Audience 9.3 - A beautiful wide, spacious, and clear recording of a band absolutely demolishing it. How much friggin’ better do you want it?  I’ve heard major label released live albums that didn’t sound as good as this.

Black Sabbath Stadthalle Offenbach, Germany 1980-06-02 Disc 1 101 Supertzar 102 War Pigs 103 Noen Knights 104 N.I.B. 105 Lonely Is The Word 106 Sweet Leaf 107 Drum Solo 108 Sweet Leaf (Reprise) 109 Children Of The Sea Disc 2 201 Black Sabbath 202 Heaven And Hell 203 Iron Man 204 Guitar Solo 205 Die Young 206 Paranoid 207 Children Of The Grave  

Stereo Soundboard 9.0 - While this show is also featured on another set here, we found an alternate version that seems to have a wider stereo separation, it does make it sound a tad brighter, but there are some trade-offs too, like a touch more hiss but it doesn’t bother so TURN IT UP! Black Sabbath Espace Balard Paris, France 30th September 1983 1. Children Of The Grave 2. Hot Line 3. War Pigs 4. Supernaut 5. Drum Solo 6. Rock ‘N’ Roll Doctor 7. Disturbing The Priest 8. Iron Man 9. Guitar Solo 10. Digital Bitch 11. Smoke On The Water 12. Paranoid/Heaven And Hell(reprise) Bonus Tracks Sporthalle, Boblingen, Germany 28th September 1983 13. Black Sabbath 14. Smoke On The Water 15. Paranoid/Heaven And Hell(reprise) Ian Gillan – Vocals Tony Iommi – Guitar Geezer Butler – Bass Bev Bevan – Drums Geoff Nicholls – Keyboards  

Soundboard 9.0 - Interesting hearing this line up in such clarity,  it certainly allows you to make a better judgment on the music, which by the way is pretty damn good. It’s different, in some ways, but it is still very good. My advice is not to go into it thinking you are getting Black Sabbath – rather consider it a Tony Iommi side project, then it makes more sense and will grab you in a better way. Black Sabbath Monsters Of Rock Festival Arena Del Chionso Reggio Emilia, Italy 1992-09-12   1. Computer God 2. Children of the Sea 3. Time Machine 4. War Pigs 5. Master of Insanity/After All (The Dead) 6. Iron Man 7. Heaven and Hell  

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.

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  

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