Twelve overlooked but excellent live albums from the 1980s

Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne

Nothing for years on end and then three live albums of Black Sabbath songs appear, one after the other. That's typical of them really. There was plenty of controversy over them all, again not untypical. They all have a place in history and while you won’t have missed one of them, you may have bypassed one or both of the other two.

Black Sabbath - Live at Last

The first Black Sabbath live album. But all was not what it seemed. It’s an authentic release for the band in conjunction with ex-manager Patrick Meehan who owned the rights to the songs. But that was after the band had sacked Meehan in 1975. Live At Last was released in 1980 without the band’s knowledge or approval. None of which makes it a bad album.  And it did spark a couple of other live releases.

Sometimes you have to just appreciate what is released. Live at Last was all there was for a Black Sabbath live album. Sure the sound quality wasn't at its best and it was missing a couple of trademark songs. It even had a typo, you'd have thought Meehan would have known it was Ozzy, not Ossy Osbourne singing as the record stated. But what’s there is good enough and all we had, well for a short while anyway. 

Ozzy Osbourne - Speak Of The Devil

Meehan wasn't the only person sacked by Black Sabbath. Lead singer Osbourne was fired in 1979 after his drug and alcohol issues became too much of a problem. Osbourne arranged to record a live album of Black Sabbath songs in 1982. In doing so, he and the other songwriters were able to reclaim the now expired rights to the songs. Taylor Swift hasn't been doing much that Ozzy and the band hadn't done first with her new album versions!

Despite disputes with his band who didn't like the retro step, of covering Black Sabbath songs, and even with Osbourne having a full notebook of lyrics to refer to mom stage for the recording, it’s a solid and decent album. Again, it’s kind of Black Sabbath live, which had been a gap until that unofficial album. Osbourne is stronger in voice than expected. The band sounds good and some fans reckon it’s the best live album of his original band's music. 

Black Sabbath - Live Evil

Stung by the Live At Last album and being unhappy with its release and sound led the band to agree to make a new live album. Live Evil was recorded on tour in the US in 1982 and released in January 1983. That's just a couple of months after Osbourne’s live album. 

Live Evil is more current than the other two which look back at earlier Black Sabbath songs. It covers both the Osbourne period and that of his successor Ronnie Dio, adding more balance and being a rounder and broader Black Sabbath record. The sound quality on it is superior too. There are some flaws though and it has its critics, band members included. But again, it is what it is, a Black Sabbath live album with their music performed well.

As to which of the three is best, well that's probably down to personal taste and allegiance or otherwise to Osbourne. His own album led the sales with over 1 million copies worldwide, far ahead of the other two. They all deserve a hearing though.

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