Heaven & Hell - Song by Song

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I think there's a demand to continue this exercise with the Dio albums, starting with Heaven & Hell...



Heaven & Hell starts with Neon Knights, quite possibly the finest opening song ever. Short, fast, heavy but a completely different style from the albums that had come before, but still identifiably Black Sabbath. Love this song to bits and it's not even the best song on the album!

[Charger]

I'm mirroring the thoughts of KDC on this one!

Neon Knights might just very well be THE GREATEST album opener of all time. Fast, furious and an instant classic.

Amazing riff from Tony, suberb lyrics and vocals by Ronnie, great bass work by Geezer and solid heavy drumming from Bill.

After the complete loss of direction and energy the band suffered with the final two Ozzy albums Ronnie was a more than welcomed addition to the band and brought new life and energy to the band...And he helped bring the Black back into the Sabbath.

Neon Knights is a damn near perfect song and still it's not even close of being the best song on the album...

[Zzzptm]

The opening track is as awesome as Highway Star. This is how you start an album!

And while the main riff is a straight shot across the bow, there are subtle variations as it approaches the big "NEON KNIII-III-IIIIGHTS" before the guitar solo, and those variations add interest and excitement to the song. Martin Birch is definitely earning his keep in the production booth, keeping the band focused and tight. Dio's voice was what made Rainbow's first three albums such a metallic smash, and he shows here that he can do similar magic with Iommi instead of Blackmore. Dio's touch on the lyrics is welcome after Geezer basically ran out of ideas in the late 70s, so this is a good thing Dio's in the band.

The song opens up the album and, yeah, everything's gonna be all right.

I've heard some criticize that because it's so different from Ozzy-era stuff that the band should have been called Heaven & Hell from the start, but, hey, it is what it is. That argument gets more traction with the Martin era, but not with me on the Dio era records. It's Black Sabbath, but with a new feel to it all.

[Typhon]

I remember years ago when this album came out, how skeptical I was that my favorite band was now changed.  But I was pleasantly surprised when I heard Neon Knights.  Naturally, the greatest opener of all time was the self-titled debut, which started a music revolution.  So I wasn't expecting something on that scale.  Nevertheless this is a great opening number and now I had hopes that the high quality established by the Great 8 would continue.  So far, so good.

[Vyn]

Just like Typhon, I was concerned how a Black Sabbath without Ozzy would be anything but a let down. I knew Ronnie could sing, but in my mind that was Man on the Silver Mountain or more so Stargazer. Neon Knights quelled that concern!

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I can't make up my mind if Children of the Sea is my favourite track on the album or not, it might be a tie. This is the first of what you might call an "epic" in the Dio era. Sweeping vistas, speed changes, soft and heavy all in one song... we even have a male voice choir. A great. great song.

LOOK OUT!!!

[Typhon]

Like KDC says, Children Of The Sea is not only a very good song, but a song that has the Sabbath sound throughout.  This is especially important when you change the front man.  So that's 2 good tracks.  Now I was more optimistic.

[Zzzptm]

Children of the Sea again packs in a number of textures into a short timeframe. That choir part is basically Supertzar done properly. I was thinking of the song before listening to it today and it's really quite a lovely tune in places, juxtaposed with epic chord blasts that hint of something darker to come.

[Charger]

Children Of The Sea is without a doubt one of those "greatest songs in the world" songs. The soft intro, the heavy follow up, soft middle heavy again...pure classic Sabbath material. And you add Ronnie's incredible vocal preformance, suberb lyrics and kick ass solo from Tony...that just is what pure brilliance is made of.

A true epic song...and for just over 5 ½ minutes that's quite an accomplisment too.

And when this song was preformed live it got even better! One of those magical numbers...

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Lady Evil in my mind is the weakest song on the album. I used to skip it all the time, but it has grown on me, and I rarely skip it now. Lyrically it's a bit cheesey if I'm honest, but I have always enjoyed the bass line.

[Charger]

Lady Evil continues the list of fantastic songs. The bass line is suberb, Ronnie's vocals are top notch and the lyrics paint a picture and tell a great story. Tony's guitar work is brilliant as well and he uses a Wah-pedal here which is a rarity.

A great little mid tempo rocker.

[Typhon]

With the next song, the problem that I feared would happen, when one begins to change the original lineup, starts to show.  If you replace the front man with someone who already has an established amount of music from another band, great caution must be taken in order not to start sounding like that other band.  With Lady Evil the Sabbath sound slips a bit away.  The song's arrangement is more conventional, which is not typical of a Black Sabbath song.  To be clear, I think it is a decent song.  But a song that is being performed by some other band, not Black Sabbath.

[Zzzptm]

Lady Evil is one of Dio-era Rainbow's best songs.

Like KDC said, it's one I also skipped over, but it doesn't hurt to listen to when I'm playing the full album. The backing track has a kinda sleazy feel to it, and that doesn't really jive with the rest of side one's vibe.

[Vyn]

Seems to be a consensus. I've always enjoyed Lady Evil but it was more Dio and less Black Sabbath.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

The title track Heaven & Hell comes next. I like this song a lot, but I've never thought of it as the stone cold classic that others would have it. Maybe because it felt like Sabbath doing a version of Stairway to Heaven, starts slow, speeds up and builds to a rocking climax. Love the bass line even though its quite simple.