Black Sabbath - Asbury Park [1975]

Já nutri simpatia maior pelo Heavy Metal, isso lá no tempo onde este rótulo ainda nem existia, hoje não tenho a menor paciência para ouvir solos de guitarra bachianos e vocais berrados em falsetes a la soprano. No entanto, ainda há uma ou outra banda do gênero que eu gosto de ouvir de vez em quando como o Metalica, por exemplo, mas não com a mesma intensidade e sentimento que o bom e velho Black Sabbath em seu início de carreira. Em plena adolescência aquele som realmente me fazia a cabeça, assim como fez a de muita gente tornando-se o maior ícone do Heavy Metal. O Sabbath foi a pedra fundamental, o responsável por praticamente tudo que existe por aí no gênero, influenciou e ainda influencia milhares de metaleiros pelo mundo todo e teve sua faze gloriosa entre 1970 a 1975 com a formação original: Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. Os cinco discos lançados neste período (1970 - Black Sabbath, 1971 - Paranoid, 1971 - Master of Reality, 1972 - Vol. 4, 1973 - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath e 1975 - Sabotage) são discoteca básica não só para metaleiros, mas como também para qualquer fã de rock que se preza. É justamente destes tempos gloriosos que vem este Asbury Park. Gravado diretamente da mesa de som, é mais uma pérola do famoso programa de rádio The King Biscuit Flower Hour que aconteceu em agosto de 1975, durante a turnê de lançamento do disco Sabotage. Esta notória apresentação rendeu vários bootlegs como Heaven And Earth, Sabotaged, Accidental Overdose, Let Slip The Pigs Of War e Dying To Live. Ainda me atrevo a dize que este disco é melhor que os oficiais Live At Last, lançado sem a aprovação do Black Sabbath em 1980 e Live Evil, de 82, com Dio nos vocais. Fazendo páreo com Past Lives, CD duplo ao vivo lançado em 2002 que, a propósito, conta com três músicas deste Asbury Park: Hole In The Sky, Symptom Of The Universe e Megalomania. Um disco altamente recomendável para os fãs do rock pesado!

Black Sabbath - Asbury Park

Muthafucker. The best live recording of Black Sabbath from their glory days emerged on the internet only in 2001. It was a stereo soundboard recording that was made for broadcast on the popular ‘70s radio show, The King Biscuit Flower Hour. Recorded in August 1975 at the start of the Sabotage tour, the band was Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. The original and best version of Black Sabbath.Asbury Park was a triumph in many ways. Black Sabbath was different from the heavy bands of the ‘70s in that they traded in Satanic images and invited the glare of the guardians of public morality. Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple were mild compared to the "hidden message" of Black Sabbath. The band don’t disappoint either. Straight off you can hear Ozzy shout a couple of "fucks", hardly ever heard on a Led Zep, Uriah Heep, Free or Deep Purple concert from that period. For good measure, Ozzy even calls for a "muthafucker", something accepted in movies today and also in gangsta rap but this was ancient 1975 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, where Bruce Springsteen was honing his skill as the man born to run. By Ozzy’s own account, there were countless times they had a hard time while touring the American heartlands with an act that enraged Christians.Tony Iommi lets rip on two long guitar solos, the extended Zabbra Cadabra [20 mins plus a Bill Ward solo] and the instrumental jam that includes Orchid and Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor. Asbury Park also offers very tasty renditions of Black Sabbath classics War Pigs, Iron Man, Snowblind and Children of the Grave. Mostly the gig was to showcase their previous album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and the new one, Sabotage, not yet released at the time of the concert.Like proto-punks, Black Sabbath lyrically were anti-war and anti-authority. It is to their credit that they survived the ‘70s long enough to establish heavy metal as something beyond just loudness, guitar riffs and posing. Children of the Grave and War Pigs were message songs and Black Sabbath’s satanic image was a mirror that reflected the anti-war message. No other metal band from that period took such risks with message-laden songs.Try to imagine wearing black in $ingapore, playing heavy metal and saying "muthafucker" on stage while playing anti-government songs and you will know what Black Sabbath had to go through for their music to be accepted. It’s a pleasure then to hear Ozzy work the crowd for the encore, a classic rendition of their only hit, Paranoid.
Asbury Park is the full, unedited show that finally arrived on bootleg under such titles as Heaven And Earth, Sabotaged, Accidental Overdose, Let Slip The Pigs Of War and Dying To Live. This version is a fan thing, compiled from the bootlegs but eliminating several unrelated jams that are probably not even by Black Sabbath. You can finally put away the official live albums - the unwelcomed Live At Last which was released without Black Sabbath's approval and the Ozzy-less Live Evil from 1982, long after rigor mortis had set in. By the way, Past Lives, the double CD Black Sabbath released in 2002, includes three songs from the Asbury Park show and the entire Live At Last on disc 1. Okay, let’s hear Ozzy say "muthafucker" one more time because you will never hear him say it with the same meaning ever again.
By -> Michael Cheah

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Black Sabbath - Asbury Park 1
Black Sabbath - Asbury Park 2