Best Black Sabbath?

[TrailMyx]

Frankly, the two Black Sabbath albums I own are Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules, so that answers the question for me.  Never were they harder, darker, or better than this era.

[12TimesOver]

"Mob Rules" was/is an AWESOME album and, TBH, this is a close call for me since I'll always be a RJD fan but Ozzy is still who I think of when I think Black Sabbath. "Master of Reality" is one of my favorite albums of all time. Anything after RJD, of course, is just plain rubbish IMO.

Also a big fan of RJD's solo stuff, one of the greatest guitar solos of all times is from the song "Sunset Superman" (from "Dream Evil"). The album was kind of a wash but something about that kid Craig Goldy that blew my mind and left a riff who's every note is implanted in my memory over 20 years later.

XII

[Ultima]

I'm sorry I love Ozzy as much as the next guy but you could have put any frontman in front of Toni Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward and they would have been a friggin' rockstar.

Hell they could have thrown me up there to sing for them. I'm not taking anything away from Ozzy. He is a great singer don't get me wrong he proven that beyond a shadow od a doubt with his solo carreer and I'm a huge fan.

But Ronnie James Dio gets my vote all the way.

I guess it's just a matter of style preference.

I do like the "Children of the Grave" version better with Ozzy and Rhandy Rhoads (the one on Tribute Album) better than what is on Master of Reality.

[12TimesOver]

I'm sorry I love Ozzy as much as the next guy but you could have put any frontman in front of Toni Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward and they would have been a friggin' rockstar.

LOL, I would almost agree with you there except for the two words that come after Ronnie James - Ian Gillan (Deep Purple for those who don't know). He was a total rock icon but yet kicked off years of failures as Sabbath moved from one singer to another.

I'm a big Tony Iommi fan - I'm a guitarist born from 70's and 80's hard rock and metal so it goes with the territory - but I'll be damned if they weren't cursed after RJD left.

XII

[Cerveza]

Dio is Rainbow, Ozzy is Sabbath. Nuff said.

Truthfully, I didn't care much for the first album. But when I heard the riffs of Electric Funeral, Paranoid became a favorite. Then Master's of Reality, man what an album! And following that up with Supernaut and Snowblind from Vol. 4!!

After that there's a few flashes of greatness... but my all time favorites have to be Vols 2-4.

Now Rainbow had some awesome stuff as well... Catch the Rainbow live is still incredible. They could have done without some of the "live cowd stuff" but still awesome.

Man on the Silver Mountain, Still I'm Sad, Starstruck, Lady of the Lake, etc...

It's one thing we ancients have over you punks... This is the music we grew up with. I remember listening to Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Judas Priest, Motorhead, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Scorpions, Thin Lizzy, Alice Cooper, Jimi Hendrix...

[TrailMyx]

This is why I put this one up.  Regardless of who you are a fanboi of, you have to admit that this era of Black Sabbath was just the best of the best.  It's a rarity when a new singer can come in and kick monumental ass and continue the brand without skipping a beat.  I love Ozzy-Black Sabbath just about as much, but when RJD came along I tried to hate it..... but I couldn't.  It was a genre-changing set of albums.