right?? this is one of the hardest music questions around.
typically when there's a split, at least one fragment suffers.. a lot of times both. in THIS case, these albums are head and shoulders better than Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die.
What a treat.. the split really worked out well for the fans.
One is sabbath and the other Ozzy solo. Not the same. BTW, IMHO Dio stuff is better than any of the Ozzy/BS stuff. When Dio was still around he even sounded better in concert with Black Sabbath.
that the last time I heard any of those albums was about 1985, I'd have to go with the latter because of Randy Rhoads. I spent countless hours between 15 and 18 lifting licks off of those two albums.
One is sabbath and the other Ozzy solo. Not the same. BTW, IMHO Dio stuff is better than any of the Ozzy/BS stuff. When Dio was still around he even sounded better in concert with Black Sabbath.
Yeah, those Dio albums were great. I haven't heard those since about 1985 either. :)
I would have to go with H&H/Mob Rules. I've always said Sabbath is my favorite band and even if I considered the Dio stuff alone it would still easily make my top 5.
his first rehearsal with Sabbath, he got there and they got right into it... first song, Children Of The Sea. They knew right then, it was going to be a great fit.
love Ozzy and huge Randy fan too. In fact, the quote under my HS yearbook pic is from Diary of a Madman.
As a guitar player, I have to go with Blizzard/Diary. This is taking nothing away from Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules. Those were brilliant albums too. All four albums have left a mark on my life and are a part of my soul.
I remember listening to the Mob Rules album at a ski house in the Poconos when I learned of Randy's tragic death.
As for the initial debate I love both dio sabbath and solo ozzy. It think I like mob rules more than heaven and hell... Not mentioned was ozzy's second solo and sadly his last with Rhodes, diary of a madman which was awesome as well.
Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules have too many meh songs. Ozzy's first two were classics front to back. And being a teenager at the time, we all knew it too.
I love the song born again and zero the hero
Ian Gillen very underrated with sabbath
I would go with heaven and hell over mob rules
Blizzard and diary are both great
From what I hear they are basically written during same studio session
Randy was some damn cool sounding
Wish we had some more of him
Dio and ozzy is like comparing apples to oranges
Both great but ozzy is sabbath
Last did cd with sabbath. Aka. Heaven and hell is still real good
Did sounds great and basically he was 65 and dying when they did it. Amazing
I want one more ozzy sabbath cd
Really liked 13
Hope they do a follow up
Fyi. Exodus fans. New cd out this week. Very heavy and very good
Heaven & Hell and Mob Rules were where you got a good glimps of what Tony could do as a guitarist, much different than previous Sabbath albums. Less of the plodding heavy bar chords.
"What I'm really happy about is, if this is BLACK SABBATH's last hurrah, then we'll have ended it on an up note rather than when I left in 1979 and everybody was fucked up on one thing or another and I was marked out as being the worst, you know. It ended on a bad note, so... The only thing sad about it is I hope [drummer] Bill Ward can get his stuff together to do this because... one of the biggest things I'm proud of in my life was that BLACK SABBATH wasn't a band that was created by some business mogul in London or New York. That we were four guys who had a great idea and it worked from record one, and we still... Would you believe that it took 45 years to get our first No. 1 album in America? It was amazing to me."
Read more at
Blizzard and Diary are filled with hits--A-Z. The batting average on both albums is basically 1000 -'batting average'..I got that reference from McKee I believe? Mob Rules and Born again don't bring the album coverage that Ozzy's solo work did. Love em both, especially MR but Ozzy's first two solos are just better collective efforts.
is an electrician in Manhattan and ran into Tony Iommi in building he (i.e., my friend) was working in. He said TI was very surprised that someone recognized him and was super friendly. This was about a year ago.
They were playing the mid Hudson civic center and we're hanging out at a night club called berties ( which is a dance club) on a slow nite during the week
Iommi. Geezer and tony Martin. Who was the singer then
Know one knew who they were. We were stunned. Went up to them to say hello They were stunned that we knew them
They invited us to sit down and have drinks. We drank all nite with them and just chilled out. Nothing crazy. Mellow cool guys. Think my buddies younger sister took tony Martin hiking in new paltz next day
I really liked Ozzy with Randy Rhoades, not a fan of him without RR actually. SATO is still a song I will listen to now and again, probably my favorite Ozzy song.
I really liked Sabbath with Dio, but I would probably rate them as equal. I was happy to listen to either as a kid. I loved RR's playing and style, but I am a huge fan of Tony Iommi's tone and style, I always liked his tone better than RR.
And Born again was definitely under-rated, I LOVED that album... lol. Trashed is a great tune.
cover to cover. There's not a weak point on the whole album. No fluff, not one bad moment. That, to me, is the best album out of all 4 mentioned in the OP.
every album is like a different child. All beautiful in their own way. Love them all for various reasons.
I see some comparisons of old Black Sabbath vs DIO or Ozzy vs Dio. Maybe this will put it into some perspective.
It is the OLD Black Sabbath that paved the way for the music of today. 9 out of 10 rock bands point to the old black sabbath as a major musical influence. Ozzy's voice will never be BETTER than Dio's was. However, Ozzy had a stage presence that Dio and anyone else could not replicate. Remember, Black Sabbath was a live band first and recording records was secondary. You really need to listen to the first couple of albums and then think about that music vs everything else that was out there AT THAT TIME. It was truly ground breaking. Tony Iommi not only wrote music that was so deep, but the sound literally surrounded you and was so deep and ridden with blues.
The technically difficult and perfect playing of Randy was also amazing. If he was alive today, he would be teaching classical guitar to kids.
For the others here who also are musicians, you know what I am talking about. Some of you are just a little too young to have lived through the Black Sabbath of the 70's.
typically when there's a split, at least one fragment suffers.. a lot of times both. in THIS case, these albums are head and shoulders better than Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die.
What a treat.. the split really worked out well for the fans.
Yeah, those Dio albums were great. I haven't heard those since about 1985 either. :)
I like the Dio sabbath albums better than the Ozzy solo, but the Ozzy solo have some real gems on them. Steal Away is the best Ozzy solo song.
not to mention one of the scariest covers of all time
not to mention one of the scariest covers of all time
I remember that tour. They played MSG with Quiet Riot opening. Not a fan of that album
Can you imagine that rehearsal. WOW.
As a guitar player, I have to go with Blizzard/Diary. This is taking nothing away from Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules. Those were brilliant albums too. All four albums have left a mark on my life and are a part of my soul.
I remember listening to the Mob Rules album at a ski house in the Poconos when I learned of Randy's tragic death.
As for the initial debate I love both dio sabbath and solo ozzy. It think I like mob rules more than heaven and hell... Not mentioned was ozzy's second solo and sadly his last with Rhodes, diary of a madman which was awesome as well.
Southern Cross at that H&H show a bunch of years ago at Radio City, with a nice jam in the middle..that was my highlight
Ian Gillen very underrated with sabbath
I would go with heaven and hell over mob rules
Blizzard and diary are both great
From what I hear they are basically written during same studio session
Randy was some damn cool sounding
Wish we had some more of him
Dio and ozzy is like comparing apples to oranges
Both great but ozzy is sabbath
Last did cd with sabbath. Aka. Heaven and hell is still real good
Did sounds great and basically he was 65 and dying when they did it. Amazing
I want one more ozzy sabbath cd
Really liked 13
Hope they do a follow up
Fyi. Exodus fans. New cd out this week. Very heavy and very good
Ozzy confirmed that there's one more album and one more tour. Whether it will happen is another story, but he said it's happening.
It would be nice if the reconcile with Bill Ward for this last go-round.
If all 4 albums were in front of me and I was told I can only listen to two.. I'd do Mob Rules first, and then Heaven & Hell.
iommi health ok so far
Read more at
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ozzy-osbourne-hopes-bill-ward-can-get-his-stuff-together-before-next-black-sabbath-album-tour/#d1U0HVt8V0hR0jMY.99
Iommi. Geezer and tony Martin. Who was the singer then
Know one knew who they were. We were stunned. Went up to them to say hello They were stunned that we knew them
They invited us to sit down and have drinks. We drank all nite with them and just chilled out. Nothing crazy. Mellow cool guys. Think my buddies younger sister took tony Martin hiking in new paltz next day
I really liked Sabbath with Dio, but I would probably rate them as equal. I was happy to listen to either as a kid. I loved RR's playing and style, but I am a huge fan of Tony Iommi's tone and style, I always liked his tone better than RR.
And Born again was definitely under-rated, I LOVED that album... lol. Trashed is a great tune.
TURN UP THE NIGHT!!!!
I'll check my emails after the record.
I see some comparisons of old Black Sabbath vs DIO or Ozzy vs Dio. Maybe this will put it into some perspective.
It is the OLD Black Sabbath that paved the way for the music of today. 9 out of 10 rock bands point to the old black sabbath as a major musical influence. Ozzy's voice will never be BETTER than Dio's was. However, Ozzy had a stage presence that Dio and anyone else could not replicate. Remember, Black Sabbath was a live band first and recording records was secondary. You really need to listen to the first couple of albums and then think about that music vs everything else that was out there AT THAT TIME. It was truly ground breaking. Tony Iommi not only wrote music that was so deep, but the sound literally surrounded you and was so deep and ridden with blues.
The technically difficult and perfect playing of Randy was also amazing. If he was alive today, he would be teaching classical guitar to kids.
For the others here who also are musicians, you know what I am talking about. Some of you are just a little too young to have lived through the Black Sabbath of the 70's.