Black Sabbath
Born In Hell

THE REVIEW

Formally, this album is a bootleg, but when we listen to it, we realize that it is a recording among the audience only in a manner of speaking. The album is a gem and could very well be an official album.

After leaving Black Sabbath, Dio forms his own band, which will achieve great success in the years to come. However, a void remains within the black sabbath, soon filled by the greatest singer in rock history, Ian Gillan. Tony Iommi had the great idea of inviting him to join the group, replacing the elf. Soon, an album with the Deep Purple singer is released, namely Born Again, which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful albums in Black Sabbath's entire discography. Nonetheless, following the album, the four (five including the keyboardist) go on tour in the USA, and this beautiful bootleg is taken from the Worcester concert.

The album starts with the classic "Children of the Grave," sung divinely by Ian, who then introduces one of the new tracks, "Hot Line," from the new album; the song is performed very quickly, just like in the studio version, and features a divine solo by Iommi. The third track is the immortal "War Pigs," where Ian unleashes terrifying screams, making the track even more engaging, but we hardly have time to breathe because the lethal drumming of "Iron Man" strikes savagely, and I was really curious to discover this song with Ian on vocals: well, it's truly spectacular, one of my favorite versions by the group. "Zero the Hero," one of the new songs, is the least successful of the album, but that doesn’t matter much since a stunning version of "Digital Bitch" follows, crafted in an absurd manner, slowly bringing us back to the origins as Ian announces "Black Sabbath"... WHAT A LIVE VERSION, GUYS!!!!!!!! truly incredible, with those continuous screams that give no rest. A minute to catch our breath at the end of the piece, but no, what do they play next?! "Smoke On The Water," the Deep's classic, in a heavier version than usual but still beautiful because it is unexpected. There's also time for the classic from the Dio era, "Heaven And Hell," which is my favorite track on the record, because the audience is truly present, right there, singing and shouting! "Heaven and Hell" stops and makes way for "Paranoid," as usual the concluding track of Black Sabbath concerts. To be honest, this last piece is a medley because Paranoid stops again, ending with the riff of the previous song, and naturally amid the audience's screams!

A truly thrilling bootleg that doesn’t really deserve this classification, both for the excellent audio quality and the beauty of the songs. My rating is a solid 10! See you soon, Debaserians!