Black Sabbath - Children Of The Grave (1980) 2010 FLAC+MP3

GENRE: Hard Rock | Heavy Metal
FORMAT: Lossless (Flac) | Mp3 (CBR Stereo 320kbps)  
SIZE: (495+423)mb (3% Recovery) | 264 mb (3% Recovery)

Bootleg by Tarantura. Recorded Live at Festival Hall, Kita-Ku, Osaka, Japan - November 21, 1980.

TRACKLIST:

Disc 1
01. Opening SE ~ Supertzer
02. War Pigs
03. Neon Knights
04. N.I.B.
05. Children Of The Sea
06. Band Introduction
07. Sweet Leaf
08. Drum Solo
09. Sweet Leaf
10. Lady Evil
11. Black Sabbath

Disc 2
01. MC
02. Heaven And Hell
03. Iron Man
04. Instrumental
05. Guitar Solo
06. Instrumental
07. Guitar Solo
08. Instrumental
09. Guitar Solo
10. Orcid
11. Die Young
12. Paranoid
13. SE
14. Closing Announcement
15. Monitor Check
16. Children Of The Grave
17. Closing Announcement ~ SE

Tony Iommi - Guitars
Ronnie James Dio - Vocals
Geezer Butler - Bass
Vinny Appice - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards.



NOTES:

The final gig of the Japanese tour finds the band playing the Festival Hall in Osaka. The recording is very good, slightly distant but well balanced with all instruments and vocals clear in the mix. You can feel the anticipation build as the intro of Supertzar play over the PA system and the back breaks into War Pigs.

Again the older Ozzy era tunes are very heavy and the band plays with complete conviction, Vinnie plays very well during this song, his fills are full of energy and continue to push the others as they plow headlong into Neon Knights. At times he seems to almost outpace the group, he is definitely on tonight. Ronnie tells the crowd how happy to be in Osaka and is their favorite place and asked for a spot light for Geezer to play the intro to N.I.B. Ronnie is also turning in a powerful performance, his vocals are very aggressive during the song and puts his own stamp on it.

After and mic change and the claim that Osaka is the rock and roll capital of the world the band plays Children Of The Sea, again Vinnie has not let up, his fills leading to the heavy nature of the song. RJD takes a break to introduce the band, asking for a spot light for each member including the elusive Geoff Nichols. The band is firing on cylinders by this time as Sweet Leaf envelops the crowd, Ronnie even improvises some of the lyrics possibly due to his own enjoyment of the gig.

Vinnie plays his ass off during his drum solo and one must wonder where he gets his energy from, it sounds as if its a 33 1/2 record playing at 45 rpm and he is rewarded with a loud response from the crowd. Lady Evil is next, after listening to the Heaven and Hell versions of the song it is particularly interesting to hear the “original” approach to the song, definitely less of the wah petal used but very effective none the less.

The recording picks up Ronnie’s use of echo very well during the band signature tune Black Sabbath to great effect, adding to the creepiness of the track, he is obviously enjoying the gig as his vocals and punctuation of them is spot on. Another epic 16 minute Heaven and Hell leads directly into Iron Man, this time played with almost a funky bass and drum introduction before the opening “I Am Iron Man”.

Again I enjoy the RJD takes on the Ozzy era songs, he does his own interpretations of them and often makes them his own. The long instrumental introduction to Die Young gives Iommi and the band the ability to stretch out, they play a section that sounds like a cross between Hole In The Sky and the Sometimes I’m Happy jam sandwiched between Iommi playing some blistering leads. His version of the Orchid solo is well played (as it was the previous nights) and is probably his best solo instrumental.

Iommi’s solo playing over the keyboard intro to Die Young has a very sorrow filled approach, almost like a funeral pyre just before the band literally blows the audience and listener away with a very aggressive fast pace version. After the first encore of Paranoid the closing music is played as the crowd cheers and claps for a solid two minutes and the band returns with another encore, Children Of The Grave. As the closing music is again played and announcements are heard the recording fades with the sounds of cheers from the audience.

Also interesting to note that this would be the last time this line up would play Japan until their reformation under the Heaven And Hell banner some 17 years later. The gatefold has one large picture of RJD that takes the front and back covers while the interior is shots of the band, the ticket stub and master cassettes. Disc 1 has again a picture of Ronnie while disc 2 feature Geezer Butler. All in all a very well thought out and well produced set to not only commemorate the life of RJD but also Black Sabbath Mark III’s live legacy.

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