Mob Rules is the second album from the post Ozzy Black Sabbath / pre Dio solo era. Like with Heaven and Hell, the music is more energetic than what one usually associates with the Sabs. It's borderline heavy metal, though really it's more like juiced up hard rock. For whatever reason, even though I was very familiar with Heaven and Hell real time, I never took the time to hear the follow-up. The title track and 'Turn Up the Night' received perfunctory airplay but it was hardly ubiquitous. It wasn't until about 2005, after picking up a commodity CD, that I became aware of the quality herein. Besides the more upbeat tracks, the two highlights here are the longer, more thought-out, tracks: 'The Sign of the Southern Cross' and 'Falling Off the Edge of the World', the latter featuring a particularly compelling riff about halfway through. For whatever reason, I was brought back to Dio's time with Rainbow, especially the mammoth 'Stargazer'. Mob Rules is good goods.
Ownership: LP: 2021 Rhino / Warner. 2xLP gatefold cover. Recent trade credit acquisition from a local store. A fantastic reissue, it would be hard for me to even keep an original, if I ever found one. The second disc features the single from the movie Heavy Metal with the original B-side of a live version of 'Die Young' from the previous album. Also included are extracts from 1982 concerts in Portland and London, which includes an interesting mix of the first half of Southern Cross with the blazing second half of the Heaven and Hell title track. The centerpiece has extensive historical liner notes with participation of the band and family members. There's even an interesting retrospective from the original cover artist, who was active with the Catholic church, and didn't even know who Black Sabbath were. He has since reconciled...
1/23/22 (new entry)
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