I'm giving you due warning here. If you're a dyed-in-the-wool Ozzy Osborne fan, you might want to leave now or else you'll start foaming at the mouth as I'm about to commit what his legions of fans will no doubt believe is Metal treason of the highest degree.
Deep breath. Here goes. BLACK SABBATH were better with Ronnie James Dio. Oh yes, I can already hear the ominous rumblings of dissatisfaction and the cries of “You cretin! But they made 'Paranoid', 'Master of Reality', 'Volume 4' with Ozzy – are you utterly insane or simply desperate to be torn apart by a pack of rabid wolves?” But I shall stand firm. I know all the above intimately and I love them to bits. 'Paranoid' et al are indeed among the foundation stones of the Metal genre. Nobody did it better, slower or heavier and we would never have Metallica and their ilk either as a result.
But still I stand firm, for the evidence is overwhelming. Let's face it, for all the crushingly doomy brilliance of their earlier years, Sabbaff with Ozzy were a spent force by the time they made the execrable 'Never Say Die' in 1978 and if you read the extensive liner notes to this deluxe edition of 'Heaven And Hell', Tony Iommi himself admits they were on their last legs. With hindsight, although everyone believed sacking Ozzy was an act of lunacy, it was probably the best thing they could have done at the time.
What happened next was an act of wondrous serendipity. At the same time Ozzy was being ejected by his bandmates, another Metal behemoth was undergoing a significant sea change. Richie Blackmore was in the process of turning Rainbow into a a leaner, arena-friendly Hard Rock machine and fell out with his erstwhile frontman Ronnie James Dio in the process. Blackmore would get his wish, with the leather-lunged Graham Bonnet being drafted in for Classic Rock hits like 'Since You've Been Gone' and 'All Night Long' but – against the odds – Dio also hit pay dirt as the unlikely new Sabbath frontman.
Dio's presence altered Black Sabbath in a number of ways. For starters, the ultimate British Metal outfit were now fronted by a tough but talented New Yorker. Secondly, Dio's lyrical abilities meant the band's usual lyricist (bassist Geezer Butler) could relinquish this responsibility. Dio's songs veered closer to the Robert Plant school of fantasy, with dragons and kings and misty mornings on the edge of time in songs like 'Neon Knights' and 'Children of the Sea' replacing the more familiar Satanic verses. Finally – and perhaps most significantly – Dio may have been a diminutive figure physically, but he roared like the heftiest and most feared lion in the jungle and he turned in such a commanding vocal performance on both 'Heaven And Hell' that even some of the Ozzy die-hards began to waver.
Thirty years after its' initial release, 1980's 'comeback' 'Heaven And Hell' should finally be elevated to its' correct status as a Hard Rock/Metal classic and one of the finest Sabbath albums of them all. They took the sensible option of hooking up with no-nonsense producer Martin Birch (a sort of Metal Glyn Johns, famous for his work with everyone from The Groundhogs and Wishbone Ash through to then-current newcomers Iron Maiden), decamped to sunny Miami and recorded an album which still satisfies from start to finish.
Basically, 'Heaven And Hell' is one of those great, evergreen Hard Rock records (like AC/DC'S 'Back In Black', Thin Lizzy's 'Jailbreak' or Nirvana's 'Nevermind') which any self-respecting Rock fan should find room for. Although I'd approach it from the angle of someone brought up on Punk and New Wave, there's really not such a great leap from a record like The Sex Pistols' 'Never Mind The Bollocks' to energetic, ballsy rockers like 'Walk Away', the bravado-fuelled cut and thrust of 'Wishing Well' or the dying-of-the-light drama of 'Die Young'.
Really, though, the whole thing's a joy to listen to regardless of genre. Tony Iommi fires off an inspired series of killer riffs while keeping the solos expressive and eloquent. Geezer Butler plays some truly magnificent counterpoint melody stuff on the bass and even the beleaguered Bill Ward turns in a powerhouse performance behind the drum kit. Dio, meanwhile, truly excels on tracks like the scarf-waving anthems 'Children of the Sea', 'Lonely is the Word' and the six-minute title track which is every inch the album's epic centre-piece. Martin Birch's production, meanwhile, added an FM-Radio sheen without sacrificing any of Sabbath's trademark ferocity.
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In short, it was – and remains – a corker and its' less-venerated follow-up 'Mob Rules' wasn't far behind either. Before it, Bill Ward (struggling with alcoholism and the recent deaths of both his parents) bowed out during the 'Heaven And Hell' tour, though his replacement was an inspired choice. Vinnie Appice, younger brother of the celebrated Carmine Appice, was drafted in, meaning that Sabbath was now a truly transatlantic affair featuring two Brummies and two New York Italians.
I imagine Appice was delighted by the gargantuan drum sound Martin Birch obtained for him on 'Mob Rules': a heavier, but still fine sister act to 'Heaven And Hell'. Once again, Sabbath's blacker than black songs were laid down in the incongruous American sunshine (this time in LA where both Dio and Appice resided), but the resulting album again has highlights aplenty, not least the catchy singles 'Turn up the Night' and 'Voodoo', the seminal riff logic of the exhilarating title track and the heavier than heaven 'Sign of the Southern Cross'.
Against enormous odds, Sabbath had regained their crown by the time 'Mob Rules' was released and the highly successful 'Mob Rules' world tour is captured for posterity on the palindromic double live album 'Live Evil'. Recorded on the US leg of the tour in the spring of 1982, it's a decent enough snapshot of the band's big-arena prowess, though, I'd personally choose the 'bonus' live CD (included as the second disc of the expanded 'Mob Rules' set) recorded over three nights at London's Hammersmith Odeon as the definitive live document of the Dio/Appice line-up. The sound quality is better and Sabbath are on ferocious form, attacking both the new material – a frenetic 'Neon Knights' and a lairy 'Country Girl' – and making the Ozzy-era classics over in their own image. Both Dio and Appice turn in heroic performances and they need to, for both Iommi and Butler are on fantastic form, pulling out all the stops on a heavier-than-a-lead-coffin version of 'Black Sabbath' and a positively psychotic 'War Pigs'.
A stupid combination of egos and exhaustion would cause Dio and Appice to split before 'Live Evil' was even in the shops, although the four would re-unite under the Sabbath moniker for 1992's 'Dehumanizer'. Dio and Appice continued on a creative roll, hooking up with Jimmy Bain and a prodigal Vivian Campbell for Dio's ace 'Holy Diver' in 1983, while Iommi and Butler drafted Bill Ward back in, along with Ian Gillan for the ill-fated 'Born Again'. Ironically, its' release would be overshadowed by the burgeoning worldwide success of a re-animated Ozzy Osborne, but those are all stories deserving of telling in another time and place.
For now, though, any self-respecting Metal/ Hard Rock fan has more than enough riches to assimilate with 'Heaven And Hell', 'Mob Rules' and 'Live Evil'. All are lovingly presented in deluxe 2-CD packaging with extensive liner notes, additional tracks and lavish photo montages. They're the perfect soundtrack to quicken my pulse and set my adrenaline rushing while I wait for the Ozzy die-hards to come and set my house ablaze in a pyre fit for Lucifer himself.
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