Product Description

While Black Sabbath remained one of heavy metal's top concert draws throughout the late '70s, the band's albums of the era proved to not be on par with its earlier work. This creative weakness was what caused vocalist Ozzy Osbourne to split from the band in 1979 to launch a highly successful solo career. Sabbath used the opportunity to refocus its direction, eventually replacing the group's batty frontman with ex-Rainbow member Ronnie James Dio. The new line-up's first album, 1980's HEAVEN AND HELL, proved to be Black Sabbath's most successful (both commercially and artistically) in a long time. The opening number, "Neon Knights", remains one of Sabbath's most ferocious, while "Children of the Sea" alternates between dark, brooding metal and a gentle melodicism that's stressed even further on "Lady Evil" and "Die Young".

Track Listing

1. Neon Knights
2. Children Of The Sea
3. Lady Evil
4. Heaven And Hell
5. Lonely Is The Word
6. Wishing Well
7. Die Young
8. Walk Away

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94538 in Music
• Released on: 1996-01-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

From Amazon.com
After kicking vocalist Ozzy Osbourne out of the band in 1978, Black Sabbath knew they would have to strike back with a powerful record if they were to retain their credibility. They recruited Elf vocalist Ronnie James Dio, whose melodramatic vibrato shuddered with menace, and in 1980, they released Heaven and Hell, their most potent offering since Master of Reality. Faster and more theatrical than Sabbath's earlier oeuvre, Heaven and Hell features the dynamic seven-minute title track, which builds from a lazy throb to a high-octane roar, and the dynamic "Die Young," which segues from an uptempo saunter to a flamboyant midsection strangely reminiscent of Queen. Although the album helped build Sabbath a younger, more enthusiastic fan base, Dio only remained with the band for one more studio album, after which Sabbath's star slowly began to fade. --Jon Wiederhorn

Customer Reviews

Ronnies debut with Sabbath and it is a Classic.
This album is a masterpiece it has alot of classics like Neon Knight, Children Of The Sea, Heaven And Hell etc. It's pretty sad about the debate between Ozzy and Ronnie why bother debating their both awesome vocalists and both made history in rock/metal, but in my personal opinion Ronnies is a much better vocalist and frontman but that my opinion. Onto the album it's a great album great songs and vocals and Iommis guitar playing is mindblowing, before i got this album i borrowed the album The Dio years of my friend and it blew me away and the first thing i noticed was how amazing Iommis guitar playing it's so different to other guitar players it's magical. Of course Ronnies is amazing as always. My favourite are deffinetly Neon Knights, Heaven & Hell & Children Of The Sea. The tracks no one seems to be mentioning Walking Away & Wishing Well are great songs may not be as strong as the other but they are great. So ignore the ozzy fans who are saying Ronnie is sh*t he's not he's an amazing vocalist and fits well with the band though Ozzy is a great voclalist he best albums were Black Sabbath and Paranoid i checked out some of his album after those 2 their nowhere near as good as those i did find some awesome tracks like After Forever and Sabbra Caddabra but thats really it. So if you're an ozzy fan who's stuck in the i hate dio zone then sadly you're missing out on some of the best metal songs ever realesed. This is a great place to start but if you havnt really heard much buy black sabbath's Self Titled album dont get me wrong this album is a masterpiece in metal but their self-titled album is the best place to start off with Sabbath as it's their first and a masterpiece. Buy this album if you have Sabbaths early stuff this album is breathtaking. Ignore ozzy fans who hate ronnie this album is a Masterpiece.

MUSICALLY, ONE OF THE BEST...AWESOME GUITAR BREAK ...
Stunning album. Very strong musically with an excellent production.
Continues the progressive themes of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath with an iron clad attitude. Dio gives a great vocal debut and the band never sounded so polished and focused as here!
Die Young, Neon Knights, Heaven & Hell; all great songs BUT my favourite is the closing track, Lonely Is The Word - what a monster of a song! Great riffs, huge vocals, strong bass & drums and perhaps my favourite guitar solo of ALL time! Love Iommi's playing, so much emotion as well as power, and any Sabbath fan should rate this break highly. It's a truly epic solo with some amazing notes, as much about feeling as technique ( Dragonforce, take note!!). It's really cool how it fades out (the solo lasts at least a minute or more) and the keyboards then come to the surface as the track ends. The keyboards are used subtly on the album to great effect, adding to the atmosphere.

Even if hard to find, this album, along with Mob Rules, is as essential as any of the Ozzy era.

Hugely overrated - sorry folks
After Ozzy's forced departure Black Sabbath... blah, blah blah. Rainbow become a pop combo... sack Ronnie James Dio...blah, blah, blah. Dio joins Sabbath etc etc etc. The resultant album sounds sod all like Sabbath with just 3 worthwhile Rainbow soundalike tracks in Neon Knights, Children of the Sea and the title track. The rest is pap that might just scrape onto any run of the mill Dio album. If you want to know what Sabbath really were like, buy Sabotage or Vol 4. Goodnight campers.