For Black Sabbath not to be already represented by a grand live opus during the height of their mid 70’s powers seemed nothing less than a travesty, particularly when one considers the legacy left by their achievements during the Osbourne years and the amount of fantastic shows that the band had played around the world over this entire decade. After all, Deep Purple had Made In Japan, Thin Lizzy had Live And Dangerous and UFO had recently upped the ante with their 1979 Strangers In The Night set.
The belated release of Live At Last in June 1980 unfortunately did nothing to re-dress this imbalance or satisfy the fans’ desire for a document to rival any of the aforementioned albums, such was the poor quality recording on this single disc affair. Even the packaging was bereft of any stunning live action visuals, a de rigueur addition for such a release. It seemed fitting then that the Dio-lead line-up had begun recording shows on the Mob Rules Tour during 1981 in preparation for a document to represent the achievements of the Black Sabbath Mk. III line-up.
With a working title of Evil Live (see what they did there?), and housed in the far more respectable double gatefold package, the eventually re-titled, Live Evil was warmly received by the fans who took the album to #13 in the U.K. and #37 in the U.S. Powerful live renditions of ‘Neon Knights’, ‘Children Of The Sea’ and ‘Mob Rules’ sit comfortably alongside traditional Sabbath classics such as, ‘War Pigs’, ‘Children Of The Grave’ and the obligatory ‘Paranoid’.
This Re-mastered Deluxe Expanded Edition of the album enhances the original release by re-cutting the tracks into their authentic audience environment making for a more rounded live performance which now features Ronnie James Dio’s original between song introductions and full un-edited crowd participation.
Deluxe Edition Of
“Live Evil”
Release date: 5th April 2010
Disc 1
1. E5150 Live
2. Neon Knights Live
3. N.I.B. Live
4. Children Of The Sea Live
5. Voodoo Live
6. Black Sabbath Live
7. War Pigs Live
8. Iron Man Live
Disc 2
1. The Mob Rules Live
2. Heaven And Hell Live
3. The Sign Of The Southern Cross/ Heaven and Hell (continued) Live
4. Paranoid Live
5. Children Of The Grave Live
6. Fluff Live
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