Black Sabbath/London, UK 1982 2Days

From the tour accompanying the release of BLACK SABBATH’s “MOB RULES,” four consecutive performances at Hammersmith, London, which marked the beginning of the ’82 live show, this is a must-have for SABBATH and Ronnie fans, featuring audience recordings of three performances! BLACK SABBATH, featuring Ronnie James Dio, achieved worldwide success with “HEAVEN AND HELL” and its tour in ’80, and the band gained momentum and released “MOB RULES” the following year in ’81, which pursued a heaviness that is more typical of SABBATH. Compared to “HEAVEN AND HELL,” which brought in elements of RAINBOW, this “MOB RULES” has a sound that is more swelled and heavy, closer to “Vol. 4,” and surprised fans when it was first released. Nowadays, this work is counted as one of the best in SABBATH, and the band felt a strong response to the wonderful content, and many official live recordings were made on the tour. Three of the performances on the American tour were made official as “LIVE EVIL” at an early stage, but the recordings made at Hammersmith, London, did not see the light of day for a while, and it was not until 2007 that they were made official as “LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH ODEON”. This work vividly depicts this special live performance, where Ronnie SABBATH reached the peak of his career in the 1980s, by packaging the performances from January 1st to 3rd from the Hammersmith performance held for four days from December 31st to 2007! Discs 1 and 2 contain the performances from January 1st to 1982, the second day of the four consecutive performances. This show is a special live performance at “LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH ODEON” where the most material was selected, such as “N.I.B.” and “Heaven And Hell”. The performance, which was captured with a powerful bass and a direct feeling, is full of listening pleasure from “Neon Knights”, and Ronnie’s singing voice that pierces through the darkness has a great punch. The recording is stable from beginning to end, so you can listen with confidence from the opening to the end (unfortunately, there is a cut due to the master from the end of the drum solo to the beginning of “Iron Man”). After all, this sound source is interesting to compare the takes where you can listen to the three songs from “N.I.B.” to “Country Girl” as well as the official sound sources such as “War Pigs”, “Iron Man”, and “Heaven And Hell”, and the state of the excited audience is the most interesting as a true document (you can also check Ronnie’s improvisation unique to this day, which can be heard in the intro of “War Pigs”). Officially, “Black Sabbath” and “The Mob Rules” were not included in the final performance, but that does not mean they were inferior, and all of them are performed with a single core. In particular, “Paranoid” and “Children Of The Grave”, which are located at the end of the show, can be enjoyed with outstanding power and force, thanks to the rich bass effect. After the performance of “Paranoid”, the “SABBATH!” call from the audience is amazing, and you will feel their presence in the UK strongly! Disc 3 contains the sound source from January 2nd, the third day of the show. Unfortunately, the encore “Voodoo” is missing from this sound source, and the sound is rough from the opening “E5150” to “Neon Knights” (it seems that another source was compensated for here at the master stage), but from “N.I.B.” onwards, the freshness, sound separation, and visibility are all recorded with a wonderful audience, and the passionate performance of this day, which could not be seen officially, is firmly closed up. The band’s performance in “Children Of The Sea” and “Black Sabbath” is excellent, and Vinnie Apis’ drums in particular have a series of amazing plays, such as the number of hands and power. In “War Pigs”, the rhythm section created by Geezer and Vinnie is captured with a very heavy feeling, and everyone will be overwhelmed by the power of the sound like a thick wall! And “Heaven And Hell”, which is over 16 minutes, is undoubtedly the biggest climax of the day. The instrumental part in the middle of the show, which is centered around Iommi and joined by Geezer and Vinnie, has an overwhelming presence that only this group can offer. The call-and-response between Ronnie and the audience also proceeds with a sense of unity, as if they had agreed to it. When Ronnie tells the audience in the MC immediately afterwards, “We’re setting up microphones for the live album,” the audience is enveloped in the biggest excitement of the day. The texture of this moment is superb, and it’s a great scene to enjoy the fun of audience recording! The recording ends with “Paranoid” after this, but it’s a shame that the sound is so good that it’s not a complete recording! As mentioned above, the Hammersmith performance at this time was held four times in a row, and all of them were recorded. However, the official live performance was used for three days from December 31st to January 2nd, and the sound source for January 3rd has not yet been officially released. Discs 4 and 5, which contain this unknown final day’s live performance, are the best listening spots in this work! Although it is not as clear as Disc 3, the recording has a sense of stability like a line source and an excellent outline of the performance, which is something to be seen. The sense of realism and sound separation are also of a quality that exceeds the standard, so even beginners, as well as veterans who are accustomed to audience recordings, will be able to listen to it. As it is the last day of four consecutive performances, the band should be tired, but you can enjoy the highly motivated performance that blows away such things throughout the live performance. From “Neon Knights” and “N.I.B.”, Iommi’s guitar and Ronnie’s vocals are in top form, and Vinnie’s drums are groovy and powerful, and there is not a single cloud in their play. When you listen to “Slipping Away”, which gives you a sense of power that cannot be questioned, “Iron Man”, “The Mob Rules”, etc., you can’t help but wonder why the recording of this day was not used in the official live performance. The encore was the classic “Children Of The Grave”, but Iommi misunderstood or just had fun, but you can’t miss the intro to “Voodoo”. The live performance, which is pulled with high tension from the opening to the end of the show, seems to convey the band’s satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that they have “done it”. No matter how good the work is, this atmosphere and feeling cannot be experienced in an edited official work. This final performance must be heard by enthusiastic fans who own “LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH ODEON”! As you can hear in the highly acclaimed 3-disc “HAMMERSMITH TRILOGY”, Ronnie has left many great performances at Hammersmith since DIO. However, the many Hammersmith live performances he left behind at BLACK SABBATH, the British treasure, stand out in their dignity and presence. All of the original material included in this album has been carefully remastered, allowing you to relive each of these superb live performances in the best possible form. This album can also be enjoyed together with “3 NIGHTS AT HAMMERSMITH” and “EVIL NIGHT IN LONDON,” which contain the Hammersmith performances from the “HEAVEN AND HELL” tour, to complete the “Hammersmith Trilogy” of BLACK SABBATH in the ’80s, prior to the DIO era! Don’t miss this must-have 5-disc set for fans who want to understand the deeper history and collect items at the same time! Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 1st, 2nd & 3rd January 1982 TRULY AMAZING SOUND Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 1st January 1982 Disc 1 1. E5150 2. Neon Knights 3. N.I.B. 4. Children Of The Sea 5. Country Girl 6. Black Sabbath 7. War Pigs Disc 2 1. Slipping Away 2. Drum Solo 3. Iron Man 4. The Mob Rules 5. Heaven And Hell 6. Paranoid/Heaven And Hell(reprise) 7. Children Of The Grave 8. Outro(Fluff) Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 2nd January 1982 Disc 3 1. E5150 2. Neon Knights 3. N.I.B. 4. Children Of The Sea 5. Country Girl 6. Black Sabbath 7. War Pigs 8. Slipping Away 9. Drum Solo 10. Iron Man 11. The Mob Rules 12. Heaven and Hell 13. Paranoid/Heaven And Hell(reprise) Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 3rd January 1982 Disc 4 1. E5150 2. Neon Knights 3. N.I.B. 4. Children Of The Sea 5. Country Girl 6 . Black Sabbath 7. War Pigs Disc 5 1. Slipping Away 2. Drum Solo 3. Iron Man 4. The Mob Rules 5. Heaven And Hell 6. Paranoid/Heaven And Hell(reprise) 7. Voodoo Intro/Children Of The Grave Ronnie James Dio – Vocals Tony Iommi – Guitar Geezer Butler – Bass Vinnie Appice – Drums Geoff Nicholls – Keyboards