BLACK SABBATH — Mob Rules (review)

BLACK SABBATH — Mob Rules album cover Album · 1981 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2/5 ·
AtomicCrimsonRush
I had this on vinyl and used to thrash it in the 80s during the birth of the heavy metal revolution when the 80s Metal gods unleashed their hordes. Iommi, Butler, Dio, Appice, and some feller named Nicholls really were possessed to play any way they chose and they used to conjur up all sorts of demonic forces during their mainstay in the metal realm. I grew out of this type of music indefinitely after the initial excitement of new metal kicked in and ultimately died.

I guess the album still has some merit; notably the tracks Turn Up the Night, The Sign of the Southern Cross, E5150 and The Mob Rules but side 2 was a complete waste and rarely troubled my stylus. I remember the abum well for its audaciousness, the silly front cover and the tracks mentioned from side 1 but it was a tiresome effort really, packed with mediocrity and immature lyrics of demons and devils that never sat well with me. Dio's satanic hand signals were pitiful after a while and his voice drowned out the music too often - Iommi is always a sensation so shut up and let the man play! Once upon a long ago this album was the ants pants when it came to metal and was way ahead of its time before Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slayer transformed the metal genre and turned it into a force to be reckoned with.

Black Sabbath were metal pioneers and when they were great they dominated (first 4 albums especially) but when they were ordinary, they sucked. This album is only for collectors so tread carefully among the hallowed ruins of the early 80s metallution, for among the greatness there was so much mediocrity.
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