Black Sabbath – Steel City Blues 2LP

10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CONCERT FROM THE KINGS OF HEAVY METAL • This Black Sabbath concert, recorded for live FM radio broadcast at Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena captures the heavy metal Brits at a pivotal period in their career. They had already released seven albums since their 1969 inception, and were in the studio recording their eighth, Never Say Die! , the same month as this performance. With Ozzy Osbourne, having re-joined the band in January ’78 after a several month hiatus, Sabbath sounds energetic and more than capable of delivering a noteworthy show full of their signature raw energy, screaming guitar and howling lyrics. • As a hard rock band with an album-oriented sound, they were in the shadow of internal conflict, as musical directions were shifting with Tommy Iommi and Ozzy at odds over the future sound of Sabbath – Ozzy sticking fast to bleak, piercing heavy rock and Iommi striving to implement new elements like horns and keyboard technique. Nine months after this show, Ozzy would leave the band to embark on a solo career and Black Sabbath would take on a new vocalist and a different approach to their albums. Here, however, the band presents their signature Ozzy-infiltrated, raw heavy metal sound – much to the delight of a full-house Pittsburgh crowd.