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Many Sabbath fans seem to be divided into two camps:- Ozzy era and Dio era. The Dio era fans seem to be far more narrow minded and won't accept Ozzy's contribution to this classic group. For me Black Sabbath's albums from their first release up to and including the magnificant Sabotage are pure class.

However,the two final Ozzy albums with Sabbath are very sub standard with drugs and Iommi's ego taking their toll. Iommi also tried to push them into a more mainstream sound making Sabbath sound like Queen. Ozzy was given the push and along came the little man with the big ego,Mr Ronnie James Dio

However the results, Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules were stunning. The sound was totally different and Sabbath came bombing into the 1980's It's hard to chose the best songs from them, but The Dio Years album has done a pretty good job. Neon Nights, Lady Evil, Die Young, Turn Up The Night etc. Fantastic!

We are given 3 songs from Dehumanizer and although they're not of the same standard as Heaven And Hell and Mob Rules, they're still very credible.

I'm glad that only one song has been chosen from Live Evil. The sound is tinny and muted and the audience may not as well have been there as they're so far down in the mix

The 3 news songs:- The Devil Cried, Shadow Of The Wind and Ear In The Wall aren't exactly earth shattering and won't go down as classics, but they're very listenable all the same.

I am looking forward to seeing them live under the name Heaven And Hell.

So I highly recommend this album. Ozzy fans, don't close your ears to the Dio era and Dio fans, don't close your ears to the Ozzy era. Both are fantastic.




Rating: 4 out of 5

Sabbath and Dio need each other to fulfill their ful potential without a doubt.
Sabbath with Ozzy great for first 4 albums and rest worse than forgetful.

Dio with Rainbow - Legendary and when he landed in Sabbath despite the flack that followed about ozzy's hallowed place been taken up by Dio what you got was masterful Rock Music for the 2 Albums heaven and Hell and Mob rules that re-invigourated Sabbath and took them in a new darker, more powerful direction.The Ego's didn't last out and after 2 studio Albums and a live album they all fell out and went there separate ways.

The Dio Band was then formed and although not bad in my opinion could not provide the dark-powerful sinister riff that Iommi-Butler and Appice in sabbath offered and became verye predicatble. Post Dio Sabbath floundered big style (Gillan -Oh dear!) for many years never being able to get a singer who could even come half way near to Dio.Tony Martin came close but still did not measure upto Dio.

The de-humanizer album years later was both camps keeping their distance and the riffs are too blocky and do not fuse like the lyrics-music and produce dark imagery in your mind like the 2 previous albums.

If you thinking of buying this CD don't think just do it because this is the stuff that Rock Music is all about.
Minor Gripes : Sign of the southern cross - where is it. I from De-humanizer where is it?.

Play with pride and bring on the Heaven and hell Tour (Why Not the Black Sabbath name- Give them a break Sharon!!).


Rating: 5 out of 5

If you're reading this, you already know something of Sabbath's reputation as the founding fathers of all things metal.
I always thought that Sabbath lost something when Ozzy left (yes, I'm old; 44). Dio took the band in a different direction and recorded "Dehumanizer" in 1992, one of metal's great overlooked albums. As for this collection, it is, as a previous reviewer has said, a good introduction to Dio's Sabbath. Quibbles would be the inclusion of the live version of "Children of the Sea", not the studio version and only two decent tracks from the aforementioned "Dehumanizer" ("After All {The Dead}") is poor, frankly. The new recordings are good, especially "Ear In The Wall".
Now for a celebration of the Tony Martin years ...

Rating: 4 out of 5

At long last the Dio era of Sabbath gets its long overdue recognition. Prior to Dio's arrival Sabbath were on a down hill slope, personally I've always regarded the first 4 Sabbath albums with Ozzy, as the only ones worth getting, the following lps were a bit of a let down. Let's not beat around the bush here, when Dio arrived, he breathed new life into Sabbath. This compilation is definitive proof of that, yeh it was fashionable to critcise Dio's interpretation of Ozzy songs, personally I've always loved Dio's version of war pigs on the live evil album.

There will always be a divide with Sabbath fans as to who is the greater of the 2 vocalists, personally I've always loved Dio, the energy and power of his voice and lyrical imagination fired Sabbath to new musical heights and had Iommi's guitar sounding extremely evil and heavy (check out Dehumanizer and you'll see what I mean), the 3 bonus songs are worth the price of this cd alone, can't wait to see them on the H & H 07 tour, long may they reign!!!

Hopefully this compilation will put a stop to the crticism that plagued the Dio years for so long and shed light on what was a truly underated era of Black Sabbath music!!!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Ronnie James Dio has a great track record.

He was introduced to the masses in Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, a truely WONDERFUL incarnation of rock.

Okay, let's get this straight, I don't like Ozzy Osbourn, because I was introduced to Ronnie James Dio long before, and listening to Ozzy is a real step down. Ronnie's voice is absolutly amazing!

Ronnie has given a great performance on all the albums he's appeared on. But my favorite album of vocal perfection is Dehumanizer. Ronnie ROOOOOOOOARS out the songs in beautifully powerful fashion.

This album is a great introduction to the Dio era of Black Sabbath. But it's well worth getting the album's. They're all fantastic!

And this album is also worthy for Dio Era Black Sabbath fans because they're are THREE new tracks AND all the songs are remastered. Why they left out Sign Of The Southern Cross and Master Of Reality is insain.
I suppose they have their reasons. Seriously, buy this AND get the albums cos Sabbath without Dio is crappy. Ozzy sucks. Dio RULES!!! LONG LIVE RONNIE JAMES DIO!

Rating: 5 out of 5