Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell Deluxe Vinyl Edition.
Black Sabbath
Heaven And Hell
(BMG)
By Paul Davies
Sometimes there is a break in the doomy clouds overhanging the careers of longstanding bands and the stars align to herald a fertile period of renewal. Such circumstances occurred for Black Sabbath following 1978's Never Say Die; the final and eighth album released by the original line-up. With Ozzy departing, happenstance came knocking on Sabbath's heavy, dark and gothic door with Ronnie James Dio falling out of Rainbow as Ritchie Blackmore chased commercial success in the American charts. Rainbow's loss became Sabbath's gain. In fact, it became Heaven And Hell which is rightly considered to be one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time. With Dio also taking control of the lyrical content with Geezer Butler, it marked a paradigm shift in this new model of the band with its magical dungeons and dragons lyrics and inspired Iommi riffing forging a new musical adventure. Released in the Spring of a new decade - 1980 - from the moment Iommi chugged out the riff of Neon Knights, to welcome in Dio's inimitable semi-operatic rock vocal, followed by the first collaborative Dio/Iommi composition, Children Of The Sea, the recent gloomy past faded and the future sounded brighter for this British metal institution. The funky-metal fusion of Lady Evil, and the headlong rush of Die Young, reveals a reinvigorated band finding their rhythm and regaining their mojo. This milestone metal heavyweight double vinyl edition never sounded so good: clearer, deeper and heavier.
Heaven And Hell reached number 9 in the UK charts and climbed to number 28 in the US charts upon its release. This vinyl edition contains live versions of Children Of The Sea and Heaven And Hell from the B Sides of Neon Knights and Die Young single releases. Four tracks from an American H & H 1980 tour date make up side three and the whole of side four. As the much-missed Ronnie James Dio sang: "The world is full of Kings and Queens. Who blind your eyes, then steal your dreams. It's Heaven and Hell." There's not one duff-filler track on this original album as this re-release re-affirms.
