PAST LIVE EVER

CD 1 - 1: Supertzar, 2: Killing Yourself To Live, 3: Hole In The Sky, 4: Snowblind, 5: Symptom Of The Universe, 6: War Pigs, 7: Megalomania

CD 2 - 1: Sabbra Cadabra, 2: Jam, 3: Guitar Solo, 4: Jam II, 5: Guitar Solo II, 6: Sometimes I'm Happy, 7: Drum Solo, 8: Supernaut, 9: Drum Solo II, 10: Iron Man, 11: Instrumental Jam Including: Orchid, Rock'N'Roll Doctor, Guitar Solo II, 12: Black Sabbath, 13: Spiral Architect, 14: Children Of The Grave, 15: Paranoid

Okay Sabbath fans; listen up!  This is a smokin' hot vintage performance by the boys out on the road promoting the new "Sabotage" LP.

After a brief "Supertzar" intro, they blast right outta the gate with a rippin' "Killing Yourself To Live", which leads into one of the new ones, a powerful "Hole In The Sky".  There's a funny intro to "Hole..." as Ozzy says people were stopping him on the pier to ask about the new album!  Tony really gets to step out next as they reach back to Volume 4 for "Snowblind".  They slam into two "Sabotage" cuts, a short, fast, hard "Symptom Of The Universe" and a mind blowing "Megalomania", which sandwich a brilliant version of a favorite old chestnut, "War Pigs", to round out disk one, attacking all three with a vengeance.

Disk two starts with "Sabbra Cadabra", which segues into an extended guitar and drum jam that doesn't lag despite the length, due to their sustained energy throughout.  This workout continues into "Supernaut" and "Iron Man", briefly going into a snippet of the yet to be released "Rock 'N' Roll Doctor", before coming out the other side with "Black Sabbath".  Whew!  Time to catch your breath - hardly.  They wind it back up with a rousing "Spiral Architect", and the only cut from Masters Of Reality, "Children Of The Grave".  Great stage banter from Ozzy here: "We want to see everybody get up off your ass and more!...  Alright you motherfuckers, let's go!"  Appropriately, "Paranoid" finishes it all up.

All in all, a fantastic recording and account of the originators of Heavy Metal in all their glory.  Maybe not at the peak of their game in 1975, but I have no complaints whatsoever.  All four members are kicking it into overdrive from start to finish and you really can't ask for more.  Why in the hell didn't they release this as a double live album back in the day?

As a side note: it's great to see the guitarist and bassist still out their making relevant music while the singer is busy with a reality show and phone commercials.  Whatever pays the bills, I suppose.