Black Sabbath-Never Say Die (1978)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Animation & Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	1978
Running Time	56:55 (Case: 60)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Brian Wiseman
Studio Distributor	Rock Biz Pix Warner Vision	Starring	Ozzy Osbourne Tony Iommi Geezer Butler Bill Ward
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$34.95	Music	Black Sabbath

    After a bizarre chain of events while travelling in the UK, I had the opportunity to see the ultimate Black Sabbath reunion show from the second row at the Birmingham NEC on the 5th of December, 1997. Their presence was breathtaking, and to see my heroes only a few metres away on stage was awesome. It remains without a doubt one of the greatest concert experiences of my life. Not only were the band in very good form in 1997 - as is evident on the Reunion live album of that very show - they at least appeared to be a happy, harmonious unit.

    There is a very different Black Sabbath on stage in this 1978 performance. Recorded soon after Ozzy's brief departure from the band, there is minimal interaction between the band members. Tony Iommi takes his position at the front centre of the stage, while Ozzy stands to the far right, occasionally wandering across the front to scream at fans. The vocal delivery sways in and out of key and sounds half-hearted, almost as if Ozzy didn't want to be there. Bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward give an energetic performance, but can barely be heard in this awful mix.

    The set list presented here is brief, and is almost certainly an edit of the complete performance. The majority of the tracks are from their classic first four albums, with drum and guitar solos thrown in for good measure. Altogether, it is certainly a set of 'hits'.

    The recent Led Zeppelin DVD set the standard for restoration of concert performances on DVD, with beautifully remixed audio. Although it's of a similar vintage, this release is at an entirely different end of the spectrum as far as image and sound quality are concerned. Couldn't the original multi-track audio masters be found?

    How I wish I lived in the 70s.

Video

    The artefacting present in this video transfer is the result of its limited analogue origins, not its transfer to DVD.

    The video transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, full frame.

    Sharpness and shadow detail are mediocre to say the least. This entire transfer has the appearance of a well worn thirty year old videotape - literally. I didn't detect any low level noise.

    The bright stage lighting gives us some intense colour, marred by frequent flaring and bleeding (13:37).

    There were no MPEG artefacts to speak of, and aliasing was kept to a minimum. Analogue videotape artefacts are many and frequent. Microphony is consistent and distracting, as are the motion trails left by bright stage lighting. There is a damaged segment of tape in chapter 5 lasting for more than 30 seconds. Honestly, by the time I'd made it through the first few songs, my notepad was already full of examples, so I gave up.

    This disc is single layered.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    This audio transfer has the dynamic range of an extremely dated amateur bootleg recording.

    There are two audio options, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0.

    Dialogue and vocals were easy to discern above the band and crowd noise. I didn't notice any audio sync problems.

    Surround speakers and subwoofer were practically given the night off. Apart from some very mild spill to the rears, the Dolby Digital 5.1 track was totally frontal, and certainly sourced from the stereo mix. The only noticeable difference between the 5.1 and 2.0 tracks was some minor equalisation on the 5.1 track, increasing the bass level and widening the separation between the front left and right channels, but only serving to give the soundtrack a muddier feel. With Pro Logic II engaged, the flimsy Dolby Digital 2.0 track was entirely directed to the front centre speaker.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    Absolutely nothing.

Menu

    If you are interested in hearing Black Sabbath for the first time, go out to your nearest record store and buy Master Of Reality or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath instead.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall