of my favorite bands.
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The Black Sabbath name was at a low ebb back in 1987. After the debacle of Seventh Star (which I thought was great) coming out as a Black Sabbath album instead of a Tony Iommi solo album, many fans jumped ship.
The Last In Line has always felt like “Son of Holy Diver” to me. It’s a great album from start to finish, and even a filler here or there does not distract from the overall record.
Black Sabbath - The Last Supper-DVD Review by Gary Hill As both a die-hard Black Sabbath fanatic and one who was fortunate enough to see the band several times on their reunion tour, I was really looking forward to this DVD. The quality of the performance, the videography and sound all lived up to my expectations, showing just how phenomenal of a tour this was.
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This retrospective box set from Girlschool really captures the various flavors of the band. I know I said, "box set," but it is called a book set because it comes in a cool book, rather than a gravitational box.
Dio - The Very Beast of Dio Review by Mike Korn Few musicians have had a longer or more storied career than Ronnie James Dio. The pixieish vocal powerhouse has lent his immense lungpower to bands like Elf, Rainbow and, of course, Black Sabbath.
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This disc was released in 1990, and by all accounts, Black Sabbath was at their lowest commercial point.Tony Iommi was the only original member at this point and he had a revolving door of singers for many years.
Black Sabbath - Volume IV Review by Gary Hill I must have a thing for falling in love with over looked albums. Some of my favorite discs in artists' catalogs are the ones that seem to have fallen by the wayside.
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Dio - We Rock DVD Review by Greg Olma Do you remember when metal was fun? Well if you need a reminder, pick up this DVD and be transported back in time to 1983-1984.
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This is the first time Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi have done any recording on the same project since 2006 when Iommi guested on Gillan's Inn, a career retrospective dual disc of re-recorded classics of Gillan's.
