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Sabbath’s Live Albums Reviewed and Rated
Live at Last
Given the dodgy cover art, as well as its seven-years-back track pack, I don’t think too many were fooled that this was an official live album from the boys. Still, Live at Last is a fascinating document depicting the Sabs kicking up a fraught storm of heavy metal just as critics were starting to forge the term. The sound quality of the thing is really not so bad, main positive being Tony’s demonic guitar sound, a crunching distraction from the rest of the downer rock madness of the palette, which is a quarter way to boot, but a wicked pleasure once you submit. It’s the track list that is a blast, though, as much as for what’s thankfully missing as for what’s devilishly on board. Glad there’s no “Iron Man,” “N.I.B.,” or “Black Sabbath” (although we do get a white-knuckle “Paranoid” closer) and even more ecstatic over the clanging presence of “Tomorrow’s Dream,” “Killing Yourself to Live” (freshly birthed with different lyrics, not even on record yet, as we’re talking Vol 4 tour here), “Cornucopia,” and even “Wicked World.” Plus there’s the “mystery song” (see chapter 6), a medley of riffs old and new, a jazz jam, and a drum solo. Finally, what adds to the charm is that this is a warts-and-all release, with the listener finding out that when Sabbath was on fire, even sort of three years into their existence, there weren’t that many warts, with Ozzy doing a pretty accurate job of his hard task as well.
Rating: 7
Live Evil
An amusing puzzle of a sleeve adorns the Sabs’ first official live album, Black Sabbath arguably missing the boat by not putting out an official double gatefold spread in the golden (and evidently exclamatory) era of live albums kicked off by the likes of Kiss’s Alive! and Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive!
No complaints with this album for nigh on twenty years, but now, being able to A/B (C/D) with newly released 1980/’81, 2007, and ’09 sets, I can hear Live Evil’s shortcomings, which are essentially all the vagaries of a hockey barn show, along with nefarious knob-job treatment by interested parties. Ergo, Vinny seems (comparatively) lost and muddy, Ronnie mixed back, Geez adequate (and overbearing on “War Pigs,” for example), with Iommi’s guitars kerranging out of the thing full blast, drilled with midrange. Still, the performance is fiery, belying the positive side of the stadium rock/hockey barn vibe, namely that this is a band fired up on the adrenaline of doing rather well in the marketplace and on the night. It’s also cool remembering how Live Evil was the band’s first sanctioned live album, which really played up the freshness and power of present-day takes on ancient songs, “N.I.B.” being particularly powerful and in fact an easy trumper here over the version on the Hammersmith disc. Also contextually, Live Evil in its day was A/B’ed with Speak of the Devil, and I remember totally digging them both, even if Live Evil got the short stick presswise, enthusiasm for it dampened by the fact that Ronnie and Vinny were already out of the band when it was issued. They were simply different, with, again, much of the excitement here coming from Ronnie doing Ozzy-era tracks, even if his overselling of “Black Sabbath” and “Iron Man” always sounded a little cheesy. As well, I must state that Speak of the Devil was always a little more enjoyable from a drummer’s perspective, Vin not grooving as well here as he would in later years, while Tommy Aldridge played like a monster, not to mention the fact that Vin is somewhat shackled by too live a live mix. Final comment: This is one boring set list, although to be fair, as the first Sabbath live album, double record notwithstanding, there was a lot of ground that had to be covered in terms of trotting out the hits. Highlight? Well, I mention this in the “I don’t hear a single” chapter, but it’s those satanic grunge chords Tony hits during his savage solo at the end of side three’s extended “Heaven and Hell.”
Rating: 7
Tony rocks Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens in the early ’80s.
Cross Purposes Live
Love how raw and combative this thing sounds, the Sabbath lineup consisting of Iommi, Martin, Butler, Rondinelli, and Nicholls blasting through a Hammersmith show with considerable aplomb, highlight being opener “Time Machine,” cool ’cos we get to hear Tony Martin on it but also because of Rondinelli’s gorgeous sense of time and his Bonhamesque drum mix. Apparently Martin was sick for many of these dates, but you’d never know it ’cos he sells it well. I dunno, I almost hear a sinister guitar- and bass-gutting here like on Born Again and I’m lovin’ it, the black ’n’ blue of it all immensely helping songs like “I Witness” and “Headless Cross” achieve metalness versus the cloistered originals. The other Martin-era compositions you’ll never hear unless the guys get back together (and even then, you could likely forget it) are “Psychophobia” and “Cross of Thorns.” Bad choices I’d say, but after all, the guys were working the Cross Purposes album. Still, something from The Eternal Idol with Bobby drumming and with this carnal atmosphere…that would have been a treat. Cool move closing with “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” but alas, Martin ducks the notes. Secret weapon overall however would have to be Bobby Rondinelli, who proves as much with his whirlwind performance on “The Wizard,” in particular, the rapid snare rolls of the intro. Note: Cross Purposes Live was issued as a twinned CD and video pack (and in 2003 as a DVD), with the CD shorter than the video by three tracks, namely “Anno Mundi,” “The Mob Rules,” and “Neon Knights.”
Rating: 7
The fortuitous bonus enveloped within this low-key release was hearing the interpretations of various classics by lesser-known players every bit as talented as the gents comprising the two classic lineups of the band.
Reunion
As is the case with all of these live albums, there are faults or exaggerations, although few are egregious to the point of distraction. Come Reunion, my number one complaint would be too much bass (more so the wow and wallow of the frequency rather than Geez and his playing) and too much treble out of the drums. To be sure, a massive sound is achieved, the surging madness of the crowd here watching history in the making, helping swell the proceedings with enthusiastic insanity. Ozzy is perfect in the mix and mayhem, singing great, but man…lay off the swearing and just the general predictability of the stage raps. It’s all a bit much. Okay, o’er to the track list, it’s almost as if the guys made a conscious decision that if we’ve got to cover off all these hits we’re all so sick of, then the others are going to be truly other. Hence, bloody second track in, it’s “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” which must have sent the diehards into a frenzy. And then there’s a massive stadium rock slog through “Electric Funeral” and even the proggy and melodic “Spiral Architect,” Oz wobbling a bit on this one, but hence his charm. On to disc two, Ozzy, like Tony Martin, has to duck the notes of “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” so frankly, it’s hard to enjoy. But then there’s “Orchid” and “Lord of This World,” followed by highlight of the whole trip, “Dirty Women,” a magic moment and a bold celebration of the Ozzy’s last quarter in Sabbath’s quarter. Another one for the geeks and freaks. And the rest of disc two? Fast-forward through the worn and worn-out super hits (partly because two bands have been playing them forever, namely Sabbath without Ozzy and Ozzy without Sabbath) en route to a tantalizing pair of new studio songs, “Psycho Man,” being hard to stomach but “Selling My Soul” hitting that sweet-and-sour spot between melody and doom (Geronimo riffing, as it were), Ozzy surprising with charm of his own come the singsongy chorus.
Rating: 8
Past Lives
Past Lives is a hastily expanded version of Live at Last, the unauthorized Meehan/NEMS package that rankled the band greatly, contributing to the decision to do Live Evil three years later. But what we have here is the band wrenching back the tapes, cleaning them up, making them official, making them their own. It’s still a bit hodgepodge, though. The first disc is the Live at Last material from March of ’73, sounding bolder, more professional, and then disc two is material from ’70 and from ’75, both clumps sounding about as rough as the original Live at Last tapes. The 1970 stuff is a big who cares, save for a surprisingly professional and powerful playing of “Hand of Doom.” The core of the ’75 material is key, however, with three stone-cold Sabotage classics getting an airing, namely “Hole in the Sky,” “Symptom of the Universe,” and, most surprisingly, “Megalomania.” Hallowed ground, those, and a joyful triptych to trip to (note that it’s all the real songs of Sabotage’s side one, in order), more hallowed because Ozzy’s vocal range is relentlessly stretched, with the Oz man rising to the challenge and turning in the best captured live performance of the entire but admittedly ragged and sparse live Sabbath catalogue. Yet as impressive as it is, it doesn’t quite last, Ozzy blowing it out and having to drop a register as the torture of doing “Megalomania” finally wears him out. But man, this is major metal being forged (for the record, at Asbury Park Convention Hall on August 6, 1975). Undoubtedly, this ’75 batch is a highlight of Past Lives, academically speaking, but perhaps the lasting joy resides in the improved quality of the ’73 material, that bunch crossing over from curio into music that is not hard on the ears. Past Lives came in two guises, one pretty standard, in jewel case, and a special-edition digi that included a four-panel gate, a pick, and a poster.
Rating: 8
The compilation albums start to stack up as the band’s legendary status is reaffirmed through the imitative riffery of stoner rock, doom metal, and grunge bands throughout much of the ’90s and beyond.
Live at Hammersmith Odeon
For an archival release issued 20 years later (numbered and limited to 5000), this is a surprisingly crisp and clean production job, allowing for supreme enjoyment of the band’s energetic, optimistic set. You can almost feel the small-venue vibe of the thing, everything tight, urgent, more than enough mids and highs, Vinny and Ronnie quite well represented versus the guitar-and-bass bulldozer that is Live Evil. And make no mistake about its slimline digi and single-disc status—this is hefty like Live Evil, weighing in at fourteen tracks and eight seconds shy of eighty minutes. The oddities (and furthermore, the tracks not on Live Evil) are “Country Girl,” which frankly doesn’t come off that convincing live, confirming and underscoring its status as controversial Sabbath track; and, even more bizarre, “Slipping Away,” which swings nicely given Vinny’s Keith Moon chaos added to the thing (and then it’s somehow appropriate that Vin’s drum solo comes off the end of the this one). It’s a welcome moment both for obscurity and lightness. Packagingwise it’s classy stuff, although I wish the reproduction of the tour booklet pages took full advantage of the CD booklet size. Trivia note: Live at Hammersmith Odeon is culled from three separate dates out of a four-date stand at the venue, commencing December 31, 1981, and ending January 3, 1982, with none of the material from the last show making the cut.
Rating: 9
Live from Radio City Music Hall
Heftwise, this one fits in-between Hammersmith and Wacken, which means essentially it’s a perfect balance, although the fidelity isn’t quite there, myself preferring the almost NWOBHM excitement of the Hammersmith mix. In any event, I’d say Ronnie is at the height of his powers here, again, with a balance struck, and that is toward the Wacken set’s free-form wackiness of interjection but within check. What’s most cool about Radio City is the track list, with three Dehumanizer samplings and two of the three new Heaven & Hell songs added to The Dio Years, only “Ear in the Wall” omitted ’cos the band ran out of time, threatening to go afoul of Radio City Music Hall’s strict union guidelines. Pity, ’cos “The Devil Cried” and “Shadow of the Wind” really put a drag on the mean/median velocities of this set, given we also get the semi-obscure “The Sign of the Southern Cross,” not to mention “Lonely Is the Word,” which is nonetheless highly welcome as the weirdest inclusion on here, Geezer having indicated as well that it was unrehearsed. Like Neon Nights, Radio City ends with “Neon Knights,” and what a kick-ass version, this song being one of the most transformed of the catalogue, as it moved from studio to stage.
Rating: 8
Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven & Hell—Live in Europe
Documenting one of Ronnie’s very last shows, Wacken, July 30, 2009, Neon Nights finds the band in huge, heaving stadium rock mode, surging through these songs recalling the heft of Live Evil but charmingly loosened up, Ronnie being the most adventurous with his position, playing with his phrasings, throwing in vocal licks…it’s almost an eccentric performance and definitely too much at times but loaded with dimension and pathos. Tony is the rock of the band, with even Geezer allowing some flash. Aside from Ronnie, Vinny’s got the next biggest chest of surprises, letting fire his fifth sense fills with military precision, taking gorgeous shots often not on the studio work (e.g., “Children of the Sea,” the hugely rhythmic solo section of “I” and the rapid-fire tom-fillery of “Falling Off the Edge of the World”). I think really, though, there’s a viciousness of attack here from all corners, Tony soloing intensely every chance he gets, but really, the whole thing personified by Ronnie, who almost sounds as if he knows something is wrong as he slashes into these songs resolute and grim, “Fear” being particularly thespian. Fave raves would be “Bible Black,” which swings compared to the origami of the original, and “Time Machine,” which likewise grooves but with heavier boots, given the weirdly new identity of the band with the new name, the thing essentially vibing like a truncheon for luncheon from The Devil You Know. And the track list, man, I would say on paper, “Follow the Tears” might be the only “meh” play, but again, Vinny saves the living hell out of it by playing so gorgeously and then having all of his drums and cymbals recorded like strong ale. And the close is incredibly strong, with “Die Young” fronted by a soulful yet electricity-drenched guitar solo, and an incredible eighteen-minute “Heaven and Hell” on which everybody gets to shine and jam like we’re back On Stage, this most dangerous version full of twists and turns, risks taken (and not always paying off—the blistering verse riff is undercut by an ill-chosen Vin rhythm), but holding your attention as it goes way beyond the rote call-and-response of older, more structured versions of it. Then, as we say our goodbyes at this final meeting, identity-cohesive and imposing, it’s an incredibly thick Heaven & Hell band steroidal boost on “Neon Knights,” massive mountain groove, thick, glad, sad, a brutal good night.
Rating: 8