Weekend Reissue Roundup

     

Artist: Album (label, release date) 1-5 stars

Black Sabbath: The Best Of Black Sabbath (Sanctuary, August 2, 2005) *****
Maria Muldaur: Southern Winds (Wounded Bird, August 2, 2005) ***
Fred Neil: Echoes Of My Mind: The Best Of Fred Neil 1963-1971 (Raven, August 2, 2005) *****
Blondie: The Best Of Blondie (Capitol, August 2, 2005) **

Black Sabbath: The Best Of Black Sabbath

While there have been no shortage of Black Sabbath anthologies over the years, Sanctuary re-issues the best of them all. Thirty-two tracks, 29 from the Ozzy Osbourne era, with three from the Ronnie James Dio and Ian Gillan lineups tacked on as tasters at the end. Gillan (ex- and future-Deep Purple) was aboard for only one release, Born Again in 1983, and never really integrated well with the band; few will object to only one cut being included, the anthemic "Zero The Hero" (although I would have gone for the thrash-metal "Trashed", myself). Those who liked the Dio years are likely to feel gypped, having to make do with just "Heaven and Hell" and "Turn Up The Night". But the fact remains that Sabbath's glory years were with Osbourne, and here is an opportunity to get not only the key familiar songs ("Iron Man", "N.I.B.", "Sweet Leaf", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" et. al.) but also the cream of the Sabbath albums that don't usually turn up on anthologies, including "The Wizard", "Spiral Architect", "Hole In The Sky", "Never Say Die", and others. One could always quibble with song selection; "Warning" is missed as is "Wheels Of Confusion", but both are 10-minute-plus tracks that would've eaten too much space. "(All Moving Parts) Stand Still" would have been a better choice than "Dirty Women" from Technical Ecstasy. But that's just a matter of taste; the song selection is generous and intelligent and is in strict chronological order, also a plus with this band, who grew slightly more "progressive" over the years. Ozzy fans can take the three non-Ozzy tracks as a jumping in point for further exploration, or keep them as tokens. Nice packaging helps capture their essence as well.

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