Live at Last

AMG Review of Live at Last

Alex Henderson
All Music Guide

Surprisingly, Warner Brothers never released a live Black Sabbath album in the U.S. during Ozzy Osbourne's years with the band. It wasn't until 1982's double-LP Live Evil (which featured Ronnie James Dio instead of the Oz) that Warner finally put out a live Sabbath album in the U.S. Released in England in 1980, Live at Last is a single LP that was recorded before Osbourne's departure but didn't come out until after he had left. Unfortunately, this LP's liner notes are problematic. Nems lets you know that Live at Last was recorded in Manchester, England, and at the Rainbow in London, but no recording dates are given. And Osbourne's first name is misspelled "Ossie." As for the performances, the Osbourne/Geezer Butler/Tony Iommi/Bill Ward lineup of Sabbath is in decent form on such menacing favorites as "War Pigs," "Paranoid," "Sweet Leaf," and "Children of the Grave." Live at Last, which made it to American stores as an import, is by no means definitive -- how could it be without "Iron Man"? But even so, fans were glad to finally have a live recording of Osbourne-era Sabbath that wasn't a bootleg.