Black Sabbath: Live at Last

Black Sabbath: Live at Last

1980

NEMS Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 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


So many good memories associated with this album...I was never able to find this record when I was growing up, but my friend Josh had it, so whenever I went to his house I would make him play it... I'd marvel at the monstrously slow heaviness of that "Cornucopia" riff as I stared at the cover..."Ossie Osbourne"? And what the hell was going on with that cover anyway?

"Is it the bottom of the ocean? Is that a jellyfish? Wait! I think it's outer space and that's like...a satellite or something....Wowww..."

Y'know...This is one of those instances where I realize I probably shouldn't be publicly providing my opinion on music...Every reviewer seems to hate this album, but I love the shit out of it...And here's why...

1. It has a wonderfully skeevy 70's bootleg vibe...Like it should be sold in a dusty headshop or something...The mis-spelled text is written on an illegible background and the flimsy cardboard cover only adds to the illusion...In reality, it was semi-official...Sabbath did record the show with the intention of releasing a live album, but had second thoughts when they heard the tapes...Their manager  (or ex-manager at this point, I should say) had no such artistic misgivings and a good 7 years after its recording, "Live at Last" hit the shelves...

2. It's a live album of 70's Black Sabbath!!! The only one available!!!!! (until the 2000's when it was bundled with some other live stuff...Don't have that one yet, so can't comment on it...) Didn't every band put out a live album in the 70's? What kind of classic 70's band didn't have a live album?! And this is a real deal live album...No studio trickery here...Just sluggish tempos and slightly muffled sound, which might be a drawback for other bands, but these are positive attributes when applied to these guys...The sense of foreboding mystery remains intact (for awhile anyway)..."Sweet Leaf" becomes even slower and more impenetrable, cementing its reputation as the first true Stoner Metal track even further...

3. That track listing!! Fuck "Iron Man"! Who needs it when you have "Cornucopia," "Snowblind," "Killing Yourself to Live" and ...

3....the main reason for owning this album...The epic 20-minute version of Wicked World" which is so much more than you're expecting...It's a massively entertaining jam that also includes "Supernaut,"  "Into the Void" and some other cool stuff I don't recognize (including a jazzy version of "Changes" or something?)...There's a bit of superfluous guitar wanky-wanky but its forgivable...Again, what's a 70's live recording without copious guitar wanky-wank? Some things are sacred, man!

So, I not only consider "Live at Last" a great live record, but it's also one of my favorite pieces of Sabbath vinyl, period. Is nostalgia coloring my view? Absolutely. Still there's no way around it, this is Sabbath at their filthy, hazy, pitch-black best...Sabbath diehards will forever carry a boner for this thing...Folks who casually enjoy "Iron Man" or "Paranoid" on the radio and are looking for a wanky, polished live album to smoke a doob to on the weekends (for old time's sake) might want to pass...This is some true, greasy-haired shit...

Set aside nineteen minutes...Here's  "Wicked World" by Black Sabbath...Show some respect...