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CD reviews

Live Evil (2 CD)

Black Sabbath - Live Evil (2 CD) Audio CD

A fair review of the Black Sabbath "Live Evil (2 CD)" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Black Sabbath reviews here, or go back to the Black Sabbath tabs.

Band: Black Sabbath
Title: Live Evil (2 CD)
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-10-07
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: E5150 2: Neon Knights 3: N.I.B. 4: Children Of The Sea 5: Voodoo 6: Black Sabbath 7: War Pigs 8: Iron Man 9: The Mob Rules 10: Heaven And Hell 11: The Sign Of The Southern Cross 12: Heaven And Hell (Continued) 13: Paranoid 14: Children Of The Grave 15: Fluff

sabbath ,s live evil..is evil indeed.
by the time black sabbath was touring for their mob rules abum, a sort of disconnect happened bettween ronnie dio and tony iommi and geezer butler. black sabbath,s live evil was recorded on the tour for 1981,s mob rules album! unfortuneately this album would be a parting of the ways of ronnie dio and vinnie appice from sabbath. after the tour and during the mixing of what would become live evil there were mutual accusations bettween tony and ronnie about supposedly sneaking into the studio to mix each other,s performance down. so finally the situation got so bad there was a confrontation and a melt down. so ronnie dio and vinnie appice left the band during the mixing. that being said, the album had some good moments. for me the dio songs came across as the best of it. to hear ronnie dio do iron man just didn,t work for me. . . no disrespect to ronnie dio at all in fact he is great!!! it just doesn,t work too well when he sings the ozzy era stuff in my opinion. however for me the great cuts are;voodoo,children of the sea,heaven and hell[ although there is a live version of heaven and hell on the flip side of the die young single that is much better!],sign of the southern cross,mob rules and neon kights. for the dio era stuff iwould recommend grabbing this cd. although i always program skip mode on this version of iron man!!.

Only for Dio-era Sabbath Fans
If you are a hardcore Ozzy fan, this live album is not for you. When I say "only for Dio-era Sabbath fans", I really mean it.

I will start by saying that I am a big fan of the Ozzy and Dio era Black Sabbath. I first heard Sabbath around 1982. Mob Rules was one of the first Black Sabbath records I had ever heard. I think that's why I'm caught in the middle of the whole Ozzy, Dio vocalist war.

As far as Dio's singing goes on the Osbourne era songs, he sings Children of the Grave very well I think and makes it his own. The same goes for the song "Black Sabbath". I feel he totally captured the feeling of this particular tune and molded it to the time period in which is was performed. Iron Man, in my opinion, was also done very well. On the other hand, songs such as N. I. B. , War Pigs, and Paranoid leave the listener with much to be desired. Are they horrible? No, but they just don't capture what Ozzy captures when he sings those classic songs.

As far as Dio's own material with the Sabs, it is great. Heaven and Hell is by far one of the band's best songs ever and the extended version of this classic contained here is a testament in the annals of all metal. I will admit that the guitar solo by Tony Iommi is a bit lengthy at the end of the first part of Heaven and Hell but it just shows how good he is. I would have liked to have heard the whole version of the Sign of the Southern Cross but, it flows into the second part of Heaven and Hell nicely. Voodoo has a bit of an extension which is different from the album version but rocks just as well. Neon Knights is pulled off as a great opener and is a great intro to the world of Dio whilst in Black Sabbath.

As far as production on this album goes everyone who knows anything about Sabbath knows what was going on at the time. It has been said that Iommi and Butler were in the studio one day messing around with the mix behind Dio's back. The same has also been said about Ronnie. I don't know for sure but, the sound on this album could have been better. It's not too bad, though. Don't let that stop you from buying this most important part of Black Sabbath's long and turbulent history. This is one of my favorite live albums.

All reviews are mostly very prejudice, if the reviewer likes the particular album that he or she is reviewing. I like this album a lot. I grew up on it as I did with Ronnie and Ozzy. I have always owned this album in one version or another whether it be a tape, record or CD. I feel that this is a good live album of Sabbath. It represents them at the time (1982).

The album cover is really cool. It is a painting of all the songs included on the record.

If you are a fan of anything Dio has done like I am then you need to get this. .

The Most Mystical Black Sabbath Album

I'll explain: I've always loved what I term the "mystical" atmosphere in exceptional heavy metal. I first heard this album in 1984, and this was my favorite album until I heard Rainbow Rising in 1986. Black Sabbath started it, Judas Priest capitalised on it, and practically the whole of Ronnie James Dio's astounding career expanded upon it. I myself even explore mysticism (as allegory) in my own project, Lyraka.

This album features an astonishing amount of mystical atmosphere to it, this despite the fact that it's a LIVE ALBUM. I realize that many assert this album is part "studio-ed", but that doesn't take away from the effect. Even the most hard charging tracks here exude a "so-black-its-purple" otherworldliness.

The entirety of the extended "Heaven and Hell/Sign of the Southern Cross" is most representive of what I described earlier. One is literally transported during this song, even more so than by the spectacular studio version. Dio's dramaticisms, combined with Iommi's foray into Elite Guitar God-dom. , add up to a ferociously satisfying experience you'll never forget.

The rendition of N. I. B. here completely overshadows the original (and any other) version. Dio completely immerses himself in the part, sounding as though even falling in love couldn't change the devil. Whereas Ozzy's nasal whine made the Lucifer in this tale sound castrated, Dio's is everything a horror fan could ask for. Geezer Butler's bass work provides a fascinating counterpoint as always, but most noticeably during this track.

Neon Knights is the first actual song here, and it is the best ever version of that track as well. Gripping in intensity, Dio seems to push the entire band to deliver an unsettlingly incredible performance. The guitar interplay toward the end by Iommi and Dio has got to be heard to be believed.

Songs like Children of the Sea and Children of the Grave are are also massive highlights here, Dio and Iommi just shine all over this album. Well, Tony Iommi certainly does, but I have an opinion of Dio's performances of Paranoid and Iron Man.

Dio sounds extremely bored by the last two mentioned songs, and the reason is obvious (War Pigs shows the same problem). Those songs werre basically chanted, not sung, by Ozzy, and they leave no room for an operatic vocalist like Dio. Tony Martin had the same problem. Those songs were bulit with the unique personality of Ozzy' s style. So Dio tries his best as a vocal thespian, but ends up sounding very bored at times.

However, the rest of the Ozzy and Dio tracks are SO good, it's impossible to give this a lower than 5 star rating.

Don't hesitate, it's at a great price now.
.

Live Evil a truly great album.
This was Sabbath fronted by Ronnie James Dio with Vinny Appice on drums. Live Evil is one of my all time favorite live albums. Truly epic versions of Mob Rules, Children of the Sea, Heaven and Hell, Neon Knights and Voodoo. Plus you get Dio's takes on all the Sabbath classics like Iron Man, Children of the Grave and Paranoid. I still remember how excited I was to get this on vinyl in 1982. It holds up after 27 years. I know most people will tell you Sabbath is only Sabbath with Ozzy on vocals. For me however Sabbath with Dio is Sabbath at its finest. Do yourself a favor and pick this CD up along with Heaven and Hell live at Radio City Music Hall to hear the greatest heavy metal band of all time.

Loss of confidence in amazon

1) The cd I ordered never showed up. Amazons A to Z guarantee program rests on the promise of sellers who
fail to meet their obligations.
2) Amazon said they were closing my claim because the seller said they
issued a refund.
3) 4 days after the refund was said to have been issued, it still did not
show on my credit card account.

You can see a complete list of all Black Sabbath discography, or go back to the Black Sabbath tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.