''Heaven and Hell'' is the ninth studio album by English
heavy metal band
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
, released on 18 April 1980. It is the first Black Sabbath album to feature vocalist
Ronnie James Dio, who replaced original vocalist
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
in 1979.
Produced by
Martin Birch
Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...
, the album was a commercial success, particularly in the United States, where it reached number 28 on the
''Billboard'' 200 chart and was certified platinum for one million sales.
[ In the band's native country, it sold well enough to be certified silver by the ]British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...
in April 1982.
Overview
The initial sessions for what became ''Heaven and Hell'' began with Ozzy Osbourne following the conclusion of Black Sabbath's Never Say Die! Tour. The band convened in Los Angeles for eleven months to record a new album, a process described by guitarist Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...
as a "highly frustrating, never-ending process". Osbourne has stated that he had become fed up with the experimentation on the preceding albums '' Technical Ecstasy'' and ''Never Say Die!
''Never Say Die!'' is the eighth studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath, released on 29 September 1978. It was the last studio album with the band's original lineup and the last studio album to feature original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne u ...
'', preferring the band's earlier, heavier sound. In his memoir, Iommi revealed that he still possesses a recording featuring Osbourne singing an early version of what would become "Children of the Sea" with different lyrics and "a totally different" vocal melody.
Ronnie James Dio was introduced to Iommi in 1979 by Sharon Arden, who would later marry Osbourne. Initially, Dio and Iommi discussed forming a new band, rather than a continuation of Black Sabbath. The pair met again by chance at The Rainbow
''The Rainbow'' is a novel by British author D. H. Lawrence, first published by Methuen & Co. in 1915. It follows three generations of the Brangwen family living in Nottinghamshire, focusing particularly on the individual's struggle to growth ...
on Sunset in Los Angeles later that year. Both men were in similar situations: Dio was seeking a new project and Iommi required a vocalist. "It must have been fate," Dio recalled, "because we connected so instantly." The pair kept in touch via telephone until Dio arrived at Iommi's Los Angeles house for a relaxed, getting-to-know-you jam session. On that first day, the duo finished " Children of the Sea", a song Iommi had abandoned prior to Osbourne's firing.
"Sabbath was a band that was floundering," Dio observed. "And, with my inclusion in it, we pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps, cared a lot about each other, and knew that we could do it again – especially under the banner of a band that had been so successful."
Sabbath's line-up was in a state of chaos as the band prepared to enter the studio to record what would become ''Heaven and Hell''. Not only had the band replaced its longtime vocalist, but drummer Bill Ward was battling personal issues that would see him also leave the band within months. Demo recordings for the album, including song titles like "Lady Evil Blues", "Slap Back", "Lord She's Handsome" and an early version of the title track featured Geoff Nicholls
Geoffrey James Nicholls (29 February 1944 – 28 January 2017) was a British guitarist and keyboardist, and longtime member of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath until 2004. Nicholls also played in the NWOBHM band Quartz before joining Black Sa ...
on bass, as longtime bassist Geezer Butler
Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is a English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heaven & Hell ...
was going through a divorce and his future with the band was in question. When Dio first joined the band, he doubled for a short time as bassist and vocalist, having played bass in the band Elf
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...
in the early 1970s. At one point Iommi contacted close friend Frank Zappa for help finding a bassist. Zappa offered his bassist for the ''Heaven and Hell'' sessions but Iommi preferred a permanent member. Eventually, Butler returned to the band and Nicholls stayed on as the band's unofficial keyboardist.
Former Elf and Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
bassist Craig Gruber also rehearsed with the band, though the extent of his involvement is unclear. In a 1996 interview, Iommi stated that Gruber participated only "for a bit". Gruber has stated that his contribution was quite substantial; he says he cowrote most of ''Heaven and Hell''s songs and that it was he and not Butler who played bass on the album. Despite not being credited for his contributions, Gruber says he and the band nonetheless reached "a suitable financial arrangement". Iommi conceded in his 2011 autobiography that Gruber had indeed recorded all the bass parts on ''Heaven and Hell'', but Butler had re-recorded them upon his return, without listening to Gruber's bass tracks. Gruber later stated in an interview in 2009 that he only helped write "Die Young".
Personal issues aside, drummer Bill Ward was not completely happy with the direction Black Sabbath was moving in creatively. "''Heaven and Hell'' for me wasn't a turning point," he recalled. "''Heaven and Hell'' was the beginning of a new band of which I had no idea what band I was in. It was almost like Ron was capable of coming up with lyrics that seemed to fit his idea of how Black Sabbath ''ought'' to be, and I sensed a kind of ''unrealness'' about the lyrics. My favourite song on ''Heaven and Hell'' was a blues song that we did, 'Lonely Is the Word' – and that seemed to be real. But things like 'Lady Evil', they seemed almost like bandwagon-type lyrics. 'Lonely Is the Word', I definitely liked playing that song. And 'Children of the Sea' – I did like to play that too. I thought Ronnie was a very good singer."
''Heaven and Hell'' was recorded at Miami's Criteria Studios
Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and ...
(in which the band recorded '' Technical Ecstasy'') and in Paris. Dio suggested the band hire producer Martin Birch
Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...
, who he had worked with as a member of Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
in the 1970s. Birch was Sabbath's first outside producer since the band parted ways with Rodger Bain
Rodger Bain (born 1945) is a British record producer, known for producing albums by heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Budgie and Judas Priest in the 1970s. He is mainly associated as the staff producer at Vertigo Records in the early to ...
following 1971's ''Master of Reality
''Master of Reality'' is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 21 July 1971 by Vertigo Records. It is regarded by some critics as the foundation of doom metal, stoner rock, and sludge metal. Taylor 2006, ...
'', with Iommi primarily producing the band's albums since that point by himself. Iommi stated that the band felt that they were creating something special in ''Heaven and Hell''. In his memoir, he wrote, "Ozzy would sing with the riff. Just listen to 'Iron Man' and you'll catch my drift: his vocal melody line copies the melody of the music. There was nothing wrong with that, but Ronnie liked singing across the riff instead of with it, come up with a melody that was different from that of the music, which musically opens a lot more doors. I don't want to sound like I'm knocking Ozzy, but Ronnie's approach opened up a new way for me to think."
Black Sabbath had a long history of playing pranks on drummer Ward, and this continued during the recording of ''Heaven and Hell''. During a slow day in the studio, Iommi doused Ward with a solution used by studio technicians to clean the tape heads, and he then set light to the solution, which was much more flammable than he had anticipated. Ward suffered third degree burns as a result and still has scars on his legs from the incident. Ward has stated that, due to his alcoholism, he has no memory at all of the period in which the album was recorded. His behaviour became erratic; on the Heaven & Hell Tour, Ward began dictating long and rambling press releases to the band's public relations representatives after every show, instructing them to "get that out on the news wires tonight". Ward's personal issues, which included the deaths of both his parents, would soon force him to leave the band. Dio recalled answering the telephone in his hotel room one morning mid-tour to hear Ward say "I'm off then, Ron", to which Dio replied "That's nice Bill, where are you going?" "No, I'm off mate. I'm at the airport now", indicating that he was incapable of completing the tour. American drummer Vinny Appice
Vincent Samson Appice (born September 13, 1957) is an American rock drummer best known for his work with the bands Dio, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell. Of Italian descent, he is the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice.
Career
Appic ...
was quickly brought in to replace him. The ''Heaven and Hell'' album represents the only Sabbath material recorded during the Dio-era that does not feature Appice on drums.
Artwork
The album's cover art was taken from a painting by artist Lynn Curlee, ''Smoking Angels'', inspired by a 1928 photograph of women dressed as angels smoking backstage during a break at a college pageant. The album's back cover illustration of the band was drawn by artist Harry Carmean.[
]
Reception
The album was successful, becoming the band's highest-charting album (No. 9 UK, No. 28 US) since 1975's ''Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
'' and the third highest-selling album of Black Sabbath behind ''Paranoid
Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy c ...
'' and ''Master of Reality
''Master of Reality'' is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 21 July 1971 by Vertigo Records. It is regarded by some critics as the foundation of doom metal, stoner rock, and sludge metal. Taylor 2006, ...
'', respectively. It was eventually certified platinum in 1986 for selling 1 million copies in the United States. In the UK, it became the third Black Sabbath studio album to attain silver certification (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in November 1980. It subsequently attained gold certification (100,000 units sold) in April 1982, the only Black Sabbath studio album to be thus certified. ''Heaven and Hell'' was re-released as part of the Black Sabbath box set '' The Rules of Hell'' in 2008. In 2017, it was ranked 37th at ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'''s "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".
Six of the album's tracks were played live, with only "Walk Away" and "Wishing Well" not making the setlists on the Heaven & Hell Tour. Four of those became mainstays in setlists for the band's tours with Dio and Tony Martin: "Children of the Sea", "Neon Knights", "Die Young" and the title track.
Some critics insisted that Dio's addition irretrievably altered the band, with ''Rolling Stone'' contending, "Although Dio could belt with the best of them, Sabbath would never be the same." In his autobiography, Iommi admits, "We were doing big shows and it was difficult for Ronnie to go out and stand in front of people who had seen Ozzy in that spot for ten years. Some of the kids hated it and they'd shout: 'Ozzy, Ozzy!' But eventually Ronnie won them over."
In an interview with Songfacts, current Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde
Zachary Phillip Wylde (born Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt; January 14, 1967) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and as the founder, lead guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and producer of the heavy meta ...
of Black Label Society
Black Label Society is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by guitarist/singer Zakk Wylde. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, one EP, and three vid ...
dismisses the idea of the Dio-era being authentic Sabbath: "You listen to Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio in it, and it's not Black Sabbath. They should have just called it Heaven & Hell right from the beginning. Because you listen to that ''Heaven and Hell'' album, that doesn't sound anything close to Black Sabbath. I mean, that sounds about as much like Black Sabbath as ''Blizzard of Ozz
''Blizzard of Ozz'' is the debut solo studio album by English singer Ozzy Osbourne, released on 12 September 1980 in the UK and on 27 March 1981 in the US. The album was Osbourne's first release following his firing from Black Sabbath in 1979. ...
'' sounds like Black Sabbath. If you were to play Black Sabbath for me – and I'm a huge Sabbath freako – and then with Father Dio over there, I'd be going, 'Oh, cool, what band is this? This is good stuff.' I mean, the songs don't even sound Black Sabbath-y. I mean, 'Neon Knights', could you picture Ozzy singing over that song?"
Mick Wall noted in his book ''Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe'', "For once their timing was spot on. In Britain, ''Sounds'' magazine had begun championing a new musical phenomenon it dubbed 'The New Wave of British Heavy Metal
The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...
' ... The reborn Black Sabbath, with their glistening new sound, incomparable new singer and top-drawer new album, were seen as part of a widespread revival in rock fandom."
Track listing
Standard Edition
All music written and arranged by Butler, Dio, Iommi, and Ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
; lyrics by Dio
2010 Deluxe Edition
Disc one contains the original album with no bonus tracks.
2021 Deluxe Edition
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[
;Black Sabbath
* Ronnie James Dio – lead vocals
*]Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...
– guitar
*Geezer Butler
Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is a English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heaven & Hell ...
– bass
* Bill Ward – drums, percussion
;Additional personnel
*Geoff Nicholls
Geoffrey James Nicholls (29 February 1944 – 28 January 2017) was a British guitarist and keyboardist, and longtime member of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath until 2004. Nicholls also played in the NWOBHM band Quartz before joining Black Sa ...
– keyboards
;Production
*Produced and engineered by Martin Birch
Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...
*Assistant engineer – Joe "C" Foglia
*Equipment: Graham Wright and Mickey Balla
* Remastered by Dan Hersch (2008 reissue)
*Album cover art ''Smoking Angels'' by Lynn Curlee
* Back cover illustration by Harry Carmean
* Art direction by Richard Seireeni
Release history
Charts
Album
Singles
Certifications
Notable covers
*In 2010, Machine Head
A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...
mainman, Robb Flynn
Robert Conrad Flynn (born Lawrence Matthew Cardine; July 19, 1967) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band Machine Head. Flynn formed the band along with Adam Duce, Logan Mader and Tony Cos ...
, released audio and video of an acoustic cover of "Die Youn
as a tribute to his former manager, Debbie Abono, who had died on the same day as Ronnie James Dio.
* Warrior (band), Warrior recorded "Neon Knights" for the 2010 ''Neon Knights – A Tribute to Black Sabbath'' album.
*The 2014 '' Ronnie James Dio – This Is Your Life'' tribute, overseen by Ronnie James Dio's long-time manager, Wendy Dio, included a cover of "Neon Knights" by Anthrax. Stryper's version of "Heaven and Hell" was a bonus track on the Japanese edition.
See also
* Heaven & Hell Tour
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1980 albums
Albums produced by Martin Birch
Black Sabbath albums
Vertigo Records albums
Warner Records albums