-
Audience 9.3 - I can’t recommend this highly enough – just ferocious playing and great guitar tone emanating from the stage where you have a close up seat and strap in ‘cause this is one heavy duty helping of blistering metal. Must have! Black Sabbath Memorial Stadium Seattle, WA 1980.07.19 Disc 1 101 War Pigs 102 Neon Knights 103 N.I.B. 104 Children Of The Sea 105 Sweet Leaf - Drum Solo 106 Black Sabbath Disc 2 201 Heaven And Hell 202 Iron Man 203 Guitar Solo 204 Die Young 205 Paranoid 206 Children Of The Grave
-
Audience 9.0 - A big sound here, and I mean it can be asbig as you want because there's just enough headroom here to add volume without fear of too much of any one thing to take away from other frequencies. It's an even sounding mix, with maybe just a little more emphasis on the massive bass/guitar attack. But even then, you still get all the vocals and drums you need...its a well rounded recording giving you sense of venue as one more benefit that comes with audience recordings.
BLACK SABBATH Mayflower Theatre Southampton, UK 6th September 1992 Disc 1 1. E5150 2. The Mob Rules 3. Computer God 4. Children of the Sea 5. Time Machine 6. War Pigs 7. I 8. Die Young 9. Guitar Solo 10. Black Sabbath Disc 2 1. Master of Insanity 2. After All (The Dead) 3. Drum Solo 4. Iron Man 5. Heaven and Hell 6. Neon Knights Ronnie James Dio - Vocal Tony Iommi - Guitar Geezer Butler - Bass Vinny Appice - Drums Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards -
Audience 8.7 All shows appear to have been recorded by the same taper who was diligent to show up to all the Sabbath shows in his town three years in a row. I am impressed with his effort, you can tell he's not an amateur and but for the fact he's not using pro equipment, he most certainly would otherwise have gotten a stellar result. As it is, it's fine but not winning any dynamics awards. What it does deliver is consistent, strong, error-free recordings that you can relax into, and let yourself adjust to what is there because it's certainly not that bad. I started listening to these shows in order to rate them and ended up just letting them play because it's cool to hear this great line-up playing in a far away place away from the glitz and glamour of the metropolis, year-after-year-after-year, and yet deliver a performance no different from one they might have done at, say, Radio City Music Hall or Madison Square Garden.
Black Sabbath Cornwall Coliseum St. Austell, UK June 24, 1980,Feb. 2, 1981 & Jan. 14, 1982 Disc 1 St. Austell, UK June 24, 1980 1. Intro 2. War Pigs 3. Neon Knights 4. N.I.B. 5. Lonely Is The Word 6. Sweet Leaf 7. Children of the Sea 8. Black Sabbath 9. Heaven and Hell Disc 2 10. Iron Man 11. Guitar Solo 12. Die Young 13. Paranoid 14. Children of the Grave St. Austell Feb. 2, 1981 15. Supertzar 16. War Pigs 17. Neon Knights 18. N.I.B. 19. Children of the Sea 20. Lady Evil Disc 3 21. Black Sabbath 22. Heaven and Hell 23. Iron Man 24. Guitar Solo 25. Die Young 26. Paranoid 27. Children Of The Grave St. Austell, UK. 1982 28. E5150 (Intro) 29. Neon Knights 30. N.I.B. Disc 4 31. Children Of The Sea 32. Country Girl 33. Black Sabbath 34. War Pigs 35. Slippin' Away 36. Drum Solo 37. Iron Man 38. Mob Rules 39. Heaven And Hell 40. Paranoid 41. Children Of The Grave -
Audience 7.1 - One for completists only, but even then, this version has been given a touch of boost (recording levels were low), EQ and hiss reduction (very very lightly) making it an upgrade to previous versions. Good set list, band sound good (Ozzy in a great mood). I think it’s not a total loss of a recording, because the one thing it does also have going for it, is that it is not a garbled muddy mess (that is a deal breaker for me).
-
Sunrise, Fl. 1992 Audience 9.1 - A really nice and bright recording. It’s not as full on the low end but it’s there, everything is pretty clear and it is a pretty spacious, atmospheric tape. Groningen 1992 Audience 9.2 - This tape is bright, good balance, and a realistic live atmosphere. Black Sabbath 1992-07-24 & 09-17 Disc 1 Sunrise Musical Theater Sunrise, Florida 1992-07-24 101 Soundcheck (Vinny Appice) - Intro 102 E5150 103 The Mob Rules 104 Computer God 105 Children Of The Sea 106 Time Machine 107 War Pigs 108 I 109 Die Young 110 Guitar Solo - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 111 Black Sabbath Disc 2 201 TV Crimes 202 Master Of Insanity 203 After All (The Dead) 204 Drum Solo 205 Iron Man 206 Heaven And Hell 207 Neon Knights 208 Paranoid - Heaven And Hell (Reprise) Disc 3 Evenementenhal Groningen, Netherlands 1992-09-17 301 E5150 302 The Mob Rules 303 Computer God 304 Children Of The Sea 305 Time Machine 306 War Pigs 307 I 308 Die Young Disc 4 401 Guitar Solo - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 402 Black Sabbath 403 Master Of Insanity 404 After All (The Dead) 405 Drum Solo 406 Iron Man 407 Heaven And Hell 408 Neon Knights 409 Paranoid - Heaven And Hell (Reprise)
-
Disc 1 Pittsburgh 1974 Audience 8.5 A rather middle of the road tape that does not offend the ears, but does not offer great separation of instruments. It’s not that it is real muddy either, it’s just that Sabbath were very loud, and unless you were seated ideally for taping, and, if your taping gear was high quality, you “might” get a very good recording of this band. That being said, I have heard much worse, and this is a new tape to circulation. Some good jams, Ozzy is very excited this night. Disc 2 Niagara Falls 1978 Audience 8.7 A bit better than the previous disc in this set, it offers better separation of instruments and more dynamics. In parts, it’s actually even better than the 8.7 rating. A rare tape, it offers something to collectors and features complete versions of the Technical Ecstasy songs which is a big plus. Disc 3 Live Rehearsals and Unknown Live 1979-80 Soundboard 9.8 Two very cool pieces that may have fallen through the cracks for most collectors but thankfully included in this Lost Recordings set. Both are worth repeated listening. Black Sabbath Lost Recordings 1974-1979 Disc One Civic Arena Pittsburgh, PA 02-02-1974 1. -Introduction 2. -Tomorrow's Dream 3. -Sweet Leaf 4. -Killing Yourself To Live 5. -Snowblind 6. -War Pigs 7. -A National Acrobat 8. -Cornucopia 9. -Sabbra Cadabra 10. -Guitar-Drum Solo 11. -Unknown 12. -Drum Solo 13. -Supernaut 14. -Guitar Solo 15. -Sabbra Cadabra (reprise) Disc 2 Niagara Falls Convention Center Niagara Falls, NY September 8, 1978 1 -Supertzar (intro tape) 2 -Symptom of the Universe 3 -Snowblind 4 -War Pigs 5 -Never Say Die 6 -Black Sabbath 7 -Dirty Women 8 -Rock 'n Roll Doctor 9 -Bill Ward drum solo 10 -Jam I 11 -Orchid 12 -Jam II 13 -Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (riff) 14 -Jam III 15 -Jam IV 16 -Jam V 17 -Electric Funeral 18 -Iron Man Disc 3 New York 1978 Cont'd 19 -Fairies Wear Boots 20 -Encore break 21 -Paranoid 22 -She's Gone (outro tape) 1979 Rehearsal Session 23. -Heaven And Hell 24. -Slapback Unknown Venue August 1980 25. -War Pigs 26. -Neon Knights 27. -Children Of The Sea 28. -Black Sabbath 29. -Die Young
-
Audience 9.2 - I rate this one highly because it has a unique quality to it. First though, it’s a good recording, but interestingly it gives a clear and powerful representation to the often overlooked and seldom FELT kick drum. This instrument is kind of crucial to the sound of a heavy metal band, especially one whose primary power source is closer to the bottom end of the sound spectrum. So, a nicely defined and powerful kick drum propels this show in ways others do not. Highly recommended!
Black Sabbath Nippon Seinen Kan Shinjuku-Ku Tokyo, Japan 11-17-1980 Disc 1 1. -Opening - Supertzar 2. -War Pigs 3. -Neon Knights 4. -N.I.B. 5. -Children Of The Sea 6. -Sweet Leaf 7. -Drum Solo 8. -Sweet Leaf 9. -Lady Evil 10.-Black Sabbath Disc 2 11. -Heaven And Hell 12. -Iron Man 13. -Instrumental 14. -Guitar Solo 15. -Instrumental 16. -Guitar Solo 17. -Instrumental 18. -Orchid 19. -Die Young 20. -Paranoid 21. -SE - Announcement Tony Iommi - Guitars Ronnie James Dio - Vocals Geezer Butler - Bass Vinny Appice - Drums Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards
-
Soundboard 9.2 - A solid board tape that feels more like a good stage recording to my ears..but the thing is this is an interesting line up and having a great quality live recording of it is of prime interest. Tony Martin can be analyzed very carefully, and I think he comes out as one of the better sounding voices but still not quite as good as Dio or Ozzy of course…but he’s not bad! BLACK SABBATH Live At Summer Arena Vienna, Austria 24th September 1989 CD 1 1.Supertzar/ The Gates of Hell 2.Headless Cross 3.Neon Knigths 4.Cildren Of The Sea 5.Die Young 6.When The Death Calls 7.War Pigs 8.The Shining CD 2 1.Mob Rules 2.Black Sabbath 3.Iron Man 4.Children Of The Grave ENCORE 5.Heaven And Hell 6.Paranoid / Heaven And Hell Tony Martin . Vocals Tony Iommi . Guitar Neil Murray . Bass Cozy Powell . Drums Geoff Nicholls . Keyboards