Opener "Turn Up the Night" opens the album with a roar. Very fast and heavy, I quite like the song.Like a tank rolling through the open plains, the song really has a driving rhythm, with new guy Vinny Appice actually sounding more energized than Bill Ward did on Heaven and Hell, albeit less jazzy and complex. Dio sounds ferocious, especially just before the point when Tony Iommi's solo starts, one of my favorite Dio vocal moments. A very good song by all accounts. "Voodoo" is killer, a great riff, cool bass-line, and one of the best vocals Dio ever laid down, in my opinion anyways. The lyrics reflect the dark direction that band took under Dio's wing, certainly less innocent than both Geezer and Ozzy, definitely more into the darker side of life.
"The Sign of the Southern Cross" is my favorite song on the album. Starting like "Children of the Sea" a year before it, it contains a beautiful acoustic guitar introduction, accompanied by Ronnie sounding surprisingly fragile and certainly operatic. Geezer's delicate bass-lines mimic Dio's vocals during the introduction, very impressive, even for Geezer. Synthesizers join the band during the verses, and actually add to the camp-fire/fantasy movie atmosphere. Vinny is a bit loud on the drums during the verses, but can pound the crap out of the kit during the amazingly powerful chorus. Dio sounds wonderful throughout the song, proving why he was certainly more technically capable than Ozzy and most other metal singers. A great song, rounded out by a nice solo from Iommi. "E5150" is a fairly useless instrumental, that besides the cryptic title, does little for the album. Some cool effects, especially on the bass, but this track, like "FX" and "Fluff" before it, fails to capture my interest.
"The Mob Rules" was originally recorded for the soundtrack to the movie "Heavy Metal". This version is less raw, and more slickly produced. Vinny is the true highlight of the song, giving new life to the band behind the kit, a wonderful racket. The lyrics are fairly adolescent and repetitive for Dio, but his vocal sounds awesome, so who really cares. Tony is on point as par for the course, but I find the solo a little short, and begged for more. Never a favorite of mine, I like the song, but rarely listen to it, another "middling" Dio-era song without real impact for me, largely due to a lack of a clear transition between the verses and choruses, structural speaking. "Country Girl" may have a stupid title, but it f-ing rocks. A classic riff from Tony provides the backbone of the song, very infectious. Dio's lyrics read like a beautiful love story, a tale of two star-crossed lovers taking on the world. I hate this word, but epic. The vocals are equally beautiful as the lyrics, majestic to say the least.
"Slipping Away" has never been one of the Dio-era's stand-out tracks for me. The Zeppelin-like riff and slightly poppy chorus don't stack up to the rest of the album. There are some moments or brilliance, especially when Tony and Geezer trade solos near the end of the song. Vinny's drumming is pretty powerful and tight, but it really does also sound like an emulation of a Jon Bonham beat. Besides "E5150", easily the worst song on the album. "Falling of the Edge of the World" is a revelation, and really is an amazing piece of music. It starts with a slow introduction, in which Dio bemoans over desolate strings and sparse Iommi guitar. A march-like drum beat is accompanied by a slow, chugging, Iommi riff, and then the magic truly happens. Iommi plays a riff so amazing, it will literally blow your metal mind. Dio joins the insanely fast riff with some very muscular vocals, gruff and lean, yet very melodic. The solo slays, and Iommi sounds re-energized, like his fellow band-mates, finally finding fire again in the passion and vocal aerobics of Dio. A great song, one of the best recorded by the Dio-era of the band. "Over and Over" is the perfect close to a very good album. Very desolate and icy, the song tells of the pain of living in a world that offers like pleasure for the narrator, a bleak tale of isolation of desperation. Being metal, that is surely not a problem, and there is certainly solace in Dio's emotions, particularly haunting given Dio's untimely and unfortunate battle with illness, something we are all still in mourning from. A fitting epitaph to Ronnie, even if unintended. A great song.
"The Mob Rules" is fantastic. In many ways better than Heaven and Hell, at least in terms of the consistency of awesome songs. But, the albums are really companions, and therefore, almost defy comparison, being almost one and the same. In any case, pick up this often overlooked Sabbath album, as it truly needs to be heard. The last album before a long break with Dio, and a return that would yield some less than stellar results in the 1990s.
Rating-9.5/10
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