Mob Rules - Song By Song

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

The final track is Over & Over. I love this song, the closing guitar solo by Tony is phenominal, and Ronnie's vocal range is tested to the full and he passes with flying colours! The lyrics he sings, while heartfelt, are probably a weaker aspect of the song.

[Charger]

Over And Over is a fantastic closer to a fantastic album.

Sabbath's best ballad hands down. Like KDC said Tony's solo here is incredible...among his finest works for sure. Anyone who ever said that Tony's just a riff machine not a soloist should listen to this song!

Ronnie's vocals are beyond unreal on this song as well. He again goes through so much emotion that it is mind blowing that a singer can actually do that.

Geezer and Vinny do a great job too but honestly the true stars of this song are Ronnie and Tony.


Oh boy....I gotta say...The Mob Rules is a very strong contender to the title of THE GREATEST ALBUM OF ALL TIME...it certainly is THE BEST Sabbath album as it has no weak tracks..not even one...and all other Sabbath albums have atleast one weak song on it...so by default this has to be the best one...

[Typhon]

Now we come to a song that is the worst closer of any Black Sabbath album.  In fact, as my friend Charger might exaggeratingly put it, possibly the worst closer in music history.  It is difficult for me to express in words how awful I think this song is.  It drags, and draaags, and draaaaags, to the point where my thoughts scream “please make it stop!”  Even Iommi's solo sounds as though he is expressing his frustration with this inadequate lineup.  Now I shouldn't let this kind of information out on the internet, but I have to admit that if somebody wanted to successfully torture me, simply tie me to a chair and force me to listen to Over And Over, over and over and over.  That would truly be a hell on earth.

[Zzzptm]

Falling Off the Edge of the World - such a great song, my favorite of the album and my favorite Sabbath song. The trills at the end of the main riff are what do it for me, they make for a diabolical-sounding riff that goes so well with the lyrics and straight-ahead drumming from Appice.

No, Appice isn't Bill Ward, but by this time Bill Ward wasn't Bill Ward, starting his string of tours he wasn't able to either finish or even start out on. As a replacement, Appice is totally up to the job and absolutely nails the metal sound needed for this track.

***

Over and Over - not a kid's song, that's for sure. I had to get a little older and have a little more *real* pain in my life for this one to make sense and bond with me, but bonded it has. It is so hard to pick between this track and Lonely Is the Word for my favorite closer, and I'd have to check my previous posts to see how I voted in the past. Right now, I think I like Lonely better than Over, but that can change. Both feature brain-melting solos from Tony and stand as a testament to how his guitar playing is, above all else, the definitive element in Black Sabbath.

***

Mob Rules edges Heaven and Hell as my favorite Black Sabbath album, and I put Sabotage, SBS, and The Eternal Idol in there to finish out my top five.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I'm going to rank the songs as:

1= The Sign of the Southern Cross
1= Falling off the Edge of the World
3. Over and Over
4= Turn Up The Night
4= Country Girl
6= Slipping Away
6= The Mob Rules
8. Voodoo
9. E5150


I suggest we do Dehumanizer next to complete the Dio era. Will we want to continue after that? I would but I might be on my own!

[Charger]

^^ You wouldn't be on your own that for sure!


This album is probably the hardest for me to rank songs in because like I said there are no weak songs here...they are just all slightly different levels of pure genius...

But I'll try.

1. The Sign Of The Southern Cross
2. Falling Of The Edge Of The World
3. The Mob Rules
4. Voodoo
5. Country Girl
6. Turn Up The Night
7. Over And Over
8. Slipping Away
9. E5150

But honestly pretty much every song in between The Sign and E5150 are tied...

This is such an incredible album...

[Zzzptm]

Country Girl is the only one I could do without. The rest are EXACTLY what I want to hear!

On to Dehumanizer, gents!

[Typhon]

Inserting my final rating of the albums for completion's sake.

The Mob Rules = 7/10

[Charger]

THE BEST BLACK SABBATH ALBUM OF ALL TIME!

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