Black Sabbath the album, the song, and the band have been studied by metalheads with all the fervor accorded the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

 Masters of Reality is an even darker album, if that's possible. The moralizing reaches new heights and the world is given the generous gift of "Sweet Leaf" and "Children of the Grave." 

 On their second and supremely heavy album Paranoid, there are laments on the destruction of war and the hypocrisy of politicians, the perils of technology, and the perils of drug abuse. 

 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, from 1973, is yet another drugs album, but there is inspiration here that suggests the band found another supplier. Not even Yes's Rick Wakeman can kill the schizophrenic weirdness of a track like "Sabbra Cadabra." 

 Sabotage continues the theme of themeless epic suites with twisted stoner-prog anthems that rock as hard as the early days, but also hyperextend themselves in unexpected ways. It might be the most underrated of their albums. 

 Technical Ecstasy is the Seventies-era Sabbath album least likely to be found in a hard-rock fan's collection. It's not horrible, but you wonder if anyone in the band remembers making it. 

 There are several good-to-great Sabbath compilations out there, most of which are heavy on Ozzy-era material. Shy, retiring types and scaredy cats looking for an easy way into Black Sabbath's diabolical cosmology can't go wrong with the 1976 best-of. 

 Never Say Die is the last Sabbath album Ozzy appeared on before taking a hike and finding solo fame. The songs are better, though, especially the title tune, and it sounds like someone poked drummer Bill Ward with a stick. 

 Buyer beware: Of the post-Ozzy albums–and a good many of them should have been sold under the name the Tony Iommi Experience–there are few essential purchases. 

 Buyer beware: Of the post-Ozzy albums–and a good many of them should have been sold under the name the Tony Iommi Experience–there are few essential purchases. 

 Buyer beware: Of the post-Ozzy albums–and a good many of them should have been sold under the name the Tony Iommi Experience–there are few essential purchases. 

 Buyer beware: Of the post-Ozzy albums–and a good many of them should have been sold under the name the Tony Iommi Experience–there are few essential purchases. 

 By 2007 the original lineup had been touring, off and on, for a decade and had only two underwhelming new tracks from 1998s Reunion to show for it.  

 For a more complete overview of Sabbath's glory days, check out Black Box, which collects the first four albums and tacks on a load of bonus material. 

 Their 2007 concert set Live From Radio City is surprisingly powerful, even though it's limited exclusively to material from Dio's era.  

 2009's studio set The Devil You Know doesn't break any new ground, but it's still the best set of new Sabbath (regadless of what they call themselves) tunes since the early 1980s.