Back on 30 August, a friend of mine sent me a link to something in the Rhino webstore saying it was Live Evil on Blu_Ray, and asked if I knew anything about it. I didn’t – it was the first time I heard about it. I reached out to my rep at Rhino (twice), and got no reply. BMG told me they had nothing to do with it, and Iommi’s management had no info for me either. So I had no idea what this is about. So what is this?
This a new Dolby Atmos mix of Live Evil on Blu-Ray audio. The important phrase here is AUDIO. This is *NOT* the famed missing film from 40 years ago, this is just Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) & Hi-Res Stereo Mixes (DTS-HD MA 2.0) of the original album on a blu-ray. But key here..
THIS IS NOT the 40th anniversary remix that came out on the Super Deluxe box set. This is the original 1982 version with a new Atmos release. I found this out because a friend of mine who bought this (and sent me all the pics) told me this was the case. That’s a bit unfortunate, IMO, as the remix is (to me) a superior version of the album, I’m not entirely sure I will ever listen to the original mix anymore, but that’s this fan’s opinion.
I asked said friend for some thoughts on this given he bought it and has actually played it. This is what he said..
The menu screen basically stays up the whole time no matter which track you choose or song. The DTS is a two channel masterpiece, amazing. The Dolby Atmos is a multi channel. Bullshit fake matrix mix. Has a lot of audience and some echo in the rear channels. It could be pulled from a multi track sub of the original mix because the audience is pretty heavy in the rear channels. The Atmos mix is technically different than anything but 100% based off the original. The super deluxe must’ve sold really well. I wonder how long it will take for this Blu-ray to go out of print.
So that’s pretty much the bottom line. This is a new version of the Live Evil album, but based on the 1982 original, not the 2023 remix. If you enjoy the original mix, and have gear that can make use of the version on here, then this might be for you.
Also, the Rhino website says the DTS mix is 5.1, but the sticker on the front cover clearly states that it is just stereo (2.0), and not a 5.1 mix.
I wanted to get the word out about this, since I looked into it, and was unable to get any information available from my usual channels.
Here’s a handful of photos of the set. You can click on any of them for larger images…
The Atmos mix is horrible. Truly terrible. Incompetent engineer who never should have got the job.
Black Sabbath was the first concert I went to in Seattle, Washington back in 1972 and they were Awesome –
Really interested in this after getting the Blu-ray reissue of the Paranoid Quad Mix from the masters instead of using a vinyl rip for the Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions.