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CD reviews

Heaven & Hell

Black Sabbath - Heaven & Hell Audio CD

A fair review of the Black Sabbath "Heaven & Hell" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Black Sabbath reviews here, or go back to the Black Sabbath tabs.

Band: Black Sabbath
Title: Heaven & Hell
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-10-07
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 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

Not the best remaster out there!
K. I compared this rhino version of Heaven and Hell to my 1996 U. Castle remaster version and the Castle one sounds a little better because it's not over compressed and limited, to the point of sounding almost distorted. The bass sounds more natural, it seems to breathe a bit better than Rhino. The Rhino artwork and notes are incomplet compared to the Castle one. But most people might not hear the difference that much, so this isn't a bad buy to upgrade from the original release. .

Ozzy who?
From what I have, it's also my second favorite recording to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals (the Dio album Holy Diver obviously takes the 1 spot). Call me a sinner if you will, but I truly believe this is my favorite Black Sabbath album (at least of the ones I own). Every song is outright amazing, and the way the album is put together and produced is magnificent.

NEW SOUND.
With the firing of Ozzy and the arrival of Dio, the blues-influenced riffing of tunes like "Sabbra Cadabra" and "Hole In The Sky" were gone, and replaced with a more straight-ahead heavy approach. Even if the songwriting changed with Dio on board, the sound was still strictly Tony Iommi. His guitar sound has always been one-of-a-kind. . . exactly why it's happened that way, I do not know, but I can't help but admire him for never letting some big-name producer change, or possibly even ruin, his sound.

ALBUM STRUCTURE
The album starts off with a BANG in the form of the fast, heavy rocker "Neon Knights. "
-Following this is "Children Of The Sea. " Somewhat of a ballad feel can be heard here, and the riff is an instant classic. A bit slow, but it doesn't drag. Geezer Butler is really on fire here.
-Track 3, "Lady Evil," somewhat maintains the feel of earlier Sabbath works with its funky bass line and main guitar riff. The vocals have the true trademark Dio sound, and it never dies.
-Then of course, you have the title track. The lyrics are classic, the riff is immortal, the soloing is magnificent, and it never fails to get an audience going with its fist-pumping, foot-stomping beat.
-"Wishing Well" is the shining moment for the rhythm section of Geezer and drummer Bill Ward. Another nice touch is the bit of clean guitar backing up the main riff on a few sections of the song. One of the most overlooked tracks.
-Track 6, "Die Young," is my favorite song from the album. It starts with a layer of keyboards coupled with a bit of free-form guitar licks from Tony, then turns into another rather frantic, proto-speed metal number. Dio's vocals and Tony's licks coupled with the cool keyboard parts make this one a serious winner.
-"Walk Away" slows things down a bit and is probably the weakest track on the album, aside from Geezer once again standing out big time. It does remind me a fair amount of something that Rainbow would have done.
-Finally, "Lonely Is The Word" closes out the album on a bit more of a slow note, but at the same time satisfies with its impressive soloing by Iommi for a good portion of the song.

While some tracks stand out above others, there is not a bad time to be heard on this album, and it is truly one of the masterpieces of metal history. It is my favorite Sabbath album ever (once more, call me a sinner if you must) and right behind Holy Diver as far as recordings with Dio on vocals go.

Don't fear the change, This Dio Sabbath Album is Excellent
This is an excellent album. I am one who probably was introduced to Sabbath through this album, and then found myself looking backwards through the catalogue. Can't say enough about it, the title track, children of the sea, it is very much like early sabbath in a way. Heaven and Hell though is something entirely new though. There is no denying the shift. I always liked Dio, especially in Rainbow, so the addition of Dio to Sabbath was actually quite good. The lyrics to Heaven and Hell are perfect, the sound of Dio's voice majestic, and ending of the song, the classical guitar? perfect too. There are some tracks that are dull, but in truth they would have in some circumstances been better off as Ozzy Sabb tracks. You can hear the transition in Heaven and Hell, Children of the Sea, but the one's that don't work maybe sounded like they were trying too hard to accomodate the early sab fans. The type of music that works for Ozzy only worked for Ozz and his type of vocals, so it doesn't make you wish for ozzy, it makes you wish there was more Heaven and Hell.

So, I won't review all the tracks and go on and on, there is plenty to like and I give it 5 stars because it is worthy of it.
I totally can see why these guys touring just on the Dio era sab tunes are getting a lot of people coming out to the shows, those two albums Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules were, in their time, entirely underrated given the transition from Ozz to Dio and the change in the music scene in the early 80's. I mean, this is the beginning of the Devo and Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie phase of music, enough to make me vomit then and now, but bands like Sabbath are getting their just deserts because new fans and old fans now know what we all knew just how good those efforts were. . . go buy this and Mob Rules, you won't be disappointed at all!!.

A Classic. A Must Have.
There's 3 versions to choose from - the original, the remix, the remastered. A fantastic example of excellent rock and roll. All about 10 years apart. The original has more artwork, apparently, based on the writeups. .

TRUE METAL GENIUS
If you don't love this work of art. THIS ONE IS EASY. . . . you have NO soul and NO pulse. THE BEST BLACK SABBATH HAS EVER SOUNDED. . . . THEIR MAGNUM OPUS!!!!!

Rob Alderman
Washington DC.

You can see a complete list of all Black Sabbath discography, or go back to the Black Sabbath tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.