It’s interesting listening to opinions of this album. Some people think it’s the best album Sabbath put out, others think it should have been called something else as the sound changed so much and was not Sabbath-like at all. Well, for sure Ronnie was the band’s saviour as after Ozzie had left and the tour leading up to that, the band were a mess. As for me… I just think it’s one hell of a piece of music and a statement to Ozzie and Sharon.
One of the best openings you will hear to a record with Neon Nights. Killer riff from Tony and that pounding groove from Geezer and Bill is awesome. The cherry on the top is Ronnie with those fantasy lyrics he was so good at. This is a 2021 remaster I am playing and it sounds really good and Geezer’s bass is really cutting through in the mix. It’s really hard to get past Neon Nights as a favourite tune but I really like Heaven And Hell as that was old school Sabbath riifage with Ronnie weaving his magic over the top, and basically a big FU to all the fans that said it would not work. There is a second disc with this reissue that contains a couple of B sides and five tracks form a live gig in the USA in 1980, which are pretty stellar.
Yeah, it’s a classic but not perfect.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
