Black Sabbath/Greece 1987

The BLACK SABBATH sound source world has seen a series of remarkable new discoveries, mainly in the 1970s. This time, a masterpiece live album with a phantom lineup that only existed for one night has been released! What is engraved in this work is “Athens performance on July 21, 1987”. This is an audience recording of one act of a performance in Greece, which is said to have happened only twice in history. Just saying Sabbath’s Greece is super rare, but that’s not the point of this work. It is a live album where you can listen to the official lineup of illusions that collapsed in just one live performance. The lineup is Tony Iommi, Tony Martin, Jeff Nichols, Bev Bevan, and Dave Spitz. In order to explain the circumstances, let’s look back at the schedule at that time. 《March 1st: Participation by Bev Bevan》 《July 14th: Rehearsing with Geezer → Return of Dave Spitz》 × July 18th: Plymouth performance (cancelled) / July 21st: Greece performance ←★This work ( Martin’s first day) ★《Bev leaves → Terry Chimes joins》 ・July 25th – August 9th: South Africa (6 performances)《August 15th: Spitz leaves / October 1st: Joe Bart joins》《11 “THE ETERNAL IDOL” released on November 1st] November 22nd – December 2nd: West Germany (9 performances) – December 4th – 12th: Italy (6 performances) x December 20th – 28th: ​​Europe (4 performances: canceled) [The phantom BLACK SABBATH that disappeared for one night only] This is the history of 1987, the most confusing period in Sabbath history. I won’t go into the chaos of producing the album because it’s too long, but even after it was completed, it was chaotic. The original members were Tony and Nichols, and Bev Bevan, who slipped in and returned just before the completion of “THE ETERNAL IDOL”. Initially, Geezer Butler was brought back for the tour, but they separated again just after rehearsals. Although the Plymouth performance on the first day had to be canceled, for the Greek performance a week later (!!), Dave Spitz, who had left the band at the beginning of the production of “THE ETERNAL IDOL”, was suddenly brought back. Sabbath managed to perform in Greece, but the hardships continued. A tour of South Africa was planned four days after the Greek performance, but at the time South Africa was in the midst of global bashing due to its apartheid policy. Bev, who was against the tour itself, withdrew, and the rhythm section was replaced. It’s confusing just to put it into words, but as a result, the lineup that was realized in 1987 was three types. Let’s organize it.・A: Greece (July 21st) → Spitz & Bevan ★This work★ ・B: South Africa (July 25th – August 9th) → Spitz & Chimes ・C: Europe (November 22nd – December 12th)日）　→Bert & Chimes…and it goes like this. The recordings that have been known for “THE ETERNAL IDOL TOUR” so far are all “C”. No recording of South Africa’s “B” has yet been found, and this is the first time a record of “A” has appeared. It was a lineup for only one night, and it was also Tony Martin’s first stage. [Clear sound unique to an open venue] This work, which recorded such a show, is a stunning audience recording that blows away the rarity of the transcendental level. Clear anyway. The Panathenaic Stadium, where the event took place, is a venue with a capacity of 50,000 people (in other words, the size of Tokyo Dome), but because it is an open space with no ceiling, there is no sound reflection. Moreover, the sound was picked up beautifully because it was very close to the PA, and it is a famous recording with no sense of distance while giving a feeling of a huge audience spectacle. Moreover, this work is its highest peak. As a matter of fact, two transfers of this recording are currently available. However, this has its pros and cons. One has good sound quality, but the sound cuts out frequently, and the other is seamless, but the sound quality is not good. Moreover, both of them are randomly out of pitch. And this work overcomes these shortcomings. By making full use of the two masters, we have created the best version that combines the strengths of both, and the pitch has been correctly corrected. It is a live album where you can enjoy the most valuable show with the longest and best quality. [Martin’s passionate singing in front of a stadium of 50,000 people on the first day] With such a sound, it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime show. The set basically seems to have the foundation of “THE ETERNAL IDOL TOUR”, but there are no new songs from “THE ETERNAL IDOL”. Instead, he plays the rare song “Heart Like A Wheel.” They may have decided that there was still time until the album was released before they could do a new song, or they may have chosen a song that Dave Spitz, who had been brought back, could handle immediately. And even more intense than that is Tony Martin! In both a positive and negative sense, it has a great impact that determines this work. First, in a good way. Anyway, the vocalization is intense and wonderful!! The youthful voice is very fresh, the highs extend beautifully, and the powerful kobushi is also perfect. It has been said for some time that “Martin’s 1987 is the best”, but even by that standard it is outstanding and amazing. There are other great performances, so I’m not sure if I can say “this is No. 1,” but it’s definitely a top candidate. As mentioned above, this day is Martin’s first stage, but he suddenly makes a transcendental vocal. Now, on the other side, I don’t mean it in a good way, but the scene is actually a bit rough. Martin is telling the audience to calm down and stop throwing things. If you’re thinking, “booing the new Martin?!”, you’re wrong. In fact, it was the opposite, and the excitement was so great that it was on the verge of a riot. The reason for this is probably because it was their first performance in Greece. As I mentioned at the beginning, there have been only two Sabbath performances in Greece in history, and this day was the first (by the way, the other was “ROCKWAVE FESTIVAL 2005”, which is known for its professional shots). Anyway, Martin, who was just an amateur until yesterday, suddenly became a Tokyo Dome class on the first day…it’s an amazing story. Tony Martin’s first performance after being selected by a prestigious band. It was a chaotic stadium with a huge crowd of 50,000 people bursting with joy at their first Sabbath. This is a super valuable live album that allows you to experience the scene with exquisite sound with zero echoes. At the moment, the transfer stage is not the best, and in this work, two types of masters are used to create the best version. Tony Martin’s Sabbath premiere live! Fantastic lineup for this day only! ! (Tony Iommi, Tony Martin, Bev Bevan, Dave Spitz, Geoff Nicholls) Panathinaikos Stadium, Athens, Greece 21st July 1987 TRULY AMAZING/PERFECT SOUND (71:27) 1. Supertzar 2. Neon Knights 3. Children of the Sea 4. War Pigs 5. Heart Like a Wheel 6. Iron Man 7. The Mob Rules 8. Black Sabbath 9. Die Young 10. Heaven and Hell 11. Children of the Grave Tony Iommi – Guitar Tony Martin – Vocals Bev Bevan – Drums Dave Spitz – Bass Geoff Nicholls – Keyboards