As winter approaches I have become
keenly aware that my best suit was built for warmer temperatures. I got it on an end of summer clearance, or I
never could have afforded it and it looks amazing, but it is getting damned
cold. Pretty soon I will have to break
down and get out a winter jacket, but for now I am delaying as long as
possible.
Disc 565 is…. Heaven and Hell
Artist: Black
Sabbath
Year of Release: 1980
What’s up with the Cover? “Smoking Angels” by artist Lynn Curlee. This is one of my all-time favourite album
covers, answering that eternal question “what do angels do when they are on a
break?” Have a smoke and play cards like
everyone else, it would seem. I even
have a t-shirt featuring smoking angels which I like in large part because it
reminds me of this album cover.
How I Came To Know It: Through my brother, Virgil. This was the first Black Sabbath album I ever
heard, so my first introduction to Sabbath so as a ten year old, I assumed that
Ronnie James Dio had always been their lead singer. I only later learned about
Ozzy Osbourne.
How It Stacks Up: I have eleven Black Sabbath albums, including one
live album. Dio is the singer on four of
them, and “Heaven and Hell” is the best of the four. It also stands up with the best of the Ozzy
albums as well. I had originally planned
to put this record second overall, but after listening I must reluctantly admit
that both “Paranoid” (reviewed at Disc 194) and their self-titled debut
(reviewed at Disc 105) are slightly better, so I am moving them up, and
dropping “Heaven and Hell” into fourth.
Rating: 4 stars but ever so close to 5
After ten years of records with
front man Ozzie Osbourne, “Heaven and Hell” was Black Sabbath’s first record
with a new vocalist. They chose former
Rainbow front man and metal god Ronnie James Dio. Surely the powerful personality of Dio and
the equally opinionated and talented Tony Iommi could never collaborate? Yeah, tell that to Jagger/Richards or
Lennon/McCartney. Like them, it caused
both artists to rise above.
The wheels would eventually come
off the creative vehicle of this incarnation of Black Sabbath, but here in the
opening discovery of just what they could do together by turning their
individual talents into something greater, the results are truly awe inspiring.
Ozzie had sung along in bluesy
style, aligning his vocals on the beat with the rhythm section. Of course his stoner-savant lyrics and
delivery had made the Sabbath sound classic.
Dio chose instead to soar above on the melody like an opera singer. He instead augments Iommi’s guitar riffs,
both complimenting them and competing with them. The result changed Sabbath’s sound, but was
no less awe-inspiring. If anything, “Heaven
and Hell” breathed new life into a band at a time when the quality of their
records was starting to tail off.
The change in sound is never more
apparent than on the opening track, “Neon
Knights.” On top of the churning
guitar-driven riff that defines Black Sabbath enters Dio, with his power metal
vocals blasting away. Dio’s bizarre
lyrics about ill-defined magic and mythology are in full display:
“Cry out to legions of the brave
Time again to save us from the jackals of the street
Ride out, protectors of the realm
Captains at the helm, sail across the sea of lights
“Circles and rings, dragons and kings
Weaving a charm and a spell
Blessed by the night, holy and bright
Called by the toll of the bell”
What the hell is he talking about? As
usual I have no idea, but it sounds very cool and important. This song really appealed to me when I was a
kid. In fact, my main bedroom decoration
growing up was a four foot square black satin flag above my bed depicting a
purple “Neon Knight” from their “Live Evil” album with matching “Black Sabbath”
lettering beside him. I loved that
tapestry and it is a good thing I don’t know what happened to it, because I’d
probably lobbying to put it up somewhere in the house.
While I may have downgraded this
album to #4 overall, it has some of my all-time favourite Black Sabbath
songs. The second track is the best on
the album. “Children of the Sea” is
perfectly played and perfectly paced. It
starts with an almost gentle combination of Iommi plucking guitar notes, and Geezer
Butler filling in the bass behind but soon launches into a full-bore churning
maelstrom of malice and roiling rock and roll.
The song sings of a doomed civilization that strongly reminded me of the
Innsmouth stories in H.P. Lovecraft’s horror novels.
In those stories, the grim-faced
people of Innsmouth make a dark deal with demonic people from the ocean’s
depths, in return for their wealth and power, but find themselves slowly
transformed into monsters themselves:
“We made the mountains shake with laughter as we played
Hiding in our corner of the world
Then we did the demon dance and rushed to nevermore
Threw away the key and locked the door
“Oh they say that it's over, yeah
And it just had to be
Yes they say that it's over
We're lost children of the sea”
There are other sections of the
song that suggest it is about some other doom entirely, but screw it. I love this song and I love Lovecraft, and
that’s what it means for me.
The other great five star song on
the album is the title track, which is more traditional Sabbath fare in terms
of its song structure and sound, albeit with Dio’s new voice. The song is a seven minute journey through
inspired guitar riffs, the thick pounding of Bill Ward’s drum style. It has a lot of layers of sound, but is
expertly mixed. Care to focus on the
bass for a while? It is there for you. Basic guitar riff got your groove? Thrash away.
Or maybe you prefer the clever little melodies Iommi inserts further
back in the mix. You can have that too. No matter how I approach this song, I can’t
find anything wrong with it.
In the past, I couldn’t find
anything wrong with the whole album, and I was a bit nervous when I rolled
it. I have just reviewed two five star
albums and adding a third would have made it look like I was getting soft.
This time around, however, I found
a few minor imperfections on the record.
The first side, composed of the above noted songs, plus the furiously
played “Lady Evil” is beyond
reproach. On the B side, there are a
couple of lesser tracks, however. “Wishing Well” is beautifully played, but
not a great or memorable song and “Walk
Away” has a bit of a later eighties metal sound that edges close to the
cheesy.
I know what you’re thinking –
those earlier lyrics aren’t cheesy? All
I can say is sometimes sheer greatness can transcend cheesy, and even make it awe-inspiring. It is a tough thing to deliver for a complete
record, but “Heaven and Hell” comes within a hair of pulling it off.
No comments:
Post a Comment