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Apr 12, 2021 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

Mob Rules is Ronnie James Dio’s second and final album fronting Black Sabbath (until the one-off reunion of 1992). And although drummer Bill Ward finally succumbed to his vices, exiting in favor of Vinnie Appice, Mob Rules continues to find guitarist Tony Iommi reinvigorated with Dio at the helm. The riffs are staggering and Dio is at his overt (histrionic) best. Of course, it all melted down in the ensuring year, but for another brief moment in time, Black Sabbath was again at the top of its game.

Rhino’s 40th anniversary reissue complements the album proper with a slew of additional, mostly live, tracks. Aside from the Heavy Metal soundtrack version of “The Mob Rules,” a live B-side of “Die Young” from Heaven and Hell, and a 2019 remix track, the additional material features four Mob Rules tracks played live at Hammersmith Odeon on December 31, 1981 and a 15-song concert from Portland in April of the following year.

Unlike the live cuts on the Heaven and Hell reissue, this Portland show features Dio singing some of Ozzy Osbourne’s Sabbath songs, which is odd to hear, to say the least. It is utterly weird to hear Dio vamping through “N.I.B.” “Black Sabbath” here is more dirge-y than dirge. But ultimately, the vocal histrionics that Dio is best at don’t play very well on the older Sabbath material.

Still, Mob Rules is essential Sabbath and the concert material, while perhaps less essential, is still an interesting listen, even if you probably won’t find yourself coming back to it very often. The album proper, however, you will. (www.blacksabbath.com)

Author rating: 7/10