By the end of the seventies, Black Sabbath had seem to have run their course, the albums were not selling so well, critical acclaim for their work was a thing of the past and frontman Ozzy Osbourne had quit the band. How do you come back from the brink under those circumstances. Against all the odds Balck Sabbath managed to pull off the ultimate coup, they recruited new frontman Ronnie James Dio and returned with what was widely hailed as their best album for almost a decade with 1980s Heaven and Hell.
Dio had come to prominence with country rock and blues outfit Elf, but it was as the frontman of Richie Blackmores Rainbow that he really perfected the style and voice that was to become his trademark. After a string of classic rock albums with Rainbow his placed was taken by the more commercial Graham Bonnett and Dio found himself fronting the perfect vehicle for his mysical lyrics, awesome voice and charismatic
stage presence. Whilst many people thought that Sabbath could not continue without Osbourne, the musical power house of Iommi, Butler and Ward were still on the team and the new line up came up with a set of songs that remain classics to this day.
As Neon Knights screams into action the influence of Dios supernatural lyrics and songwriting style becomes apparent, but along with the new found dark qualities of the new boy, there is also the old Sabbath, albeit refreshed, re-energised and chomping at the bit. The solid bass and drum twin attack provides a base for Iommis trademark guitar. The lyrics may be a bit cliche, but Dio has a way with words better than most rock singers and manages to keep things credible enough even when weaving the tales from his imaginary worlds, this is classic rock, no apologies, no regrets, the old Sabbath taking their place as masters of their genre once more.
By contrast accousic guitars duel with a high ended bassline on Children of the Sea, before the familiar full on sound is dropped into place. A slower and mournful song but with the pomp and epic granduer that sets this album on a pedestal. This song would have been at home on Dio`s defining album Rainbow Rising from some years before. Fans of early Rainbow will find much to admire on this album.
An almost funky bass line opens Lady Evil, typical Dio imagary being delivered on top of a punchy and phased out guitar riff. Dios voice stands out in all of its glory on the chorus and demonstrates why he was regarded as the best voice in rock music at the time.
The title track is the centre piece of the whole album, dark and quasi-religious, powerful and brooding. An epic guitar riff opens the song, one of Iommis finest, to drop away leaving just a drum and bass backbeat on which Dio`s solitary voice rises to fill all available space. Guitars crash and scream and basses pound, drums roll and all the time the voice manages to stay clear and in command. This is a masterclass in rock and metal songwriting and sounds as freah and original today as it did 24 years ago.
Keyboards wash into this track and a chorus pedal affected guitar plays its lonely solo, soon to be joined by a solid backbeat so that it can riff indulgently in crazy spirals all through the song, Die Young. The changes of pace, and nocturne-like piano passages stand along side the standard rock sounds to create one of the clever songs on the album. Walk Away is more upbeat riffing from Iommi and some wonderful fast paced on the octave bass lines from Butler, big choruses take this song out of the darker nature that dominates much of this album. Lonely is The Word is a slow and powerful lilt through standard metal territory, the guitars sounding at times like The Scorpions, a bit of a filler for such a classic album, but still a cracking song by anyone standards.
This is the album that launced a thousand immitations, but none of them were able to steal the thunder of this classic work. Even if you are not a fan of the heavy rock and metal genre, these songs have an almost orchestral quality and may appeal to a range of listeners. Its the sort of thing Wagner would have done if he had been born in 1962 and been given a Gibson Les Paul for his tenth birthday.
Ozzy Who?
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I would rate it the best album of the post-Osbourne era. "Neon Knights" and "Die Young" are especially great songs. And (sorry) but Ron Dios voice is far superior to Ozzy Osbourne's in expression. Also the guitars seem much more fast than usual. Comparing "Neon Knights" for instance with "War Pigs". The whole music has a little touch of Rainbow, a very famous group with Blackmore in those time and there came the star-fame of Ron Dio, who just left there. Ok will leave in some time Black Sabbath too, but he put his traces .... Good review Tomas
treemusicuk 20.07.2005 22:29
Yes! Great review of a criminally overlooked album.
Hippychick54 03.01.2005 18:28
What a band - I remember attending one of their first ever concerts - mind blowing!!!!!! peace and love Kate
Dec 6th, 2004
exceptional by (9%):
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