My how time changes one’s perception of things…  both of these albums came out at an important time of my life.  I had just hit my teen years and was starting to listen to more heavier music, moving away from more melodic and song oriented material featured on the local Top 40 station to something a bit more rebellious in spirit down the dial on the rock channel.  Also during this time I was ravenously absorbing anything and everything in the local music mags like Hit Parader and Circus as I had to know all things about my music heroes.  And one of the biggest stories in those rags at the time revolved around Ozzy Osbourne’s solo career vs Black Sabbath’s new life with singer Ronnie James Dio.

Many of you know the story…  Ozzy Osbourne, lead singer of one of the forefathers of heavy metal in Black Sabbath, is sacked by said band in favor of former Rainbow belter Ronnie James Dio.  After (future wife) Sharon Arden shakes Osbourne out of a drunken stupor, he proceeds to put together a new band consisting of rock vets Bob Daisley on bass and Lee Kerslake on drums along with a young hotshot guitarist in Randy Rhodes and releases an earth shattering debut album chock full of monstrous metallic riffery mixed with keen melodic moments.  The Ozzman plays up his “madman” character to the hilt and Rhodes becomes the next guitar star on the block due to less blues based structures and more unique lead scales, which helped turn the album into a massive hit.

Likely less well known (at least in the US) is how the Sabs tabbed Dio.  After firing Ozzy for not being up to the task, the rest of the band gave some thought to where to go next-  grab a new singer altogether and come up with a new band name, or stay with the tried and true Sabbath moniker?  Cooler heads prevailed (or maybe it was Sab manager Don Arden- yes, Sharon’s father!) and the band stuck with the well known name after picking up Ronnie James Dio, who brought in an entirely different attitude, musical approach, and vocal style compared to his predecessor.  That, plus the ability to spin a lyric (previously handled by bassist Geezer Butler), refined the band’s sound on new album Heaven and Hell and kept the Sabbath name at the forefront of metal at the turn of the decade.

So which album is better?  I’ll admit, back in my youthful days I was a big Ozzy fan and I believe (although I’m not entirely sure) that it was the first album I ever bought with my own money.  Songs like “I Don’t Know”, “Crazy Train”, “Mr. Crowley”, “Suicide Solution” et al were filled with some of the heaviest riffs imaginable-  I’d never heard anything like it.  One of my best friends was a budding guitarist and took to the album, quickly learning to play the brief instrumental “Dee” and wowing us in the process.  This was entirely different from KISS and AC/DC and Van Halen; this was hot, new, and fresh.  We were hooked and I played the album nonstop.

All that said…  the title cut from the Sabbath album made a major impact as well.  Whereas the local rock station was all over the Ozzy album, only “Heaven and Hell” received significant airplay with maybe a handful of plays of “Lady Evil”.  As for the rest of the album…  not a thing.  However, the song “Heaven and Hell” was monolithic; a seven minute slab of dynamics, structure, and tempo that weaved its magic on my feeble mind and a lyric that was totally unlike the party hearty/boy meets girl stuff of some of my other favorite bands.  This was deep, somewhat evil in tone, and a bit dark.  I loved it, but due to lack of radio play and fellow interest from friends I shied away from picking up the platter.

After years of Ozzy fandom and love for Blizzard of Ozz, it was soon eclipsed after I finally picked up Heaven And Hell.  For me, there is more depth and enjoyable moments in all eight songs and it is one of those rare albums that I will let run all the way through without skipping a cut (well, occasionally “Walk Away” will get bumped).  And I hate to say it, but I’ve not played Blizzard in its entirety since those teen years.  I don’t know why-  is it due to overplay?  No – as a whole, the songs just don’t quite stack up against the H&H album.  The Ozzy album was certainly the fun album that I understood as a kid, but as I grew older and matured I could fully appreciate the complexity and weight of the Sabbath album.  It’s just a different feel between the two entirely.

And what an album Heaven and Hell is!  Kicking off with a face melter in “Neon Knights”, Sabbath’s confidence is riding high as they feed off the energy of new singer Ronnie James Dio.  We get our first taste of “look out!” from Dio in next track “Children of the Sea”, a dark rumbling tale that was the first track written for the album, and some solid rock with some great Tony Iommi guitar work in the underrated “Lady Evil”.  Outside of my love for the title cut I also give high marks to “Die Young” and “Wishing Well”, both molten slabs of metal with solid and intricate playing with killer production.  And last but not least, the potent yet beautiful tapestries of “Lonely Is The Word”, mixing a menacing riff with some melodic guitar touches and a great Dio vocal.  All in all, an excellent album that ranks high on my list of all time metal favorites.

Ok, ok, ok…  how about we compare Heaven and Hell with Paranoid?  That, my friends, is a post for another day 🙂