Today, September 27, 2024, marks the 41st anniversary of Ozzy recording his legendary Black Sabbath cover album Speak of the Devil (or Talk of the Devil, depending on where you’re from). It wouldn’t be released until November of that same year, 1982, but the two live shows at The Ritz in New York that were performed to draw the album from have become bootleg favorites over the years. According to Max Norman, who produced the album, all but three songs were taken from the performance on the 27th, with three numbers being added from a crowd-less recording session at The Ritz earlier that same day. Crowd noise was later added to get everything to blend together, and we were left with an incredible live album to tide Ozzy fans over until Bark at the Moon would emerge the following year.
This particular Ritz performance comes from a 4 LP box set I recently picked up, released by Antenna Records out of Italy. It’s not a brand-new set, but it’s not been around for too terribly long. This is my third box set from these guys, and so far, none of them have disappointed. In addition to the Ritz show, we also get another show from a couple months before in April of ‘82: Live at Mid South Coliseum in Memphis Tennessee. The Ritz is a soundboard, and Mid South is a recording intended for radio broadcast, which means it’s also a soundboard. The source quality for both of these shows is not perfect, but it’s excellent for what it is. With some very minor tweaks, I think both shows could have been released in an official capacity.
According to the back of the box itself, the sets are limited to 350 copies, although they are not individually numbered. By looking on Discogs, one can see that there have been a few different pressings of this box, and each one has variations in the color of the vinyl. I’m not sure if this means there are 350 boxes of each color, but I kind of doubt it. While this stuff is popular in collectors’ circles, it actually seems like a tall order to sell 350 copies of something, especially for a smaller outfit like Antenna, who I would not consider to exactly be a Titan of the industry. Their boxes are not cheap, however, and are of great overall quality. The Sabbath one they put out not too long ago is absolutely killer.
The box itself is large enough to accommodate the LP’s, which come in regular paper sleeves. As usual, I threw these out after cleaning the records and upgraded them to MOFI ones which easily fit inside the box. The box itself is plain and has a stickered outside. One of the stickers wraps around the box, creating sort of a hinge. This is not my favorite design for something like this, but it works. Unless you are planning on handling the set constantly, I can’t foresee it being an issue for anybody. The records themselves came flat and have great full color labels. The choices of the marble coloring are a little bizarre (and look a bit like vomit on some discs), but I think it makes the set unique. The pressing itself looked great visually, with no apparent warps or defects.
I saw some people complaining that their copies had some skipping on “Track 1”, which presumably would be from LP 1’s opener, “Over The Mountain”. I think I got a later copy, and my disc didn’t have this issue. However, once I got to the second show, Track 1 of disc 4, “Never Say Die!”, did in fact skip. This was a bit confusing, as visually, I couldn’t find anything wrong with the wax. I let it play through, and that side did have a couple more random pops, but nothing major to complain about. When the skipping did happen, it let it sit there for a few seconds. It skipped about four times, and then went on like nothing happened. After the side was through, I went back and listened to the offending track again, and this time, it didn’t skip or pop at all in that section. The best I can figure is that there must have been a piece of something or other stuck inside the groove which was removed by the stylus.
As a final note on the box itself, I should also mention that you get some full-size liner notes which are printed on high quality paper. These are mainly an analysis on the shows, and a critique on the musicians. It’s an interesting piece with some cool photos, and I think most fans fill enjoy spending the few minutes to read over it. It is, however, a not-so-great translation into English. The song titles on the outside of the box are correct, but we have some interesting renditions on the inside, including “The Mad Train” and “Crazy Diary”. The author/translator also refers to Brad Gillis and Tommy Aldrige as “she/her” which is pretty funny. Despite having a few laughs, the language issue won’t prevent you from enjoying the piece.
Before we take a look at these shows, here’s the lineup:
Ozzy Osbourne: Vocals/Harmonica
Brad Gillis: Guitar
Rudy Sarzo: Bass
Tommy Aldridge: Drums
Don Airey: Keyboards (Mid South Show Only)
Live Recording (Soundboard/Radio Broadcast) – Mid South Coliseum – Memphis, TN USA – 28th April, 1982
A1 Over The Mountain
A2 Mr. Crowley
A3 Crazy Train
B1 Revelation (Mother Earth)
B2 Steal Away (The Night)
B3 Suicide Solution
B4 Guitar Solo
B5 Drum Solo
C1 Goodbye To Romance
C2 I Don’t Know
C3 Believer
D1 Flying High Again
D2 Iron Man
D3 Children Of The Grave
D4 Paranoid
The first two LP’s cover this show. This is a great recording, and Ozzy announces to the audience right away that it’s intended for radio broadcast. What makes both the shows in this set special is the fact that we get to hear Brad Gillis on guitar. Coming over from Night Ranger, he does a pretty great job filling in with Ozzy’s band. There is no doubt he’s not Randy, Jake or Zakk, but that’s ok. In my opinion, this is about as different as we’re going to hear the band sound. Gillis is a great guitar player, but I’m not sure he would have been the right choice to play with Ozzy long term. Apparently, Ozzy agreed as he didn’t last very long beyond the Ritz recording that we’ll get to later. Sarzo and Aldridge sort of “hold down the fort” in my opinion, to give the songs the same overall sort of feeling that they had with Randy.
I think this is a good time to point out that Ozzy has always had a superhuman understanding for what good music is, and who the best players to work with him are. The people who say Ozzy isn’t a great musician are idiots who miss the point, and they show their ignorance every time they discuss this. Either these guys no nothing about music, or fall into the “jealous musician” category, which is just as annoying.
As I’ve already pointed out, the sound quality here is great. In a way, hearing Brad play is a breath of fresh air to me, and I’m sure it will be for other Ozzy fans. He adds a totally different element, for better or worse, that shakes things up a bit for the long-time listener. His solo on “Suicide Solution” is great but doesn’t really fit in an Ozzy song as far as I’m concerned. The weird, arcade game style laser sound effects being pumped out by Airey’s keyboards do not help here. They are very loud and distinct. You cannot possibly miss them.
The standout number from this show, for me, is “Goodbye To Romance”. It’s just an excellent rendition, and Gillis does an incredible job with that one. The weak point of the show is probably “Crazy Train”. Initially, I was surprised at this because I figured that undoubtedly this would be the song Gillis should have been the most familiar with. Thinking about it now, however, this was the track he probably wanted to the most careful not to sound like Randy on. As a result, I think it’s missing a lot of key guitar elements, and kind of falls flat. Of all the guitar heroes who have played this track over the years, this is my least favorite version. Subsequent players such as Lee and Wylde would make the song their own, but they did so while maintaining the original Randy elements that make it what it is.
The rest of the show is about what you would expect from these guys. Some tracks are different, but nothing is bad. “Believer” is another one that just clicks really well. As you will be able to tell, some songs just worked better than others for this lineup. Preparation time was undoubtedly a factor, as this was an early show, and Gillis was sort of thrown in to the deep end of the pool at the last minute.
Live Recording (Soundboard) – “Speak of the Devil” Live at The Ritz – New York, NY USA – 27th September, 1982
E1 Symptom Of The Universe
E2 Snowblind
E3 Black Sabbath
F1 Fairies Wear Boots
F2 War Pigs
G1 The Wizard
G2 N.I.B.
G3 Sweet Leaf
H1 Never Say Die
H2 Iron Man
H3 Children Of The Grave
H4 Paranoid
There is no doubt that The Ritz performances are legendary. As fate would have it, I have been hearing about another new edition of these performances that are supposedly making their way to the underground market. A double LP version on red colored vinyl, no less. That’s about all the info I have on this (supposed) upcoming release, but stay tuned to the site and I’ll try to keep you all updated. These performances would mark the last stop on the Crazy Train for both Rudy Sarzo and Brad Gillis, who would return to Quiet Riot and Night Ranger respectively.
As far as an additional backstory for those that might not know, here’s a quick rundown. I don’t normally add these things to reviews, but it is the 41st anniversary, after all…
Ozzy did not want to make this album. No one in the band (including Randy Rhoads, at the time), wanted to make this album either. They all felt that Ozzy was clearly in his own element now and shouldn’t have to rely on the old Black Sabbath tunes to pad out his shows. Ozzy is famously messed up for The Ritz shows and misses a few lyrics here and there. You can and should check out Rudy Sarzo’s book, which I actually did a review for, if you want to hear about some of this stuff in more detail from a guy who was actually there. Famously, Ozzy had a folding chair on stage, illuminated by a lamp, where he sat a lyric book, should he need it as a reference.
Ozzy wanted to get out of his contract with his future father-in-law Don Arden over at Jet Records, but he owned him two more albums. Since Speak of the Devil would turn out to be a double album, it counted as two and would allow him to fulfill the obligation in one fell swoop. It also helped Jet Record compete with the Black Sabbath live album, Live Evil, that came out at the exact same time, featuring Ronnie James Dio on vocals.
As far as the actual performance goes, we are getting the rough version here before it was cleaned up in the studio. The banter and interaction Ozzy has with the crowd is great, if not a little sarcastic at times. Even though he clearly doesn’t want to be doing this album, he is having some fun at the same time. Despite himself and his intoxicated condition, he still led the band in a great performance that has become a favorite of Ozzy fans in the years since.
A lot of people seem to agree with me in that this is the definitive album of Black Sabbath covers in existence. At least until Zakk Sabbath came on the scene many years later. Albums like Doomed Forever/Forever Doomed are fantastic, but the Speak of the Devil versions of the songs are way more faithful to the originals, while still being their own thing. Zakk has a habit of keeping everything tuned down really, really low (even in places where it wasn’t originally that way), which results in a very different sound. Zakk’s voice is also obviously much different and creates a way more “doom centered” vibe, so to speak. Luckily, we can have both!
I will say that I feel Brad Gillis is a better fit for the Sabbath numbers than he is for the Ozzy ones. As a matter of fact, he absolutely kills it here. Even thought this is a rough recording of what we would later hear on the official release, this is still a fantastic and immensely enjoyable recording to listen to. This is absolutely something I would turn on to rock out to, rather than leaving it as a “study piece” like so many bootleg shows end up being.
As far as individual songs, there is nothing specific to point out here. They are all excellent, and despite some forgotten lyrics, everyone is at the top of their game. The mix is fantastic for a soundboard, and the drums and bass are especially well mixed, coming in loud and clear. If you are already familiar with the officially released Speak of the Devil, (and how could you possibly not be if you have read this far?) I think you’ll really enjoy this as a palate cleansing alternative.
Final Thoughts:
My copy of this pressing was pretty good overall from the first to last disc. Judging by other reviews, however, individual copies may vary, as they often do in the world of not just bootlegs, but vinyl overall. This particular boxset by Antenna is still relatively new, but pretty well sought after. Personally, it took me a couple months of looking to find a copy at a reasonable price. If the success of Antenna’s Miami Ozzy boxset is any indication, the time to get on it and find a copy of this would be right now. If you are wondering what the Miami set is, I’ll be covering that one soon as well.
As far as the skipping on Side D goes, it was certainly alarming to hear, given the price I paid for the box. Mine didn’t skip when I went back, but this might not be the same for every copy. My advice would be to make sure you visually inspect and clean the discs (and all your records, especially boots) thoroughly before spinning. This won’t just save your ears, but will also save your stylus as well at times. Maybe look for a copy that matches the colors of mine if you want a similar experience, although obviously I can’t guarantee they’ll be the same.
I think this box is almost certainly in the grey area between official and non-official, in that Antenna probably paid to license these performances, but this set is obviously not an official Ozzy release. With that being the case, you might be able to find one of these by asking at your local record shop. If you are really interested in scoring a copy, it doesn’t hurt to check.
Both of these shows are awesome, and I have them over multiple formats. For this Antenna box release, I would give Mid South an 8.5/10 audio wise. The Ritz is an easy 9/10 as far as I’m concerned. Packaging for the set as a whole is an 8/10, as I would have liked to see some nicer inner sleeves that would help prevent scratching. The hinged box design is also a little strange, but I do like it. The fact that you get a nice box, and two shows featuring the rarely heard with Ozzy Brad Gillis (that are both very listenable) makes this set a great buy and a good collector’s item. If you get the chance to pick one of these up, I recommend it regardless of what may or may not end up getting released in the future.