BLACK SABBATH “13 - Fire” /TS/

Official merch.
Official Black Sabbath 16 oz ceramic mug with wide handle in a decorated gift box.
Packed in a matching cardboard display box.
100% Officially Licensed Product.
Microwave and dishwasher safe!
Size: 10 cm x 8,5 cm.
Black Sabbath/Singatures Network/Rock Express, 2008 (BSMUG01). Made in China for UK.

The third DVD by the legendary British Hard Rock/Heavy Metal band.
This is the first-ever live DVD from legendary Metal superstars, which includes all of Sabbath's biggest hits performed live. The "Last Supper" features all of the original members of Black Sabbath on their sold-out 1999 Reunion tour, and includes behind-the-scenes interviews and tour photos.
The original line-up get together for classic Sabbath. Each member sounds good as ever, it's amazing to think that Ozzy is so messed up from drugs, he still puts on a good show. The set list is fantastic, but stupidly, they put interviews halfway between songs, for example the solo in "Ironman" is interupted by a rediculous interview with Geezer Butler. There is a cool documentary as one of the special features. Filming throughout is very good.
This DVD is probably one of the best live ones out there today. It's from a great band with great members. The most impressive thing on this DVD is probably seeing Sabbath out there playing and rocking hard even at their old age. We salute you, Black Sabbath!!
DVD 5 | Dolby Surround 5.1 & Dolby Digital 2.0 | 0 | 4:3 | 120 min. approx.
Columbia Music Video/Sony Music Entertainment Inc., 1999 (202193 9). Russian bootleg.

Tracklist:
1. Program Start
2. War Pigs
3. N.I.B.
4. Electric Funeral
5. Fairies Wear Boots
6. Into The Void
7. Sweet Leaf
8. Snowblind
9. After Forever
10. Dirty Women 
11. Black Sabbath
12. Iron Man
13. Children Of The Grave
14. Paranoid
15. Closing Credits

The first live album by legendary British Heavy/Doom Metal band.
Despite its wide distribution, it was released without any permission or knowledge from the band, and is thus considered "unofficial" in some quarters; however, the release was legal. In the US it was available only as an import.
The album was included when the Sabbath albums were issued on CD in Europe by Castle Communications in 1986 and again in remastered and repackaged form in the label's 1996 remaster series. The vinyl version and the first CD issue feature the spoken intro of, "Will You Welcome... Black Sabbath!" which, oddly, would be edited from the remaster and "Past Lives".
All tracks were recorded at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England on March 11, 1973 and the Rainbow Theatre in London, England on March 16, 1973. It is not known for definite from which concert the individual tracks arose, as this is not stated on the original release and there are, to date no known bootlegs for comparison.
Nems Records Ltd./Beograd Disk, 1980 (LPS 1019). Made in Yugoslavia. First press. Limited to 8000 copies. Used: cover/vinyl: VG+/NM-.


Tracklist:

Side One…
1. Tomorrows Dream 3:15
2. Sweet Leaf 5:22
3. Killing Yourself To Live 5:28
4. Cornucopia 4:04
5. Snowblind 4:40
6. Children Of The Grave 4:31

Side Two…
1. War Pigs 7:37
2. Wicked World 18:44
3. Paranoid 3:09

Total playing time: 57:04 min.

The fourth full-length album by legendary British Heavy/Doom Metal band.
"Vol. 4" is the point in Black Sabbath's career where the band's legendary drug consumption really starts to make itself felt. And it isn't just in the lyrics, most of which are about the blurry line between reality and illusion. "Vol. 4" has all the messiness of a Heavy Metal Exile on Main St., and if it lacks that album's overall diversity, it does find Sabbath at their most musically varied, pushing to experiment amidst the drug-addled murk. As a result, there are some puzzling choices made here, and the album often contradicts itself. Ozzy Osbourne's wail is becoming more powerful here, taking greater independence from Tony Iommi's guitar riffs, yet his vocals are processed into a nearly textural element on much of side two.
Parts of "Vol. 4" are as ultra-heavy as "Master Of Reality", yet the band also takes its most blatant shots at accessibility to date, and then undercuts that very intent. The effectively concise "Tomorrow's Dream" has a chorus that could almost be called radio-ready, were it not for the fact that it only appears once in the entire song. "St. Vitus Dance" is surprisingly upbeat, yet the distant-sounding vocals don't really register. The notorious piano-and-Mellotron ballad "Changes" ultimately fails not because of its change-of-pace mood, but more for a raft of the most horrendously clichéd rhymes this side of "moon-June". Even the crushing "Supernaut", perhaps the heaviest single track in the Sabbath catalog, sticks a Funky, almost danceable acoustic breakdown smack in the middle. Besides "Supernaut", the core of "Vol. 4" lies in the midtempo cocaine ode "Snowblind", which was originally slated to be the album's title track until the record company got cold feet, and the multi-sectioned Prog-leaning opener, "Wheels of Confusion". The latter is one of Iommi's most complex and impressive compositions, varying not only riffs but textures throughout its eight minutes.
Many Doom and Stoner Metal aficionados prize the second side of the album, where Osbourne's vocals gradually fade further and further away into the murk, and Iommi's guitar assumes center stage. The underrated "Cornucopia" strikes a better balance of those elements, but by the time "Under the Sun" closes the album, the lyrics are mostly lost under a mountain of memorable, contrasting riffery.
Add all of this up, and "Vol. 4" is a less cohesive effort than its two immediate predecessors, but is all the more fascinating for it. Die-hard fans sick of the standards come here next, and some end up counting this as their favorite Sabbath record for its eccentricities and for its embodiment of the band's excesses!
Kerrang! Magazine listed the album at No. 48 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone ranked it 14th on their 2017 list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". The album was also included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company, 1972/2015 (BMGRM056LP). Made in EU. 180g vinyl.


Tracklist:

Side One
1. Wheels Of Confusion 8:14
2. Tomorrows Dream 3:12
3. Changes 4:46
4. Fx 1:43
5. Supernaut 4:46

Side Two
1. Snowblind 5:32
2. Cornucopia 3:55
3. Laguna Sunrise 2:53
4. St. Vitus Dance 2:30
5. Under The Sun 5:50

Total playing time: 43:31 min.

The nineteenth full-length studio album by the legendary British Heavy Metal band.
The album was released on 10 June in Europe and 11 June in North America, via Vertigo Records and Republic Records in the US, and via Vertigo Records worldwide. It is the first studio album released by Black Sabbath since “Forbidden” (1995), and their first studio recording with original singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler since the live album “Reunion” (1998), which contained two new studio tracks. It is also the first studio album with Osbourne since “Never Say Die!” (1978), and with Butler since “Cross Purposes” (1994).
The original lineup of Black Sabbath first began work on a new studio album in 2001 with producer Rick Rubin. The album's development was delayed because Osbourne was in the middle of finishing his eighth solo album “Down to Earth”, and the rest of the band members eventually went on to pursue other projects, including GZR and Heaven & Hell. When Black Sabbath announced their reunion on 11 November 2011, the band announced that they would restart work on a new album with Rubin. In addition to original members Osbourne, Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi, they were joined at the recording sessions by drummer Brad Wilk, of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, following original drummer Bill Ward's decision to not participate in the reunion, due to a "contractual dispute".
For the cover artwork for was created an 8-foot-tall "13" from wicker, which was then set on fire in the Buckinghamshire countryside. The flames were visible for miles. The image was shot for album's cover.
Album reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart after its first week of sales. It is the band's first album to top the UK chart since “Paranoid” (1970). Osbourne was said to be "in shock" at the album's success, remarking that the band has "never had a record climb the charts so fast" before. The album also reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 charts, selling over 155,000 copies in the first week. Osbourne said, "There have been so many amazing highlights in our long career. To finally have our first #1 album in the U.S. is another incredible milestone for Black Sabbath." In its second week of release, the album fell to No. 5 in the US, selling 46,000, totaling 201,000 copies, and in its third week, 13 sold over 26,000 bringing its total sales to 227,000 copies in the US. The album also debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart with 25,000 units sold.
BS Productions/Universal Music/Vertigo, 2013 (3734957). Made in Germany. First press.


Tracklist:
1. End Of The Beginning 08:02
2. God Is Dead? 08:48
3. Loner 05:00
4. Zeitgeist 04:34
5. Age Of Reason 06:57
6. Live Forever 04:42
7. Damaged Soul 07:48
8. Dear Father 07:18
Total playing time: 53:09

Special Edition release of the nineteenth full-length album by the legendary British Heavy Metal band.
The album was released on 10 June in Europe and 11 June in North America, via Vertigo Records and Republic Records in the US, and via Vertigo Records worldwide. It is the first studio album released by Black Sabbath since “Forbidden” (1995), and their first studio recording with original singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler since the live album “Reunion” (1998), which contained two new studio tracks. It is also the first studio album with Osbourne since “Never Say Die!” (1978), and with Butler since “Cross Purposes” (1994).
The original lineup of Black Sabbath first began work on a new studio album in 2001 with producer Rick Rubin. The album's development was delayed because Osbourne was in the middle of finishing his eighth solo album “Down to Earth”, and the rest of the band members eventually went on to pursue other projects, including GZR and Heaven & Hell. When Black Sabbath announced their reunion on 11 November 2011, the band announced that they would restart work on a new album with Rubin. In addition to original members Osbourne, Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi, they were joined at the recording sessions by drummer Brad Wilk, of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, following original drummer Bill Ward's decision to not participate in the reunion, due to a "contractual dispute".
For the cover artwork for was created an 8-foot-tall "13" from wicker, which was then set on fire in the Buckinghamshire countryside. The flames were visible for miles. The image was shot for album's cover.
Album reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart after its first week of sales. It is the band's first album to top the UK chart since “Paranoid” (1970). Osbourne was said to be "in shock" at the album's success, remarking that the band has "never had a record climb the charts so fast" before. The album also reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 charts, selling over 155,000 copies in the first week. Osbourne said, "There have been so many amazing highlights in our long career. To finally have our first #1 album in the U.S. is another incredible milestone for Black Sabbath." In its second week of release, the album fell to No. 5 in the US, selling 46,000, totaling 201,000 copies, and in its third week, 13 sold over 26,000 bringing its total sales to 227,000 copies in the US. The album also debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart with 25,000 units sold.
Limited Special Edition Digipack contains 3D/hologram lenticular cover and second CD with three bonus tracks!
BS Productions Limited/Vertigo, 2013 (602537349586). Made in Germany. First press.


Tracklist:

CD 1:
1. End Of The Beginning     8:06 
2. God Is Dead?     8:52 
3. Loner     4:59 
4. Zeitgeist     4:37 
5. Age Of Reason     7:01 
6. Live Forever     4:46 
7. Damaged Soul     7:51 
8. Dear Father     7:20

CD 2:
1. Methademic     5:58 
2. Peace Of Mind     3:41    
3. Pariah     5:35

Total playing time: 68:46

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Remastered re-release of the fifth full-length studio album by legendary British Hard Rock/Heavy Metal band.
With this album, the band expanded upon their slow, crunching style of music by strings, keyboards and more complex orchestral arrangements. For the first time in their career, the band began to receive favorable reviews in the mainstream press, with Rolling Stone calling the album "an extraordinarily gripping affair", and "nothing less than a complete success". Later reviewers such as All Music's Eduardo Rivadavia cite the album as "a masterpiece, essential to any heavy metal collection", while also displaying "a newfound sense of finesse and maturity". The album marked the band's fifth consecutive platinum selling album in the United States. It reached number four on the UK charts and number eleven in the US. In the UK, it was the first Black Sabbath album to attain Silver certification (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in February 1975.
Remastered edition made from the original source tapes and contains 16 page booklet featuring rare memorabilia and new in-depth story of the album written in conjunction with Bill Ward.
Sanctuary/Universal, 1973/2009 (2716846). Made in Germany.
 

Tracklist:
1. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 05:46
2. A National Acrobat 06:15
3. Fluff 04:13
4. Sabbra Cadabra 05:58
5. Killing Yourself To Live 05:40
6. Who Are You 04:11
7. Looking For Today 04:59
8. Spiral Architect 05:29
Total playing time: 42:36 min.

Third remastered re-release of the sixth full-length studio album by legendary British Hard Rock/Heavy Metal band.
Sanctuary Records, 1975/2004 (SMRCD036) Made in UK.


Tracklist:
1. Hole In The Sky
2. Don't Start (Too Late)
3. Symptom Of The Universe
4. Megalomania
5. The Thrill Of It All
6. Supertzar
7. Am I Going Insane (Radio)
8. The Writ
Total playing time: 43:44 min.

The eleventh full-length studio album by legendary British Heavy Metal band.
The first and only album the band recorded with lead vocalist Ian Gillan, best known for his work with Deep Purple. It was also the last Black Sabbath album for nine years to feature original bassist Geezer Butler and the last to feature original drummer Bill Ward, though Ward did record a studio track with the band fifteen years later on their 1998 live album "Reunion".
Following the departure of vocalist Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinny Appice in 1982, Sabbath's future was in doubt. The band switched management to Don Arden (Sharon Osbourne's father) and he suggested Ian Gillan as the new vocalist. The band had considered vocalists such as Robert Plant and David Coverdale before settling on Gillan. They even received an audition tape from a then-unknown Michael Bolton. Iommi told Hit Parader Magazine in late 1983 that Gillan was the best candidate, saying: "His shriek is legendary." "Born Again" featured the return of founding member Bill Ward on drums, who was newly sober after leaving the band in 1980 to deal with his alcoholism. Ward began drinking again near the end of the sessions and returned to Los Angeles for treatment once the album was completed, and has remained sober ever since. Ward has said that he enjoyed making the album, which remains his final studio album with the band.
When the band heard the final product, they were horrified at the muffled mix. In his autobiography, Iommi explains that Gillan inadvertently blew a couple of tweeters in the studio speakers by playing the backing tracks too loud and nobody noticed. "We just thought it was a bit of a funny sound, but it went very wrong somewhere between the mix and the mastering and the pressing of that album... the sound was really dull and muffly. I didn't know about it, because we were already out on tour in Europe. By the time we heard the album, it was out and in the charts, but the sound was awful". For all his misgivings, Gillan remembers the period fondly, stating in the Black Sabbath: 1978–1992 documentary, "But by God, we had a good year...And the songs, I think, were quite good".
Following the tour supporting "Born Again", this version of Black Sabbath fell apart, with Gillan and touring drummer Bev Bevan departing. The tour was also a breaking point for Butler, who admits in the Black Sabbath: 1978–1992 documentary, "I just got totally disillusioned with the whole thing and I left some time in 1984 after the Born Again tour. I just had enough of it."
It was the first Black Sabbath album to not have any RIAA certification in the US. Despite this, it was the highest charting Black Sabbath album in the United Kingdom since "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (1973), reaching No. 4 in the charts, and became Top 40 hit in the United States.
Gimcastle Ltd./Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company, 1993/2004 (SMRCD075). Made in EU.


Tracklist:
1. Trashed 4:17
2. Stonehenge 1:58
3. Disturbing The Priest 5:49
4. The Dark 0:45
5. Zero The Hero 7:35
6. Digital Bitch 3:39
7. Born Again 6:34
8. Hot Line 4:53
9. Keep It Warm 5:36
Total playing time: 41:06 min.

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The sixteenth full-length studio album by legendary British Heavy/Doom Metal band.
One of Sabbath's heaviest albums and the first studio album in over a decade to feature vocalist Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinny Appice, and their first in nine years to feature original bassist Geezer Butler. Although the Sabbath lineup was the same as on 1981's "Mob Rules", the musical direction is very different, and a marked change from their previous material, particularly the preceding "Tyr". Much of the album anticipates the directions taken by Dio in his eponymous solo band's next two records, "Strange Highways" (1993) and "Angry Machines" (1996).
Black Sabbath and Dio created a monster of an album. Ronnie James Dio delivers his strongest performance since the early '80s, and hearing Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi play together after nine years is inspiring. Commercially, the album marked a resurgence for Black Sabbath. It reached the Top 40 in the UK, and peaked at number 44 on the Billboard 200 chart.
I.R.S. Records/ EMI Records Ltd., 1992 (0777 713155 2 7). Made in EU.


Tracklist:
1. Computer God 6:10
2. After All (The Dead) 5:37
3. TV Crimes 3:58
4. Letters From Earth 4:12
5. Master Of Insanity 5:54
6. Time Machine 4:10
7. Sins Of The Father 4:43
8. Too Late 6:54
9. I 5:10
10. Buried Alive 4:47
Total playing time: 51:35 min.

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The eighth and the final live album by legendary British Heavy Metal band.
This monumental show brought down the curtain on a career of Black Sabbath that spanned almost half a century. On 4 February 2017, the band stormed the stage in their hometown of Birmingham for their final triumphant gig from their farewell concert tour, known as The End Tour. Performing at the show and on the album are founding Black Sabbath members: Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler. They performed with session drummer Tommy Clufetos filling in for the band's original drummer, Bill Ward, as well as keyboardist and guitarist Adam Wakeman.
"The End: Live in Birmingham" was released on 17 November 2017, preceded by a concert film, "Black Sabbath: The End Of The End", which was released on 28 September.
It started nearly five decades ago with a crack of thunder, a distant bell ringing and then that monstrous riff that shook the earth. The heaviest Rock sound ever heard. At that moment, Heavy Metal was born, created by a young band from Birmingham, England, barely out of their teens. Now it ends - Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler close the final chapter in the final volume of the incredible Black Sabbath story. It is truly "The End", the end of one of most legendary bands in Rock 'n' Roll history...
Triple 180g Heavyweight Blue Vinyl in Gatefold Cover.
BS Productions Limited/Eagle Rock Entertainment Ltd., a Universal Music Group company, 2017/2020 (0879988). Made in Germany.


Tracklist:

Side A
1. Black Sabbath 7:28
2. Fairies Wear Boots 6:28
3. Under The Sun / Every Day Comes And Goes 7:04
Side B
1. After Forever 6:27
2. Into The Void 7:07
3. Snowblind 6:40
Running time: 41:14 min.

Side C
1. Band Intros 1:32
2. War Pigs 8:32
3. Behind The Wall Of Sleep 3:33
4. Bassically / N.I.B. 6:38
Side D
1. Hand Of Doom 7:07
2. Supernaut / Sabbath Bloody Sabbath / Megalomania 3:28
3. Rat Salad / Drum Solo 8:21
Running time: 39:11 min.

Side E
1. Iron Man 7:53
2. Dirty Women 8:23
Side F
1. Children Of The Grave 6:33
2. Paranoid 4:48
Running time: 27:37 min.

Total playing time: 108:02 min.

The third full-length studio album by legendary British Heavy Metal/Stoner band.
It is regarded by some critics as the foundation of Doom Metal, Stoner Rock, and Sludge Metal.
The shortest album of Black Sabbath's glory years, "Master Of Reality" is also their most sonically influential work. Here Tony Iommi began to experiment with tuning his guitar down three half-steps to C#, producing a sound that was darker, deeper, and Sludgier than anything they'd yet committed to record. This trick was still being copied 25 years later by every Metal band looking to push the limits of heaviness, from trendy Nu-Metallers to Swedish Deathsters. Much more than that, "Master Of Reality" essentially created multiple Metal subgenres all by itself, laying the sonic foundations for Doom, Stoner and Sludge Metal, all in the space of just over half an hour.
The album peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart and number eight on the US Billboard 200, where it achieved Gold status on advance orders alone. Negatively received by critics on release, the album is now considered one of the greatest Heavy Metal albums of all time. It was certified double Platinum after having sold over two million copies in US.
In 1994, "Master Of Reality" was ranked number 28 in Colin Larkin's Top 50 Heavy Metal Albums. In 2001, Q included it in their list of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 298 in their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, 300 in a 2012 revised list, and 234 in a 2020 revised list. The same magazine also ranked the album 34th on its "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".
180g Heavyweight Black Vinyl in Embossed Cover.
Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company, 1971/2015 (BMGRM055LP). Made in Germany. 


Tracklist:

Side One
1. Sweet Leaf 5:05
2. After Forever 5:27
3. Embryo 0:28
4. Children Of The Grave 5:18

Side Two
1. Orchid 1:31
2. Lord Of This World 5:26
3. Solitude 5:02
4. Into The Void 6:12

Total playing time: 34:29 min.

50th Anniversary re-release of the debut full-length studio album by legendary British Heavy Metal band.
Black Sabbath's debut album is the birth of Heavy Metal as we now know it. Compatriots like Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple were already setting new standards for volume and heaviness in the realms of Psychedelia, Blues Rock, and Prog Rock. Yet of these Metal pioneers, Sabbath were the only whose sound today remains instantly recognizable as Heavy Metal, even after decades of evolution in the genre.
The album is widely regarded as the first Heavy Metal album. Additionally, the opening track, "Black Sabbath", has been referred to as the first Doom Metal song. According to Black Sabbath's guitarist and founding member Tony Iommi, the album was recorded in a single twelve-hour session on 16 October 1969. Aside from the bells, thunder and rain sound effects added to the beginning of the opening track and the double-tracked guitar solos on "N.I.B." and "Sleeping Village", there were virtually no overdubs added to the album. The key to the band's new sound on the album was Iommi's distinctive playing style that he developed after an accident at a sheet metal factory where he was working at the age of 17 in which the tips of the middle fingers of his fretting hand were severed. Iommi created a pair of false fingertips using plastic from a dish detergent bottle and detuned the strings on his guitar to make it easier for him to bend the strings, creating a massive, heavy sound.
"Black Sabbath" is a revolutionary debut whose distinctive ideas merely await a bit more focus and development. Henceforth, Black Sabbath would forge ahead with a vision that was wholly theirs.
Upon release, the album reached number eight on the UK Albums Charts and number 23 on the US Billboard 200. In 1989, Kerrang! Magazine ranked "Black Sabbath" number 31 on their "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". In 1994, it was ranked number 12 in Colin Larkin's Top 50 Heavy Metal Albums. In 2000, Q Magazine included "Black Sabbath" in their list of the "Best Metal Albums of All Time". In 2003, it was ranked number 241 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, 243 in a 2012 revised list, and 355 in a 2020 revised list. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked "Black Sabbath" number 44 in their list of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time, describing the title track as the song that "would define the sound of a thousand bands". Additionally, in 2017, the magazine ranked it 5th on their list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". The album was also included in Robert Dimery's 2005 musical reference book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Remastered re-release on 180g Heavyweight Black Vinyl.
Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company, 1970/2015 (BMGRM053LP). Made in Germany. 


Tracklist:

Side One
1. Black Sabbath 6:21
2. The Wizard 4:25
3. Behind The Wall Of Sleep 4:19
4. N.I.B. 5:25

Side Two
1. Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games With Me) (Crow cover) 3:25
2. Sleeping Village 3:46
3. Warning (Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation cover) 10:32

Total playing time: 38:13 min.

40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition remastered re-release of the tenth full-length studio album by legendary British Hard Rock/Heavy Metal band.
The second and the final album to feature lead singer Ronnie James Dio until the "Mob Rules"-era line-up reunited for 1992's "Dehumanizer", and the first with drummer Vinny Appice, who had replaced original member Bill Ward in the middle of the Heaven And Hell Tour. Neither musician would appear on a Black Sabbath studio album again until the 1992 album "Dehumanizer".
After a steady decline in both inspiration, mental stability, and commercial appeal throughout the second half of the '70s, metal icons Black Sabbath were reborn with 1980s "Heaven And Hell". The album would be their first with new vocalist Ronnie James Dio, whose passionate, controlled wail broke new ground for the band and helped drive a comeback. 1981's "Mob Rules" was a quick follow-up to "Heaven And Hell", continuing the momentum of that record's energy as well as its shift away from Dark Metal to more commercial Hard Rock. Tony Iommi's signature guitar playing takes on new forms throughout the album, with Zeppelin-esque riffing on "Slipping Away", slithering Bluesy Rock playing on "Voodoo", and a strikingly different approach to soloing, shifting from the laser-focused slow burn of early Black Sabbath albums to a more frenetic, technically showy style on some tracks.
"Mob Rules" delved more into experimentation with keyboards and synthesizers, with auxiliary player Geoff Nicholls, adding cinematic synth bedding to the epic churn of "The Sign of the Southern Cross" and spacey atmosphere to "Falling Off the Edge of the World", among other synth contributions. New drummer, Vinny Appice, pushed the sound even further from the band's original sludgy approach. These changes, along with Dio's fantasy-based lyrics and a red-lined mix by producer Martin Birch, put "Mob Rules" closer in line with the emerging New Wave Of British Heavy Metal than the druggy "Devil-worshiping" Doom Metal, Black Sabbath first built their name on.
"Mob Rules"  reached #9 in the U.K. and #28 in the U.S.A., where it was also certified Platinum.
Singer Ronnie James Dio joined Black Sabbath in 1979 which resulted in two back-to-back classic albums: "Heaven And Hell" and "Mob Rules". On those memorable albums, Dio's soaring tenor and gothic songwriting were the perfect foil for the band's bone-crushing mix of razor-sharp riffs, intense grooves, and dark imagery. Here you can find the long shadow cast by this short-lived line-up with a newly remastered version of the album expanded with rare and unreleased music!
Deluxe Edition 180g 2LP in gatefold cover-sleeve includes bonus disc with rarities & live versions.
Warner Records Inc., a Warner Music Group Company/Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company, 1981/2021 (R1 599497 / 603497850716). Made in USA. Pressed in Czech.


Tracklist:

LP One “Mob Rules” (2021 Remaster)
Side One
1. Turn Up The Night 3:42
2. Voodoo 4:32
3. Sign Of The Southern Cross 7:50
4. E5150 2:49
5. Mob Rules 3:15
Side Two
1. Country Girl 4:03
2. Slipping Away 3:46
3. Falling Off The Edge Of The World 5:03
4. Over And Over 5:31
Running time: 40:25 min.

LP Two “Bonus Tracks”
Side Three
1. The Mob Rules (Heavy Metal Soundtrack Version) 3:14
2. Die Young (Live B-Side Of The Mob Rules)* 4:04
3. The Mob Rules (New 2021 Mix)** 3:24
4. The Sign Of The Southern Cross / Heaven And Hell - Reprise (Live In Portland, OR, U.S.A., April 22, 1982)** 7:30
Side Four
“Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, U.K., December 31, 1981 - January 2, 1982”
1. Country Girl 3:59
2. Slipping Away 3:16
3. The Mob Rules 3:22
4. Voodoo 5:46
Running time: 34:35 min.

Total playing time: 75:00 min.

* Previously unreleased in U.S.A. & Canada.
** Previously unreleased.