The Album Reader Reviews:

	Title: Nativity in Black II Artist: Various Artists Label: Divine/Priority Release Date: 6/6/00	There are currently 4 Reader Reviews of this album. Average Rating: 2.75 Go to Judgment Committee Reviews of this Album
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Submitted by Red Man on 5/3/02:
Hmm, a tribute album to Black Sabbath. Let's examine the roster, shall we?
Godsmack, Machine Head, Static-X, Megadeth, System of a Down, Pantera, Primus & Ozzy, Slayer, Soulfly, Hed(pe), Monster Magnet, and Busta Rhymes. Wait a tick, Busta Rhymes? What the hell is he doing here? For that matter what place do nu-metallish modern rock bands have on here?
There are a few high points. Chiefly Ozzy's appearance (I personally don't care much for Primus, but the necessary inclusion of Ozzy makes things a tad better), and Slayer's kickass rendition of "Hand of Doom".
The rest though? Hmm, maybe I'll listen another time. For now though, here's my thesis: Nativity in Black II proves that covering the godly Black Sabbath is something to either be left to the masters (i.e. Slayer, and other bands not included on this album), or not to be done at all. End of story.

Submitted by Josh on 9/2/00:
First of all, I bought the first Nativity In Black quickly when I saw the band line-up and the track listings. But as for this one, what is this? I swear it was an Ozzfest '99 cd. With the exeptions of about 4 bands this whole compilation is all about MTV groups (I was shocked to not see Papa Roach or Slipknot on the sleeve! That's probably N.I.B. III.) Anyway here's my reviews of each song.
I like Godsmack but I don't like how they fucked up a song like "Sweet Leaf". "Sweet Leaf" should've been covered by Monster Magnet instead of Godsmack. Godsmack should've covered "Into the Void" cuz that song is blazing anyway and that fits Godsmack's style more. Monster Magnet is more into trippin' so "Sweet Leaf" fits their style more. Godmack's "Sweet Leaf" is tight, just they put too much guitar into it and they should've let the bass break through on that one riff, and you know what I'm talking about if you've heard the original then heard this one. Also Sully sounded too angry for this particular song. Dave (Wyndorf) has the better voice for this type of song. (The next song reviews won't be this long!)
I like Machine Head but they slaughtered "Hole in the Sky". I like Robb's singing voice at the "hole in the sky, please take me to heaven" part.
Static-X also fucked a Sabbath classic up. I like Wayne Static's voice but the drum rhythm is so sloppy. I've been thinking that if Ken Jay would play the same rhythm from the original only faster, the whole song would've been the shit.
Megadeth definitely didn't make this album worth buying like they did w/ the last album and "Paranoid". That was classic material. This sucked.
I don't like System of a Down and I like the song "Snowblind". The combo you ask? My solution is to close my eyes and just think that this is a System of a Down original and not even let a thought go across my mind that Sabbath did this one. Sabbath's version was so much better but this version isn't bad either. I guess it's typical System of a Down style to sound like a really shitty band so I give em credit.
"Electric Funeral" sounds like a remake by Ozzy and company instead of sounding like a cover by Pantera. I like the ending how all of a sudden Anselmo uses his typical scream and gives it away that this truly is Pantera.
Primus is a killer band and they've done a killer cover of a killer song. I kinda wish that Ozzy wouldn't have provided vocals for this one. It would've been so cool to hear Les Claypool sing "my name is Lucifer, please take my hand." Cool! That actually ran through my head.
The only thing I can say about of "Hand of Doom" by Slayer is DAMN!!!
Soulfly's cover of "Under the Sun" is so fucking cool and sounds not only better than the original but better than Sepultura's cover of "Symptom of the Universe"! WOW!
Fuck HED(pe) and fuck their cover of "Sabbra Caddabra". I liked Metallica's cover of this song better. That's pretty bad but at least they know who Black Sabbath is.
I've already gone over Monster Magnet and their cover of "Into the Void"(see Godsmack review). Good cover of a good song, just wrong band.
I'm sure Busta Rhymes doesn't even know who Black Sabbath was either. You know he didn't grow up listening to metal. He was probably inspired by hearing about Ice-T and Body Count. I still like Busta Rhymes, just I don't believe he belongs on this tribute to Black Sabbath. He didn't even cover "Iron Man". He just used the music and rapped a whole new song to it. I think the reason they had him on there was to get a hit single w/ a pop station.

Submitted by Alvin Andanar on 8/14/00:
Oh boy, another Black Sabbath tribute album. Whoopeeedooo!!! Don't get me wrong, I love Sabbath, I love Ozzy, Tony, Bill and Geezer, and I love their classic songs. But why does Nativity in Black focus mainly on the Ozzy-era of Sabbath? Does this mean that post-Ozzy Sabbath isn't worth paying tribute to? I'll answer my own question by saying that okay, Sabbath without Ozzy isn't that good. Except that after Ozzy exited, a certain singer named Ronnie James Dio stepped in and made two classic albums with the band. Where is Dio-era Sabbath in Nativity in Black? Aren't classic Dio-era songs such as "Neon Knights", "Mob Rules", "Lady Evil", "Heaven and Hell" et al worth covering? Another gripe of mine is that this is supposed to be a tribute album for messers Iommi, Osbourne, Butler and Ward. They should sit back and enjoy listening to this disc, right? Then what the hell is Ozzy doing performing on a couple of the tracks? (not including his performance on the first NIB) Is Ozzy to blame for having a hand in some of the songs or is it the bands' fault for not having the guts to cover the damn song without having Ozzy as "guest"? Granted, this is a more than decent tribute with standout, exceptional performances from Pantera, Slayer, Soulfly (which sounded more like Sepultura), Monster Magnet, Megadeth, and Godsmack. While the Ozzy-era of Sabbath is undoubtedly the essential era of the band, it is also warranted that other moments from Black Sabbath's history, particularly Dio-era should be paid tribute to.

Submitted by andy on 7/1/00:
I have to admit I'm not a big fan of tribute albums. I mean, how can anyone surpass the original versions, ESPECIALLY, when it's Black Sabbath. Saying that, I'll let you know I have 2 tribute albums- Nativity in Black and Nativity in Black II. The original was incredible- it's one of my favorite CD's. While the song selection was basically popular Sabbath tunes, it was great to hear them done by Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson and Sepultura. (Have you ever heard "Symptom of the Universe" done heavier than Sepultura's version?) The best track on that album was "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" with Dickinson and Godspeed. If I was to review that album it would get 5 bloody skulls! However, I'm not reviewing that album, I'm reviewing its bastard offspring. The only reason I bought NIB II was the original. Man, was I disappointed. Busta Rhymes? Give me a break. The album does have its moments, though. Phil Anslemo sounded so much like Ozzy, I thought I put the wrong CD in! Slayer doing "Hand of Doom" was killer. I love Dave Mustaine's voice, so for me "Never Say Die" was one of my favorites. Soulfly does an excellent job with "Under the Sun". It's the rest of the album that sucks. I wish Anthrax, Manowar and Overkill got a chance to do this album. I wanted to give this album 2 skulls because of the crap put out by Godsmack, Static-X, HED(PE) and Busta Rhymes, but the aforementioned songs make up for it. I won't buy the next one, though.

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