Black Sabbath: Heaven and Hell

Black Sabbath: Heaven and Hell

1980

Warner Bros Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

1. Neon Knights  2. Children of the Sea  3. Lady Evil  4. Heaven and Hell  5. Wishing Well  6. Die Young  7. Walk Away  8. Lonely Is the Word



I like the album cover for "Heaven and Hell"... it always reminds me of this...



Maybe one of the Smoking Angel Women is the Smoking Baby's Mother...

 Anyway, Black Sabbath's 1980 album "Heaven and Hell" sees Ozzy out, and ex-Elf/Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio steps in to replace him, and putting them back on top of the heavy metal world...

I never really realized how unique and stylized Ozzy actually was until I heard Dio take the reigns...Dio is a much more traditionally talented vocalist, and more "generic metal" than Ozzy...Not that I'm calling Dio generic, mind you...Hell, he probably invented most of these Heavy Metal tropes, but if you were to imitate a generic metal vocalist, you would probably belt out a shrieking  vibrato-heavy "AAAHHH_H_H_H_H_H_H..."  that sounds a lot like Dio...

Personally, I find Dio to be much less compelling, however, this album is better than the last couple of Sabbath records, because the band sounds so damn re-energized...So vital...

My God, where was "Neon Nights" when Ozzy was still around?  Cold he have even handled it? So lively and rocking ..even Dio's dorky Dungeons & Dragons lyrics don't ruin it...It's kind of awesome when he claws his way to the top of Dragonspear Mountain,  holds the enchanted goblet on high and grandly proclaims:

"Circles and rings, dragons and kings
Weaving a charm and a spell..."

 Something about it really make me want to break out the Cheetos and the 20-sided die...

 And the band maintains their new-found polish, drive and professionalism throughout the album; everything is tight and punchy...The guitar riffs have been pulled from the primordial sludge, the arrangements are machine-tooled precise, no more meandering structures, jazz sections, etc....It's up to you if this is a good or bad thing...

I think in light of what things had become it was probably the right move...I think they had taken that approach as far as it would go on "Sabotage" and while the following albums are definitely enjoyable, in retrospect they sounded a little tired...Would I have preferred it if they were able to pull off another "Master of Reality" or "Vol. 4" at this point? Well, hell yea...But I don't believe they were capable of that anymore...and judging by the positive response to "Heaven and Hell" I don't think it's what the fans wanted either...This wasn't the thick and flabby 70's anymore...This was the 80's! People were getting "Physical", man!

 We needed a trim and sleek Black Sabbath and if it took Dio to do that, then by all means, God bless his sacred little heart...



 (which we should get to in about a year...)

Sure, Dio's a little much sometimes...His   "Lord, she's handsome!" at the beginning of "Walk Away" never fails to make me LOL, but then he really comes through on the majestic "Heaven and Hell" or "Children of the Sea" and I buy it completely...Although your enjoyment of this will hinge on your tolerance for Tolkien metal...I was raised on it, so I like to think I have a high tolerance, but this reallllly pushes it at times..

Bottom line is though, that it's hard to complain when the highs are so high and the band sounds so good... Screw it...Don't think about it...Just drink a flagon of Mead and enjoy...

Here's "Die Young: by Black Sabbath...