Heaven and Hell

Performer: Black Sabbath
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Black Sabbath: Ronnie James Dio (vocals); Tony Iommi (guitar); Geezer Butler (bass); Bill Ward (drums). Additional personnel: Geoff Nicholls (keyboards). Recorded at Criteria Recording Studios, Miami, Florida and Studio Ferber, Paris, France. Many had left Black Sabbath for dead at the dawn of the '80s, and with good reason -- the band's last few albums were not even close to their early classics, and original singer Ozzy Osbourne had just split from the band. But the Sabs had found a worthy replacement in former Elf and Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio, and bounced back to issue their finest album since the early '70s, 1980's Heaven and Hell. The band sounds reborn and re-energized throughout. Several tracks easily rank among Sabbath's all-time best, such as the vicious album opener, "Neon Knights," the moody, mid-paced epic "Children of the Sea," and the title track, which features one of Tony Iommi 's best guitar riffs. With Heaven and Hell, Black Sabbath were obviously back in business. Unfortunately, the Dio-led version of the band would only record one more studio album before splitting up (although Dio would return briefly in the early '90s). One of Sabbath's finest records. ~ Greg Prato While Black Sabbath remained one of heavy metal's top concert draws throughout the late '70s, the band's albums of the era proved to not be on par with its earlier work. This creative weakness was what caused vocalist Ozzy Osbourne to split from the band in 1979 to launch a highly successful solo career. Sabbath used the opportunity to refocus its direction, eventually replacing the group's batty frontman with ex-Rainbow member Ronnie James Dio. The new line-up's first album, 1980's HEAVEN AND HELL, proved to be Black Sabbath's most successful (both commercially and artistically) in a long time. The opening number, "Neon Knights," remains one of Sabbath's most ferocious, while "Children of the Sea" alternates between dark, brooding metal and a gentle melodicism that's stressed even further on "Lady Evil" and "Die Young."

Known worldwide as the embodiment of heavy metal, England's Black Sabbath enveloped the 1970s in a dense fog of apocalyptic imagery, monolithic guitar riffs, and horror-movie lyrics. When frontman Ozzy Osbourne left the band in 1979 for a highly successful solo career, the band soldiered on with a number of replacements, including Rainbow's Ronnie James Dio. In 1997, Ozzy and his former bandmates staged a much-publicized reunion. In the 2000s, when Ozzy got busy with solo recordings, Ozzfest, and his reality show THE OSBOURNES, Dio stepped in once again to front another incarnation of the band.

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