Live Evil is an amazing collection of live Sabbath tunes. I think Dio does a tremendous job of singing, even singing the old Ozzy tunes. Obviously he sounds very different, but his throaty, demonic timbre really makes the music, to my ears. Although (as many have ponited out) the recording quality on this could be a lot better, the arean-filling sonics of Iommi's guitar come through loud and clear in this recording. His guitar solo in Heaven and Hell is a superblast of guitar noise. One of my favorite moments is in Iron Man, there's a slight pause in the tune between parts, and right before the guitar comes in again you can hear the whole amplifier setup firing up as soon as Iommi puts his hands back on the strings - what a cool sound that is!

This album has a good set of Ozzy and Dio tunes, played in Sabbath's trademark super-heavy sound, with lots of great crowd noises in it, too (thought at times too much).

I'm giving this four stars, partly just because it is recorded not as good as it should have been. The performance is top-rate, however, and any Sabbath fan should enjoy it very much. I know I have, ever since it came out - I listened to this album over and over in high school and college, and still bring it out every now and again when I need some serious heavy-metalage.

This is a GREAT live album. Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. Both discs are absolutely solid. Of the total 12 songs on the album, 6 are from the later 2 Sabbath albums: Heaven and Hell, and Mob Rules. The other 6 are from the first 3: Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and Master of Reality. The beauty of this recording is that the new band (with singer Dio and drummer Appice) can not only rock their newest songs, but they can also kick out the old classics harder than ever. Since it has been more than 10 years since these classic albums came out, Iommi and Butler are both profoundly better at their instruments. Iommi now proves himself to be one of the great guitarists in rock. The solo in "Heaven and Hell" is incredible, and his guitar work throughout the album is really great; he is at his high point creatively.

The newer songs, like "Heaven and Hell" and "Sign of the Southern Cross" (two of my favorites) are pretty much like you would expect them (really awesome, that is). The old ones are done surprisingly well, too. The two that I had the most doubt for are the ones that turned out to be the best on the album: "Black Sabbath" and "Iron Man." These are incredible; they are quite different from their original versions. They are sleeker and more updated for the new decade of the 80s.

Dio is the best singer Black Sabbath ever had, as well as being my personal favorite singer of all time. His voice is one of the most recognizable in heavy metal, he has a great distinct style that fits the music of Black Sabbath very well. Vinny Appice (apparently it is pronounced "Ap-iss-ee," as Dio says at one point in the album) is an incredible drummer, although I have to say I do like Bill Ward better. Appice has much better technical ability, as clearly displayed in the ferocious drum solo of "War Pigs," but I find that he does not have the same groove. He doesn't rock quite as hard as Ward. However, the lineup of this album is still one of my favorites. This truly is Black Sabbath at their artistic prime.

Here we go. This CD captures a great night out with the second incarnation of Black Sabbath. Taken from 1982's Mob Rules Tour, with singer Ronnie James Dio, this recording compiles a great set list of favorites taken from the short lived Dio era, covering the albums 'Mob Rules', and the immortal 'Heaven and Hell.' Of course, there are Ozzy tunes in the set, which leave us realizing that Ozzy's tunes are best left to Ozzy. But it does'nt take away from the greatness of the CD.
The recording is rough and raw, but keeps it sounding honest and genuine, and there are a couple of jewels in the set-- Dio's vocals on 'Children of the Sea,' are outstanding, and the extended version of 'Heaven and Hell' is truly anthemic and historic. This is a great dark dream back in time, and this CD brings you to that fateful night when 25,000 devil horns pounded defiantly towards the sky...

It is hard to think of time when Black Sabbath was Ozzyless. It just always seem to be and always was. With Ozzy's departure in the 80's, the band went on with new singer Ronnie James Dio. Even though, most people tend to gloss over the Dio years. The band made some of its best music and Dio's presence seem to rejuvenate Sabbath. One can hear this on Live Evil.
This CD in the Sabbath catalogue is highly underappreciated. The songs on this CD are the perfect hybrid between the Ozzy years and the Dio years. I am not going to say that Dio is going to make you forget Ozzy on such Sabbath classics as Paranoid, Iron Man , or Children of the Grave. However, he does an admirable job. The songs from the Dio era are center stage here. One could make the point that Dio's songs are some of best music Sabbath ever made. The hot tracks are Heaven and Hell with The Sign of the Southern Cross thrown in for good measure. Another gem is Children of Sea.
Even though this album will not make you forget Ozzy. It will at least Make you appreciate the Mark II or Dio version of Black Sabbath a little more. Remember the mob rules and Ozzy drools.

Well let me start off by saying that I believe Ronnie James Dio is by far a superior vocalist to Ozzy. Look through their solo albums and everything that was put out by Dio absolutely blows anything that Ozzy has put out away.

While Ozzy might sound better singing the stuff he wrote with Sabbath, RJD is masterful with what he wrote with them...and not bad at all with the classics either. Maybe the fact that RJD didn't binge on alcohol throughout the years helps just a tad.

Any Dio fan out there should go for this one. For the Sabbath fans, if you can accept the older songs with a different vocalist then give this one a listen.