Black Sabbath [Vinyl] [Limited Edition, Import]

Black Sabbath | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (June 30, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Limited Edition, Import
• Label: Sanctuary UK
• ASIN: B001UGIJKG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,512 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered and expanded double vinyl LP edition of the 1970 debut album from the British Metal legends including a bonus LP containing nine previously unreleased tracks. Black Sabbath, the album, is often regarded as one of the first Heavy Metal full length releases. The album reached #8 on the UK Album Chart. Following its US release in May 1970 by Warner Bros. Records, the album reached #23 on the Billboard 200, where it remained for over a year, selling a million copies. 17 tracks. Sanctuary.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect but the best remaster so far, October 2, 2009

By 

res (Wairarapa, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Sabbath (Bonus CD) (Audio CD)

This album is what I consider a "must have" for anyone. It shows the magic that four arguably not very special individuals had when they were together. It isn't even what many hard rock and heavy metal fans would call "metal". It is just a fantastic heavy rock album. Dark and moody, yet catchy and immensely enjoyable.

For me one of the best parts is the bass and drums on this album. Free of any mold that later developed, they are both unconstrained and adventurous. The only caveat is that production standards of the era meant really deep bass was not considered OK.

There are any number of versions of this album you could have bought on CD. I own, have listened to (a lot!), and examined on sound editors several. This is my take on them:

Early Castle release (1986): Good straight transfer, no volume maxing, limited only by digital equipment of the day and an engineer who presumably knew and cared nothing about Sab, every album he did seems to have at least one track start point wrong! UK track listing, No Wicked World.

Early Warners release: Similar to above, but probably transfered from copy tapes, judging by tape hiss and slightly more muffled quality. US track listing, No Evil Woman.

Castle Remaster (1996):Probably had the best sound until now, care had been taken to deliver what they thought the market wanted, though the included lyrics were at times hilariously wrong. Big downfall - volume maxed, at an estimate 5 or 6 dB dynamics removed by software limiting. UK track listing plus Wicked World.

As part of The Black Box (2004)(boxed set of 1970's studio albums): Avoid. Worst volume maxed copy I've owned. Incomplete original art work. Does have booklet with complete approved lyrics. Not stated what tapes were used so probably US copy tapes again. US track listing plus Evil Woman.

Black Sabbath Deluxe (this CD): Best sounding remaster to date. Sounds like some equalisation has been used to get a slightly warmer sound across all three "deluxe" reissues to date, which should attract many people. UK track listing, Wicked World on bonus disc.

So why haven't I given this a 5 star rating? Mainly because they couldn't stop themselves using just a tiny, little, software peak limiting to get a couple dB's more volume. Probable inaudible, but why why why.... Please, please can we put volume maxing behind us - it can only loose quality even while initially tricking people that the release is "better".

Also, personally I'd rather they didn't equalise it, just give me a straight copy of the original master tape and then I can do what I like. But I'm a perfectionist.

The bonus disk is also the first time we've seen outakes etc. included, which is great but rather than doing a track for track match-up to the final album (though there are two versions of the title track) I'd rather they gave us a bonus disc crammed with every outtake etc. they could fit. Mostly I didn't find the bonus tracks add much to the final album, often sounding like nearly finished rehearsals. Love the horns on Evil Woman though!

All in all I would recommend this release to anyone wanting just one good copy of the album. And everyone should want a good copy of this album!

45 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic package. Second disc is really interesting, the sound on the original disc? Awesome!, August 18, 2009

By 

Joseph M. Siegler (Garland, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Sabbath (Bonus CD) (Audio CD)

Length:: 5:54 Mins

Check out the video below where I talk about the release. I show you a complete unboxing, showing everything that is inside there, speak to the sound quality, the extras on the second CD, etc, etc... The real review is in the video, not in this text. :)

Minor updates to my review. The book I mention towards the end is not Mark Weiss, he was the photographer, I believe. And the poem from the original release *IS* here, but not the upside down cross. That was my error.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DELUXE VERSION OF WHERE METAL STARTED!, August 29, 2009

By 

Steel Devil (Maine) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black Sabbath (Bonus CD) (Audio CD)

If you are a Sabbath fan, you will definitely want to pick up this version which I feel is the definitive version! This has the song that started the demonic side of heavy metal with the song BLACK SABBATH. The album is of course amazing and if you are just getting into the classic era of Black Sabbath, this is essential. The sound quality is perfect for disc 1 which also includes Evil Woman which for years was unavailable in the USA. Disc 2 is what collectors will really want this for. This has outtakes of Black Sabbath, The Wizard and Behind The Wall of Sleep. This also has an alternative version of Evil Woman which is quite interesting but it is quickly obvious why the original version was picked. The packaging is great compared to the US version or the mid 90's castle remastered edition. This has detailed liner notes and pictures from the original LP version. If you still need convincing, it is Black F***ING Sabbath! Pick it up, you will not be let down!