Listen to it now it stands up really well up against anything you hear today. If you consider that we were on the verge of a major breakthrough in the way heavy metal was to be defined, with bands like Iron Maiden making their impact and Metallica about to get going, then Mob Rules is exactly what Sabbath should have been doing at this point. The feel of the album is raw, live and direct, which was exactly right for the time. Martin Birch’s production is spot on – as usual. Other albums released in November 1981: Re-ac-tor by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Shake It Up by The Cars, Diary of a Madman by Ozzy Osbourne, Music from “The Elder” by Kiss, Too Fast for Love by Mötley Crüe, Till Deaf Do Us Part by Slade, Renegade by Thin Lizzy, I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, For Those About to Rock We Salute You by AC/DC, Bad Religion by Bad Religion, Prince Charming by Adam and the Ants and Take No Prisoners by Molly Hatchet. But never again would Black Sabbath and Ronnie James Dio reach such heights together. Four other songs are genuine classics: Voodoo, Turn Up The Night, the belligerent title track, and the thundering, apocalyptic Falling Off The Edge Of The World. The album’s centerpiece is Sign Of The Southern Cross, a seven-minute epic in which the power of Iommi’s funereal riff is matched by the mystique of Dio’s lyrics. But his replacement, Vinny Appice, was solid enough, if lacking some of Ward’s flair. Sabbath’s second album with Ronnie James Dio was also the first album the band recorded without Bill Ward, who quit during their 1980 tour.
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