CD1
01. Black Sabbath
02. Fairies Wear Boots
03. Under The Sun / Every Day Comes And Goes
04. After Forever
05. Into The Void
06. Snowblind
07. Band Introductions
08. War Pigs
09. Behind The Wall Of Sleep
CD2
11. Hand Of Doom
12. Supernaut / Sabbath Bloody Sabbath / Megalomania
13. Rat Salad / Drum Solo
14. Iron Man
15. Dirty Women
16. Children Of The Grave
17. Paranoid
The End is a live record documenting the last ever Black Sabbath show, which took place in Birmingham in February of this year. Funny that, as I remember paying a large amount of money to see Black Sabbath at their last ever show in Birmingham several years ago. It must be Deja-vu!
It's easy to be cynical about anything to do with Black Sabbath since Ozzy's return, or should I say Sharon Osbourne's return. Everything always seems like a shameless cash grab to me, with some good music as a fortunate by-product. Let's not forget that they released a half studio, half live album last year which was also called The End. Why use the same fucking title? Who signed off on that? Clearly someone with little imagination who doesn't keep up to date with what's going on in the world of Black Sabbath, or possibly someone who just doesn't give a fuck.
Fortunately, this final show was a particularly good one. The recording captures every positive quality from the show, and coupled with a great mix, makes for a really good live album. I can't bitch too much about the track list, as we all knew pretty much what would make the set, as it hasn't really changed since Ozzy came back to the band. There's no point in wishing to hear Ozzy tackle some Sabbath material that he didn't originally sing on, as that was never going to happen, and I made peace with that years ago. However, I'd have loved to have heard some tracks from their latest album, 13. At least that would have made the band sound a little more relevant, instead of like a predictable old act pandering to the majority's desperate thirst for nostalgia.
As far as the songs go, these are some of the greatest, not to mention most historically significant Heavy Metal tracks of all time. I'd have thought that anyone who has been into Metal for more than a few months would be very familiar with most, if not all of this material. Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Children of the Grave, War Pigs, Iron Man etc. This is the stuff legends are made of, and no amount of drama, politics, or Sharon Osbourne related bullshit, can dilute the quality or legendary status of this music.
As far as the songs go, these are some of the greatest, not to mention most historically significant Heavy Metal tracks of all time. I'd have thought that anyone who has been into Metal for more than a few months would be very familiar with most, if not all of this material. Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Children of the Grave, War Pigs, Iron Man etc. This is the stuff legends are made of, and no amount of drama, politics, or Sharon Osbourne related bullshit, can dilute the quality or legendary status of this music.
This really is a first-class release. Is it an essential one? Probably not. However, if you don't have any (of the numerous) Black Sabbath live albums, this is a great one to pick up. Alternatively, ask Santa to bring you one for Christmas. I'm sure he has sack-loads of this record and the DVD to distribute over the holiday season.
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