Description
Released in 1981, Black Sabbath’s second album with vocalist Ronnie Jame Dio continued the bright, anthemic and fully fist-pumping drive of the previous year’s Heaven and Hell. On the one hand, the line-up shift at the turn of the Eighties took Sabbath well away from the godhead gloominess of their legendary first wave — Mob Rules notably also swaps out OG drummer Bill Ward for veteran skinsman Vinny Appice — but pulse-quickened, near jubilant rockers like “Turn Up the Night” and the title track energized this period with the metal Elf’s soaring, fantasy-based lyricism and screaming guitar performances from Tony Iommi.