Executive Producer: Bob Chiappardi
Released: 1994
These days it's easy to be cynical about so-called tribute albums. Different ones seem to crop up all the time for various reasons, from fund-raising to memorials to plain exploitation by a label or artist. It's also fair to say that almost all of them are worthless beyond a couple of songs of two, if that.
But not this one. The second volume that appeared a few years later may have been just a cynical promotional tool for Ozzfest, but this one had some effort put into it. Indeed, according to the booklet, Bob Chiappardi spent two years on this. This amount of dedication really shows, because Nativity in Black is one of the best albums of its kind. Apart from Faith No More's rather flippant live reading of "War Pigs" (a song that Mike Patton reportedly really didn't like), all of the artists here treat the material with a deep respect and for the most part their versions are solid re-interpretations rather than attempts at straight covers. It's hard to pick a bad one out of this bunch, in fact. Clear highlights though are the ridiculously heavy version of "Supernaut" from Al Jourgenson's 1000 Homo DJ's and Type O Negative's creepily Hammer House of Horror-like "Black Sabbath" that ends with an invocation to Satan. Corrosion of Conformity's deliriously good "Lord of This World" is also a clear stand-out and Sepultura make "Symptom of the Universe" sound like one of their own songs. Bruce Dickinson was teamed with a flash-in-the-pan American thrash band called Godspeed for "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and made something special from it. Just as special though is track eight, a version of "The Wizard" by a conglomeration calling itself Bullring Brummies aka Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, Rob Halford, Wino from St. Vitus and Fight's guitarist Brian Tilse. That's a slice of metal history right there people, and with this being the only recording they ever did together it makes Nativity in Black that much more significant. Versions released out the US also include a version of "Solitude" by Cathedral that was obviously stuck on as an after thought, although the band themselves didn't think of it as one and considering how much like Sabbath Cathedral is for them to mess it up would have been unthinkable.
Tribute albums come and go, but the truly great ones leave a mark of their own. Nativity in Black is one of those. It might be difficult to find these days, but it's worth the effort.
Released: 1994
These days it's easy to be cynical about so-called tribute albums. Different ones seem to crop up all the time for various reasons, from fund-raising to memorials to plain exploitation by a label or artist. It's also fair to say that almost all of them are worthless beyond a couple of songs of two, if that.
But not this one. The second volume that appeared a few years later may have been just a cynical promotional tool for Ozzfest, but this one had some effort put into it. Indeed, according to the booklet, Bob Chiappardi spent two years on this. This amount of dedication really shows, because Nativity in Black is one of the best albums of its kind. Apart from Faith No More's rather flippant live reading of "War Pigs" (a song that Mike Patton reportedly really didn't like), all of the artists here treat the material with a deep respect and for the most part their versions are solid re-interpretations rather than attempts at straight covers. It's hard to pick a bad one out of this bunch, in fact. Clear highlights though are the ridiculously heavy version of "Supernaut" from Al Jourgenson's 1000 Homo DJ's and Type O Negative's creepily Hammer House of Horror-like "Black Sabbath" that ends with an invocation to Satan. Corrosion of Conformity's deliriously good "Lord of This World" is also a clear stand-out and Sepultura make "Symptom of the Universe" sound like one of their own songs. Bruce Dickinson was teamed with a flash-in-the-pan American thrash band called Godspeed for "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and made something special from it. Just as special though is track eight, a version of "The Wizard" by a conglomeration calling itself Bullring Brummies aka Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, Rob Halford, Wino from St. Vitus and Fight's guitarist Brian Tilse. That's a slice of metal history right there people, and with this being the only recording they ever did together it makes Nativity in Black that much more significant. Versions released out the US also include a version of "Solitude" by Cathedral that was obviously stuck on as an after thought, although the band themselves didn't think of it as one and considering how much like Sabbath Cathedral is for them to mess it up would have been unthinkable.
Tribute albums come and go, but the truly great ones leave a mark of their own. Nativity in Black is one of those. It might be difficult to find these days, but it's worth the effort.
- Biohazard - After Forever
- White Zombie - Children of the Grave
- Megadeth - Paranoid
- 1000 Homo DJ's - Supernaut
- Ozzy Osbourne with Therapy? - Iron Man
- Corrosion of Conformity - Lord of This World
- Sepultura - Symptom of the Universe
- Bullring Brummies - The Wizard
- Bruce Dickinson with Godspeed - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
- Ugly Kid Joe - N.I.B.
- Faith No More - War Pigs
- Type O Negative - Black Sabbath
- Cathedral - Solitude
Rating: 95%
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