Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978)
Encyclopedia
Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970–1978) is a collection of the first eight albums by the heavy metal
band and a DVD. The set contains the albums recorded with original singer Ozzy Osbourne
, who was fired in 1979 after completion of the band's Never Say Die!
tour and a DVD of 4 videos. This marked the end of the group's original line-up that featured Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi
, bassist Geezer Butler
and drummer Bill Ward. All eight albums are digitally remastered and repackaged in mock vinyl LP packaging, including an 80-page booklet with liner notes written by Henry Rollins
, Chris Welch
, and Brian Ives. The discs included in the set are as follows:
Tracklist:
They are represented as they appeared when first released, with the exception of the debut album, which has a revised track order as it includes both the song "Evil Woman" from the original European LP—deleted from North American editions because of copyright problems—and "Wicked World", which was substituted for it. The discs are kept in digipak
cases, with all original LP artwork intact. The CDs themselves are entirely black, but retain the lettering used for each individual release, as opposed to a uniform stylized font.
True to its title, the nine discs are housed in a solid black case, complete with gothic imagery and lettering. Inside, there are two smaller boxes containing four CDs each. Also enclosed is a booklet, which contains the DVD in a sleeve attached to the inside back cover. The booklet traces the entire history of the band, with essays, interviews, timelines, and the lyrics to every song personally checked by Geezer Butler, the band's main lyricist.
Previously, a 1996 remastered box set had been issued by Castle Communications
, which used unknown source tapes and did not involve any input from the band. For the Rhino set, all of the songs have been digitally remastered from the original Warner Bros.
tape archives, as was the earlier Rhino compilation Symptom of the Universe.
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band and a DVD. The set contains the albums recorded with original singer Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
, who was fired in 1979 after completion of the band's Never Say Die!
Never Say Die!
-Band:*Ozzy Osbourne – lead vocals*Tony Iommi – guitar, backing vocals on "A Hard Road"*Geezer Butler – bass guitar, backing vocals on "A Hard Road"*Bill Ward – drums, lead vocals on "Swinging the Chain", backing vocals on "A Hard Road"-Additional musicians:...
tour and a DVD of 4 videos. This marked the end of the group's original line-up that featured Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
, bassist Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
and drummer Bill Ward. All eight albums are digitally remastered and repackaged in mock vinyl LP packaging, including an 80-page booklet with liner notes written by Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
, Chris Welch
Chris Welch
Chris Welch is a music journalist, reviewer and critic with Melody Maker, famous during the 1960s and 1970s for reporting on the rise of such bands as The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Traffic, If, Cream and Jeff Beck. During that time he also reported on the UK jazz scene.- Career...
, and Brian Ives. The discs included in the set are as follows:
- 1970 Black SabbathBlack Sabbath (album)Black Sabbath is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released on 13 February 1970 in the United Kingdom, and later on 1 June 1970 in the United States, the album reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart and has been recognised as the first main album to be credited...
- 1970 ParanoidParanoid (album)Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, the album was the only one by the band to top the UK Albums Chart, and as a result is commonly identified as the band's magnum opus...
- 1971 Master of RealityMaster of RealityMaster of Reality is the third album by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in July 1971. It is sometimes noted as the first stoner rock album...
- 1972 Volume 4
- 1973 Sabbath Bloody SabbathSabbath Bloody SabbathSabbath Bloody Sabbath is the fifth studio album by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in December 1973. With this album, the band expanded upon their slow, crunching style of music by strings, keyboards and more complex orchestral arrangements.-Recording:Following the 1972–1973...
- 1975 Sabotage
- 1976 Technical EcstasyTechnical Ecstasy- Personnel :* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Tony Iommi – guitar* Geezer Butler – bass guitar* Bill Ward – drums, lead vocals on "It's Alright"* Gerald Woodruffe – keyboards- Release history :-Other resources:...
- 1978 Never Say Die!Never Say Die!-Band:*Ozzy Osbourne – lead vocals*Tony Iommi – guitar, backing vocals on "A Hard Road"*Geezer Butler – bass guitar, backing vocals on "A Hard Road"*Bill Ward – drums, lead vocals on "Swinging the Chain", backing vocals on "A Hard Road"-Additional musicians:...
- 2004 Bonus DVD:
Tracklist:
- "Black Sabbath"
- "Paranoid"
- "Iron Man"
- "Blue Suede Shoes"
They are represented as they appeared when first released, with the exception of the debut album, which has a revised track order as it includes both the song "Evil Woman" from the original European LP—deleted from North American editions because of copyright problems—and "Wicked World", which was substituted for it. The discs are kept in digipak
Digipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
cases, with all original LP artwork intact. The CDs themselves are entirely black, but retain the lettering used for each individual release, as opposed to a uniform stylized font.
True to its title, the nine discs are housed in a solid black case, complete with gothic imagery and lettering. Inside, there are two smaller boxes containing four CDs each. Also enclosed is a booklet, which contains the DVD in a sleeve attached to the inside back cover. The booklet traces the entire history of the band, with essays, interviews, timelines, and the lyrics to every song personally checked by Geezer Butler, the band's main lyricist.
Previously, a 1996 remastered box set had been issued by Castle Communications
Castle Communications
Castle Communications was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane and Jon Beecher. The company was acquired by the American music distributor Alliance Entertainment in 1994 and in 2000 it was absorbed into Sanctuary Records Group...
, which used unknown source tapes and did not involve any input from the band. For the Rhino set, all of the songs have been digitally remastered from the original Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
tape archives, as was the earlier Rhino compilation Symptom of the Universe.
Release history
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
27 April 2004 | Rhino Records |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
2004 | Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies... |
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
??? | Warner Bros. Records |
| Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
??? | Warner Bros. Records |