Live at Hammersmith Odeon - Black Sabbath

I'm a Black Sabbath fan, and have been for a very long time. When I started listening to the band, the first thing they released was the "Live Evil" album with Ronnie James Dio, shortly before he left the band the first time. At the time it was cool - Dio sings Ozzy's Sabbath tracks. I enjoyed it, but as the years went on, it felt flat, and somewhat lifeless. I rarely listen to that, and I kind of was resigned to the fact that the Dio era of Sabbath would never have an official representation of it's touring efforts in the early 80's.

Fast forward to early 2007, and we find out that as part of the Dio mania that is sweeping Sabbath fandom again due to the band touring with Dio again (although under a different name; that's a story for another time) that we will get the good live album. Turns out the band through a small subset of Rhino/Warner records (Rhino Handmade) was to release a live album of the band during the Mob Rules tour. It was "Live at Hammersmith Odeon". And it was good. It was everything that Live Evil was not. Powerful, to the point, not terribly plodding like LE was. This was a great version of the Dio era Mk I. It also included a few oddball live tracks that were generally not played everywhere, like Country Girl & Slipping Away. It was a great live album.

The problem with it is that Rhino Handmade only makes EXTREMELY limited editions of their releases. This was no different. They made a grand total of 5,000 copies, and sold them direct through their website. That was it. They were available pre-sale, but all the copies were sold on day of release. You can still get it, but you're gonna pay out the nose for a copy on Ebay. I'm not sure I understand the logic of these limited releases.

But if you can get one, you won't be disappointed. The Dio era of Black Sabbath sounds awesome on this!