Symptom of the Universe

As a long time Black Sabbath fan, when I received this box set through a friend, I had a pretty good guess as to what I may find. I was right and wrong, with this collection being both well-rounded and disappointing.


For the new Sabbath listener, you may find some of (few) tracks heard on the radio, including "Paranoid" and "NIB". These are no doubt good tracks, and along with the others included on this album, make up a good introduction to Sabbath for the casual listener. The tracks included span all of Ozzy-Era Black Sabbath, including mainly hit songs, and the occasional "artistic-value" track.


Sadly, this box set also includes some flat out dismal tracks, mainly embodied in "Am I Going Insane", "Laguna Sunrise", and "Fluff". These are all songs which not many listeners will not appreciate when placed beside classics such as "Black Sabbath", "Paranoid", and "War Pigs". This not so good tracks are not by any means a big problem, as they can be expected of any two disc, era-spanning, box set. Although these songs may seem like filler, by no means let it dissuade a new metalhead from buying this set.


As a last note, the booklet that comes with this set is excellent, full of surprising nuggets of information about Black Sabbath and its members. Included are the origins of the band, and some anecdotes about band members, including Tony Iommi's run-in with a devil-figure.


All in all, a recommend box set, although definitely not essential for the hardcore Sabbath devotee, as the most memorable songs on this box set are already in your collection (hopefully).