Friday, June 30, 2017

Black Sabbath - "Heaven and Hell" [1980]

Artist: Black Sabbath
Title: Heaven and Hell
Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: UK
Release date: 1980

Track List:
  1. Neon Knights
  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
This album is very well-known and already was reviewed multiple times before by much better reviewers than me, so I can only say that I consider it a masterpiece and by far the best release in the whole Black Sabbath discography (especially in contrast with several rather weak albums from the second half of 1970s). While the side B is slightly weaker than the side A, I still like nearly everything about this album, apart from its rather stupid cover art. Just like the subsequent release "Mob Rules", this album features Dio (R.I.P.) on vocals, but that's not the only thing that makes it quite different from all early Black Sabbath albums.

There was much debate if "Heaven and Hell" can be considered NWOBHM. While Black Sabbath formally are one of the founders of the "old" wave of British heavy metal, I personally think this album in particular very much fits the overall NWOBHM sound, and can be safely recommended as a great example of the genre:

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