The brand that was Sabbath continued to fly the heavy metal banner, with Iommi the only constant factor throughout the decades. With unwavering commitment from the group’s de-facto leader, guitarist Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath soldiered on and on. Shortly after the album’s debut, Dio was diagnosed with cancer, a disease that led to his passing in 2010.From very humble beginnings in 1968, four musicians from Aston in Birmingham quickly evolved their blues rock music into the heaviest and most satanic sounds of the early 1970s.ĭespite their massive popularity with both record sales and concert attendances, Sabbath were mercilessly exploited by their management in the mid-70s.īattling drug and drink addictions and numerous legal actions along the way, Sabbath plodded on through the decade with some of the heaviest riffs ever committed to tape, but also experimented with orchestras, choirs, synthesisers and even brass sections – eventually causing the final breakup of the band’s original line-up after years of internal frustrations. After a hugely successful world tour, the quartet released what would be its final studio album, 2009’s The Devil You Know, which entered Billboard’s Top 200 chart at #8. They went their separate ways yet again, only to reconvene in 2006 – under the moniker Heaven and Hell – to record three new songs. The story continued over a decade later when Dio and Appice rejoined Iommi and Butler to record 1992’s Dehumanizer. Still, it wasn’t the final chapter for the band. Iommi and Butler continued as Black Sabbath, while Dio and Appice left to record Dio’s solo debut, Holy Diver. The recordings capture the ferocious chemistry and dark magic that defined this incarnation of Black Sabbath with thrilling live versions of recent tracks like “Neon Knights,” “The Sign Of The Southern Cross,” “Voodoo,” and “Children Of The Sea.” The album also honored the band’s original lineup with Dio-led versions of Sabbath classics like “Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” “Iron Man,” and “N.I.B.”Īlas, the lineup split before the album was released. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive, including one from influential heavy metal magazine Kerrang! that hailed it as “one of the greatest live albums of all time.” When Live Evil arrived in 1983, the double album was a commercial and critical triumph, reaching #13 in the U.K. Black Sabbath Mk 2 had given their record label two best-selling LPs and were about to present a third. In the extensive liner notes that accompany LIVE EVIL (40 th ANNIVERSARY SUPER DELUXE EDITION), Hugh Gilmour writes: “The ten-month Mob Rules tour was certainly a very successful one, resurrecting their reputation not only as a band that could fill major venues, but one that could sell plenty of vinyl and cassettes too. While touring for the album, the band announced plans to record several shows for what would become its first official concert album. Released in November 1981, the album would be certified gold. When the tour ended in 1981, the group decamped to Los Angeles and quickly recorded Sabbath’s 10 th studio album, Mob Rules. Halfway through the album’s tour, Ward left and was replaced by Vinny Appice. The newly minted quartet debuted in 1980 with Heaven and Hell, a platinum-certified smash that won over fans of the original lineup. Listen now.Ī new era of Black Sabbath began in 1979 when singer Ronnie James Dio joined the band, along with founding members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward, to launch a new incarnation of the iconic heavy metal band. The newly remastered version of “The Mob Rules” is available digitally, today. The physical versions also come with illustrated hardback books that include new liner notes and replicas of the concert book and poster from the Mob Rules tour. The collections feature two versions of the legendary album: a newly remastered version by Andy Pearce along with a new mix created from the original analog multi-tracks by longtime band associate Wyn Davis. LIVE EVIL (40 th ANNIVERSARY SUPER DELUXE EDITION) will be released on 2 nd June as a 4-CD set, a 4-LP set and digitally. Black Sabbath’s first official live album, Live Evil, celebrates its 40 th anniversary this year with a new Super Deluxe Edition that introduces newly remixed and remastered versions of the acclaimed double album.
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