Black Sabbath recently announced the September 29th release of The Ten Year War, a limited edition vinyl box set bringing together the band’s eight Ozzy Osbourne-fronted albums, plus a swathe of other rarities, all housed within exclusive artwork created by renowned street artist Shepard Fairey.

The Quietus report that Bill Ward and Tony Iommi looked back on their band’s most fruitful years at an event to promote the new release.

The launch event was held in Regent Sounds Studios in London, now a guitar shop, in the very room where Sabbath’s first two records were recorded. Iommi was interviewed live on stage, while Bill Ward, who was omitted from the lineup on the band’s farewell tour after a shoulder injury and subsequent fall-out with singer Ozzy Osbourne, sent a video message projected to a small but eager crowd.

“There were times when I felt very angry towards the press because of their comments,” said Ward of the so-called Ten Year War, a period which saw Black Sabbath receive scathing reviews from a large swathe of the media. “I didn’t like them. I was too selfish and soft-centred. They were probably trying to be artistically provocative…”

Iommi remembered: “For some reason the British press just couldn’t stand us, so we got to the point where we thought ‘that’s it, we’re not doing any press.’ It wasn’t worth it, we got better press by not doing any. I’ll always remember one guy came along to report on our show and I read his review, he’d came and then just left again straight away… That’s true, and it’s a shame really. I don’t mind criticism if its deserved, but some of them just didn’t like us.”

Remembering the band’s early recording sessions at Regent Sounds, Ward said: “We were such a tremendous, forceful [live] band, the only way to record Black Sabbath was to throw a lasso around it and literally pull it in. We didn’t have very big lassos back then. I think we did very well.”

Iommi, meanwhile, explaining a number of photographs from the band’s early studio sessions which saw him bearing a black eye, recounted the story that would eventually spark ‘Fairies Wear Boots’. “We got into a fight a couple of days before we were due in the studio with some mods, who of course didn’t like us rockers. We ended up in this ginormous fight, Ozzy hit someone over the head with a hammer. There was only the four of us and one of the crew, you had to have a weapon of some sort! A hammer did the job, although Ozzy’s got a gun now…”

Read the full report at The Quietus.

Unique to this release is the metal crucifix shaped Black Sabbath USB stick, which can be worn round the neck and contains MQA high definition audio of the eight albums. The extremely rare The Ten Year War brochure, reproduced from the original publication gives its name to this super deluxe box set.

Pre-order now at tenyearwar.com, or pledgemusic.com/blacksabbath.

The Limited Edition Box Set Includes: 8 x vinyl LPs meticulously reproduced in their original sleeves, re-mastered by renowned mastering engineer Andy Pearce from the original tapes and pressed on 180 gram splatter-coloured vinyl, each LP with unique and individual colouring.

• Black Sabbath
• Paranoid
• Master Of Reality (Including original fold-out colour poster)
• Vol. 4
• Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
• Sabotage
• Technical Ecstasy
• Never Say Die!

Plus:

• 2 x rare 7” singles, reproduced in their original sleeves: Japanese version of “Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)”/“Black Sabbath”. Chilean version of
Paranoid”/“The Wizard” (only 100 copies of the original radio promo were pressed)

• Crucifix shaped Black Sabbath USB stick, exclusive to this box set, which can be worn round the neck and contains MQA high definition audio of the first eight Black Sabbath albums

• The extremely rare The Ten Year War brochure, reproduced from the original publication

• Hardback book, featuring accolades from the cream of rock royalty, coupled with official and candid iconic photography of the band during their 1970s tours, recording sessions and photo-shoots

• Tenth Anniversary World Tour 1978 Official Programme, impeccably reproduced

• Reprinted tour poster from the 1972 Seattle Centre Arena show

• Box set cover art has been created by globally renowned street artist Shepard Fairey

• Exclusive Shepard Fairey art print included with this limited edition version

Black Sabbath are one of the world’s most popular and enduring heavy metal bands and are constantly credited with inventing and defining the genre. To this day, the world of metal - fans and artists alike - cites Sabbath as being both influential and inspirational.

From the blues-laden metal which defined the band’s sound on their self-titled debut, to the multi-million selling follow-up, Paranoid, Sabbath captured the attention of a generation hungry for a new musical direction. However, the all-conquering enthusiasm shown by Sabbath’s rabid fan base wasn’t always mirrored by the gatekeepers within the music press, and it is this disparity which inspired the band to publish The Ten Year War brochure. This document was a playful dig at the journalists of the time with the witty tagline: “More good press than most – more bad press than any”.

With a career spanning 50 years, Black Sabbath have proven time and time again that their musical heritage is unrivaled. Having sold tens of millions of records, sold out global arena tours and bewitched millions of dedicated fans, the band have built a catalogue envied by all.

The Ten Year War box set brings together the first eight Sabbath studio albums in one place, plus a swathe of other rarities, and celebrates the band’s achievements on the stage, in the studio and in the public eye.