Review of Black Sabbath: Never Say Die

Introduction

In the seventies, British rock ruled the world, with Black Sabbath and Deep Purple selling millions of records on both sides of the Atlantic, and both groups ultimately utilising a broadly similar pool of artists during their long careers with a "family tree" that spreads far and wide and includes other bands like Whitesnake and Rainbow.

Black Sabbath recorded "Never Say Die" live in 1978 and it is one of the last concerts featuring the band`s original line-up of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Lommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.

This 55 minute DVD includes the tracks Symptom of the Universe, War Pigs, Snow Blind, Never Say Die, Black Sabbath, Dirty Women, Rock and Roll Doctor, Electric Funeral, Children of the Brave and Paranoid.

Video

The video is presented in 4:3 full-frame and is of average quality ? probably what you would expect from concert footage that is now 25 years old. The image isn`t especially sharp, and there is some interference on the picture, particularly during the darker shots ? this takes the form of a "banding" moving down the picture.

Visually, this is fairly standard concert material, featuring the band members from a variety of angles both from the stage and other locations in the auditorium.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in both Dolby Digital 2.0 and Dolby Digital 5.1. Neither soundtrack is wonderful, but the Dolby Digital 5.1 track is far superior ? the Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is very flat and lifeless, the 5.1 channel remix adds more life and depth to the music, although it is very much lo-fi, although given the age of the material, this is hardly surprising.

The music is a little muffled, and unfortunately this also applies to the lyrics, although they are generally understandable at all times ? fans of the band won`t have any trouble singing along though.

The music itself is superb, and fans of the band will not be disappointed by the performance on display ? classic seventies metal.

Features

There are no extras on offer ? the animated main menu only offers "Audio Selection", "Chapter Selection" or "Play All".

Conclusion

Overall, this DVD contains some excellent music from a classic heavy metal band that is hindered by the quality of the source material, particularly the sound which is rather low-fidelity unfortunately.

However, despite these limitations, fans of the band, or their brand of seventies heavy metal will still find the content entertaining ? I certainly did.