Paranoid 3-CD set kicks off Deluxe Edition Black Sabbath series

I hate when bands re-release an album, especially with quadrophonic remixs on it. So stupid. Deep Purple had to go and do that too.

How the hell would one listen to one of those Quad mixes properly anyway?

Chairman_Smith wrote:

How the hell would one listen to one of those Quad mixes properly anyway?

The only way to do it with modern gear would be to use a surround sound system. Quad was 4 separate channels of audio. They would have to release that disc as a DVD for it to work. But usually they just fold down the mix to stereo on CD...so it's essentially a complete waste of time.

Ahh, don't like the sound of it one bit, ming. These companies are always lookin' to dig a little deeper in yer pockets. But, in all fairness, they usually deliver with the goods too. At least, Rhino usually does. I didn't see what company put this package together. I'm actually looking forward to hearing anything which might be missing from my aresenal of the Debut/Paranoid era. I remember hearing the four unreleased demo recordings for the tunes Black Sabbath, War Pigs, Fairies and Behind The Wall. Those were a part of the Ozzman Cometh double disc, and were great treats for the longtime fan. Great fun.

Hopefully there's no redundancy on the new compilation. I don't think there will be because I see the word 'instrumental' after most of the bonus track listings. This would be cool if only two of the tracks were like that. But I'd much rather see alternate lyrics, alternate vocal melodies from Ozzy than just another instrumental studio run-through....

And, what happened to the promise of individual album releases for the Ozzy-era albums? I thought that the individual releases were meant to follow soon after the box set. I actually really need an updated version of Paranoid, Volume 4 and Sabotage. For those titles, I still have the original CD release.

For the other titles, up to and including Mob Rules, I have the Castle remasters. Those discs are somewhat of an improvement, but still leave much to be desired. For as great as the music from the classic-era is, the band wasn't well-versed at all in production skills. They didn't too hot of a job with the first seven titles, to be honest. Jimmy Page did a much better job over a very similar timeframe with the Zep catalog.

The Ozzman Cometh songs were recorded for the BBC, these new tunes are from the same recording sessions as the Paranoid album. As I mentioned somewhere above, the album was recorded live (only vocals and guitar solo overdubs were done afterwards)...so these instrumentals are just run-throughs of the songs recorded during the basic tracks sessions.

As for the individual CDs being release outside of the black box, this new Deluxe series seems to be the way they are going with that.

...also, for those interested...all the Ozzy & Dio albums are being reissued on vinyl. Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules, Live Evill & Dehumanizer all come out on March 10th.

I love these rereleases. People run out and buy them and trade in their originals and I finish filling in my back catalog for cheap.

Disc Two (Quadrophonic mix) will in fact be a DVD remastered for 5.1 surround sound.

I wish they'd just release a boxset with the rarities. Although, instrumentals are hardly something i'd go out of my way to track down.

I wonder if there's many outtakes and alternate versions from the Dio-years?. Someone should do some diggin' around in the archives. The success of the Heaven and Hell project has shown there's a real strong following for those three albums. And rightly so.

detuned wrote:

Disc Two (Quadrophonic mix) will in fact be a DVD remastered for 5.1 surround sound.

I may just have to grab this one then.

There are no rarities in the Sabbath back catalog. Would be nice, but they're non-existent. That Iommi/Hughes Dep Sessions '96 was the only thing still in the bag, aside from the tracks with Ozzy from the earlier part of this decade. I really wish that those Iommi/Hughes sessions wound up being the final Sabbath album, instead of that extremely weak, Forbidden. Doesn't seem right with that measly thing being the last Sab outing. What ever happened to that unfinished project with Ozzy? They had something like four or five songs complete at the time. Then Ozzy became a soap opera star and messed everything up. Are those songs ever going to surface at any point? If Oz had his wits about him, we would have been listening to at least one new Sabbath release this decade, possibly two.

And, I don't get the influence that Sharon Osbourne has on what qualifies as a Black Sabbath recording. She has that kind of leverage when her hubby can't create any more. I don't get it. I'm presently listening to the Iommi/Hughes - Fused album from 2005. This album is better than all of the the post-Dio Sabbath recordings. It's certainly much more deserving of the Sabbath name than all those sub-par recordings. And, most definitely, the Heaven and Hell cast is worthy of the Sabbath name. I really think that the author of the next album should be called Black Sabbath. Sharon'll get over it with time.

Iommi still owns full rights to the name Black Sabbath, he would be using it if he wanted to. It allows them to tour with Dio without having to play Iron Man for the 200 millionth time.

They could call it Twinkle Toes and I'd still buy it.

That sounds all well and fine in theory. I actually heard Tony say the above comment you cited just recently. The statement about not having to play the standards anymore. But, fact of the matter is that those who were still coming out to the Ozzy-led Sabbath shows before the end really didn't expect to be hearing Iron Man at all. I'm sure that most of them, if given the option, were looking to hear anything but that song. I only saw that lineup once during the first leg of the very first tour, and we basically got a playlist which was mostly tracks from the first two albums.

And that was great at the time. I would have been ok with hearing anything from those releases. I guess they were assuming that this is what people wanted to hear the most. But, eventually, the band, and the public, began to tire of that roster of tracks. And, as I understand it, they moved further away from that playlist as time went on. I remember how great it was to hear an unepected track like, 'Dirty Women' on the Last Supper DVD. And, how refreshing it was to really hear Tony rip it up on guitar during the solo spot.

That's probably the biggest asset of playing the Dio-era songs now. for Tony. They provide more room for his solo playing. But, I think the 'official' reason why he doesn't use the Sabbath name at present is maybe just a rationalization. I think maybe he was coaxed into that decision by Sharon. She said something when the H & H dates were first announced which pretty much amounted to, "We wish Tony and Ronnie great success, but what you're seeing there is not Black Sabbath." I don't remember exactly, but what I wrote here isn't far off.

Everybody knows Heaven and Hell is Black Sabbath, 90% of time if you go to any store, USA it is filed under the name Black Sabbath, Iommi has gone thru alot to keep the Black Sabbath name alive and if he wishes to retire whether do to Sharon's influence or simply because he feels it carries too much baggage or does not wish to confuse promotors by booking Sabbath thinking they would get Ozzy version instead of Dio version, he has earned that right. In truth the real fans know who the real Master of Reality no matter what name they choose to record or tour under.

Marc Mason wrote:

There are no rarities in the Sabbath back catalog. Would be nice, but they're non-existent.

Obviously it depends what you consider to be "rarities"; but i personally believe your statement to be untrue. There's loads of stuff that's leaked on bootlegs which would be most welcome if they were collected together and given an official release. The 3cd 'complete dehumanizer' bootleg is a fine example of what i'm talking about. Especially the early recordings of the tracks made with Cozy before he fell off his horse. A cleaned up version of Computer God with the alt/lyrics and Dio studio talk would surely be a more desirable track for true fans than a quadrophonic version of iron man. Have "The Night Life" and "bad Blood" from those sessions ever been officially released?. I know they were re-worked as different songs ('Psychophobia' & 'I'); but it would still be nice to have them in their original form.

Looks like this is going to be an import-only release for awhile in the States. This material comes from the Vertigo masters and is being released in selected countries (but not the U.S.), it's "eventually" scheduled for release by Rhino but no idea when.

Also, the band has nothing to do with the product. Iommi recently mentioned in an interview that he's had "no involvement, it's a record company thing".

Instead of starting a rather pointless new thread, does anyone have The Dio Years? Is it a digipack? I got it through SwapaCD, and it's a digipack. I thought it was released as a jewelcase. Anyway, just curious.

Eyesore wrote:

Instead of starting a rather pointless new thread, does anyone have The Dio Years? Is it a digipack? I got it through SwapaCD, and it's a digipack. I thought it was released as a jewelcase. Anyway, just curious.

I bought my copy at Walmart and it was in a jewel case packaged with an interview DVD hosted by Eddie trunk , maybe you got an imported version, but I have never seen it released as a digipack, does it come with any extra tracks or the interview DVD?

A little research and I've found there is a tour edition that is 2 CDs in a digi.

SpectreFate wrote:

A little research and I've found there is a tour edition that is 2 CDs in a digi.

Hmmm...two CDs could fit, I guess, but there's only tracklisting for one CD. Sixteen tracks.

Google the UPC number and see what you get.

Eyesore wrote:

SpectreFate wrote:

A little research and I've found there is a tour edition that is 2 CDs in a digi.

Hmmm...two CDs could fit, I guess, but there's only tracklisting for one CD. Sixteen tracks.

The digi-pak is the "UK Tour Edition", it contains some bonus tracks from the "Live At Hammersmith" limited edition. It's rare.

Nope. Not that version, either. It's got just one live track, "Children of the Sea." You know what I bet it is? One of those stupid eco-friendly (i.e cheaper-to-make/more-profit-for-the-label) versions.

Wal-Mart has a TON of those eco-friendly hits packages for under $7...Dio Years, Dokken, Skid Row, Boston, Journey...plus their own "Playlist" series w/ Kansas, Judas Priest, Hall & Oates, Steve Perry, etc...

I have a couple of those. I forget them though as they tend to get hidden in with the other cd's.