Reason #214: Mob Rules
The Sabbath albums I grew up with were the self titled debut, Paranoid, Master Of Reality , 4, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (which has the best cover art IMO), courtesy of raiding older cousins album crates. I was 13 when this album was released and it went by unnoticed as I was just getting into punk and alternative in a big way and had no time for dinosaurs.
The Heavy Metal movie soundtrack came out that same year, and probably because of the sexy sci-fi cover I bought it right off the shelves. The soundtrack is a varied affair, with Blue Oyster Cult songs sitting alongside Devo, Cheap Trick and Stevie Nicks, and ironically not a whole lot of heavy metal on it. Except for the title song off Mob Rules, which retains its destructive punk/thrash blast of death and destruction to this day. It was a thrilling song, but for some reason I didn’t investigate the parent album until much later in life.
I came to understand that Mob Rules was the second, and last, Black Sabbath studio album in which Ronnie James Dio would appear. While the Ozzie led Sabbath continues to see mountains of praise heaped upon its discography (minus the 2 later ones), Mob Rules and Heaven And Hell continue to be marginalized by comparison, and that’s not right. These two albums are every bit as good as the first four, and miles better than the last 2 Ozzie efforts. Doom metal at it’s most ridiculous and most glorious.
And that cover art is one of the best of any decade!
Listening to Mob Rules off the Heavy Metal soundtrack might have been my first involuntary headbanging experience. It sounded great really really loud. I owned Heaven And Hell, (primarily for the title track) but was never a big BS fan. How strange to see the likes of Donald Fagen or Devo on an album called Heavy Metal.
Mob Rules STILL sounds really great loud, especially cranked on the stereo speakers when no one else is around! Did that the other day, and was really sore the next.
Yes I agree what a really eclectic mix of artists on the HM soundtrack. I like the variety, though, and you can’t beat that cover.
Agreed Mob Rules was my intro to Sab and its a classic….nice write up!
Thanks Deke, appreciate it.
There’s also Dehumanizer and one album as Heaven and Hell.
I wish they had chosen to use a different name from the beginning – they might have gotten more respect from the “He’s not Ozzy” crowd.
I backed into this album. I knew Dio from Holy Diver and I had gone backwards from Ozzy’s first two solo albums to We Sold Our Souls for Rock and Roll and then the first 4 albums. But I was not prepared for this – it comes out swinging and just never stops.
I haven’t heard either of those, ML. I am not familiar with any of Dio’s solo stuff I’m afraid. I was a Sabbath fan via Paranoid and We Sold Our Souls, then Mob Rules then I lost track for a couple of decades. Have been working my way back ever since.