Live Evil (40th Anniversary)

Product Information

The UK cassette release had, as its first side, sides 1 and 3 of the vinyl release, with side two of the cassette being vinyl sides 2 and 4. A DVD released was talked about with studio overdubbing, but, sadly, it never happened due to quarrels within the band during this release and up to Dehumanizer. On the Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven and Hell DVD, both Dio and Appice claim the mixing sessions were scheduled to start in the early afternoon but, on the third day, Iommi and Butler didn't show up until much later. I had the honor of seeing Ronnie and Vinny in Heaven and Hell twice in 2007 and 2009 and Dio solo (with Simon Wright on drums) twice in 2002 and again in 2003.

The original Sabs lineup had become my favorite band, and Jason knew that, but at first he was upset he had gotten me one that didn’t have Ozzy on it. In the same interview, asked to choose "a track that the engineer didn't cock up", he said: "I liked 'Heaven and Hell' flowing into 'Sign of the Southern Cross'. Hammersmith does sound better, and the tracks were re-mixed in 2007 using modern technology, not 1983 technology and a producer that was aware of the mistakes made while producing the other two Sabbath live albums, namely Live Evil and Live at Last. citation needed] Iommi also contends that he and bassist Geezer Butler were concerned about Dio already rehearsing with other musicians for a proposed solo album offered to him by Warner Brothers Records. While waiting for their bandmates at the studio over a period of several days, Dio and Appice passed the time by listening to the recordings and frequently experimented with the mix by asking the engineer to adjust the levels of various parts.Dio's account attributed the breakup to a misunderstanding arising as the result of Iommi's drug abuse. Iommi now is more on the right side, aggressive and detailed (not sounding like a bootleg distant,muffled and on the center) , keyboards now low on the mix on the left, snare drums now sounds very present and strong (not distant and low as the original), Geezer storming bass on center, and finally Dios' voice clearer than ever, much better than the original.

We had to give the old man two albums, well, a live album counted as two," she is quoted as saying in Mick Wall's 2013 biography on the band. Dio has stated that while he and Appice were not interested in drugs, Iommi and Butler were using cocaine very heavily at that time. It contains some of Tony Iommi’s finest moments and I was very impressed with Vinny’s drum solo after Warpigs. Ok, some gripes,the drums are very low in the mix plus the audience is mega distant, but the power of the guitar and bass wall of crunch is just beautiful. Listen to ‘voodoo’ ‘children of the sea’ and ‘heaven and hell’ ,metal doesn’t get much heavier than that.When Iommi arrived days later, he asked the engineer what Dio had been doing in his absence and was told that he had frequently requested that the vocals be brought up higher in the mix. Two years later we made the move to our present address, 35 The Headrow, where we have remained ever since. The liner notes state that the album was recorded in Seattle, San Antonio and Dallas during the 1982 tour in support of the Mob Rules album, but doesn't give specific information on which songs were performed in which location. War Pigs" contains a drum solo from Vinny Appice, and "Heaven and Hell" contains a guitar solo from Tony Iommi.

The Southern Cross is a constellation that can be seen only on the Southern Hemisphere and kinda tells you where the South is. Ronnie and I would ride in one car, Geezer and Tony in another car, and everybody was breaking away from each other a little bit. Overall, a great set with a great sound (remix) - don’t forget it is a live album (never listened to the OG version, so cannot compare). AllMusic states that " Live Evil does benefit from a crystal clear, in-your-face sound, and by showcasing even amounts of both Ozzy and Dio material, effectively documents Black Sabbath's renascent tours of the early '80s.Geezer Butler has referred to this album a few times in interviews as “Live in the Studio Evil”, a reference to a lot of the overdubs on it. We were working on the Live Evil record in Los Angeles, and in fact we nicknamed him 'Little Hitler. The kids on the ocean does symbolize “Children of the Sea”, but they’re using a coffin as their boat – hence, “Children of the Grave”, too. The first UK CD release omitted "War Pigs" (or "Warpigs" as it was titled in the explanation for its cutting, printed on the rear of the tray-insert), so as to fit onto a single CD.

Tension, however, had been building for some time between the band members, with rock journalist Steffan Chirazi observing in 2008 that the story behind the creation of Live Evil is one of "quiet yet savagely visceral turmoil and a band collapsing under their weight of silence, unspoken accusation, and an unforgiving schedule.

Iommi also admits that the band had to cancel a show at Madison Square Garden when the bombs blew out the tubes in all the amps during the first note of the first song "War Pigs". When Dio and Appice arrived at the studio to begin the Live Evil mixing process, Iommi and Butler never showed up. As usual this “super deluxe” box set is filled with all manners of Dio era Sabbath goodies, poster, book and I believe a tour booklet? It included the original album remastered and a remix of the album from the original analogue master tapes by longtime band associate Wyn Davis across four compact discs and four LPs.