Live at Last is a 1980 live album by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Despite its wide distribution and success (it peaked at on the UK Albums Chart), the album was released without the permission or knowledge of the band. It was, however, released legally by the band's former manager Patrick Meehan who owned the rights to the recording. It was re-released officially, with the approval of the band, on 20 August 2002 (in the US) as disc 1 of the two-disc Past Lives set.
The nature of the album's initial release as being without the band's approval is demonstrated by a notoriously embarrassing goof in the original version, which falsely credited the singer as "Ossie Osbourne".
Recording
During the band's Volume 4 tour, the concerts held on 11 March 1973 at the Hardrock Concert Theatre in Manchester, and 16 March 1973 at the Rainbow Theatre in London, were recorded for use in a planned live album release, but the project was ultimately scrapped despite its plans being already promoted in UK newspaper articles. Despite the liner notes of a 1996 reissue of Live at Last stating the Manchester concert was held at the Free Trade Hall, this is easily proven incorrect when referencing historical documentation such as tour listings and ticket stubs.
Release history
Remastered versions of the original Live at Last recording have been released since the 1990s by various record labels. In the liner notes of the reissue on CD by Castle Communications in 1996, it is stated that the recordings were taken at Free Trade Hall in Manchester, and at the Rainbow Theatre in North London. This album was re-released by Sanctuary Records in 2002 as the first CD of Past Lives. Past Lives itself was re-released again in 2010 in a "Deluxe Edition". According to the Past Lives liner notes, the Live at Last performance was recorded on the 11 and 16 of March 1973.
Reviews and responses
The album has received a mixed to negative review from AllMusic, with critic Alex Henderson stating that he found the band "in decent form" but criticizing the shortness of the release and the absence of some of Black Sabbath's best known material such as "Iron Man" and their title track "Black Sabbath".
Track listing
Live In the UK 1973
On 12 February 2021, Vol. 4 was reissued as a "Super Deluxe" edition in 4 CD and 5 LP formats with alternate mixes, outtakes and studio dialogue. In addition to the studio outtakes and new mixes, the original analog tape recordings from 11 March 1973 at the Hardrock Concert Theatre and 16 March 1973 at the Rainbow Theatre in London which were used for Live at Last were remixed and remastered for inclusion as the last CD/last 2 LP in the set. With this release, an additional 12 minutes of audio has been added due to some different selections from the concerts being used as well as leaving in more stage banter and tune ups from the band. The remastered selections from the concerts were reordered to create a more accurate representation of a 1973 Black Sabbath concert, as Live at Last changed the track listing.
Personnel
- Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
- Tony Iommi – guitars
- Geezer Butler – bass guitar
- Bill Ward – drums
Album sleeve design by Dave Field
Charts
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! Chart (1980)
! Peak<br/>position
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