It was only a year after Woodstock when people first started noticing a dark, brooding, overpowering kind of music they'd never heard before. It sounded as if some massive, sinister piece of industrial machinery had somehow been hammered into tune, while a banshee cried out lyrics from the deepest regions of hell. Once this new sound grabbed hold, millions of listeners couldn't get enough, on record and in concert. It quickly came to be known as "heavy metal"--and it was invented by Black Sabbath.

Mike Stark leads you into the studio and on tour with the quintessential British metal band, a primary influence on hundreds of rock groups right up to the present day, from Metallica to Spinal Tap. Here are first-hand accounts from Black Sabbath's four founding members--Bill Ward, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy Ozbourne--and from other members through the years, including Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Eric Singer, Tony Martin, Cozy Powell, and Neil Murray. In their words, they tell you what it's like to turn up the amps, hit the stage, and power-chord and audience into submission--and a create a brand new kind of rock in the process.

It was only a year after Woodstock when people first started noticing a dark, brooding, overpowering kind of music theyd never heard before. It sounded as if some massive, sinister piece of industrial machinery had somehow been hammered into tune, while a banshee cried out lyrics from the deepest regions of hell. Once this new sound grabbed hold, millions of listeners couldnt get enough, on record and in concert. It quickly came to be known as heavy metal--and it was invented by Black Sabbath.

Mike Stark leads you into the studio and on tour with the quintessential British metal band, a primary influence on hundreds of rock groups right up to the present day, from Metallica to Spinal Tap. Here are first-hand accounts from Black Sabbaths four founding members--Bill Ward, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy Ozbourne--and from other members through the years, including Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Eric Singer, Tony Martin, Cozy Powell, and Neil Murray. In their words, they tell you what its like to turn up the amps, hit the stage, and power-chord and audience into submission--and a create a brand new kind of rock in the process.