Live Evil by Black Sabbath
Live Evil, released in December 1982 (see 1982 in music) and in January 1983 in the UK, is the first "official" live album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, the previously released Live at Last (1980) not having been sanctioned by the band. It was recorded with Ronnie James Dio singing and is a document of the Mob Rules World Tour, that ran from 15 November 1981 to 13 August 1982. The 2007 limited-edition release Live at Hammersmith Odeon is from this same tour.
Black Sabbath’s <i>Mob Rules</i>-era lineup disintegrated in 1982, but not before recording this explosive live record. Dio is in his element onstage: His ear-splitting screams rocket high above the band’s merciless New Wave of British Heavy Metal-inspired blitz (“Neon Knights”) and he growls like a bat-winged demon while his bandmates unleash speed-metal swiftness (“The Mob Rules”). They also tackle several Ozzy-era classics, audaciously transforming gargantuan doom anthems like “Children of the Grave” into tight, jagged workouts that emphasise Tony Iommi’s fleet-fingered precision.
