Black Sabbath’s Final Shows Could Be Collected for a Live Album
It's too late to catch Black Sabbath on tour, but fans who missed the band's final dates — or just want a keepsake from the end of an era — can look forward to the possible release of a live LP from their recent farewell to the road.
Guitarist Tony Iommi spoke with NBC News recently and touched on potential plans for tapes from Sabbath's The End tour, saying he'd been putting together mixes of soundboard recordings with an eye toward potentially putting one last live LP in record stores — and that isn't all.
"We'll actually be doing a documentary," said Iommi. "My job at the moment is to have a listen to what we've done."
A live film and/or LP from the End tour would mark the second consecutive Black Sabbath outing to get the audiovisual commemorative treatment: in 2013, the band released Live ... Gathered in Their Masses, a concert film and album culled from performances on their tour in support of that year's 13 LP. And while the band may have closed a chapter in terms of extended roadwork, Iommi echoed his recent assurances that the door remains open for more music from the band, saying he's "still involved in the Sabbath thing."
For the moment, however, Iommi's focused on following his muse in new directions, including his choral composition "How Good It Is." Saying he enjoys "the challenge of doing something most people wouldn't expect from me," he underscored his own eclectic personal taste in music by relating the story of a time he shocked some fans by driving around listening to Sinatra with his windows down.
"I like Frank Sinatra," said Iommi. "I was at the light and another car pulled up and the people inside looked over and recognized me and then realized what I was playing. The look on their faces ... "
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