(Raw)
Herald rating: * * * *
Review: Graham Reid
It would take a much more dedicated Sabbath fan than I to say whether these 32 tracks (that's XXXII in Sabland where Roman numerals rool) really are the "very best" from this particular art-of-darkness outfit.
But certainly The Wizard, Evil Woman, War Pigs, Paranoia,
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and other such grim delights are here, although all sound somewhat superseded by hard, darker events like Trent Reznor and his 90s acolytes.
Still, for metalheads in the suburbs there has always been a primal charm to Sabbath's heads-down-nodding hard rock and faux-Satanism.
And of course it is accepted that any true lover of rock music acknowledges the Church of Ozzy, consecrated by a man who can truly boast that he did it his way. Even if it damn near killed him.
Probably the only Sabbath album you'll ever need.
