To us real life Stranger Things dweebs, Ozzy’s first two solo albums were like books from the Old Testament. Let’s just call them The Books of Ezra & Nehemiah. Mostly because I just love how Old Testament those names are. Back in the early 80s, me and my geek squad would read the lyric sheets of Blizzard & Diary as if they were scripture. Truths from the beyond. We were all pretty much "good" Catholic boys (and girls!) in my neighborhood. Hell, I was even an altar boy. So we grew up in reverence of the supernatural aspects of our religion – resurrections, crosses, and, of course, Satan. And Ozzy’s albums seemed like a window into this world. If what the Priests we teaching us in Sunday school was the real world , than Ozzy and Sabbath was communicating from the Upside-Down. Equally valid. Just a different dimension. Stuff that Priests & our parents didn’t want us to know about. Nerd Catnip in other words!
So you can imagine my disappointment back then when I cued up Bark At The Moon and got … Burt Bacharach?! At least that’s what the track “So Tired” with all its syrupy strings and saccharine sentiment sounded like to me. It sounded like something my Dad might like! Ewwww!
So we needed a new book from that Old Testament. Once again we turned to Black Sabbath whose black arts had just so happened to offer us up a new book …The Book of Dio. Coincidence?! Hell no! 😨 It was my 7th grade Algebra teacher of all people who set me right! In my local YMCA locker room! In front of my friends! While I was getting changed! Talk about embarrassing! 🫢
BUT, the coolest factoid I found about the Ozzy-Dio connection is that they even shared a lead guitarist in 1983 - Jake E. Lee. Jake was initially hired to be Dio’s guitartist before getting fired and summarily snatched up by the Ozzman. As Jake tells it …
"I think that [Ronnie Dio] was looking for more of a European sort of sound. 'Cause back then, and maybe to this day — I don't know — heavy metal, you had the American version and you had the European version. And the American version relied a lot on VAN HALEN; that was kind of the American metal sound. And I am more of that school — of Eddie Van Halen, Southern California. There was a bunch of us. And I was more of that."
Enter this track (and riff!) recorded by the barely known NWOBHM band Sweet Savage…
And after drinking a glass , me & my geek squad (and the millions of those just like us in suburban basements everywhere) made Holy Diver the TRUE sequel to Diary of a Madman in 1983!
The Rankings
Holy Diver: 😈😈😈😈😈
Bark At The Moon: 😈😈😈 (Still good, BUT definitely not worship level!!!)
“We were rehearsing like 6, 7 times a week. We wanted to make the music more difficult so no one could cover it.” – Timi Hansen (Bass)
“Sometimes when I couldn’t sleep, I’d get up in the middle of the night, grab the guitar and just keep adding ideas to the song.” – Hank Shermann (Guitar)
“I speak for the Dead.” – King Diamond (Skull)
They were obsessed. Committed. In a wicked good way. Puritanical satanists with a work ethic that would make even Iron Maiden blush. Completely committed to their craft. Of bending the metal world to their will. When they showed up at the BBC in ’81 to record, they positively floored everyone. You see, it’s not that they weren’t NWOBHM Sad Wings Priest + ‘70s Hard Rock essentially, just like everyone else!> , it’s just that they completely outclassed, outworked, and yes, out-Sataned their competition from Britain (besides Maiden!). They had a practice regimen that could only compare to the almighty Black Flag. And if anyone knows the Parable of the Talents , let’s just say Mercyful Fate were making music in the early 80s that would have even made Jesus proud!
The Verdict: Another First Wave Of Black Metal classic. So now we have 3! Venom's 1) Welcome to Hell (1981) & 2) Black Metal (1982). 3) Melissa (1983)
The Rating:😈😈😈😈😈
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
The Verdict: Another First Wave Of Black Metal classic. So now we have 3! Venom's 1) Welcome to Hell (1981) & 2) Black Metal (1982). 3) Melissa (1983)
The Rating:😈😈😈😈 :twisted:
Great write up and it did a good job inspiring me to get hyped listening to their early EP and debut album!
I have never heard this album called the first wave of Black Metal. Sound-wise, from what I've heard, I can't hear it. Obviously, the themes and the satan and all that is very influential to those wild Norwegians of a decade later. But sound-wise mixed with subject, I thought Venom, Bathory and Celtic Frost were more directly the first ones to be labeled proto-black metal or first wave black metal. Thoughts? Is there something in their sound and style that differentiates them from the classic heavy metal sound? _________________ -Ryan
However, I am ready to get back into writing, I am refreshed and renewed.
You can almost I am...
BORN AGAIN!
Nice! Looking forward to it! I love that album!
I've got one more review for 1983 Metal, and then I'll drop my Top Ten Metal Albums of 1983.
Then I'll switch gears a bit by tackling ten chill albums from 1967. Then California late 70s/early 80s Punk scene THEN 1984 Metal! Are you into punk at all?!
20. Loudness - The Law of Devil's Land
19. AC/DC - Flick Of The Switch
18. Witchfinder General - Friends Of Hell
17. Grim Reaper - See You In Hell
16. Anvil - Forged In Fire
15. Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac
14. Satan - Court In The Act
13. Oz - Fire In The Brain
12. Black Sabbath Born Again
11. Motorhead - Another Perfect Day
10. Manilla Road - Crystal Logic
9. Accept - Balls To The Wall
8. Hellhammer - Satanic Rites
7. Def Leppard - Pyromania
6. Left Hand Path Aka The Barrel-chested Warriors of Power Metal
“… everything was going against us. So we just had to summon up every bit of power we could possibly find. We had no money, no record company; we did everything on our own. And it was a triumph to have made that record and tho have released it. And that’s why we chose to sign in blood. Because we were showing the industry and all the critics, ‘Fuck You! You Can’t stop us!’ – Joey DeMaio on Into Glory Ride
They were lifers already. Before they even met on Black Sabbath's Heaven & Hell tour back in 1980 while sharing beers & stories with Ronnie James Dio backstage. Joey DeMaio was Sabbath's pyrotechnician. Ross The Boss, who started NYC punk legends The Dictators, was playing guitar for some opening band that you've never heard of. They knew only one path – rock ‘n’ roll. But their path would have be different. They were already long in tooth. A misfit and a freak. Left-handed. So they essentially invented Power Metal. They took everything they loved about 70s American Hard Rock bands such as Ted Nugent & Kiss and cranked it Mountain-sized. Dio took them under his dark wing and gifted them his own secret weapon - John "Dawk The Destroyer” Stillwell who would become their special sauce. You see Dawk The Destroyer was a modern day blacksmith. Turning musical instruments into weapons.
And thus outfitted & hooked up with the epic bellowing pipes of Joey's boyhood friend Eric Adams, they made themselves into metal cartoons. Something from Conan The Barbarian. A Molly Hatchet album cover that jumps to life Ringu-style.
And yes. You read that right in the quote above. They even signed their record contract in blood. And if you had ever spent some time in the Lower East Side of New York back in the 70s, you would know that this wasn’t just some publicity stunt. < In case you didn’t know, Warriors and Taxi Driver were practically documentaries of NYC in the 70s! lol> . No siree. These guys were crazy enough, freak enough to think that they were the living walking embodiments of metal. Cave Man metal. Conan metal. Did they sound like self-parody? Maybe a bit. But that was part of the fun. If Saxon were lunkheads, these knuckle draggers were LUNKHEADS IN ALL CAPS!!! And that’s what makes manowar… MANOWAR!!!
“We were rehearsing like 6, 7 times a week. We wanted to make the music more difficult so no one could cover it.” – Timi Hansen (Bass)
“Sometimes when I couldn’t sleep, I’d get up in the middle of the night, grab the guitar and just keep adding ideas to the song.” – Hank Shermann (Guitar)
“I speak for the Dead.” – King Diamond (Skull)
They were obsessed. Committed. In a wicked good way. Puritanical satanists with a work ethic that would make even Iron Maiden blush. Completely committed to their craft. Of bending the metal world to their will. When they showed up at the BBC in ’81 to record, they positively floored everyone. You see, it’s not that they weren’t NWOBHM Sad Wings Priest + ‘70s Hard Rock essentially, just like everyone else!> , it’s just that they completely outclassed, outworked, and yes, out-Sataned their competition from Britain (besides Maiden!). They had a practice regimen that could only compare to the almighty Black Flag. And if anyone knows the Parable of the Talents , let’s just say Mercyful Fate were making music in the early 80s that would have even made Jesus proud!
The Verdict: Another First Wave Of Black Metal classic. So now we have 3! Venom's 1) Welcome to Hell (1981) & 2) Black Metal (1982). 3) Melissa (1983)
And here we finally are. The most important band in the entire history of extreme metal. Bar none. In the mid to late 80s pretty much every extreme band wanted to be Slayer. They were the muse. The inspiration. What everyone reached for. And it all started here with Show No Mercy.
I’ll never forget the first time I heard it. We were riding to a jv basketball game at the very back of the bus. Me & Paul Garfinkle were sharing headphones. He had a headphone splitter so we could both listen. Paul was in a metal band with his older brother Art. I used to go watch them at Battle Of The Bands shows at a nearby high school. No one in school knew metal like Paul. Anyways, He hit play and it was instant love. Killers-era Iron Maiden on speed (check out “Crionics” to see this transformative, critical piece highlighted) with a dose of Venom and hardcore. I did NOT take out my cassette copy of Bark At The Moon to show Paul. No way. Ozzy had been relegated to the jv squad.
Show No Mercy is a unique entry in Slayer’s catalog. It was something completely new and yet something that Slayer would immediately progress from with the Haunting The Chapel EP and then of course Hell Awaits. Its closest facsimile is Metallica’s Kill 'Em All. Nowadays, it would be called Speed Metal(which I will touch on soon enough). Those two albums changed everything in 1983 – dwarfing everything else released that year. Especially Bark At The Moon (which is actually good commercial metal! So don't hate me Ozzy!).
3. Changing Our Religion Aka Bark At the Moon vs. Holy Diver (to the ears of a bunch of twelve year olds! )
To us real life Stranger Things dweebs, Ozzy’s first two solo albums were like books from the Old Testament. Let’s just call them The Books of Ezra & Nehemiah. Mostly because I just love how Old Testament those names are. Back in the early 80s, me and my geek squad would read the lyric sheets of Blizzard & Diary as if they were scripture. Truths from the beyond. We were all pretty much "good" Catholic boys (and girls!) in my neighborhood. Hell, I was even an altar boy. So we grew up in reverence of the supernatural aspects of our religion – resurrections, crosses, and, of course, Satan. And Ozzy’s albums seemed like a window into this world. If what the Priests we teaching us in Sunday school was the real world , than Ozzy and Sabbath was communicating from the Upside-Down. Equally valid. Just a different dimension. Stuff that Priests & our parents didn’t want us to know about. Nerd Catnip in other words!
So you can imagine my disappointment back then when I cued up Bark At The Moon and got … Burt Bacharach?! At least that’s what the track “So Tired” with all its syrupy strings and saccharine sentiment sounded like to me. It sounded like something my Dad might like! Ewwww!
So we needed a new book from that Old Testament. Once again we turned to Black Sabbath whose black arts had just so happened to offer us up a new book …The Book of Dio. Coincidence?! Hell no! 😨 It was my 7th grade Algebra teacher of all people who set me right! In my local YMCA locker room! In front of my friends! While I was getting changed! Talk about embarrassing! 🫢
BUT, the coolest factoid I found about the Ozzy-Dio connection is that they even shared a lead guitarist in 1983 - Jake E. Lee. Jake was initially hired to be Dio’s guitartist before getting fired and summarily snatched up by the Ozzman. As Jake tells it …
"I think that [Ronnie Dio] was looking for more of a European sort of sound. 'Cause back then, and maybe to this day — I don't know — heavy metal, you had the American version and you had the European version. And the American version relied a lot on VAN HALEN; that was kind of the American metal sound. And I am more of that school — of Eddie Van Halen, Southern California. There was a bunch of us. And I was more of that."
Enter this track (and riff!) recorded by the barely known NWOBHM band Sweet Savage…
It didn’t have to be specifically Egypt. Not exactly. It didn’t even need to be a real place. But… it needed to be FAR away. An alien AND mystical place. Not some kind of alien that killed everybody. Nothing like that. No. These aliens were smarter than all that. After all, I didn’t want to die. I just wanted to be understood.
Like the Lord of The Rings and Dune books, Piece of Mind was pure heavenly escape for a D&D dweeb like me back in 7th grade. If I ever needed a break from the junior high bullying that I endured as a walked down locker alley, I could just slip on my oversized foam head phones, hit the oversized play button on my trusty Walkman, and I. was. gone. Catapulted to a place I belonged. Where the scenery made sense. At least for a few seconds at any rate until some dickwad mouth breather tried to knock my books out of my hand.
The Verdict: This is it. The moment Iron Maiden outgrew their NWOBHM denim & leather roots and simply grabbed the garments right off the dude from the dust jacket of some Michael Moorcock fantasy book. The fabric of the blues (and even 70s rock really) has been shorn away, and we are left with just droplets of molten, metallic liquid. Like a Salvador Dali painting taken to the airwaves. Because of my love for rough & raw punk, Maiden’s first two albums will always be my faves (#teamdi’anno), but even I just have to admit that Piece Of Mind is unequivocally Maiden’s masterwork. And exotic and mystical escape rich with enough transportive storytelling magic that it rivals even the great sci fi & fantasy masters that clearly influence it.
If Motorhead were John the Baptist then Metallica were Jesus. Full on prophets saving metal from the Pharisees. There are only a handful of other albums like this in any genre. Albums that changed EVERYTHING. Where there was a before, and then an after. A line in time had been drawn. As I discussed just las week, this cost bands like Accept their careers. No kid wanted Metal Heart after being converted by Kill ‘Em All. Trust me. I was one of those brats back in 1983.
Kill 'Em All had it all! Yes, it fast & raw. But, it was also creative & catchy. You could mosh to it jumping up & down on your Star Wars matressed bed like a maniac over & over again. It was like an eight year old discovering rollercoasters for the very first time - “Again, again, Daddy! Let’s go again!"
Some of us got into hardcore punk like Black Flag because of this album. “I want more of that”, I said to some surly, snotty record store clerk on Thayer St. in Providence. It felt revolutionary because it was revolutionary. It was dangerous & unpredictable, and I needed MORE!
Black Sabbath’s self titled debut, and Kill 'Em All. That's it, pretty much it. That's the level we're talking. Hell, I’d throw Nevermind in there too, but some would argue that that shit ain’t metal enough. Whatever. I ain’t dying on that field that’s for sure.
As I go through Sabbath history, I have decided to put every era into it's own title and theming. Usually under a general name.
That name as used will be called...
The Sabbath Stones XI: Under the Table.
We start of course with what will probably be my last exclusively 83 album.
Born Again
Covering 80’s Sabbath will be a trip no matter what album you want to start. However, I think this era of Sabbath is probably also the most interesting in terms of creative direction and the weirdness behind certain directions they took.
In this case with 83, We have A LOT to talk about. But before we get to Born Again, we have to go a bit back.
Sabbath was riding the wave of probably the comeback of the Decade. After years of frustrations with the man due to his drug problems, and his own want to leave the band. Ozzy Osbourne was effectively slapped out of Black Sabbath. With THE Lead singer of your band in the splits, one would imagine that you would need a WIZARD to help you bounce back.
WELL LOOK OUT!
Ronnie James Dio fresh from leaving Rainbow due to Ritchie Blackmore wanting to go more commercial, was looking for a band as well. Black Sabbath’s manager at the time, Don Arden was actually looking for a new singer for the band, but this was bypassed. His Daughter Sharon Arden (Who plays a pivotal role in A LOT of Black Sabbath backstage problems AND resolutions…We’ll get back to her.) Told Iommi to check out Ronnie James.
The End Result was Permaclassic Heaven and Hell, and the underrated Mob Rules. Essentially cementing the Birmingham fuck ups back into the Metal circles for years to come. However, problems loomed for The new visage of Sabbath. After the departure of Bill Ward due to issues with him losing faith in the band (and to deal with his well known alcoholism). Dio Elected to have his friend Vinny Appice replace the drummer on set. While the sound did not suffer immediately it DID create an issue with the band itself. Specifically, Due to the different lifestyles of the Dio Part and Iommi part of Sabbath, they began to segregate based on Nationality and…unfortunately habits.
During the recording of the third album there were…production problems, problems that bled into accusations that the Dio was fucking with the mixes of the songs (In reality it was the Engineer not turning the knobs back to normal during production due to him forgetting because of his JACK DANIELS ADDICTION.) The frustration lead to the departure of Dio AND Appice.
The drama that lead to this was EXUBERANT, as sadly Dio…as much as I miss and love the little magical Keebler elf…can quickly go from the aforementioned elf…to the Bridge troll if you piss him off. This lead to amoungst other issues…Them having short time to actually find a new singer.
But Don Arden had a solution this time.
You see Don was…let’s just say…bitter about something, His daughter Sharon (Remember her, you will after this sentence) had decided to date, and eventually marry a man he had previously had the misfortune to fire a few years ago.
THAT MAN?
OZZY OSBOURNE.
And if your basic math is on the up and up…You realize that the Sharon Arden I spoke of?
Is indeed the maiden name of one SHARON OSBOURNE.
Combined with Ozzy using Sharon as his manager, and them both pushing a lot of…let’s just say…dirt to the press and concert promoters at the time. This led to Don Arden being VERY Miffed at Sharon and Ozzy and wanted to play a little getback. His Getback…was to organize an instant comeback, and how would he do this?
By Snagging one of the biggest free agents in Heavy Metal at the time.
Former Deep Purple frontman and overall fellow Fuckup, Ian Gillen.
And while the band of course had reservations (Including Bill Ward who decided to rejoin the band.), this was settled in the most BRITISH was possible. The parties having a laugh at the local pub and drinking themselves under the table as they formally decided to bring him into the group. (That title I chose wasn’t for nothing.) I say this with NO uncertain terms, Black Sabbath in terms of their habits and their inability to control their vices was at their WORST in 83. However, the end result was Born Again, an album that…I feel get’s a lot of flak from Sabbath Bands, with some justification here and there…
But It’s still dope.
Trashed is probably the most fun Black Sabbath has ever sounded. It make sense as due to the aforementioned Debauchery I said Black Sabbath was on at the time. The entire premise of the song was Ian Gillen taking a ride in one of Bill Ward’s Golf Carts, raced it around a go kart track, and blew it away…literally, by the time the ordeal was over it was engulfed in flames. Sadly however, as high spirted as this song (And honestly the album.) Is, there is problem.
Most of that sadly…is the Voice of Ian Gillen.
(Ignores the boos and the cries from Ian Gillen fans.)
IT’S BLOWN DURING THIS ALBUM…His constant working schedule and his drinking caught up with him. He is struggling to keep his voices in check in a lot of this. It’s still fine, but it’s FAR from his Deep Purple prime. But his Midranges drones and while he is still a screaming mostly he is clearly struggling to keep that note on level and not to break apart at the peak. Luckily the rest of the band (Other than the production.) Is ON POINT. This is probably the best Bill Ward had sounded since his INSANE Drum work in Masters of Reality.
Zero the Hero is such a GREAT Riff that Guns and Roses ripped it off full cloth when they wrote Paradise City. Geezer’s Basswork is at top form here, and while it sadly had probably the worst Ian Gillen’s Vocal performance on the album. It’s Riffage is enough to get me rocking and bopping along with it.
Luckily The album does indeed end with each and every piece of the band actually creating THE Album closer that indeed combine everyone’s current talent to essentially create The BEST Example of Gillen’s Sabbath. That song being Keep it Warm. The More subdued Gillen voice he is using throughout this album works for this more blues tinged song. (Sabbath playing blues…Not shocking but something tells me they are…going to go into that direction more as time hints on…maybe hire a blues singer or two…who knows.) The solo of by Iommi here absolutely crushes, and again…Skin Basher Bill Ward IS Drumming to perfection. A Great Closer, and honestly the reason I think a lot of fans LOVE this album. It leaves on a Very good high note.
I mean it was this song where they realize that Ian Gillen blown out the tweeters from the studio speakers when he was testing the albums sound.
However None have the classic metalhead fans minds, hearts, and laughs than the song infamous for being completely parodied in Spinal Tap.
STONEHENGE!
A Short but Gritty instrumental track known to be more of a warmup peace for the band at the time. It sounds awesome outside of even the context of their amazing all live debut and the story around it. Sabbath when using this song as an intro on tour asked for the Stonehenge model to be live sized. Due to the instructions being in feet instead of Meters however, The Contractors built the stage TWICE The size of the original.
I think however, Stonehenge, the song and the stage story behind it…is the best way to describe the band, Going so big that you eventually lose control and like the Go Kart that gave us Trashed. Go down in flames.
Critics did not like the Album and Due to Ozzy and Sharon being more than a bit petty during this time (Something I will get into during the Dio and Ozzy Rivalry as that shit is the PETTIEST Metal feud I have EVER read about.), their live shows appearances trickled to a crawl, and eventually the band just couldn’t sustain. Bill Ward Left after…obviously relapsing on his alcohol addiction, Geezer and Ian left shortly after…leaving Iommi all alone with His band and his sound.
Born Again Sabbath is the band just going too fast on everything. Too Fast into finding a new vocalist, too fast with the production, trying to hotshot a comeback when time was needed to let the wounds heal. Just too much change and quick moves that fans just tuned out…Which is a shame as this album, and ESPECIALLY a few underrated albums after this certainly deserve a second look. No matter how much Ozzy and his wife attempts to bury them.
She was honestly just doing her job as a good manager.
It was Ozzy.
What I didn't write about (Since it's more pertinent to Heaven and Hell.) Is how petty Ozzy was after he left the band. Ozzy by any account can be a bit vindictive, in this case...When he heard Dio had found his way into Sabbath Ozzy was quick to dismiss it. After all, he had already formed at least what was called then Blizzard of Ozz (Which would later just be called Osbourne Starting his Solo Career.) However, He saw Heaven and Hell rack up the charts in the US like Wildfire. He was frustrated but he was using that to create the music He wanted.
Until Randy Rhoades brought the Record into the Studio.
Ozzy went the FUCK OFF, calling the Dio lineup illegitimate and tearing Dio Down.
He then...Get this...HIRED A Dwarf (His words, not mine.) To go out on stage, do stunts and get hanged every night.
Do you know what he called this Dwarf?
RONNIE
...Is it any wonder why Ozzy and Dio were never 100% cool with each other?
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Mercury
