Description
Double album on white vinyls. Limited 100 copies
Black Sabbath recorded live with Dio at Nakano Sun Plaza Hall in Tokyo, Japan on the 18th of November 1980. This was an abbreviated show because Tony became “sick” during the concert. We know this because of the announcements in both English and Japanese after “Iron Man” stumbled to a finish. The album opens with “Supertzar” then we hear the recording of Appice bludgeoning his snare, toms and bass drum to start “War Pigs”. As with all shows on this tour, the band delivered smoking versions of “Neon Nights,” “N.I.B.”, and “Children of the Sea,” which Dio again dedicated to the people of Japan. Dio was in particularly great form and, although the show would end early, so was Iommi up to that end. The drum solo in the middle of “Sweet Leaf” has an amazing detail on Appice’s mounted and floor toms. A very enthusiastic Dio praised Vinny for his solo and then asked the audience if they were “alright,” first with a shout and then with a whisper. After the whisper a nut in the audience screamed “f*** yeah!!” a couple times, to which Dio asked “what does that mean?” When someone said “God Bless you,” Dio chuckled, said “cheers mate” and introduced “Lady Evil” which was then performed with another diabolical Iommi solo. It was during “Heaven and Hell” that something happened to Iommi which resulted in the concert’s close. As we know of Sabbath’s three concerts in Tokyo on November 16 and 17, “Heaven and Hell” averaged about thirteen minutes in length. In this concert on November 18th it was under ten and-a-half minutes, but the first five minutes were classic Iommi. It was at that point that he vanished from the song, which Dio, Butler and Appice expertly improvised and carried into “Iron Man.” As mentioned above, “Iron Man” was how the show concluded, although Iommi did play in it. Here the audience was told Tony was “ill” and that they should now go home. The audience was raucous, blowing whistles and not understandably unhappy with this development. The four last tracks performed during this tour are included here on this album too but then from the same venue two nights earlier
Track list:
1. Supertzar
2. War Pigs
3. Neon Knights
4. N.I.B.
5. Children Of The Sea
6. Sweet Leaf
7. Drum Solo-Vinnie Appice
8. Sweet Leaf (Reprise)
9. Lady Evil
10. Black Sabbath
11. Heaven And Hell
12. Iron Man
13. Guitar Solo-Tony Iommi-Tokyo 16th of November 1980
14. Orchid-Tokyo 16th of November 1980
15. Die Young-Tokyo 16th of November 1980
16. Paranoid-Tokyo 16th of November 1980