I cannot believe I'm typing this-Sabbath remasters from the Dio era with bonus tracks! YAY! Although I really enjoyed the Rhino remasters and I thought they had much improved sound, I'm all over these.
I can't believe that what I had posted last year about what they could add is happening! They used all the b-sides and the live tracks from the Hartford, CT FM radio concert from 1980-plus, the audio from the 2 music videos and a mono edit of "Lady Evil" I never knew existed.
As for Mob Rules, we FINALLY get the heavier version from the "Heavy Metal" soundtrack and the b-sides and a full live show-not sure if this is the same as the Rhino Handmade release, if so, I'm selling mine now-and it sure looks to be the same. Pity for those of us who thought we had something rare, but a nice bonus anyway.
Live Evil looks to be the same, I'll have to wait to hear the reviews of the sonics there-I can't see the ened for getting that again w/ no extras.
I cannot wait for the Born Again remaster/remix on the way along with Seventh Star and Eternal Idol.

From Classic Rock Magazine.com:

Black Sabbath are to reissue the Dio-era albums from the 1980s in expanded formats.
These are to be put out by Universal on April 5. The details are as follows:

Heaven And Hell

Product Description
Heaven And Hell was the first album to be released by the new Black Sabbath lineup of Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, in 1980. It remains one of the most important and influential of Black Sabbath's releases. This deluxe expanded edition comes with a bonus disc of live material. Packaged in a deluxe gatefold digipak including a deluxe 16 page booklet with extensive sleevenotes and many previously unseen photographs and images of memorabilia. 15 tracks.

CD 1
1. Neon Knights
2. Children Of The Sea
3. Lady Evil
4. Heaven And Hell
5. Wishing Well
6. Die Young
7. Walk Away
8. Lonely Is The Word

CD 2
1. Children Of The Sea (Live)
2. Heaven And Hell (Live)
3. Lady Evil (Mono Edit)
4. Neon Knights (Video – Live)
5. Die Young (Video – Live)
6. Neon Knights (Live, Hartford, CT 1980)
7. Children Of The Sea (Live, Hartford, CT 1980)
8. Heaven And Hell (Live, Hartford, CT 1980)
9. Die Young (Live, Hartford, CT 1980)

Amazon USA:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00382X4XC/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00382X4XC/?tag=imwan-21

---

Mob Rules

Product Description
1981's Mob Rules was written mostly on the Heaven And Hell Tour and with Martin Birch again at the producer's helm. Like its predecessor, it contains some of the tastiest, hook-laden, riff-heavy Metal that Sabs fans could desire. This 2010 remastered deluxe expanded edition includes a second disc featuring a complete live concert performance recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon in December 1981 on The Mob Rules Tour. Also featured is a live version of Die Young from the same tour plus a rare demo version of the title track specifically written for the movie Heavy Metal, the animated collection of fantasy short stories taken from the comic books of the same name. Packaged in a deluxe gatefold digipak including a deluxe 16 page booklet with extensive sleevenotes and many previously unseen photographs and images of memorabilia. 25 tracks.

CD 1
1. Turn Up The Night
2. Voodoo
3. The Sign Of The Southern Cross
4. E5150
5. The Mob Rules
6. Country Girl
7. Slipping Away
8. Falling Off The Edge Of The World
9. Over And Over

— Bonus Tracks —
10. Die Young (Live – 12″ version)
11. The Mob Rules (Alternative Version)

CD 2
1. E5150 (Live)
2. Neon Knights (Live)
3. N.I.B. (Live)
4. Children Of The Sea (Live)
5. Country Girl (Live)
6. Black Sabbath (Live)
7. War Pigs (Live)
8. Slipping Away (Live)
9. Iron Man (Live)
10. The Mob Rules (Live)
11. Heaven And Hell (Live)
12. Paranoid (Live)
13. Voodoo (Live)
14. Children Of The Grave (Live)

Amazon USA:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00382X4X2/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00382X4X2/?tag=imwan-21

---

Live Evil

Product Description
1982's Live Evil caught the MKIII version of the band at the height of their powers. This lineup of Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinnie Appice gave a flawless performance. This expanded edition is re-cut to now feature for the first time the complete live recording as it occurred, enhancing Black Sabbath's performance with Dio's audience introductions and crowd reactions. Packaged in a deluxe gatefold digipak including a deluxe 16 page booklet with extensive sleevenotes and many previously unseen photographs and images of memorabilia. 14 tracks.

CD 1
1. E5150
2. Neon Knights
3. N.I.B.
4. Children Of The Sea
5. Voodoo
6. Black Sabbath
7. War Pigs
8. Iron Man

CD 2
1. The Mob Rules
2. Heaven And Hell
3. The Sign Of The Southern Cross/Heaven And Hell (continued)
4. Paranoid
5. Children Of The Grave
6. Fluff

Amazon USA:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00382X4WI/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00382X4WI/?tag=imwan-21

Dammit! These sound pretty good -- much better than the Ozzy deluxes which really didn't offer much in the form of rarities, etc. I could skip Mob Rules if the live disc is the same as the Rhino and Live Evil doesn't look like it's offering anything extra, so I can definitely skip that one.

Here's the Wiki entry on the Rhino cd (with actual dates that each track was recorded which was not on the Rhino cd):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_Hammersmith_Odeon

The bonus "Mob Rules" cd really does look identical.

Since those Rhino cds seem to go for a small fortune on ebay these days now might be a good time to sell - although you run the risk of these new issues getting either canceled or pushed back. And if you wait for the actual new releases to arrive - you will not probably get top dollar for the Rhino.

I hate these kind of dilemmas.

I'll pick up the two studios because I don't have the Rhinos. I'll probably skip Live Evil.

But a remixed Born Again? Yes, ma'am!

Alan

You betcha, Alan! I've been dreaming about such a thing for years, and I pray the most-awesome track "The Fallen" is included. How that did not make the album is a mystery-and the band themselves admit that!

I thoroughly enjoyed their NYC show last year at the garden (on the same night as Britney).
I'll give Heaven And Hell a try.

IP - haven't actually heard The Fallen, but I've heard of it. Maybe they can do a live disc from that tour as a bonus disc. I believe at least one of the shows was an FM broadcast - I have the show, but I'm not sure how it was sourced. Kind of odd to hear Tony rip into Smoke On The Water!

Alan

Well, over at SH.tv, the consensus seems to be that the remasters of 5 of the first 6 Ozzy albums were better than the versions that came before. So it looks like we may be getting definitive digital versions of these albums. I'm very much excited.

Alan:
"The Fallen" is a breathtaking Metal opus. Such a killer song. It's part of a high quality boot that also includes all the demos for the album, which to say the least, sound way different than the final (ugly) mix. I only heard it twice.
The live show you mentioned is the gig in Worcester, MA from Nov. 1983. I still have my FM recording of that show and it was awesome, although Gillan really struggled on the Ozzy and Dio material at times. I forget, but I believe that was a Westwood One radio broadcast from the Superstars In Concert series. Top notch.
Aleegedly, Sabbath also rehearsed ELO's "Evil Woman" since Bev Bevan was in the band-that would've been hilarious and wild-"Smoke On The Water" was crazy enough!
We'll see what they end up doing for Born Again, but just doing anything is exciting.

Sorry guys, it's Friday but where is it mentioned about Born Again, Seventh Star and The Eternal Idol being remastered???

Great new ! I'll get these and I love the Born Again album so hopefully that will get the same treatment as the Dio albums .

It doesn't-these have been mentioned before in several of the Sabbath posts about these remasters-and those are the next three due for release in the summer. Tony Iommi has already been quoted as saying he was involved w/ the Born Again remix/remaster.
Seventh Star and Eternal Idol are the last 2 I know of that Sanctuary/Universal have the rights to.
I wish there would be legit remasters for the IRS albums, but aside from the planned 3rd box set (whenever that happens if ever) I doubt it.

I have them all on CD, in fact I found the remasters for Born Again and Seventh Star, no bonus items, and just have the basic CD's for the rest of the Tony Martin era. I think I'm in the minority here but I really enjoyed Sabbth more after Ozzy left. I know the classic era is with Ozzy but I enjoyed the music more after he left. I always thought the Gillan era was just never explored enough...a Deep Purple reunion stopped it in it's tracks. I'm looking forward to these remasters, although I don't know if I'll get the 2 CD remasters of the Dio era...the box set was great. Mob Rules disc 2 looks to be the Hammersmith show, which I was lucky enough to get. I might get Heaven and Hell though...we'll see.

The remasters of Seventh Star and Eternal Idol are the original Castle releases from 1996-they've not been updated and hopefully these new ones will have new mastering and bonus tracks-especially Eternal Idol which was originally recorded with Ray Gillen who was then fired.
I agree Mark-Sabbath's best material is post-Ozzy.
The Tony Martin era is my favorite behind the Dio years.
I do love the Ozzy albums, but they were a better band after he left.

I think Ozzy was a better solo artist.

This is from the Black-Sabbath.com website run by Joe Siegler (he think just like me as far as what Sabbath is the best, so obviously he's a genius). What I'm curious about is Live Evil having the Dio crowd interaction/comments restored and the audience noise being restored.
I always found the audience wayyyy too low in the mix, but I'll have to listen to the 2008 Rhino remaster to see if that was corrected, so maybe this version is worth getting, I'm not sure. Anyway:


As you probably know, there were several remasters released in 2009 from Sanctuary/Universal records in the UK. These were based off the original UK set of album masters (as opposed to the US/Warner set which resulted in Black Box & Rules of Hell). The first three Sabbath albums were released in multi disc format with extras, demos, and alternate tracks. Volume 4 through Never Say Die were released in single disc, albeit remastered form. There are a lot of people who are into compression rates and things of that nature who say that the new Sanctuary/Universal remasters are way better than the ones in Black Box. I personally don't have that discerning an ear, and to me if you have to get out software to prove sound levels to make that point then you've missed the point of the music. But that issue aside, the new Sanctuary/Universal 2009 remasters were freakin fantastic. Unfortunately for fans in the US, we have to import them, as they are not released here. Still, they're really good recordings, and since the Black Box remasters were not released on their own, this is a great way to cherry pick and get the individual releases if you want to do it that way.

Late this week the word broke that more albums are going to be released in this Sanctuary remaster series. I've received press releases and artwork for "Heaven & Hell", "Mob Rules", & "Live Evil". These are the next three (official) releases by the band after Never Say Die (Dio's first go around). Below I'll have the artwork and the press releases for you to check out. A few choice tidbits about the releases, first..

•Heaven & Hell: Disc 2 is a collection of live versions from the album. It also includes the two "music videos" for Neon Knights & Die Young (both of which appeared on the MVI version of "The Dio Years" from Warner in 2007. A full listing is in the press release. Also, a "mono" version of Lady Evil? What's with that?
•Mob Rules Disc 1: Disc 1 contains two extra tracks. The first is a live version of Die Young, which appeared on a 12" single back in the day. The second is an "Alternate Version" of the track "The Mob Rules". This is likely the version from the Heavy Metal movie soundtrack, but I'm waiting on confirmation of that.
•Mob Rules Disc 2: Astute visitors will note that Disc 2 has the exact same track listing as the limited edition release from 2007, "Live at Hammersmith". I checked with Steve Hammonds of Universal, and he confirms that Disc 2 of Mob Rules here is the same release as Live at Hammersmith, going so far to say "we licensed it from the band", so if you didn't get a chance to get the Hammersmith release a couple of years ago, now you can get that recording - it's fantastic!
•Live Evil: Live Evil isn't really a "deluxe" edition as far as I can tell, as the track listing is the same. The lone note for this version in the press release is "Original Dio crowd interaction and audience noise restored". The 1996 Castle release crammed the whole thing on a single disc, and that was the last time the UK master set was used for this release. This would then make calling this a "deluxe" edition on CD, I suppose, but that's a real stretch. The version that appeared in the "Rules of Hell" box had two discs, and the full recording restored already, but again, that's a US/UK separate remaster issue again.
I think the highlight here is probably the inclusion of the "Live at Hammersmith" release as Disc 2 of Mob Rules. Some Hammersmith owners might feel right ripped off about that, given the "limited edition" release. I look at it this way. I think we all sort of realized that would get re-released somewhere at some point. I doubted that recording would never show up again. Plus the original Hammersmith release artwork and booklet and all that won't be here. This is probably the same deal like where "Live At Last" from 1980 was released as Disc 1 of "Past Lives" in 2002.

What will be interesting for me to see is what happens after this. Remaining on the master series for this series of Sanctuary releases is Born Again, Seventh Star, & Eternal Idol. After that, all the releases from Headless Cross (1989) through The Sabbath Stones (1996) are all from the former IRS label deal, of which the rights reside with Iommi at the moment, AFAIK. There are a ton of b sides, Japanese tracks from that era, and I would love (I mean stinkin LOVE) them to be picked up as proper remasters with all the extra tracks included. On a personal note, I confess to looking forward to those releases more than any others.

Anyway, after the jump is the press releases for these three deluxe editions being released April 5th along with artwork..

I'm really looking forward to the Born Again remix/remaster.

And then there is this...http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe ... mID=135471

In a recent online posting, Ronnie James Dio's wife/manager Wendy Dio revealed that there are plans to release a 30th-anniversary BLACK SABBATH "Heaven And Hell" DVD sometime this year. The package is expected to include brand new interviews that Ronnie, Geezer and Appice gave to Eddie Trunk — co-host of the VH1 Classic television program "That Metal Show" — on January 22, 2010 in Los Angeles, as well other extras.

I'm guessing that this is a separate item from the CD's coming out.

I'm so confused...

Mark:
That item is nothing special-just one of those DVDs where people praise an album. It's an ongoing series, the kind of thing VH1 Classic shows to death-Dark Side Of The Moon, Who's Next, Pet Sounds, Ace Of Spades, etc. More of an anniversary type thing.
I believe it's an official release. It has nothing to do with the remaster and I'll be passing on it.
There IS a new live DVD from Heaven And Hell coming out later in the year though!

What I'd really like to see is an official DVD release of Sabbath from the Black And Blue tour in 1980. Now, that would be an anniversary DVD worth getting!

I have a copy of that from Japanese laserdisc that was an official release in the early 90's or so. It kicketh much asseth.
I wish it was the full sets, but the movie only had certain songs from each band. I remember when this played theaters!

Man, if the bonus live tracks on "Mob Rules" indeed are the same versions on Rhino Handmade's "limited-edition" CD from spring 2007, I will be hacked off. If that happens, that'll be the last time I buy a supposed-limited-time-only release Unless it's The Who.