32 years ago today, denim clad youth lined up armed with curiosity and eagerness to hear Heaven and Hell, the first Black Sabbath album to not feature lead singer Ozzy Osbourne. After parting ways with Ozzy, Black Sabbath recruited former Elf/Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio to fill the void. Heaven and Hell was a departure from the dark, drug/occult inspired content that Sabbath had become known for. Instead, the songs dipped into the mystical mind and imagination of Ronnie James Dio which was a well accepted change. Heaven and Hell sold well and the band had a successful tour behind the album proving that there was indeed life after Ozzy.
Heaven and Hell is a magical album that still holds up extremely well. Like a fine wine, Heaven and Hell has aged into a timeless classic. Nothing about this album sounds like the Ozzy era Sabbath. Heaven and Hell is a complete change of face and the band stepped out of their skin donning brand new threads of creativity. To change directions their formula after so many years of consistency was risky but they pulled it off. The fans, for the most part, welcomed this new era with opened arms and clinched fists in the air. Heaven and Hell would be the last recorded Black Sabbath album to feature drummer /founding member Bill Ward. Ward would move on and later be replaced by the great Vinnie Appice for the remainder of the tour and for the following album Mob Rules.
Happy Birthday Heaven and Hell. 32 years later and it still goes on and on, and on, and on…
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