Black Sabbath at their most melodic, nimble, and cohesive. Still plenty heavy, but so much more musical and optimistic sounding with Ronnie reinvigorating the band. This is one of my personal favorite albums by any band.
I was 18 years old and graduating high school when this album dropped. I had low expectations for this project even though I was a fan of Ronnie's singing in Rainbow. It really depended on the material. This combination could deliver if the songs were good. If not, it would have been a minor footnote to their career. Boy, did they deliver. The first song from the new line up that I heard on the radio was Neon Nights and I was blown away. I went and bought the album right away. Ronnie breathed new life in to a group that could have easily been wasting away in the discount bin. Although my feeling, to this day, is that Black Sabbath in its truest form is the original four members, I loved this era. The early 80s seemed to rejuvenate hard rock and shake off the disco and punk of the late 70s. It was a great time to go to concerts for a few bucks and see your heroes. Too bad Ronnie and Sabbath didn't last long.
Martin Birch really pushed Tony, Geezer, Bill & Ronnie (and Geoff) to the edge of sonic world. A forever and ever album. Unmatched production since then.
"Heaven and Hell" was one of the top 5 albums of 1980, along with "Back in Black", "Ace of Spades", "Iron Maiden" and "British Steel". A great slab of Metal! đ¤
Love Ozzy and his work with Sabbath which is legendary in its own right but Dio has not only the best metal voice but his stage presence and lyrical mind are 2nd to none. Long live the Metal Voice God đ¤â¤
Black Sabbath Album Deep Dives #9: Heaven and Hell