Search - Black Sabbath :: Live Evil (2 CD)

Only for Dio-era Sabbath Fans

Edward J. Holmes | Demotte, Indiana United States | 05/19/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

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



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."

Sabbath ,s live evil..is evil indeed.

Paul Mcguinn | chicago il usa. | 09/07/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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.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.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!!"