First off: Rest in Peace, Ozzy Osbourne. You can argue until you’re blue in the face the face, but in the end there is no argument: the man was the personification of heavy metal. No one sounded like him, and no one lived the metal life quite like he did. Even as a doddering family man on reality TV, he still managed to embody spirit and fire that ignited an entire movement more than 50 years ago on February 13th, 1970 when the first Black Sabbath album enveloped the world in its darkened wings. After a night spinning all my favorite records from the man, it was inevitable I would get an entry in today, but I wanted to write about something different, so let’s look at the end of an era. Steel City Blues was recorded live in Pittsburgh in 1978, just as they were recording Never Say Die! A year later he’d be fired, but listening to this live broadcast all I hear is a band still capable of fire and passion.

I’m no expert when it comes to their live shows, but I love that they open with the less obvious choice of “Snowblind” from Vol. 4 which pound for pound my be my favorite Sabbath album next to the debut (I’m weird that way). From there it’s a massive left turn to “Black Sabbath” and the edge of speed they add to the track is great. I think every kid who ever picked up a guitar learned what a tritone was from those opening notes, and I still recall the day I learned to play Iommi’s killer riff in the bridge section up to speed – one of my favorite riffs of all time.

From there it’s a pair of tracks from 76’s Technical Ecstasy, an album I genuinely enjoy though it doesn’t get a lot of listens. “Dirty Woman” is first, and it’s the first time I notice Ozzy using a melodic line he’d later swipe for “I Don’t Know” on his solo debut. Then it’s on to a 10-minute rendition of “Rock ‘n Roll Doctor” and despite the Bill Ward spotlight it falls a little flat for me. I don’t want Ozzy in boogie-woogie mode, and it’s the one time his unique voice doesn’t work for the music. is the first time I noticed Ozzy

The break continues with an instrumental jam simply titled “Instrumental” and it’s a chance to hear just how tight the band was at this point…and maybe a little tired. There are snippets of riffs from classic songs, but mainly this is just a chance for Iommi, Butler, and Ward to loosen up and lock in, and I love hearing it even if it’s aimless. It does however launch into “Electric Funeral” like a bullet and it’s so good I don’t even care that it leads to “Iron Man,” a song I can happily never hear again. I will say that live it has some life that – if I am forced to listen to it – this is how I want to hear it. Ozzy sounds phenomenal, and if there’s tension in the ranks it certainly doesn’t come across in his performance, which is exuberant and joyous. The end has everyone clapping along and it’s hard not to get caught up in the momentum.

Rounding out the show is an extra sleazy “Fairies Wear Boots” – I always loved how it slips into that blues shuffle that is so heavy – followed by Ozzy bringing the crowd even higher with his diatribe against those telling us all how to live, and “let’s just FUCKING GO!” as “Children of the Grave” kicks in. It’s the perfect closer…except of course either isn’t, because the band has to come back out to play “Paranoid.” It’s fine, but what I do love is the massive booing the band gets, which suddenly erupts into cheers when they run back out to perform it.

There was no one like Black Sabbath. There was no one Ozzy and there never will be again.