For the Record 2: Black Sabbath

by Mike Stark and Dave Marsh

It was only a year after Woodstock when people first started noticing a dark, brooding, overpowering kind of music they'd never heard before. It sounded as if some massive, sinister piece of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380793741
• ISBN13: 9780380793747
• Release Date: February 1998
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.3" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

The most legitamite Black Sabbath history book

Most band biographies are inaccurate and poorly done. This is usually because an author will quote somebody, then insert some of his own thoughts, and continue with another quote, giving the illusion that the band shares all the author's ideas. But "Black Sabbath : An Oral History (For the Record)" consists of all direct quotes, ordered by subject chonologically. Maybe not everybody is going to like this style, but after hearing SO many crazy Black Sabbath rumors over the years (like why was Ozzy fired, why did Glenn Hughes drop out of the 7th Star tour, what's this song about, why didn't the such-and-such reunion work out) I'm glad to finally hear the real deal, right from the horse's mouth. Also, Mike Stark (who conducted the interviews) writes an excellent introduction about the music of Black Sabbath. His praisingly creative descriptions of Ozzy Osbourne ("the banshee") and Ronnie James Dio ("The Sorcerer") were so dead-on!There are many quotes from Bill Ward, which I was very pleased to see. With all the personal conflicts or collaborations that have gone on between Tony, Ozzy, Geezer, and Ronnie, I always wanted to hear what Bill's point of view was in all of this. It was also very refreshing to hear Ozzy and Ronnie complement each other.The book covers the entire Black Sabbath history, from their beginnings on the streets of Birmingham, through all their 25 years worth of albums and line-ups, and finally to the Ozzfest reunions in 1997. I own the first edition, and the only glaring typo I noticed was "Ray Gillen" being replaced by "Ian Gillan" everywhere. I mentioned it to Mike, and he knew about it, was frustrated about it, but told me that he was hoping to get it fixed in the next edition.Anyway, if you're a Black Sabbath fan, here's where to get the truth of those crazy stories once and for all. And some excellent anecdotes that I've never heard in any other interviews too.

The book was insightful and intresting.

This book is for every Sabbath fan out there. The book comes directly from the mouth of the band. It tells of the hardships that Sabbath went through. It is a great book.

Original

Good interviews!!!

A must for Sabbath fans

Though a very short book (Only 114 pages), it is made up entirely of interviews done with the band, which gives a flavor of historicity to the book; that is, the history of Black Sabbath is presented in first-person view, from the band members themselves, not from the point of view of an author, though because it is an outsider editing the content of the interviews there certianly is still some room for bias.Though the majority of the information contained within the covers highlights no information that most Sabbath fans already don't know (i.e., Ozzy's firing from the band and subsequent gloating over his solo success, the rampant drug use, the revolving door of band members), what really stands out is the various shades painted by the band members who rarely agreed upon what was going on with the band, especially during the 80's.It is very apparent that Bill Ward, the drummer, had the most to say about what was going on, but perhaps the most insightful comments are made by Ronnie James Dio, the frontman who replaced Ozzy, but who was only around for a total of three albums. His comments seem to sum up what Sabbath is about, that no matter what, the original band members are tied together by an almost familial bond that, in the end, makes a reunion of their immense talents essentially a foregone conclusion.This book doesn't paint a picture of decandence and ego's gone wild, though that is certainly an overriding theme throughout the band member's lives, but more that this is an incredible fraternity, bound by their common upbringing, more than anything else. Through the pages one can see the almost tragic and certainly inevitable growing pains that this band has gone through. Hopefully, as the book leaves us with the open-ended finale, the pains will be worth it