Black Sabbath - The Last Supper
Performance 
Production 
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Black Sabbath - The Last Supper
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The Last Supper was the first DVD I played on the brand new DVD player I purchased back in 2000, and I was ecstatic at how much better a DVD could look and sound compared to my old, worn VHS concert tapes. It turns out that I chose wisely, because The Last Supper is one of the better looking and sounding concert DVDs put out in 2000. Black Sabbath Technical Ecstasy was one of the first albums that I ever bought. I remember back in fifth grade, when I was just starting to find my rock and roll bearings, asking my friends who were the best rock bands to check out. I took my best friend's advice, who told me Aerosmith and Black Sabbath. I knew nothing about these bands at the time, but I took my saved up allowance money and moseyed on down to K-Mart to pick up Aerosmith's first album, because I had heard "Dream On" on the radio, and Black Sabbath's Technical Ecstasy, solely because it had the coolest album cover. Most people dismiss Technical Ecstasy as one of their weaker albums - the end of the Ozzy glory days - but it will always be special to me since it was my first introduction to these masters of metal. Many people find it self indulgent of these defunct bands, who are well past their prime, to reunite for that one last time in order to relive their glory days and make a few bucks. Certainly there are those bands that should stay in retirement, like the ones who have only one or two original band members left. There, I will cede the point. But when a legendary band like Black Sabbath, Kiss, or Fleetwood Mac give their lifelong fans, and a whole new generation of fans the chance to see the original lineups live in concert for the first time, that is a worthy and commendable undertaking. The Last Supper features all of the original members of Black Sabbath; Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, on their historic 1999 Reunion tour. The DVD begins with the band members being interviewed and explaining how and why they decided to reunite after 20 years. This is some fascinating stuff if you are a Black Sabbath fan. Unfortunately the interview footage continues throughout the concert often interrupting midway through a live song performance. This unforgivable editing job nearly ruins the concert. It is astonishing that these bands allow their DVDs to be release with this kind of atrocious production quality. Thank God more producers are hip to including a "concert only" option on their DVDs. It would have made a world of difference with this DVD, because the actual concert footage is so damn good. The concert begins majestically with a wide, distant shot of the entire stage show flashing brilliant white stage lights, which maneuver systematically to cover every inch of the stage, as dry ice envelopes the stage, and Tony Iommi launches into the opening riff of "War Pigs". The band is in fine form and play with inspired enthusiasm. Osbourne, in particular, seems to genuinely be getting off from fronting his old band again. The Black Sabbath stage show was incredible looking, as was to be expected. There was no real back section to the stage, so the audience could see from all angles, even from behind the stage. The song selections were very satisfying and represented every part of the Ozzy era. I was pleasantly surprised to see them break out "Dirty Woman" from the Technical Ecstasy album. That song has some of Iommi's best work, and the outro guitar solo is simply jaw-dropping. This was the concert highlight for me. Nobody else having two half-sized stubbs for fingers on their fretting hand can touch Iommi's playing. Watching him always reminds me of my Dad, who had the tip of his index finger sawed off in a carpentry accident. It always freaked me out to see his stub when I was a kid. Oh yeah - they also played "Fairies Wear Boots", "Sweat Leaf", "Iron Man", "Paranoid" and all those other songs that just so happen to be some of the GREATEST HEAVY METAL SONGS OF ALL TIME! Ozzy's introduction to "Sweat Leaf" was priceless. I'm sure he uses those same "I thought I smelled some of that wacky weed" lines every time he plays that song though. The concert is presented in widescreen format and the video quality is very impressive. The picture is sharp and clear, with only a hint of graininess, and the colors are rich and vibrant. The camera work was outstanding, with a sufficient amount of full stage shots to compliment the impressive close-up angles. There were a lot of crowd shots, a few too many for my taste, but it did not detract from the performance significantly. The 5.1 surround mix was loud and aggressive in the front speakers, and the rear surrounds were reserved primarily for ambience affect only. The bass channel was especially deep and powerful and the drum mix sounded excellent. No single instrument was neglected or was overly dominating. The mix reproduced the live stadium concert environment very well. It turns out that this wasn't the "last supper" for Black Sabbath after all, as they have performed together several times since this tour. It amazes me every time I hear that Ozzy is hitting the road again with his Ozzfest tour, as the guy looks like he needs help getting out of bed every morning. Put a microphone in his hand and point him towards the stage though and he springs to life, like he was back fronting the Blizzard Of Oz. Maybe you can sell your soul for rock and roll, after all. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - July 2004 |
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Audio Transfer |
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Set List |
Performers |
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Running Time: 100 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - January 2000 |