I'm just having a hard time comprehending that they went to all the trouble to try and create a live album in '77 and now wouldn't use that effort as a bonus live disc for this TE box set! It appears that they even had songs picked out and mixed down? So it just doesn't seem to make sense that wouldn't end up being used. From what I've read here the ROIO of the Pittsburg show (suspected show they might use) isn't very good and is incomplete. It's just going to be ming boggling if they don't use actual masters from that '77 era. And if we get "they are lost" or" they are damaged".....C'mon really? I guess I'm just having a hard time figuring out what was going on with the business side, the recorded media side of this enterprise that is Black Sabbath. Tony for gods sake have a transcriptionist/engineer start going through all these tapes you supposedly have in your basement including the ones under the sofa by the pool table and catalog what they are. I posted a thread a couple years back on a series of "bands that blew it with the live album" and Black Sabbath was at the top of the list for conspicuously missing that opportunity- back in their prime. And now I'm glad they are taking some shots at this live album on these box sets after watching bands like Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin,King Crimson, ect. doing such a great job and making Sabbath look like fools in this regard. But it just shows these guys needed much better management and guidance then....and still do. I hope we're all wrong with our skepticism here regarding the live document that will be presented on the TE box set. I'm am excited about a new mix...a better mix and master of Technical Ecstasy. SW is on the case so that's a good sign. But it will be bitter sweet if they "blow it on the live album" yet again.
I think he genuinely enjoys the work as a side gig, his list of remixing/remaster/mastering credits is quite extensive and his services are in constant demand.
It's quite surprising that on a Technical Ecstasy show there would be no Rock N Roll Doctor...and the disc doesn't close with Paranoid? Very odd.
Regarding Steven Wilson, he was fairly selective with what remix work he accepted due to his own schedule being so busy with his own music, tours, etc. Once the COVID lockdown hit he actively sought out remix work since his tour was cancelled and he had a lot of time free up. He intended to stop doing the Jethro Tull albums at the end of the 70's albums but free time allowed him to do A along with Broadsword and the Beast. I assume this and the Vol 4 work he did was due to the extra time he had on his hands. I'm actually pretty excited to see what else he worked on and hoping that none get held back as long as some of his remixes have. The Seeds of Love remix took five years to come out. I just played Technical Ecstasy for the 1st time in years and I am still not that into it. I think I may pass on this despite the Steven Wilson remix. If there was a surround mix included it would be a definite buy...
A better mastering? I highly doubt it. A better mix? Probably, because Steven Wilson has done it, but apparently he didn't do the entire album. Of course. I guess my comment was badly phrased. I am not surprised that Wilson is working for Sabbath, I am just surprised he's willing to work under such conditions (especially given that his services are in constant demand): not getting permission to remix entire albums but only unfinished alternative takes (Vol. 4) and an incomplete album (TE). Anyway, he obviously did it. I guess I am just confused with all the oddities we encounter on these box sets. It is obviously an incomplete recording and they changed the order of tracks. Simple as that. Much easier to explain than some of the other things going on with these box sets.
Given that all original members are still alive, the issues that prevented the albums original release could still exist today.
We really, really don't know that. Don't forget about the cancelled live albums. They had professionally recorded several shows for it. None of them has ever leaked in any form. Neither has any of the tapes in Tony's basement.
I can't help but think a little effort would yield the actual original tape of Pittsburgh...That's not for regular folks, but when you're Tony Iommi people tend to respond as if it's E.F. Hutton.....
I can almost guarantee the mono mix of Its Alright is just the mono fold down of the promo single, and likely a needle drop, to boot.
I wanna say nah on the needle drop part, but it makes too much sense. I do remember having one speaker AM and AM/FM radios in the mid 70s. IIRC a lot of AM in those days was broadcast in mono...
I tend to think of "alternate versions" as something akin to disc 2 of the Zeppelin reissues a few years ago. Vol 4 were more like outtakes or song run throughs to me. Whichever it is, I do like the idea of an alternate companion version of the album proper.
and us Zep fans were pretty disappointed with most of the companion discs, much like this Sab series..Page wasn't the model to follow, though they didn't use any lossy sourced stuff. --actually I'm not positive on the Zep 1 live companion disc....
I have issues with his Vol 4 outtake work and artificial sounding effects.....SW is over rated IMO...Still good though
Splitting hairs here, but according to Steve, generally he never gets the actual multi track tapes. He gets access to the digital files of the multis instead. He was on a podcast earlier in the year and he commented on the process on how the tapes are baked and transferred over to digital. Very interesting.
It’s one of the most common Sabs boots for close to 45 years. So many of us have had it for so long it would just be nice to get something else.
