Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell (Japan Digital Remaster, 1996)

Vocalist Ronnie James Dio met Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi by chance at The Rainbow on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles in 1979. Both men were in similar situations, as Dio was seeking a new project and Iommi required a vocalist, as Ozzy Osbourne had recently been fired from Black Sabbath. Said Dio of the encounter, "It must have been fate, because we connected so instantly." The pair kept in touch via telephone, until Dio arrived at Iommi's Los Angeles house for a relaxed, getting-to-know-you jam session. On that first day the duo wrote the song "Children of the Sea". The band's lineup was in chaos prior to Heaven and Hell's recording. Drummer Bill Ward was battling personal issues that would see him eventually leave the band. Original demo recordings for the album featured Geoff Nicholls on bass, as the band's longtime bassist Geezer Butler was going through a divorce and his future with the band was in question. Eventually, Butler returned and Nicholls stayed on as the band's unofficial keyboardist. Former Elf and Rainbow bassist Craig Gruber also rehearsed with the band during this period. The true extent of Gruber's involvement is unclear, however. In a 1996 interview, Iommi stated that Gruber rehearsed with the band only "for a bit". Gruber has stated that his contribution was much more substantial; he claims to have co-written most of the songs and that it was actually he and not Butler who played bass on the Heaven and Hell album. Despite not being credited for his contributions, Gruber claims "we came to a suitable financial arrangement".
Dio suggested the band hire producer Martin Birch for the album. Iommi stated that the band felt during recording that they were creating "something very special". The album title Heaven and Hell was chosen from a lyric written by Dio about the highs and lows of being a musician.
Drummer Ward has stated that he has "no memory" of making the album, due in large part to his alcoholism. His behaviour became quite erratic; when the band began touring in support of Heaven And Hell, Ward began dictating long and rambling press releases to the band's public relations representatives after every show, instructing them to "get that out on the news wires tonight". Ward's personal issues, which included the deaths of both his parents, would soon force him to leave the band. Dio reportedly answered the telephone in his hotel room one morning mid-tour to hear Ward say "I'm off then, Ron", to which Dio replied "That’s nice Bill, where are you going?". "No, I'm off mate. I’m at the airport now...", indicating that he was incapable of completing the tour with the band. American drummer Vinny Appice was quickly brought in to replace him.
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Many had left Black Sabbath for dead at the dawn of the '80s, and with good reason -- the band's last few albums were not even close to their early classics, and original singer Ozzy Osbourne had just split from the band. But the Sabs had found a worthy replacement in former Elf and Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio, and bounced back to issue their finest album since the early '70s, 1980's Heaven and Hell. The band sounds reborn and re-energized throughout. Several tracks easily rank among Sabbath's all-time best, such as the vicious album opener, "Neon Knights," the moody, mid-paced epic "Children of the Sea," and the title track, which features one of Tony Iommi 's best guitar riffs. With Heaven and Hell, Black Sabbath were obviously back in business. Unfortunately, the Dio-led version of the band would only record one more studio album before splitting up (although Dio would return briefly in the early '90s). One of Sabbath's finest records.