THE STRAIGHT DOPE:
Led Zeppelin may have had the sex appeal but early Black Sabbath provided a leaden thunder that exuded darkness and gloom. You can forget the big hits like "Iron Man" and all the fist pumping that goes with them. The heart of Black Sabbath lies in the deceptive structures and melodies of songs like "War Pigs," "N.I.B.," and "Children of the Grave," songs with melodrama, power and just plain cool.

Sure, today Sabbath is known primarily for having spawned Ozzy Osbourne, star of cuddly family comedy on MTV. But that chapter in the Oz Man's career is just the latest embarrassment to detract from the quality music he produced during Sabbath's first half-decade. The Black Sabbath Story, Vol. 1: 1970-1978 doesn't have much to recommend it except for this music. Structured around live concert footage and TV show appearances from the Seventies, the DVD is barely a documentary. The only other content besides the music is boring, unrevealing interview with the non-Oz members of the Sab, including guitarist Tony Iommi, the only member to remain in the band for its entire history.

The low quality and slack concept behind this DVD, however, can't dim the fun of some of the live performances. Even though they're taken out of order in terms of when they were performed, many of the live clips are indispensable. Sabbath playing "N.I.B." accompanied by Ozzy's tone-deaf caterwauling and arrhythmic handclaps is still a sight to behold. Even at the shockingly young age seen in the early performances, Sabbath have their look down. Dark, gloomy wardrobe, faces covered with hair, this is the look that launched a million imitators. But what no one could possibly imitate is the surprising innocence on display here. Ozzy really looks like a kid and his so- happy-to-be-here demeanor is as always at odds with his sinister lyrics. While the disc would have been far better if it had just allowed a concert to play at length and the jittery format really detracts, these lives sequences are tremendous fun.

VIDEO:
The video varies by source but much of it looks pretty rough. Still, it looks right for the period. What looks inexcusably bad is the newly shot interview footage and the lame transitions. This stuff looks very amateurish. The widescreen aspect ratio is just cropped full-frame programming.

AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital sound varies by source. The live Sabbath performances sound meaty and heavy. The interviews are muddy and bland. The mix isn't aggressive and doesn't really utilize the dynamic capabilities of DVD, but it does play the music well.

EXTRAS:
Some additional interviews of little interest.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
This is a case of taking some great material (the live stuff) and turning it into a lame DVD. Still, the Sabbath fan should give it a spin.

LINK:
The Black Sabbath Story, Vol. 2: 1978-1992