Come To The Sabbath: The Singles Collection

This does not deserve one star, but I stuck it up because a)"Accident" is worth it, and, b) reviews without stars are not recognised. This is a completely pointless exercise in marketing tired, limp, redundant and mediocre material by trying to pass it off as something it isn't. Black Widow were an excellent band of the early 1970's who produced a great first album entitled "Sacrifice". (The original acetate version of the album, complete with original female vocalist is still available on cd) "Sacrifice" was re-recorded and released on the CBS label to much critical acclaim, and contained the single "Come To The Sabbat" - the worst track on the entire album by far, and one I always skip when playing it. Their second album, "Black Widow" did not deliver as well as the first, but had some notably good songs on it. "Tears and Wine", "Gypsy" and "Mary Clarke". The single "When My Mind Was Young" again being the wet lettuce of the album. "Black Widow 3" was a complete waste of time. I bought it, listened to it, and flogged it second hand within three days. Only "Accident" is worth listening to on the whole thing. "Black Widow 4" is something I would just rather forget existed at all. Recent times have seen an upswing in interest in music from the 1970's, and someone obviously wants a slice of that pie. Buy "Sacrifice". Buy "Black Widow" if you want to see how the band's direction and focus began to change afterwards...The steady and woeful decline...but go no further than that. It's painful and pointless. I would never shell out hard-earned cash on anything other than the first two albums (three, if you want to get hold of the original Sacrifice recordings out of curiosity) and certainly wouldn't recommend you trouble yourself with this garbage. Oh, and please don't confuse this band with another band of the same name. Different animal altogether....

I feel I need to state this after reading the reviews for the Singles collection.I read them and they all relate to the anthology. Which I have now bought, but was mislead into thinking the Singles Collection WAS the anthology, Yes I know the tracks are listed, but ever hopeful, I still bought it thinking I was getting more than just the 5 discs with 2 tracks on each.Having said this Black Widow are worth the listen if you want a "feel" of the potential that could have been channeled in a heavier route.(Guess Satan stayed at the Sabbat)As far as the singles are concernedDisc 1 "Where is my mind" has a late 60's heavy'ish flavor (put me in mind of Big Brother)/ "A place of Heartbreak" bit Vanilla Fudgy again west coast heavy.Disc 2 "Come to the Sabbat" if you don't know the track think Gregorian chant fused with Jethro Tull (still atmospheric for me) ./"Way to Power" Mid paced track with brass and a hint of Moody Blues Vocals on the chorus link.Disc 3 "Wish you would" vitual copy of the Yardbird version good track/ "Accident" Brass intro into a pounding "fair" B side trackDisc 4 "When my mind was young" Interesting harmonies with a hint of Crosby Stills and Nash, / "Come to the Sabbat" (Once Again)Disc 5 AGONY BAG "Rabies is a killer" Punk chant of title into a heavier rock rumble (pleasantly surprised)/"Never Never land" Freaky fusion think of heavy Sweet,meets Bucks Fizz.Cheers Folks hope this helps

Many thanks.

Wow! I listened to this collection of a group once described to me as "like Black Sabbath" with much anticipation,only to think "what is this garbage!"! Unfortunately, I now own this box set of songs I won't be listening to again! This has the dark lyrics but with 60's love child music around it. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but 60s/70s collectors looking for something different.