Can I make a confession? I’m a bit of a Black Sabbath hipster. I’m not one of those people who will tell you that Born Again is one of their best records, actually. I promise I’m not that far gone. I just happen to think that the band’s best work was done with Ronnie James Dio on vocals, not Ozzy Osbourne.1 The Dio-era material may not have had the same influence as Black Sabbath’s seminal work with Osbourne, but it benefits from sharper songwriting, better production, and a few slices of grade-A fantasy cheese.

During his two stints with Black Sabbath, Dio recorded three records: Heaven and Hell (1980), Mob Rules (1981), and Dehumanizer (1992). Heaven and Hell gets the headlines, but for my money Mob Rules is the definitive Sabbath record with Dio. Heaven and Hell has some wonderful, incredible highlights (the title track, “Die Young,” “Lonely is the Word,” “Neon Knights,” and “Children of the Sea” are unimpeachable), but two of the eight songs (“Wishing Well” and “Walk Away”) are absolutely forgettable.2 Dehumanizer is dark and heavy, Dio’s voice having weathered considerably in the decade since Mob Rules, but only “After All (The Dead),” “I,” and “Computer God” really rise above the rest of the material.

Mob Rules may not have the same highs as Heaven and Hell — it’s tough to beat “Heaven and Hell” the song, it really is — it benefits from being a more cohesive record. “Turn up the Night” and “Voodoo” make a great 1-2 punch, while “The Sign of the Southern Cross” is perhaps Sabbath’s best long song, opening its nearly 8 minutes quietly and then erupting into a huge riff with plenty of space for Dio to shine. Sure, “E5150” is a slight instrumental, but it breaks up the album and gives the title track a chance to stand on its own, away from “The Sign of the Southern Cross.” The back half of the record isn’t quite as strong, but “Slipping Away” and “Country Girl” (which don’t quite hold up to the rest of the material) feel of a piece with everything else and don’t sound quite as rough as, say, “Wishing Well” does on “Heaven and Hell.”

Throughout Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, and Dehumanizer the members of Black Sabbath sound inspired. Guitarist Tony Iommi in particular turns in performances that eclipse his earlier work with the Ozzy Osbourne version of the band.3 Dio benefits from working with songwriters who are equal partners rather than hired guns in his solo band. There is an emphasis on grandeur, on pomp, on ridiculous and wonderful theatrics, pulled off with real panache. And maybe that’s why my favorite Black Sabbath album isn’t a Black Sabbath album at all. In 2006, Dio reunited with the Mob Rules and Dehumanizer lineup of the band4 to record 2009’s The Devil You Know as Heaven & Hell.5

The Devil You Know is not a fast record. It marches along at a stately pace, giving Dio the space to enunciate with all the strength he can muster. While Tony Iommi sounds great here, too, his guitar work knotty in a way it rarely was on earlier records, Dio is the real star of the show here. His voice is diminished, ragged where it soared before, rough where it was clear, but he sounds rejuvenated. His final solo records, 2002’s Killing the Dragon and 2004’s Master of the Moon, were perfunctory exercises in fantasy-focused heavy rock.6 The Devil You Know is doom metal with flair. Dio does everything he can with his voice, pronouncing despair with all the drama he can muster. At times he sounds like an ancient prophet proclaiming the end of the world. It’s fabulous.

The best of the tracks on The Devil You Know revel in the absurd grandeur of it all. “Atom and Evil” is a ridiculous opener with thunderous drums and a skyscraping vocal turn by Dio. “Bible Black” opens with acoustic guitar before flipping into a rager of a riff.7 “Breaking Into Heaven” is an epic with teeth, a crawling doom pounder that places fallen angels at war with God. They’re all great, though. For nearly an hour, the band creates a crushing sustained mood and it’s so good. Masters of the craft doing what they do best.

Is The Devil You Know actually Black Sabbath’s best album? Absolutely not. Pound for pound, Master of Reality or Mob Rules is probably best.8 The Devil You Know is where my heart lies, though. It was Ronnie James Dio’s final record, a towering and gloomy statement that takes joy in all its camp. I miss Dio. He was a wonderful fixture of the metal scene and The Devil You Know charms because he sounds committed and delighted across the entire record. That’s hard to turn down.

  1. Tony Martin wasn’t half bad either. By and large, though, the records he was on suffer from some pretty anonymous songwriting. Headless Cross is probably the exception, though I know some folks will go to bat for The Eternal Idol. ↩
  2. I wanted to focus on one over the other, but they really are equally horrible. Minor points to “Walk Away” for not being about a wishing well, I guess. ↩
  3. Miss me with Technical Ecstasy, Never Say Die, and 13. I’ll take a hard pass. ↩
  4. Drummer Bill Ward declined to take part, which definitely foreshadowed the conflict over his participation in the later reunion with Ozzy Osbourne. ↩
  5. 2007’s Live from Radio City Music Hall is actually their first record. It goes! ↩
  6. I actually really like both, but they don’t stand up to Dio’s best work. For a better latter-day Dio experience, definitely look to 2000’s Magica. It’s very, very dumb, but it has a sense of ambition and some really great songs. ↩
  7. Barring a very late comeback from Tony Iommi, this is my vote for his final really great riff. ↩
  8. My heart says Mob Rules. My head says that an album with both “Into the Void” and “Children of the Grave” on it is probably one of the greatest metal records ever recorded. ↩