Black Sabbath - Past Lives CD

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 Don't Waste Your Money
Like the reviewer said before me, the first CD is actually Live At Last which has been available for some time now, and which is a good live preformance of Sabbath. If you don't have At Last and are looking for some early live Sabbath, then you might want to check this out. However, if you are a Sabbath freak (like myself), and own everything in their catalog, keep away from this garbage, it's not worth it. The 2nd CD sounds terrible. The audio quality sounds like it was recorded from a portable tape deck, the band sounds horrible & Ozzy's singing has never been worse. It actually sounds like a garage band recording--it's just that bad. I'm a little bit surprised the band agreed to release this, based on their rise in popularity the last few years. They must have quality stuff in reserve somewhere. We deserve better than this. Buyer Beware!
Submitted by kennygulag (NY, NY) 
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 Well, I was certainly impressed!
This is my first Black Sabbath album. I'll wait while you old-timer fans get over the shock... Now then, back to the review. I've never been very impressed with Ozzy, so I never gave much time to Black Sabbath. I now know the depth of my error. I'm a fan of Rush, and listening to this I was struck by how much Sabbath resembles early Rush. The sci-fi themes, the wailing vocals (though Ozzy and Geddy don't really sound that much alike) and the excellent musicianship. Rush is my first musical love, so for me to favorably compare Sabbath to them is a high compliment indeed! So bottom line is this... This album, whether it is a cobbled together conglomeration of disparate concert material on one disc and just a retread of a previously available live album on the other, is well worth the money if you are new to Sabbath.
Submitted by Upthairons (Brandon, MS, USA)
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 A live Sabbath album...........again
This is a great album to own if your a serious Sabbath fan, the first disc alone is worth it. ( true, it's a repress but it's not always easy to find Live At Last ) The second disc does offer a few jems but i thought it was a little over mixed. Didn't quite capture the true realing of a live Sabbath show. It reminded me of the mix job done on the first Ozzfest cd ( Ozzfest Live ) I know Sabbath has better live material floating around cause i own a few examples.Bootlegs they may be but great recording quality, some better than Past Lives. And thoses are all ONE concert. All in all I feel that if you wanna get a good mainstream live sabbath album ( and it was only Sabbath with Ozzy!!!!) You should pick it up. It is worth having!
Submitted by a reviewer (Colchester ct.)
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 It is Sabbath, therefore it ROCKS!
Anyone who gives less than five stars to this should be rode by Big Earl until their ring looks like the Japanese flag. Without the music on these two cd's there would be no Manowar, no Death, no (First four albums) Metallica, there would be no quality music around. Yes, cd1 is Live At Last and that's great because I LOVE BLACK SABBATH and I love to hear Live At Last. It's great. The second cd is worth it alone just for Symptom Of The Universe, but you also get Hole In The Sky, Megalomania and a host of classic tunes. This should be tought in schools. May death fly on swift wings to all who would dare bad-mouth this epic and historic release. Future generations will certainly realise its importance. I would give 10 stars but this thing only allows 5.
Submitted by a reviewer (Ballymun)
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 Finally.
Finally we have a decent Ozzy era Sabbath live album. Yes, as pointed out by another reviewer, the first disc is "Live at Last" but it is at least a decent sounding version of that album. I bought an import on vinyl back in the early 80s, and it had a terrible sound. I never bothered to replace it with a NEMS cd version because there seemed to be no point. This version sounds very good. The rest of the album also is pretty good, although it is not one of the great live albums of all time. Too much of a compilation of songs from here and there, not enough of a "concert feel" of the kind essential for a great live album. But the performances are surprisingly good. I did not think they were as good in concert, especially during the Sabotage era, as these tracks indicate. Any Sabbath fan knows that there are good shows out there. The California Jam show, the 1970 Paris show, etc. Hopefully, Sabbath will follow the lead of bands like Deep Purple, recognize that there is at least a small market for their live material, and put out a "bootleg series" for the faithful. I also would like to see a better Dio era live album than Live Evil, which is pretty poor. I would like to see an official Gillan era live album. I think that the live cd which accompanied the video for Cross Purposes is great and does much to demonstrate that the Tony Martin era was better than some thought. I would like to see that reissued. On the whole, an album well worth having. Let's hope it inspires better handling of Sabbaths material.
Submitted by a reviewer (Durham, NC)
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