Disco de Black Sabbath: “Live Evil [Remastered]”

Much controversy over just how much post-production (ie. overdubbing) went on for this album. It's fairly obvious a generic, looped audience noise is used throughout, but the sheer power of the recording, especially the thunderous kick drums and guitar tones is wonderful to behold. Even though I devoured all things Sabbath once I discovered them, and adored the songwriting, I always hated the production values on the original Ozzy albums. No matter the producer involved, the early Sab catalog is some of the weakest production put to tape. Strongest case for this is Supernaut, from Vol. 4, with the thinnest sounding drum tracks I've ever heard, and this song even has a drum break! It's surely just a coincidence, but out goes Ozzy, in comes DIO, and Sabbath finally gets a quality producer in Martin Birch, resulting in two of the greatest rock albums from the eighties; Heaven & Hell, and Mob Rules. Live Evil, produced by Iommi & Butler was a perfect closer to what's refered to as the DIO era, and even today I'm amazed at the thunder this recording produces. Gotta agree with others that Dio oversings during guitar solos though, and not the best song selection, but they were trying to offer this as a live 'greatest hits' package. A legendary point about this; at one point Dio tells the crowd, that 'Not only are we filming it...', Man someone needs to find that footage and release this on DVD. Ozzy countered this release with Speak of The Devil, which was a live recording of all Sab song shows he did at The Ritz in NYC. Oddly, these are some of the best produced versions of these tracks and a great set list too!

First of all, let's get two things out of the way:

1. This is my absolute FAVOURITE live album of ALL TIME and has been ever since its original release over 20 years ago. At that time, Black Sabbath had just split with Ronnie James Dio and Vinnie Appice and I thought it was going to be their swan song.

2. I knew that this album had edits in it of Dio's between-song nattering, which is actually why I bought it. Not that I don't like Dio's between-song nattering (he's better than Ozzy's constant "LET'S GO ****** CRAZY!" and the plethora of Ozzy's obscenities that mar the "Reunion" album), but I had hoped that this issue would cut out the "there's a big black shape looking up at me..." rap in "Heaven and Hell". It's not in the original song, Ronnie seems to include it just for shock value (Bill Ward has commented on how Ronnie felt he had to write to fit preconceived notions about Sabbath - Tony Martin sometimes fell into the same trap) and, as a Christian I find it unnecessary (that's just the way I feel). It's still there and I don't think it needs to be.

The editing is generally done well, except for how many have commented on the very-abrupt fadeout of "Fluff". Also, if you listen closely, you can still faintly hear Dio cry "GEEZER BUTLER!" at the beginning of "NIB".

But the music is what matters, and there's no shortage of high-quality live Sabbath on offer here. I remember in a 1982 issue of "Circus" magazine a letter said that the writer had seen the band live and "Dio did the old Ozzy material so powerfully you could measure it on a Richter scale". I would echo that 100%. Dio takes the classics like "Iron Man," "Children of the Grave" and "Paranoid" and makes them his own. I also remember that some people said "Dio shouldn't be doing those songs, those are Ozzy's songs!" I just don't get it.

Tony Iommi, is, of course, brilliant throughout. His extended solo in "Heaven and Hell" shows how rock guitar SHOULD be done. I think only Ritchie Blackmore, Brian May and Michael Schenker approach him as a soloist and no-one touches him on riffs.

Geezer Butler is mixed almost equally with Iommi (fans will remember the so-called tiff about the mix of this album being the reason Dio and Appice left) and that's good. His excellent basswork almost acts as a second guitar.

I have to say that Vinnie Appice is not my favourite Sabbath drummer - to me, Bill Ward defined the percussion that drove Sabbath along, and I prefer the late, great Cozy Powell who came later. However, Vinnie is very, very good throughout, just as he was when I saw him live with Dio on "The Last In Line" tour and Sabbath's "Dehumanizer" tour.

No comment on Geoff Nicholls. He provides good accompaniment on the studio albums but is almost inaudible here.

A nice bonus to this issue is the extensive liner notes by Hugh Gilmour and some extra photos.

Overall, still Sabbath's finest live moment. Miles ahead of "Reunion," the Sharon Osbourne cash-in of "Past Lives," and slightly ahead of the Tony Martin-fronted "Cross Purposes Live."

Don`t let anyone tell you different. This is a great CD. The performances are strong. I just wish the song "Die Young" was on here. I have heard all 3 versions and to be honest nothing beats the original Warner version, 2 disc set. I don`t like the fact that they chopped up the newer versions, taking stage banter out, removing some musical passages and fading out the song "Fluff". Plus some of the cymbals in the mix sound weird. Not much else to say. I just wanted to really promote the original mix of the warner version. The point of re-issues is to add something new to an album most of us already own. In this case I really believe the new versions offer nothing new, and take away from what already was a great version.

This is the perfect representation of the Dio/Sabbath collaboration. Since it was orginally released in 1982 it does not include, songs from all Dio/Sabbath albums. If you have ever seen Black Sabbath with Dio, this is a wonderful way to remember the concert, especially if you are a Dio fan. Of course, Vinnie can't play as good as Bill Ward on the old Sabbath stuff, but so what. This was a part of metal history that should be a part of every metal collection.

As a fan of Black Sabbath since my teen years(circa 1971)no other other band has ever really caught my attention they way these guys have. While there have some interesting exceptions, Black Sabbath remains the reigning Masters of Hard Rock. When Dio was called to take the place of the "Ozz-man," It almost seemed like Sabbath was reborn. Their first album with Dio as front man had gone back to the harder edge that all Sabbath fans had come to enjoy and while the second Album was a bit disapointing, songs like "Mob Rules,Voodoo,and Sign of the southern Cross" were pleasant exceptions.

Needless to say you can imagine my excitement when the very first live Sabbath album was released. The only thing that would be better would be the Second coming. Tony's guitar playing was awesome. Geezer's bass rhythm work was outstanding. Finally, Vinny Appice's drum work was excellent. What was sad was that Bill Ward, for personal reasons, chose not to be a part of Sabbath after H&H. Never the less, it was Black Sabbath and they were demenstrating why They were the Master's,and everyone else could only stand in AWE!

Ronnie James Dio was the best of all Sabbath's frontman, second only to Ozzy. The Dio era songs were performed masterfully, while the ones from the Ozzy era, Dio did them very well. While there were some interesting comments about some of the earlier Sabbath music(fans will remember that Dio would leave the fold not long after), Dio was a team player while on stage, and performed appropriately. In this writers mind, one of the best perfomances of "Children of the Grave" is found on this album,and even the ones from Ozzy's "Tribute and Speak of the Devil," while very good perfomances, need to show proper respect, and of course, they do! The only Live Sabbath album to top this one is the "Reunion Album!" Indeed, the best of the Best!

For those who enjoy Sabbath the way I do,you will do well to add this album to your collection.