BLACK SABBATH

oute la période Dio est rééditée avec en bonus le Live At Hammersmith Odeon qui , initialement , était sorti en tirage limité. :

Sortie le 5 avril à priori :

More Deluxe Edition Releases - Dio Era

As
you probably know, there were several remasters released in 2009 from
Sanctuary/Universal records in the UK. These were based off the
original UK set of album masters (as opposed to the US/Warner set which
resulted in Black Box & Rules of Hell). The first three Sabbath
albums were released in multi disc format with extras, demos, and
alternate tracks. Volume 4 through Never Say Die were released in
single disc, albeit remastered form. There are a lot of people who are
into compression rates and things of that nature who say that the new
Sanctuary/Universal remasters are way better than the ones in Black
Box. I personally don't have that discerning an ear, and to me if you
have to get out software to prove sound levels to make that point then
you've missed the point of the music. But that issue aside, the new
Sanctuary/Universal 2009 remasters were freakin fantastic.
Unfortunately for fans in the US, we have to import them, as they are
not released here. Still, they're really good recordings, and since the
Black Box remasters were not released on their own, this is a great way
to cherry pick and get the individual releases if you want to do it
that way.

Late this week the word broke that more albums are
going to be released in this Sanctuary remaster series. I've received
press releases and artwork for "Heaven & Hell", "Mob Rules", &
"Live Evil". These are the next three (official) releases by the band
after Never Say Die (Dio's first go around). Below I'll have the
artwork and the press releases for you to check out. A few choice
tidbits about the releases, first..

* Heaven & Hell: Disc 2
is a collection of live versions from the album. It also includes the
two "music videos" for Neon Knights & Die Young (both of which
appeared on the MVI version of "The Dio Years" from Warner in 2007. A
full listing is in the press release. Also, a "mono" version of Lady
Evil? What's with that?
* Mob Rules Disc 1: Disc 1 contains two
extra tracks. The first is a live version of Die Young, which appeared
on a 12" single back in the day. The second is an "Alternate Version"
of the track "The Mob Rules". This is likely the version from the Heavy
Metal movie soundtrack, but I'm waiting on confirmation of that.
*
Mob Rules Disc 2: Astute visitors will note that Disc 2 has the exact
same track listing as the limited edition release from 2007, "Live at
Hammersmith". I checked with Steve Hammonds of Universal, and he
confirms that Disc 2 of Mob Rules here is the same release as Live at
Hammersmith, going so far to say "we licensed it from the band", so if
you didn't get a chance to get the Hammersmith release a couple of
years ago, now you can get that recording - it's fantastic!
* Live
Evil: Live Evil isn't really a "deluxe" edition as far as I can tell,
as the track listing is the same. The lone note for this version in the
press release is "Original Dio crowd interaction and audience noise
restored". The 1996 Castle release crammed the whole thing on a single
disc, and that was the last time the UK master set was used for this
release. This would then make calling this a "deluxe" edition on CD, I
suppose, but that's a real stretch. The version that appeared in the
"Rules of Hell" box had two discs, and the full recording restored
already, but again, that's a US/UK separate remaster issue again.

I
think the highlight here is probably the inclusion of the "Live at
Hammersmith" release as Disc 2 of Mob Rules. Some Hammersmith owners
might feel right ripped off about that, given the "limited edition"
release. I look at it this way. I think we all sort of realized that
would get re-released somewhere at some point. I doubted that recording
would never show up again. Plus the original Hammersmith release
artwork and booklet and all that won't be here. This is probably the
same deal like where "Live At Last" from 1980 was released as Disc 1 of
"Past Lives" in 2002.

What will be interesting for me to see is
what happens after this. Remaining on the master series for this series
of Sanctuary releases is Born Again, Seventh Star, & Eternal Idol.
After that, all the releases from Headless Cross (1989) through The
Sabbath Stones (1996) are all from the former IRS label deal, of which
the rights reside with Iommi at the moment, AFAIK. There are a ton of b
sides, Japanese tracks from that era, and I would love (I mean stinkin
LOVE) them to be picked up as proper remasters with all the extra
tracks included. On a personal note, I confess to looking forward to
those releases more than any others.

Anyway, after the jump is the press releases for these three deluxe editions being released April 5th along with artwork..

Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.

- Wendy Dio