2023-06-02 18:10:00
In November 2022 BMG reissued two monuments in the history of hard & heavy metal: “Heaven And Hell” and “Mob Rules”, two albums that BLACK SABBATH, had recorded in 1980 and 1981 respectively, with Ronnie James Dio on vocals. Today, June 2, the release of this Super Deluxe Edition of “Live Evil” superbly crowns a key period in the career of the group from Birmingham.
Marking the 40th anniversary of this double album, this ”ultimate” version is available this June 2 in a 4 CD box or 4 vinyl box and digital. The initial version of the album was specially remastered by Andy Pearce, while a new mix was created, from the original analog tracks, by Wyn Davis, a collaborator of the band for many years. These luxurious boxes also include a richly illustrated book, as well as a reproduction of the program and the poster of the ”Mob Rules” tour, during which this exceptional live was captured.
This new era for BLACK SABBATH began in 1979 when vocalist Ronnie James Dio joined the band’s founding members: Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. Together they would launch an emblematic incarnation of this pioneering heavy metal band and produce, in 1980, an essential studio album: “Heaven and Hell”. It was during the tour that followed the release of this record that drummer Bill Ward was replaced by Vinny Appice. It was with him in 1981, in Los Angeles, that BLACK SABBATH was quickly going to box his 10th studio album “Mob Rules”, another gem that marked the quartet’s fans forever. The group then set off on the roads all over the world and announced its intention to record several concerts of its American tour for what was to become its first official live album!
In the detailed liner notes that can be read in the book that accompanies this anniversary edition, Hugh Gilmour recalls that: “The ten-month tour of ‘Mob Rules’ was a success, resurrecting their reputation not only as a band capable of filling big venues, but also selling lots of vinyl and cassettes. BLACK SABBATH had offered its record company two successful albums and was even regarding to present a third.
When “Live Evil” hit the market in 1983, this double album was a critically acclaimed commercial triumph. It peaked at number 13 in the UK charts and number 37 on the Billboard Top 200. The English magazine Kerrang! even goes so far as to call it “one of the greatest live albums of all time”. Admittedly, these recordings capture the fierce alchemy and dark magic that has defined this new incarnation of BLACK SABBATH with heart-pounding live versions of recent tracks like ”Neon Knights”, ”The Sign Of The Southern Cross”, ”Voodoo” and ”Children Of The Sea”, as well as a long and irresistible interpretation from ”Heaven and Hell”. But the album also pays homage to the band’s earlier era with Dio-led versions of classics like ”Paranoid”, ”War Pigs”, ”Iron Man” and ”NIB”.
Alas, the group was going to separate even before the release of this live. The Iommi and Butler pair went on their way as BLACK SABBATH, while Ronnie James Dio was going to enlist Vinny Appice to record his first solo album: “Holy Diver”. However, “Live Evil” is not the last chapter of this version of BLACK SABBATH, since the story continued, ten years later, when Dio and Appice joined Iommi and Butler to record “Dehumanizer”. After a second separation, they will meet once more in 2006 – under the very symbolic name of HEAVEN AND HELL – to record three new songs. After a successful world tour, the quartet will release, in 2009, what will be their last studio album, “The Devil You Know”, Top 10 in the USA.
Shortly following, Ronnie James Dio will announce to be suffering from a cancer which will prevail on May 16, 2010.
1685753979
#BLACK #SABBATH #Super #Deluxe #Edition #Live #Evil #40th #anniversary
