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Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell



9 | 1353 votes |
Release date: 25 April 1980
Style: Hard rock, Heavy metal

Owners:

1720 have it
119 want it
1 trades it


Disc I
01. Neon Knights
02. Children Of The Sea
03. Lady Evil
04. Heaven And Hell
05. Wishing Well
06. Die Young
07. Walk Away
08. Lonely Is The Word

Disc II [2010 deluxe edition bonus]
01. Children Of The Sea [live]
02. Heaven And Hell [live]
03. Lady Evil [edited version]
04. Neon Knights [live]
05. Children Of The Sea [live]
06. Heaven And Hell [live]
07. Die Young [live]

Top 20 albums of 1980: 1
Top 200 albums of all time: 25
Featured In "Getting Into: Black Sabbath"

Additional info
The album was remastered and rereleased in 2010 as a 2 disc Deluxe Edition.

Guest review by
nicaZe
Rating:
9.5
The year is 1979, Black Sabbath returned from touring in support of Never Say Die!. Tony Iommi was unhappy with Ozzy Osbourne and he decided to fire him from band. Ronnie James Dio left Rainbow in 1979 due to creative differences. Sharon Arden suggested Dio to Iommi and he officially joined the band. They started to work on a new album, which will become some of the most essential ''reading'' for every metalhead on the world.

Read more ››
published 16.06.2012 | Comments (15)

The album, the name, and the last band Ronnie toured with. This album turned 30 years old last month, which is surely testament to the timeless quality of this true heavy metal classic. There's no better time than now to blast it out one more time.

Baz Anderson's picks | More picks ››

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Comments

Comments: 49   Visited by: 1749 users
18.06.2011 - 00:50
Rating: 10
Deny Reality

One of my favorite albums from Black Sabbath. Some may argue this, but, Dio, in my eyes, was always a more talented vocalist when compared to Ozzy Osbourne. Each and every song on this album is amazing, my only possible falter being "Die Young", which is still a great song.

The very first Black Sabbath song I heard was "Children Of The Sea", which I thought was godly at the time. That's what really got me into the "Metal" scene, despite me being so young. And after going through album after album of Black Sabbath's, I've concluded that this is their best album, in my opinion, behind Black Sabbath, their debut album.
So, this being the album that introduced me to this wonderful genre of music, I rate it a perfect 10/10. Not only because it introduced me to such an amazing genre, but because there's not on complaint on the album itself.

Lovely. Dio at his peak, after Rainbow and before Dio. Amazing.
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19.06.2011 - 14:21
Valentin B
Iconoclast
Technically Dio is faaar better than Ozzy, especially in his prime, which is Long Live Rock'n Roll and this album. how could anyone think otherwise is beyond me haha.

anyway Ozzy has his own rough, unpolished vocal style, while Dio is more like an opera singer. best example in this sense would be to compare the songs Sweet Leaf with Heaven and Hell when it comes to vocals.
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19.06.2011 - 16:22
Rating: 5
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Dio may technically be more talented, but Ozzy was the only voice suitable for Black Sabbath's back catalog.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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19.06.2011 - 17:23
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by Troy Killjoy on 19.06.2011 at 16:22

Dio may technically be more talented, but Ozzy was the only voice suitable for Black Sabbath's back catalog.


I have to agree with you there.
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19.06.2011 - 17:32
Rating: 5
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Angelic Storm on 19.06.2011 at 17:23

Written by Troy Killjoy on 19.06.2011 at 16:22

Dio may technically be more talented, but Ozzy was the only voice suitable for Black Sabbath's back catalog.


I have to agree with you there.

For the most part I think that's the general consensus; I mean there aren't many people who are going to argue that Ozzy is a more adept vocalist or technically proficient, at least not more so than Dio, but at the end of the day if you've got Dio behind the mic for songs like War Pigs and N.I.B. ... it just wouldn't work.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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20.06.2011 - 03:57
Rating: 10
Deny Reality

Written by Troy Killjoy on 19.06.2011 at 17:32

Written by Angelic Storm on 19.06.2011 at 17:23

Written by Troy Killjoy on 19.06.2011 at 16:22

Dio may technically be more talented, but Ozzy was the only voice suitable for Black Sabbath's back catalog.


I have to agree with you there.

For the most part I think that's the general consensus; I mean there aren't many people who are going to argue that Ozzy is a more adept vocalist or technically proficient, at least not more so than Dio, but at the end of the day if you've got Dio behind the mic for songs like War Pigs and N.I.B. ... it just wouldn't work.

Well, have you personally ever heard Dio sing War Pigs or N.I.B.? It could be better than Ozzy, for all we know - he's quite an adaptable vocalist.
I'm not arguing that Ozzy is better fit for songs like The Wizard, War Pigs, NIB, etc., I somewhat agree that Ozzy fits the early Black Sabbath very well.

Dug this up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG1lEiOUclc ; Ozzy, here, can definitely nail the War Pigs tune better than Dio, unfortunately. It's a very difficult choice to make.
Here, however; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtYYt2XfCZU ; I think Dio nailed it more than Ozzy could have.

Just my opinion, and I'm 100% sure others would feel differently.. that's the Internet for 'ya.
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20.06.2011 - 16:37
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by Troy Killjoy on 19.06.2011 at 17:32
For the most part I think that's the general consensus; I mean there aren't many people who are going to argue that Ozzy is a more adept vocalist or technically proficient, at least not more so than Dio, but at the end of the day if you've got Dio behind the mic for songs like War Pigs and N.I.B. ... it just wouldn't work.


Well yep, I'm certainly not going to say that Ozzy is a better vocalist than Ronnie, cos that would just be silly. But for all the classic Sabbath material that Ozzy sang on... nobody could sound better doing that stuff than Ozzy. People can say what the want, but to me, his voice just fits so perfectly with that music. Regardless of his overall technical vocal ability. (which while its not great, I do think is better than most give him credit for)

As for this album, what can I say? It's a total classic in every sense of the word, and Ronnie totally resurrected the band with it, no doubt about that. At this point in time, it was like Dio could do no wrong, everything he touched turned to musical gold. Just genius!
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02.03.2012 - 19:34
Rating: 10
Pelagial

Not classic sabbath song Because of Ronnie is the singer but this album is so great.
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09.05.2012 - 15:00
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Quote:

For the most part I think that's the general consensus; I mean there aren't many people who are going to argue that Ozzy is a more adept vocalist or technically proficient, at least not more so than Dio, but at the end of the day if you've got Dio behind the mic for songs like War Pigs and N.I.B. ... it just wouldn't work.

I have to disagree with that actually. Yeah, Dio's commonly thought of moreso as a dungeons and dragons-esque power metal like vocalist, but his voice is also suited quite well (in my opinion) for some more bluesy stuff as well, as evidenced by some of his material with Rainbow, and even further back to Ronnie And the Redcaps. Live Evil is a good example of how Dio sounds singing older Sabbath songs, and honestly, he's pretty decent at them.
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I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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01.06.2012 - 14:16
Rating: 8
musicalkaratekid

This album is great, but I feel as if it's slightly overhyped. I mean, Dio's vocals are obviously the main focus here in a lot of fans' eyes, and they are very well executed, but what about the music itself? To me the songs themselves don't seem to be any differetn to anything BS had done ten years before. Every song on here is really good, but it's not 'that' special, if you know what I mean. Aside from that, this still is one hell of a good comeback after 'Never say die'.
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02.07.2012 - 01:03
Death_95

61? This is the greatest album ever.
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10.09.2012 - 01:41
Angry Chair

Great album, That is all

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"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
- Denis Diderot
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10.11.2012 - 08:36
Rating: 9
slinx

I've been on a Heaven & Hell kick the last few months and each time I'm ready to move on to a new band/album a different song hooks me in. This album has so much beauty and soul in it that I cannot tear myself away.

This album has inspired me to sing (I'm pretty monotone), play bass (never considered it before), play guitar (something I wish to do) and pound the fuck out of some drums. Something that few albums have done before.

I'm pretty shitfaced on tequila, but I hope Ronnie James Dio is outsinging a bunch of fucking angels in Heaven and out-yelling some demons in Hell.

Rock on, RJD. rock the fuck on. I should remove the swearing, as I never heard any cussing in any RJD-penned songs, but fuck it. Rock the fuck on!!!
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'You're short, you're fat, and even for a film critic you are ugly.' - The Critic
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28.12.2012 - 02:11
megadeath13
Account deleted
One of the best albums ever!!!!! Each song is perfect. Ronnie James Dio is the man! R.I.P. Dio!
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17.07.2013 - 13:24
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Ozzy was just a singer, Dio was personality
Who wrote lyrics in this album Buttler or Dio

After wary boring last 4 albums whit ozzy , finally something powerful came up, this one, Dio and his awesome vocals, what was not key element why I like it, this was more HM, more heavy metal how it shood be in metal, I did not get bored, I can listen this non stop , Heaven n Hell, Children Of The Sea, Neon Lights, awesome songs whit great metal vocals
Sorry Ozzy fans, but first 4 BS albums only and fiev solo songs is OK from him, otherwise he forgot true Birmingham, or shod I say Aston roots, media crate him + drunk overdose made him weirdo , Dio were much better
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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17.07.2013 - 13:47
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
The single most overrated album in Black Sabbath's history. BS lost their uniqeuness on this one and turned into a standard run of the mill metal band. They clearly let DIo call the shots here, which was a shame. Dio is technically an awesome vocalist but just not right for BS here. The only album with Dio in BS that was good was Mob Rules. Which is superior to this.
And the most overrated song ever is clearly on here as well and is of course the title track which just goes on and on and on, especially live.

Even though Ozzy is the inferior vocalist of the two he fits BS just so much more than Dio it's not even funny.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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17.07.2013 - 18:05
Rating: 6
Alex F
Slick Dick Rick
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.07.2013 at 13:47

The single most overrated album in Black Sabbath's history. BS lost their uniqeuness on this one and turned into a standard run of the mill metal band. They clearly let DIo call the shots here, which was a shame. Dio is technically an awesome vocalist but just not right for BS here. The only album with Dio in BS that was good was Mob Rules. Which is superior to this.
And the most overrated song ever is clearly on here as well and is of course the title track which just goes on and on and on, especially live.

Even though Ozzy is the inferior vocalist of the two he fits BS just so much more than Dio it's not even funny.

Agree with you entirely, except I might put this and Mob Rules on the same level of mediocrity, however I haven't listened to Mob Rules in about a year (probably) so I'm not quite sure that still stands. Definitely don't get the massive obsession by many over this album.
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17.07.2013 - 18:09
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Don't think this is by any means a bad album, in fact quite decent, but Dio will never be the voice of Sabbath for me. Better singer, but not as distinctive and interesting a voice.
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18.07.2013 - 02:24
Rating: 9
Azarath
Free as a.. Fish
A great album and a stunning rebirth. Sure, I can see why some would feel like Sabbath lost their "uniqueness" here because it's quite different from the early stuff with Ozzy. It's also much, much better than the later stuff with Ozzy. The first half is excellent, the second a bit weaker thanks to "Walk Away" which is pretty generic.

But after "Die Young" I can forgive pretty much anything.
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05.08.2013 - 10:10
Rating: 8
CobiWan1993
Secundum Filium
Excellent release, I personally prefer the Dio years to the Ozzy years (though I still love those works as well). This album has a ton of great songs on it like Die Young and Children of the Sea. One of my favorite Sabbath records ever.
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Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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16.08.2013 - 16:22
Mattybu

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.07.2013 at 13:47

The single most overrated album in Black Sabbath's history.

Even though Ozzy is the inferior vocalist of the two he fits BS just so much more than Dio it's not even funny.


A pair of accurate statements. I have a hard time understanding the praise, I don't know if its just because Dio's name is on it, but really, he doesn't fit in the band here and did much better stuff before and after this album.
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16.08.2013 - 16:32
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Mattybu on 16.08.2013 at 16:22



A pair of accurate statements. I have a hard time understanding the praise, I don't know if its just because Dio's name is on it, but really, he doesn't fit in the band here and did much better stuff before and after this album.



I think it indeed has to do with Dio's name on it. Mob Rules is way better than this one. and also his own work with Holy Diver and Dream Evil and what he did with Rainbow.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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17.08.2013 - 19:05
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Nah, around 3 of the DIO albums are weak and sub-par in my eyes, and they literally have Dio's name on them! I do think "Mob Rules" is a better album (as is "Dehumanizer"), but some of the songs like "Children Of The Sea", "Die Young" and "Neon Knights" are just classic. The title track is overrated, but I think it's a good song nonetheless.
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17.08.2013 - 19:10
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Dehumanizer is a weak album on par with Seventh Star and Born Again.

Btw I said Dio's work with the Holy Diver and Dream Evil albums are better NOT with all his solo albums
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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17.08.2013 - 19:16
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.08.2013 at 19:10

Dehumanizer is a weak album on par with Seventh Star and Born Again.

Btw I said Dio's work with the Holy Diver and Dream Evil albums are better NOT with all his solo albums


No way... I don't dislike either of those albums, especially not "Born Again", but for me "Dehumanizer" is vastly superior to both of those albums.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say with your second point, but I was just addressing the comment that people likely praise "Heaven And Hell" (the album) simply because Ronnie is on it. That clearly isn't the reason I like it, seeing as I find 3 of his DIO albums weak, and they literally have his name on them.
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17.08.2013 - 19:21
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Dehumanizer is one of Sab's weakest by far and also one of the weakest albums Dio's been on. It somehow gets praise because it was a Dio with Sab reunion an even is weaker than the Heaven & Hell band album The Devil You Know which is pretty damn average but got hailed due to Sab featuring Dio again. As is the case currently with the praise 13 seems to be getting almost everywhere
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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17.08.2013 - 20:32
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.08.2013 at 19:21

Dehumanizer is one of Sab's weakest by far and also one of the weakest albums Dio's been on. It somehow gets praise because it was a Dio with Sab reunion an even is weaker than the Heaven & Hell band album The Devil You Know which is pretty damn average but got hailed due to Sab featuring Dio again. As is the case currently with the praise 13 seems to be getting almost everywhere


Well, as I stated, I am certainly not averse to criticising some of Ronnie''s work (or Sab's work for that matter), so that definitely isn't the reason I like Dehumanizer. I've loved the album since it was released, which wasn't too long after I first got into metal, and certainly long before I realized how revered Ronnie was in the metal fraternity. In fact, at that time, that type of metal was very "uncool", and totally out of vogue. It was only many years later (sometime during the 00's) that it suddenly became "cool" to like Dio and Sabbath again, and most in the metal community started proffessing love for Dio and that type of metal again. I can't deny that for some people, love for certain albums has to do with the name on it, but that has never held any sway with me.
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27.02.2014 - 03:54
Rulatore

One of the few times I'll agree with Marcel. I thought I was the only one who thinks that this is just average as are the other albums with Dio in. Also, "the Devil You Know" is pretty damn average.
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27.02.2014 - 04:26
Rating: 10
DyingWorld

Ozzy had better stage presence but Dio had the better voice. Fuck it, both the Ozzy and Dio era's are equally worthy of the Black Sabbath moniker, moreso than with any other singer, with the possible exception of Ian Gillan. I don't even bother to pick a favorite as it's not even worthy of debate for me. Both singers fit their era's well enough. While Dio couldn't better the Ozzy era songs in a live setting, he never did a bad job either. I'll go so far to say that his version of "N.I.B." is almost as good as the original. On the other hand, Ozzy could never sing "Heaven and Hell", which is just as crucial to Sabbath's catalog as "Into the Void."

I don't buy into this idea that they should have changed the name when Dio joined. Bands change, deal with it. Sabbath had already changed their sound several times before firing Ozzy. The so-called "classic Sabbath" sound ended with "Vol. 4" and even then, they were already beginning to shift away from the sludgy doom of their first three albums. They had already begun experimenting to a point where "Sabotage" (probably the best Ozzy era album) was already a huge step away from the self titled. I don't see how some of that material is much different than what they were doing with Dio. As far as I'm concerned, "Heaven and Hell" was the true follow up to that album, albeit updated for the new decade.

I'm giving "Heaven and Hell" a 10 because it's one of their finest albums and one of the greatest albums, period. And for the record, I think "Dehumanizer" was great too. "The Devil You Know", not as much but not a bad album by any means.
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25.09.2014 - 23:51
Rating: 10
_deepblack

This album with Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommy is surly a great album but the track Heaven And Hell is a Legend and one the best songs ever written the lyrics the guitars its like Iommy is singing along side Dio its just Legendery its like signature of Rock and Metal
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