MOB RULES

Mob Rules is the tenth full-length studio album by UK heavy metal act Black Sabbath. I learned a lesson listening to the predecessor Heaven and Hell (1980) as I remembered it in a very different way from when I first listened to it fifteen years ago to how it actually sounded when I listened to it again recently. I found that album to be a great success and a ressurection for a band that had gone astray on the albums Technical Ecstasy (1976) and Never Say Die (1978). The inclusion of the vital and skilled Ronnie James Dio on lead vocals was just the right medicine for a disillusioned Black Sabbath to get back on their feet again. Mob Rules continues the new sound of Black Sabbath and while it´s not vastly different from Heaven and Hell there are differences that sets them apart.

The music is heavy rock/ metal with an at times epic edge. The album has both great rockers like Turn Up the Night and The Mob Rules as well as more epic sounding heavy metal tracks like Over & Over and the beautiful and powerful The Sign of the Southern Cross. A fan favorite that the band has played on most tours ever since. I´ve been an Iron Maiden fan for years but never gave the Dio-era Black Sabbath albums a chance and that´s such a big mistake because if I was ever in doubt of what influenced the eighties Bruce Dickinson-era Iron Maiden I have my answer now. There are many similarities IMO.

The musicianship is excellent and while I mourn the loss of original drummer Bill Ward, new drummer Vinny Appice does a great job on this album. Tony Iommi´s guitar solos were more vital and powerful than ever on Heaven and Hell and he continues his fierce yet melodic style on Mob Rules.

The production which like on Heaven and Hell was done by Martin Birch ( Deep Purple and Iron Maiden) is a bit darker than on the predecessor but still powerful and very suiting for the music.

While I don´t find Mob Rules just as important or inspired as Heaven and Hell it´s still an excellent heavy metal album and another classic from Black Sabbath. Another transition period in the band´s history would follow as Ronnie James Dio would leave Black Sabbath after the tour supporting Mob Rules. The legacy that the two eighties Dio-era Black Sabbath albums left is enourmous though and I count them as some of the most important heavy metal albums from that period. A 4 star rating is warranted.