Past Lives (Dig) [Limited Edition]

Black Sabbath | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 20, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Limited Edition
• Label: Sanctuary Records
• ASIN: B00006F89N
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,684 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Tomorrow's Dream

2. Sweet Leaf

3. Killing Yourself to Live

4. Cornucopia

5. Snowblind

6. Children of the Grave

7. War Pigs

8. Wicked World

9. Paranoid

Disc: 2

1. Hand of Doom

2. Hole in the Sky

3. Symptom of the Univers

4. Megalomania

5. Iron Man

6. Black Sabbath

7. N.I.B.

8. Behind the Wall of Sleep

9. Faries Wear Boots

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars At long last--more live Ozzy-era Sabbath, August 21, 2002

By 

C. Clark (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Past Lives (Dig) (Audio CD)

Fans of Black Sabbath finally have a new officially-released collection of '70s-era, Ozzy Osbourne-led Black Sabbath to sink their teeth into. While this is by definition a good thing, a closer look (and listen) reveals that while this set is quite a welcome addition to anyone's collection, it is far from perfect.

First off, the DigiPak packaging leaves a bit to be desired. While the sepia tone is all class, and several never-before seen photos are included (including a huge panorama of the audience at the '74 Cal Jam, plus Ozzy donning his platform boots for said event!), the liner notes by Bruce Pilato are rather mundane. Any hardcore fan could have written better notes in his or her sleep. The guitar pick is a nice touch, but guitarists won't want to use it for fear of losing it. The poster is cool, but smaller and less colorful than the one once found in Master of Reality. Furthermore, the dates and venues for the tracks on disc two are left off; it only says "Recorded at various locations during the '70s." As an armchair rock historian I would like to have seen those dates.

Now onto more important things, namely, the music contained herein. Disc One consists of the infamous Live At Last, remastered for maximum clarity, or so they say. Personally, I think polishing that pseudo-bootleg is a lost cause. It sounds a bit louder and bassier than my earlier copies, but that's about it. The performance itself is good, if you have never heard it: recorded in early 1973, when Sabbath were at a peak. Iommi's extremely lengthy blues/jazz excursions on "Wicked World" are quite enjoyable, and "Killing Yourself To Live" comes off a bit tougher than the studio version, but "Sweet Leaf" is too slow and too off-key for most tastes. In addition, where is the "Will you welcome--Black Sabbath!" announcement at the beginning? Having grown up with Live At Last, I think this omission is heresy.

Disc Two is what most hardcore fans will pop in their players first. Consisting of tracks recorded, err, at various venues in the '70s, the sound quality varies from track to track but is generally better than Disc One. Especially rocking are the three tracks from Sabotage, here recorded a few months before that album's September 1975 emergence; Ozzy's voice has a great timbre to it (plus strange effects during "Megalomania"), and the rhythm section of Butler and Ward shows us once and for all where thrash metal came from. Also great is Iommi's lengthy acoustic intro to Black Sabbath, which will have guitar players rushing to their favorite tablature websites to learn. Personally I would have loved to hear more material from Volume IV, my favorite Ozzy Sab studio LP, but I guess that's covered by "Tomorrow's Dream" and "Cornucopia" on Disc One.

Bottom line: Get it if you're any kind of Sab fan for the cool selections on Disc Two, but if you don't feel like spending the extra dollars, skip the DigiPak. The regular CD apparently has the same tracks. And keep in mind that Disc One is basically Live At Last, an old wine in a new bottle.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sabbath during their Golden years, April 1, 2003

By 

"holeinthesky2" (BOSTON, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Past Lives (Dig) (Audio CD)

The music is incredible.
You get the feeling of being transported back to the seventies and listening live to young and top notch Sabbath concert.
the CD package is great, two CDs a poster and a pick.
True Sabbath Fans must own it!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure and Beautiful, Raw Archetypal Grunge, October 6, 2004

By 

Michael Wiest (Durham, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Past Lives (Dig) (Audio CD)

All the concern about the sound quality on these CDs is misplaced. The sound quality on "Live at Last" was almost intolerable, but on Past Lives the sound quality is JUST FINE. If you aren't fixated on the technological aspects of the sound, you will be able to hear the sound texture, heaviness, and SOUL that come through crystal clear throughout this album. NOWHERE ELSE can you hear the early original brilliant Sabbath heavy funky sludgy live sound that, together with their seminal studio work, made them the legend that they are.

The recent Sabbath "Reunion" live album is very good, very solid, but at this point for me it does not rise to the level of a classic. Ozzy's voice is not as good on that album, and the music doesn't have the feeling of raw wild inspiration that pervades "Past Lives." To me, this distinction is not about which album had more technical mistakes (there are some in both albums). It seems to me that in the old shows on "Past Lives," the band was "living the life," and living the music, and you can hear that. It's similar to how other people can play Hendrix note-for-note, but it's not necessarilly going to sound like the real thing. This album is the real thing!

Another album to be compared to "Past Lives" is "Speak of the Devil." "Speak of the Devil" IS a classic live album of Sabbath tunes in the same league as "Past Lives." Brad Gillis, guitarist from the cheesy band NightRanger, played brilliantly for these shows. The sound is great, the whole band is part of the jamming, the passion is there. But if you want to hear what the real thing sounded like, you've got to check out "Past Lives."

Several reviewers have let their annoyance with CD1's having already been released cloud their judgement. Once you get over that, you will thank God that we have this album. The armchair metalheads who said they don't like live albums or don't think Ozzy should tell the audience he loves them or to stand up needs to see a real show or go back to easy listening. People like that will never be able to understand why we love Ozzy.

Just because I love Ozzy though, doesn't mean that I won't admit when his voice is cracking or he's forgetting lyrics. On "Past Lives" he occasionally changes or forgets lyrics, but his voice is strong with just the correct amount of rock-n-roll roughness (presumably related to drug use).

In summary, if you've forgotten that rock-n-roll has as much to do with moving your body, attitude, texture, spontaneous exhuberance, improvisation, soul, cutting loose, and having a great party as with melodies and digital sound qualities, this album might not be a good starting point for you. Maybe some Sex Pistols or Nirvana would remind you. But for him that has ears to hear, this is the old testament of live Sabbath.