Black Sabbath

Never Say Die!.jpg

Never Say Die! (1978)

1. Never Say Die - A simple but energetic hard rock riff sets the mood for the opening track to Sabbath's eighth album. This is a much more invigorating song than practically all of Technical Ecstasy. Geezer's bassline absolutely fuels this engine, he's locked-in. Ozzy's performance is solid but not nearly as powerful as what we heard on Sabotage. It feels like he's singing for radio. This whole song sounds like it was built for radio. It's fun, I like it, but it's not a classic track or anything. Good opener though. 7/10

2. Johnny Blade - Spooky theatrical keyboard intro wriggles its way into my heart and then Bill Ward comes in with a smooth as butter shuffle which is cool as fuck. Iommi comes in with a driving riff as Ozzy appears from out of the shadows and narrates a tale of a hardened London criminal. Holy fuck, can it be?? This song is a genuine Black Sabbath song with all of its members working in harmony to create a truly metallic track, sleeker than ever before. Ozzy isn't at his peak and definitely struggles on the higher notes, but the way he sings "Johnny Blaaaaaa-aaade!" after the second refrain might be my favorite moment on this whole album. The song changes gears in a very Sabbathy way, turning from the buzzsaw shuffle to a stomping, blunt attack which is lots of fun. Iommi gets in a great outro solo too in a piece that must have inspired Megadeth's "Countdown to Extinction". This is a great song, better than everything we heard on Technical Ecstasy. It's got mystique and bite, and while it's not necessarily one of Sabbath's all-time best it's still a killer composition on a record that won't often hit these highs. 8/10

3. Junior's Eyes - Geezer Butler sets the mood with his slow, winding, unflinching bassline. Iommi fills out the sound with a plethora of little wah pedal blues rock licks. Ozzy's voice betrays the slightest twinges of emotion as he sings of a kid whose best friend has died and whose father has left him. Then everything locks into place with a truly fantastic chorus, one of the most memorable that Sabbath have ever done. It truly shows off their abilities as melody and hook writers. The tambourine section after the second chorus is a fantastic build upon the vibes of the chorus and the solos are great. This one is all about that chorus, which takes a good song and truly brings it up to that next level. 8/10

4. A Hard Road - Whelp, I guess it was too good to be true. All of the energy from the previous three songs shits the bed here in a bloated rock song that's looking for an audience to clap their hands along to it. Why? The verses are some sleepy shit that feels like if you took the wilder notions of Vol. 4 and got rid of all of the charm. The outro just goes on and on and on. There is no reason this needed to be six minutes long. I don't hate this song - I think the "Why make the hard road?" bridge is actually solid - but it's so boring. 4/10

5. Shock Wave - The side 2 opener attempts to get things back on track but it only gets halfway there. The first verses are utterly tedious but the chorus comes in and it's actually pretty good. It's followed immediately by a Yes-like acoustic/electric section which doesn't really seem to know where it's going but finds its way into the solo eventually. The ending is a Sabbath stomp, although less fun than they usually are. I think this song is okay. It has some good ideas but doesn't really find a way to fully hone them in. 6/10

6. Air Dance - A swanking guitar intro doesn't set the tone at all for the song that we're about to hear. When the verses come in Ozzy is singing about some former dancing star and there are some pretty piano runs in the background. Sabbath have flirted with piano before but not to this extent. It's got a smooth jazz kind of vibe to it, especially with Ward's light playing. The chorus comes in and it sucks, actually. The guitar in it is annoying and it ruins the vibe we were in. After the second chorus the song becomes one long instrumental which keeps flirting with jazzy textures before building up into a rock piece that makes you think something big is coming and then... what the fuck am I listening to? Are Sabbath trying to recreate the Peanuts theme?? Iommi's guitar solo sucks. This whole final section sounds like hold music. The keyboard runs at the very end are the only thing of any interest. This song has some good - non-Sabbathy - pieces, but it keeps fucking itself over when the bad ideas come to play. 4/10

7. Over to You - Man, things just keep getting worse. Okay, here are the positives: The chorus plays around with the key which is kinda cool! And that's it. That's literally it. You listen to the first third of this song and you've heard everything. The intro riff sounds like a worse take on Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time". The pace is glacial in the most tedious way possible. The piano (which must have been a holdover from "Air Dance") doesn't feel like it fits in here. Oh, and this has gotta be Ozzy's worst performance on a Sabbath song. The man sounds bored out of his fucking mind. And honestly, by the end, so am I. 3/10

8. Breakout - In which Sabbath become a New York jazz band, and I continue to lose my patience with this album. The real shame of it is that I like every single instrument being used here, but nothing they're doing is interesting and the whole thing plods too damn much. Fuck me. Longest two minutes of my life. 3/10

9. Swinging the Chain - And they saved the worst for last. Where do I even begin? The jazz from the previous track sticks around for a swinging tune that feels so far removed from Black Sabbath that it makes you wonder if this was intended to be a backdoor pilot for Bill Ward's Jumping Jamboree Group or some shit. By the way, that's Ward on vocals again, and it's rough. I kinda feel bad for him, because if Ozzy was singing this we would still be in the shitter, but honestly his voice compounds all the issues within this song. The chorus is utterly unmemorable. The spoken "I'm talking about my brothers!" bit is awful. The solo sounds like the cha-ching of a cash register. The song then does a change-up into the outro which is somehow even worse than everything that came before, complete with '70s R&B gang vocals. Ward actively shits himself while holding the microphone. And it can't even commit to this section, lamely limping away in a fade-out. Jesus Christ. I'm sorry, this song is bad. Thank god it's over. 2/10

OVERALL

I still don't know how I feel about this album. It starts off so strong, with three immediate songs that feel like something of a return to form after Technical Ecstasy. But then it starts to lose focus and by the time we're deep into side 2 I don't even know what band I'm listening to anymore. "Swinging the Chain" makes me yearn for "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor".

One thing I will say is that honestly, Ozzy shouldn't have returned for this one. In the songs that are good, he's the weakest element. In the songs that are bad, he actively heightens the disjointed nature of the record. He just doesn't sound like he's having fun here, and the others don't really know what to do anymore. There are pop elements that seem like they were gunning for radio but the record lacks any and all cohesion once "Air Dance" starts playing. The drugs were kicking their ass, clearly.

It is genuinely shocking that they put this album out and by the next year were actively writing Heaven and Hell. What a complete turnaround. Aside from the opening trio, this record is better off left in the past.

Total: 50%
 
Heaven and Hell.jpg

Heaven and Hell (1980)

1. Neon Knights - The mission statement. Black Sabbath have lost their iconic frontman and now must reintroduce themselves to the world. How do they do it? No drumroll, no fanfare, they plunge you straight into the most metallic riff they've ever had. Sabbath have always had a slow and heavy trudge to their music but this song rides the sky like a hot rod. There is a fire burning in this engine. Dio's voice grabs you right from the minute he starts singing. "Oh no, here it comes again!" he declares, and the rebirth is complete. His voice soars all over this song as he talks of dragons and kings, bloodied angels, and the titular neon knights. The way he reaches for and then glides over the notes in the "sail across the sea OF LIIIIIIGHTS!" might be my favorite performance I've ever heard from this man. The song constantly shifts your expectations, every time you think you've reached the chorus it disappears out from under you. Its brevity is so refreshing after the previous two records and it makes you want to listen to this song - pun fully intended - again and again, again and again, and again. What an opener. 10/10

2. Children of the Sea - The twilight sea beckons beneath the starry night as twinkling acoustic guitars provide the backdrop for a misty-eyed and optimistic Dio to set the stage of our next excursion. His voice here is so soft but he turns it back to 11 just in time for the riff to kick in. This is a pounding roar of a riff more akin to what we're used to from Tony Iommi, but Martin Birch's production really makes it come to life bigger than ever before. The verses dig deeper into the mythology Dio sings of, while the chorus is a softer, slower one, in which Dio leans back into his lower register. There's a great guitar solo in here as well before the acoustic intro resurfaces itself. My main critique with this song is that I wish the ending changed up the chorus, maybe raised the key to really bring in the power that it feels like its missing towards the end. I love the "Look out!" finale though, Dio goes hard on it. Tremendous song that just misses that last little oomph to take it all the way. 9/10

3. Lady Evil - The classic rhythm team of Geezer Butler and Bill Ward kicks things off with a thumping groove before the guitar rolls in like a thunderstorm for this metallic hard rocker. Dio's verses are awesome. "There's a place just south of Witches' Valley..." Okay, well now I'm hooked! This song is all about the groove. I wish the chorus leaned further into the "evil in my mind" melody but otherwise it's serviceable for the song. It's a great track, lots of fun, not quite on the level of the previous two but it gets your head nodding. I wish the drumming was a little more enthusiastic though, you can already tell that Ward has mostly checked out by this point. 8/10

4. Heaven and Hell - Oh fuck yes, here we go. The plunging riff that opens up the album's title track might be the best in the Iommi canon. Powerful, majestic, and above all, heavy. Dio takes the centerstage with metaphorical lyrics about the duality of people and how truth often wears a facade. The chorus changes in each of its iterations. A heavenly choir descends twice to guide us beyond the stars. Iommi's atmospheric guitar solo is stunning. The faster beat towards the end injects a ton of energy into a song that up till now has played on tension and anticipation. Dio's ending verse ("They'll tell you black is really white/The moon is just the sun at night/And when you walk in golden halls/You get to keep the gold that falls") is one of my favorite lines in any Sabbath song. It still holds up 45 years later, especially in our current political climate. If I have one critique, I wish the outro solo was extended and faded out before the acoustic coda comes in. The hard stop is a little jarring. But this is so small when the rest of this song is utterly perfect, a fantastic triumph for the band after the odyssey of the previous years. Could very well be my favorite Sabbath composition. 10/10

5. Wishing Well - Side 2 immediately grabs you with this rocker. Dio's lyrics are once again incredible, utilizing the concept of a wishing well to talk about the dreams we make in life. The chorus, with its warm melodic tint, is awesome, love his voice here. The "let me fill myself on tears you cry" line comes out of nowhere and sounds at once threatening and comforting. The acoustic guitar in the bridge adds such a wonderful layer to the track. Iommi's solo is awesome. Geezer's bass playing all across this song is fantastic. I think this one is a little bit choppy as far as the beat goes, but it's overall another excellent song that pulls me in with every single listen. 9/10

6. Die Young - This song opens with a very atmospheric keyboard backing a swelling guitar intro which is basically the blueprint for every Murray/Harris song. Once the riff kicks in it feels like a recapture of the intensity of "Neon Knights". Dio comes in all guns blazing. "Gather the wind! Though the wind won't help you fly at all..." Well damn, man! So much energy in this song. I also love the line "Life's fantasy, to be locked away and still to think you're free" from the second verse. Dio is urging the listener to embrace the day because there's no telling what tomorrow will bring. This track does feature one of my pet peeves, which is a shorter pumping rocker coming to a stop for a quiet bridge/interlude, but I actually think this one mostly pulls it off. Love the keyboard and the guitar in that section. The outro chorus with the layered vocals fucks. I think if this song leaned a little more into its epic qualities it would be even better as it doesn't quite achieve what it's going for within its runtime. But man, so much of it is truly awesome. 9/10

7. Walk Away - Well, it isn't a Black Sabbath album if there isn't that one song that's merely okay. This track begins with a glammy, Def Leppard kinda riff (think "High 'n' Dry") which is cool enough. Dio eschews the fantasy lines here, instead talking about how he better not get involved with this hot woman or he's sure to end up a father. It's kinda wild. A song like this is really begging for a big hook, but we don't really get that here. I love the "I'm walking the wireeee" line though. All in all, this song is alright, but after the six previous tracks it really feels like they put a b-side onto the album by mistake. 6/10

8. Lonely Is the Word - The bluesy opening riff almost makes you think we're continuing the style of "Walk Away", but Dio is once more at his most commanding self, urging the listener to "join the traveler". Shit, I'm already packed! The methodical pace here takes you away and the chorus is great. The whole thing is just a frame for Iommi to flex his guitar solo skills though, and boy is it awesome. Lovely bluesy guitar playing that brings you deeper into the good night as the stars once again light your way. The keyboards at the end are a lovely touch. One more excellent track to close out the album in absolute style. 9/10

OVERALL

Going in I didn't expect this to end up being my favorite Sabbath album. I like both Ozzy and Dio but I figured the earlier work would be more up my alley. Well, I was wrong. This album is really, really great. I've had such a hard time putting it down since I first listened to it. The addition of Dio to the band is incredible. His voice on this record might be my favorite of anything I've heard him on, all at once oozing charisma and power and yearning alongside his fantastical lyricism. Iommi sounds totally reenergized, with some of his best guitar playing to date. Geezer holds things down on his end and the only person who sounds like he's slipping away is Ward, but even then his performance on the title track is great. Martin Birch's production here is fire, the whole album sounds so damn good.

I will be surprised to find another album in the band's discography that tops this one. It's not perfect, but it's a great heavy metal album that redefined what Black Sabbath could be after Ozzy's exit. Every time I finish playing it I want to go back and spin it again. Absolutely deserves the praise it's garnered over the years.

Total: 88%
 
This was very good and interesting read. One can sense passion and enthusiasm. Novadays such reviews are not very often (on forums) It demands time, dedication and good English. And there's very little return to such investment. Just several likes.
I agree that Heaven and Hell may be the best Black Sabbath album.
 
Azas said:
This was very good and interesting read. One can sense passion and enthusiasm. Novadays such reviews are not very often (on forums) It demands time, dedication and good English. And there's very little return to such investment. Just several likes.
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Song-by-song reviews are hard to pull off in general because if you go at it as an album review you often just end up describing the songs and not the overall feel of the album. But we've had some great song-by-song reviews on this forum in the past which I often go back and read again because they do a great job of describing the individual tracks and how they operate. Knick's Priest reviews (especially Painkiller) and LC's Symphony X reviews come to mind.

What I like about them is the ability to go into depth about my thoughts on the nitty-gritty aspects of songs, and I have a lot of thoughts lol. My early attempts with the formula can still be found in the Metallica thread, but back then I thought longer was better and I often just describe every minute detail in a "then this happens, then this, here's this, here's that" which gets pretty stale. Nowadays when I do this I have a handful of rules/goals I follow, such as "make it interesting" and "only include what's needed".

The hope is that people enjoy the review, even if they disagree with it, as opposed to just looking over the ratings and overall score. Maybe that hope pays off, maybe not. But regardless, if this pushes people to participate in Mosh's game, then it's a success. Anyway, glad you enjoyed! I've enjoyed doing them, and more than that, I've enjoyed listening to these albums. :)
 
Poto said:
Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, The Devil You Know, Eternal Idol, Headless Cross and Tyr are better than half of Ozzy's albums.
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Agreed, as a whole albums. Paranoid is the big classic for me. And ofc the debut, Master Of Reality, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage have their deserved place, merits and strengths.
 
Mob Rules.jpg

Mob Rules (1981)

1. Turn Up the Night - New drummer Vinny Appice counts us in and then "Turn Up the Night" erupts out of the speakers with no time to waste. The sound is heavier than what we heard on Heaven and Hell and this riff feels like another one that inspired Roy Z on Accident of Birth. But instead of leaning into the mystical, this song is just a pure, balls-out anthemic heavy metal tune. Dio is refreshed and re-energized, pulling a commanding performance and telling the listener, hey, the first go wasn't just a fluke. His voice even soars to higher notes than it did on the last album! Simple but shoutable chorus, awesome wah solo, and overall a headbanger's dream - it's no "Neon Knights", but fuck man, this song is awesome. 10/10

2. Voodoo - A heavy blues riff takes us to the swampy underworld of Louisiana as Dio crawls out of the smoky shadows to warn us about strangers who warp your soul with voodoo. The signature Sabbath stomp is in full effect with this song. You can't help but bob your head as the band takes you down, down, down in the underbelly of the beast. The hold in the chorus always keeps me hanging on to edge of my seat until the music kicks back in and we're moving again. Dio's held note on the word "Voodooooo" towards the end is fantastic. What an incredible opening double-punch. 10/10

3. The Sign of the Southern Cross - A cool acoustic intro sets us up for essentially the successor to "Children of the Sea". Dio's quiet voice here is even more vulnerable and isolated than on that track, and I love the "fade away, fade away..." piece that will pop up again later. Then when the riff kicks in, it fucking KICKS the FUCK in. Holy SHIT. Doomy, heavy, utterly awesome Iommi riff that makes me think Sabbath have leveled up AGAIN. I love the first verse, with its rhythmic and atmospheric backing, holding back the guitar until the very end and then when it comes in, you're like, "FUCK YEAH, there it IS!" The simple chorus is hurled by Dio with so much gravitas, it's just awesome.

Everything up till now has been pretty much perfect, and honestly on first listen I thought I'd be giving this song full marks. That said... every time I listen to this track, I like it less than before. What made a song like "Heaven and Hell" work so well is the anticipation that's built throughout. The riff isn't repeated too much, so when it hits, it hits hard. The riff in "Sign" is repeated... way too much. The entire final verse et al feels like it's run out of ideas. I also wish the "fade away, fade away" bit was repeated again at the end under a steady beat because it's the best part about the song. Overall, great track, but it doesn't hold up over its nearly 8-minute runtime as well as its opening moments do. 8/10

4. E5150 - Another one of Iommi's filler interludes, only this time it's too fucking long. I think they could've made a full-fleshed song out of it especially since the ending actually feels like it's getting somewhere just as the spacey keyboards come in, but instead it's just a hard cut to the title track. Lame. 5/10

5. The Mob Rules - That riff kicks off like a spark and the drums ignite this rumbling, burning barnstormer of a rocker. Dio's lyrics once again feel so powerful amidst the current chaos of Washington it's honestly so comforting. "If you listen to fools... the mob rules!" What a banger of a line. Iommi gets a three-act guitar solo that's really really cool. The song feels a little unfinished at the end, I keep waiting for a final chorus to drop but it never comes. Despite that, this is an utterly kickass song that you cannot keep yourself from slamming that fucking head to. 9/10

6. Country Girl - The classic Sabbath stomp takes on a folksy vibe here with a riff that you'd expect people to be clapping along to. Dio's vocals almost sound like they were taken straight off a demo. It's just the least interesting vocal melody he's done with the band. There's not much you can do with that riff. The song starts off fun enough, and the serene bridge is awesome, but the whole thing gets pretty boring by the end. It's okay, but it's not what I come to Dio Sabbath for. 6/10

7. Slipping Away - This song screams "filler" like no other Sabbath song has before, but it holds its own thanks to a really infectious groove. There isn't too much to this one. It's fun, I like Dio's vocal melody (even though his voice slips too often into his throat, which is my least favorite Dio sound), there's a cool guitar and bass duel, and Vinny's drumming gets to shine with some awesome fills. The band is clearly having fun jamming together, and it's pretty good! It's just not the most essential track. 7/10

8. Falling Off the Edge of the World - Another atmospheric acoustic intro, this one plays into Dio's fascination with the pageantries of old. When he sings, "I should be at the table round, a servant of the crown," you really believe it. The drums beat like a heart before a doomy riff rolls in (and I think Metallica nicked it for "The Outlaw Torn", come to think of it) - and then the song plunges into a faster, blazing riff which is pretty killer and runs away with itself. I wish this one had more cohesion but all the individual parts are great (although Dio gets throaty again). Iommi's solo might be his finest on the whole album. 8/10

9. Over and Over - A fitting closer for the album, and you can tell Dio put his heart and soul into his final performance with the band (for a decade). These lyrics are really good. I think I respect this song more than I like it. It's okay, but it really does just go over... and over... and over again. I also don't really care for Tony's guitar solos. 6/10

OVERALL

Mob Rules has a fucking stacked first side, with three awesome rockers and an epic that runs a little long but is nonetheless full of Sabbathy goodness. The second side just doesn't come close to that brilliance, instead mucking about too long in exploratory avenues. I like the album a lot overall but it's no Heaven and Hell.

Shame that Dio and Vinny left after this one, who knows what might have happened next. Martin Birch, whose production across this record is super fucking tight, also jumped ship to work with some random band no one cares about, leaving Tony and Geezer once more to their own devices. Sabbath were about to fall off a fucking cliff, but at least we got two great albums from their Dio-fronted incarnation and what the future holds... is another tale to tell.

Total: 79%*
*Total is an average of the score with vs. without "E5150", which is too insubstantial to fully weight the average.
 
Diesel 11 said:
6. Country Girl - The classic Sabbath stomp takes on a folksy vibe here with a riff that you'd expect people to be clapping along to. Dio's vocals almost sound like they were taken straight off a demo. It's just the least interesting vocal melody he's done with the band. There's not much you can do with that riff. The song starts off fun enough, and the serene bridge is awesome, but the whole thing gets pretty boring by the end. It's okay, but it's not what I come to Dio Sabbath for. 6/10
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Love this song.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
@Diesel 11 actually out here giving Turn Up The Night and Voodoo higher scores than Southern Cross and Falling Off The Edge Of The World.

Wild times.
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Yeah, they’re awesome. I feel like my takes have been pretty fair, I’ve seen some people criticize “Sign” for similar reasons as I did but they flat out hated it. I still feel pretty positively about that song.

“Edge” just hasn’t fully connected with me but the more I hear it the more I hear things I like, I just kinda wish it was three songs instead of one lol.
 
Mob Rules is better than Heaven and Hell, I can listen to the entire album without skipping a song.

On Heaven and Hell I always skip Wishing Well and Walk Away, they're weakest tracks.
 
Today I listened to Mob Rules. It's nowhere near the quality of Heaven and Hell, imo. Was really disappointed.
 
The only track worth skipping on either Heaven and Hell or Mob Rules is E5150.

Diesel 11 said:
Yeah, they’re awesome. I feel like my takes have been pretty fair, I’ve seen some people criticize “Sign” for similar reasons as I did but they flat out hated it. I still feel pretty positively about that song.
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I definitely agree that those songs are awesome, but Southern Cross and FOTEOW are two of Sabbath's best and IMO definitely the two best tracks on Mob Rules.
 
Live Evil.jpg

Live Evil (1983)

Sabbath's first live album sees the Mob Rules lineup dust off classic tracks and dash out new ones with Dio at the helm. I think it's okay. The band is clearly having fun. Dio takes on Ozzy material with a vigor that is a little overdone. He gets deep into his throaty register all over this album and I don't really care for it. He gets really into "Black Sabbath", but on "War Pigs" and "Paranoid" he's singing with such a hard enunciation that at points it sounds like he's trying to parody the songs.

As far as his own material is concerned, I think I'm happy with the studio recordings. The live version of "Heaven and Hell" is pretty fun but I don't know how I feel about splicing "Sign of the Southern Cross" halfway through it. "Voodoo" gets an extra bridge, that's interesting. "Iron Man" is a lot of fun. These Ozzy songs sound even slower and doomier than they were originally and that's kinda wild to hear in between shit like "Neon Knights" and "The Mob Rules".

It's fine, but I think there's more magic in studio Sabbath and I doubt I'll return to this record all that often.
 
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