Great Metal Albums of 1980: Black Sabbath- Heaven And Hell

Since the 1980s was the golden age of heavy metal and that golden age began with 1980, I thought what better way to pay tribute to it than to kick things off with an album by one of heavy metal’s founding fathers: Black Sabbath. The thing is however, “Heaven and Hell” isn’t just an album, it’s a iconic album destined to go down in history as one of the greatest of all time.

The main question when this masterpiece was first unleashed back in 1980 was would new lead singer Ronnie James Dio fill the void left by Ozzy Osbourne. The answer to that is a resounding “YES!” Now, I am not going to debate who’s the better of these two vocal Gods. They both have different vocal styles but at the same time, their vocals were suited to the needs of Black Sabbath. Dio’s vocals are truly amazing on this album and for Sabbath it proved to the world that there was life after Ozzy. (Although a year later Ozzy would prove there was life after Black Sabbath.) Don’t get me wrong, in no way am I suggesting that this album was all down to Dio. Definitely not! On “Heaven and Hell” Tony Iommi continues to do what he does best on the guitar providing some memorable riffs. “Children of the Sea” definitely comes to mind when I think of that. Geezer Butler and Bill Ward also as always, make the fabulous rhythm section that we all know and love. More reasons why this album is such a classic.

“Children of the Sea” is just one of the brilliant tracks I could name here. There is not a bad song on the album as each one in my mind radiates what pure metal should be. If I named each one here in this paragraph, there would be no need for me to do the track listing as all of the songs make the grade and more.

Track Listing:

1. Neon Nights

2. Children of the Sea

3. Lady Evil

4. Heaven and Hell

5. Wishing Well

6. Die Young

7. Walk Away

8. Lonely Is the Word

Black Sabbath

Ronnie James Dio- vocals

Tony Iommi- guitars

Geezer Butler- bass

Bill Ward- drums

Additional Musician

Geoff Nichols- keyboards

In my post for the 1978 “Never Say Die” album, I mentioned that Black Sabbath would headline my dream concert. There was a twist to it however and so not to repeat myself for those who have already read that post, I suggest those who haven’t have a read and hopefully, like one reader then, you will be in awe when you think about it. “Heaven and Hell” is one of the reasons why Black Sabbath would headline my dream concert. For me, it one of the cornerstones in the foundation of what we now know and love as heavy metal.

Before I go, I would like to invite all of my readers to share in remembrance with me something that has been with me for nearly three decades. See thirty years ago tomorrow, October 23, marks the tragedy which befell the US Marines in Lebanon when 241 died when a suicide bomber drove a van loaded with explosives into the building there were housed in. This occurred less than four months after I left the marines but I served in that battalion for nearly three of my four years in the service. I know I lost friends on that fateful day. Now, I don’t hate America over this, hell no, but I do think that while America mourned their deaths for a while, they were also too quick to sweep the whole affair under the carpet. It is also why I am now officially beginning work on my next book which will be about the marines in Lebanon. For those who’ve read “Rock And Roll Children,” it will be a prequel to it as the Mitch character from the book will be the main character in the new book. I hate to end this post on such a downer, especially after visiting such an iconic album but I don’t have the time right now to put it as a separate post, so do forgive me for that. To unify these two thoughts, it was a marine buddy from my platoon when I was serving in that battalion who provided me with the first listen of this great album.

Pay tribute to these brave souls

Next post: Sammy Hagar- Danger Zone

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