This is a re-packaged television documentary, plus 42 minutes of odds and sods that never made it on-air. Most of the new clips last just a couple minutes, with no transition between them. In fact, the scene goes blank. Now, the program eclipses 1½ hours of discussion with the four Sabbath principles, interviewed separately, regarding the making of said disc. A music history lesson, surrounding the early days of the band, as well as a track-by-track chat, interspersed with vintage live footage (not exclusive to this DVD and probably seen numerous times elsewhere, like that psychedelic ‘Iron Man’ video). You also get the two-cents (as if fans care) from unknown British industry personalities (even to someone like myself, a fan of the music for 30+ years!), producer Tom Allom, longtime scribe Geoff Barton and ex-Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins(?), the only musician queried. The visual accompaniment is equally heavy on the Vietnam era war footage, since much of the Paranoid album was influenced by the times.

Of the bonus material, all outtakes from the interview sessions, the recollections on the first US tour are priceless (didn’t know about different currents), as are the moments were Allom lets us here the separate tracks (bass, guitar, vocals, drums) to ‘Paranoid’ or ‘Iron Man’ for a closer inspection of each guy’s talent. Seated for the talk, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi also play riffs/melodies throughout the documentary. These close-ups on the fingering are of limited interest to non-musicians, hence being left out of the actual film. Nine minutes of Bill Ward’s playing/explanations are left to the bonus reel. The original, in the recording studio, scratch vocals (made up Ozzy Osbourne lyrics) are a rare treat. While they talk extensively about ‘Planet Caravan’, the instrumental ‘Rat Salad’ is completely ignored, until (nearly) the end of the bonus section. First one of these series I’ve viewed, but not sure why they feel compelled to have the CD (instead of vinyl) artwork to open the show, especially when speaking about a 40 year old album.