BLACK SABBATH MOB RULES DELUXE EDITION COMING

With the success of the Heaven And Hell catching many by surprise and even certain quarters declaring to anyone who would listen that it’s achievements would prove to be something of a ‘one-off’, the new quartet’s follow-up would therefore need to show that the long cold shadow cast by ousted vocalist Ozzy Osbourne could finally now be exorcised from the lives of the continuing members of Black Sabbath.

Opening the band’s new account in October ’81 was a pre-release single of the album’s title track. And if ‘Mob Rules’ was a barometer by which to judge the tone of the new opus, then the silence of the chattering naysayers left in its wake was a clear indication that this Anglo-American version of Black Sabbath was continuing exactly where Heaven And Hell had left-off. The three minutes of torrential un-relenting metal aggression of ‘Mob Rules’ was again built upon the solid, unwavering writing ability and left no one in any doubt that Heaven And Hell has been no million selling fluke.

Written mostly on the Heaven And Hell Tour and with Martin Birch again at the producer’s helm, Mob Rules, like its predecessor, contains some of the tastiest, hook-laden, riff-heavy Metal that Sabs fans, both old (and now many new), could desire. Album opener, ‘Turn Up The Night’ (the follow-up Top 40 single), like the title track, is a relentless charge of foot pounding bass, trilling guitar lines and a full-throated command that would become a classic Sabbath rallying call. Shifting the mood into darker and far more broody territory were tracks such as ‘Voodoo’ and ‘The Sign Of The Southern Cross’ whilst Iommi’s haunting instrumental, ‘E5150’ is an echo chamber of unsettling subhuman cries that could accompany perfectly any reading of Lovecraftian verse. Bringing the album to a close, both ‘Falling Of The Edge Of The World’ and ‘Over And Over’ continue the album’s powerful charge-to-chug pace which aided its ascent to the #12 position in U.K. album charts.

Accompanying this Re-mastered Deluxe Expanded Edition of the album is a second disc featuring a complete live concert performance recorded at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in December 1981 on The Mob Rules Tour. Also featured is a live version of ‘Die Young’ from the same tour and a rare demo version of the title track, specifically written for the movie, Heavy Metal, the animated collection of fantasy short stories taken from the comic books of the same name.

Deluxe Expanded Edition Of
“Mob Rules”
Release date: 5th April 2010

Disc 1

1. Turn Up The Night
2. Voodoo
3. The Sign Of The Southern Cross
4. E5150
5. The Mob Rules
6. Country Girl
7. Slipping Away
8. Falling Off The Edge Of The World
9. Over And Over
10. Die Young Live
11. The Mob Rules Alternative Version

Disc 2

1. E5150 Live At Hammersmith Odeon
2. Neon Knights Live At Hammersmith Odeon
3. N.I.B. Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
4. Children Of The Sea Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
5. Country Girl Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
6. Black Sabbath Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
7. War Pigs Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
8. Slipping Away Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
9. Iron Man Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
10. The Mob Rules Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
11. Heaven & Hell Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
12. Paranoid Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
13. Voodoo Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
14. Children Of The Grave Live At The Hammersmith Odeon

Buy your copy here.