Black Sabbath – Asbury Park, New Jersey. 5th August 1975 Hard Rock, Heavy Metal

Black Sabbath - Paranoid In New Jersey (2020)
Aka: Black Sabbath – Asbury Park, New Jersey. 5th August 1975



Location: 3,600-seat indoor exhibition center located on the boardwalk and on the beach in Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States.
(The release date printed on the back cover, "1993", is definitely wrong. Prior to ~2002, only incomplete broadcast copies of this live recording were circulating.)Info
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In the annals of Black Sabbath bootlegdom, there are two unofficial documents of the original-lineup era that stand above the rest as utterly essential for their sound quality and the band’s performance. One is Paris 1970 (discussed here), and the other is this recording from Aug. 5, 1975, from Asbury Park, New Jersey. The show was at Convention Hall, right on the Boardwalk of the beach town, and the band were in the US promoting the yet-to-be-released Sabotage, and as one can hear in the renditions of “Hole in the Sky,” “War Pigs,” “Spiral Architect” and on and on, the band was pure stoned fire. Captured at what I’d gladly argue was his peak as an actual singer, if not as a frontman, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne engages the crowd and nails each song, even if he flubs the lyrics here and there, as on “Symptom of the Universe” early in the 100-minute set. With solos from guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward — sadly nothing from the bass; it would be amazing to have a Geezer Butler solo captured in such fidelity — the band is both vibrant and poised, and whether they’re ripping into “Supernaut” or jamming out an early version of what would become “Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor” on 1976’s Technical Ecstasy, Black Sabbath absolutely laid waste to Asbury Park (it would take the shore town decades to recover) and, seemingly, everyone in the vicinity. As Ozzy says at the beginning of “Hole in the Sky”: “Are you high?” Cheers. “Are you HIGH???” Louder cheers. “So am I.”

SIDE A

1. Killing Yourself To Live 0:00

2. Hole In The Sky 5:39

3. Snowblind 9:30

4. Symptom Of The Universe 15:22



SIDE B

5. War Pigs 19:44

6. Megalomania 27:18



SIDE C

7. Sabbra Caddabra 37:13

8. Sometimes I’m Happy 42:13

9. Supernaut 45:44

10. Iron Man 47:28



SIDE D

11. Black Sabbath 53:38

12. Spiral Architect 1:00:23

13. Children Of The Grave 1:04:57

14. Paranoid 1:09:54


Bass Guitar – Terry 'Geezer' Butler*
Drums – Bill Ward
Lead Guitar – Tony Iommi
Vocals – Ozzy Osbourne
Written-By – Black Sabbath