Black Sabbath – The Black Sabbath Story: Volume Two

After Ozzy Osbourne’s departure from a wildly popular solo career, his bandmates soldiered on, and this second volume of The Black Sabbath Story continues the saga from 1980 to the mid-’90s. And what a saga it was: American belter Ronnie James Dio–direct from Rainbow–replaced Osbourne, followed by a short-lived Ian Gillan, etc. Dio and original guitarist Tony Iommi gobble up the bulk of volume 2’s interview footage, with the remainder of this too-brief (45 minutes) chronicle taken up by several videos and performance clips like “Die Young” and “Neon Knights” (from the first record with Dio) and the late-’80s pop-metal of “Feels Good to Me.” Since Black Sabbath never again reached the heights of their mid-’70s glory days, there’s a brief sense of letdown during volume 2, especially when the videos venture dangerously close to “hair band” territory. But throughout, the group has kept its perspective, even developing a sense of humor usually buried by its notoriously dark music.