Ronnie James Dio in Black Sabbath

MKII Sabbath (a.k.a. the "alternative" Sabbath) brought the Black Sabbath name, back from the dead.

 

I had convinced myself, that Black Sabbath without Ozzy, just wasn't right, so the first time I heard Ronnie James Dio, on the vocals with Sabbath, was when a friend suggested I listen to the B side of Neon Knights.

To say I was blown away would be an understatement, and I still think Children Of The Sea, is a cracking song. I really shouldn't have been surprised, because I loved Rainbow, Rising and On Stage.

Heaven And Hell and to a lesser extent, Mob Rules are very good albums.

If the thought of Black Sabbath with Dio was strange, I saw them with Bev Bevan and Ian Gillan!

 

As much as I love the first two albums with Dio, I can't agree that they went "much farther musically."

While Dio was capable of more involved melodic development on Iommi's ideas, this is a band that had done everything from "War Pigs" to "Supernaut" to "Spiral Architect" to "She's Gone" and "Air Dance."

I will say H&H has some of the very best compositional work I've ever heard from a rock band. The title track alone is like a study in how to arrange ideas for a truly successful "epic." But then I could also say that about "The Writ," so...

 

I remember comparing Speak of the Devil to Live Evil and at that time, I preferred Ozzy's album over Sabbath's, but after acquiring Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules and letting Dio sink in, I found those releases to be strong and rewarding. Even Dehumanizer was a solid effort, despite its one-off status, and is often overlooked as a result of that factor. Ronnie was quoted as saying that he made some of his best music with Tony and Geezer and while I can somewhat agree with this, I too, also believe that what he did with Blackmore in Rainbow was ultimately definitive and including and after Sabbath, it gave him an incredible foundation for his solo career. But, to answer the original post question, Yes, I think Dio era Sabbath was as just as good if not as equal in some respects as when Ozzy was lead singer.

 

In the US, Sabbath were still playing Madison Square Garden and similar arenas in 1978. And I believe their entire UK tour in 1978 sold out upon initial announcement before Van Halen was even announced as the opening act.

No question the last two albums with Ozzy were experimental and struggled in the US, so things were on a bit of a downhill slide. But I think most other bands could only dream of being so "dead".

The whole "Dio saved Sabbath" thing is like one of those stories that makes the rounds. It's gone from he "re-energized them and brought in new fans" to he "put them back in the spotlight" to he "brought them back from the dead".

 

Feel better?

 

There are two kinds of Sabbath fans -- those who refuse to accept anything the band did without Ozzy, and those who will accept it.

I'm in the second camp. I like everything the band has ever done, with the exception of "Forbidden" and "13."

My personal opinion of the Dio stuff is that it's absolutely essential listening. Heaven & Hell and Mob Rules in particular are nearly perfect albums where I have a very hard time finding any flaws. I think Dio and Iommi/Butler brought out the best in one another. The stuff Dio did with Sabbath is in my opinion the best stuff he did with anybody in his entire career, including Rainbow and his own band.

 

Interesting clip. Sabbath explain why they fired (and carried on without) Ozzy...

 

The goal should always be to get history at least somewhat right. Would you disagree?

You said Dio "brought Sabbath back from the dead." I think the dead in rock 'n' roll is along the lines of opening up for "Puppet Show", not headlining Madison Square Garden.

 

He's right ya know. Both albums also Gold (something Born Again never achieved BTW).
And Ozzy, well, he did just fine.

As Tony said in that video "nobody ever replaced Ozzy, we just carried on".

 

I prefer Heaven and Hell over ALL of the Ozzy era records. The Mob Rules is ok and Dehumanizer fails to capture, for the most part, the glory of Heaven and Hell.

 

The album Heaven and Hell captures a band inspired again....even if Bill Ward can't remember recording it.

 

There's way more varieties than two. There's at least five:

1. Ozzy-only camp
2. Dio-only camp (yes, there really are people who say that the Dio albums are the best and that Ozzy always sucked)
3. Cut-off after Dio camp (Born Again haters who never bought anything after that)
4. Cut-off after Gillan (Born Again was genius, THEN it all went to hell)
5. EVERYTHING SABBATH EVER DID IS GENIUS AND IF YOU DON'T GET IT YOU'RE NOT A REAL FAN!

 

My take on Dio in Sabbath and I started listen to music and buying records at this time. Ozzy's last couple of albums were not great, good even. Then he left. Ward, Butler, Iommi were stuck, so the stole Dio from Rainbow. Most Sabbath fans were familiar with Dio because of Rainbow. Ozzy wasn't going back to Sabbath after he discovered Randy Rhodes. So Dio wasn't really shunned, at all. By the time Mob Rules came out, Dio was more than accepted. The fallout with the Live album led to the Ian Gillen album, who then left to rejoin Deep Purple. Dio all ready had his own band with a new guitarist in Vivian Campbell and Vinny Appice who left Sabbath with him. At this point Sabbath was just Iommi. These were very lean years for Sabbath until the reunions happened.

 

I never thought Ozzy sucked I just think that Dio really unlocked the metal god that Toni really was meant to be.....

 

It's spelled, Gillan.

 

Drop the Sabbath name?
That absolutely does not make any sense.
Why would Iommi, Butler and Ward want destroy their band name?
from a business standpoint that would be the dumbest thing they could do.

 

Surprised nobody has dragged Glen Hughes and Tony Martin into the discussion.

 

They might have dropped it, but they'd always 'own' it - so the possibility of resurrecting it somewhere down the road would always be there.

 

Dio didn't save Sabbath.
Sabbath saved Sabbath with tremendous hard work, brilliant song writing, and endless touring.
Ronnie was a great fit for that Sabbath lineup and Heaven & Hell was a strong comeback for a band that many thought might be over.

 

They didn't. Dio was out of Rainbow before he hooked up with Iommi. How he left (did he walk/did Blackmore fire him) is still disputed.

 

I think you might be missing the point here.
There was no reason to drop the band name.

 

People are always confusing Ian Gillen and Ray Gillian and Gillan Anderson.

 

Perhaps they could have changed it to Stormy Monday? Ya know...kinda keep the same feel. Black Friday and Black Tuesday could have also worked.