Heaven and Hell--My Review

 Greatest Metal Album of the 1980s?  Not sure, but certainly in the top ten.  My personal favorite when I was a senior in high school, if that counts as much.  

When I bought this on cassette, I took it everywhere and for a very good reason, it was so meaningful at the time.  Ozzy was out, Dio was in and the rest of the band had a solid kick in the ass to make something really new and really useful.  Opening track, Neon Knight started with that thudding bass and that was when we knew Sabbath was back.  Not only that but Dio was decipherable and his voice was melodic.  Lyrically, it was interesting:  "Bloodied angels fast descending, moving on a never bending light..."  

Track  2 was a brooding piece of foreboding as Children of the Sea wailed from the speakers.  Perfect, elegant guitar licks from Iommi rarely sounded this intricate.  Here the band took some serious movement from the "hair metal" and "pop metal" bands and actually created something with substance and meaning.  It was also here that I noticed the departure from the Sabbath of old--having scored less than successful albums with the last two.  Maybe Ozzy's departure was not as fatalistic as I thought.

Track 3, the weakest in my opinion, Lady Evil was more thudding bass openings and jingle-esque.  Yes, it is a catchy chorus and a bit of an earworm, but truthfully, it was too pop for me.  

Track 4 is the track that grabbed me and would not let go--I will use the word brilliant here, as cliché' as the word is, but no denying it--Heaven and Hell sounded like nothing I had heard before or since,  The bass by Butler build up to an incredible grove, the crashing symbols and drum rolls, the amazing riffs and Dio's voice--a voice that soared above all else only to grab and control the listener.  This became the greatest song I ever heard.

Side two, track 5 brought us Wishing well.  An up-tempo rocker that was also hooky and catchy and brought Wards drums to the front of the mix. Not as dark as most other songs, I consider this a Dio choice.  It seems at times a bit formulaic. 

Track 6, Die Young is one scary song.  Brilliant use of guitars and keyboards in this one and again, brings Sabbath into the realm of a serious band making serious music.

Track 7, Walk Away was another one that reaffirmed the past of Black Sabbath as a hard act.  This one sounds the most like "old Sabbath" to me--even Dio's voice is a bit a lower and the tempo is powerful and has the heavy quality of so many early Sabbath songs.

Track 8, Lonely is the Word, cemented this album as a powerful trip to a heavy metal sound that was rarely heard.  The band comes together on this track--the rhythm section are as one and Dio's voice is right up front, but listening to the echoing guitar riffs--almost Spanish guitar sounding, in the center, shines.  This is considered by many as a throw-away track, but I think it is perfect and the placing of it at the end of the album is brilliant as it resonates long after the album ends.

Check out my friend, Martin Popoff's review in the latest Goldmine: