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Mob Rules (album)

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Mob Rules
Studio album by
Black Sabbath
Released4 November 1981
Recorded1981
StudioRecord Plant, Los Angeles
GenreHeavy metal[1]
Length40:36
LabelVertigo
ProducerMartin Birch
Black Sabbath chronology
Heaven and Hell
(1980) 		Mob Rules
(1981) 		Born Again
(1983)
Singles from Mob Rules
  1. "The Mob Rules"
    Released: October 1981[2]
  2. "Turn Up the Night"
    Released: February 1982 [3]

Mob Rules is the tenth studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath, released in November 1981. It followed 1980's Heaven and Hell, and was the second album to feature lead singer Ronnie James Dio and the first with drummer Vinny Appice. Neither musician would appear on a Black Sabbath studio album again until the 1992 album Dehumanizer.[4]

Produced and engineered by Martin Birch, the album received a remastered Deluxe Edition release in 2010 and an expanded edition in 2021.

Recording

[edit]

The first new recording Black Sabbath made after the Heaven and Hell album was a version of the title track "The Mob Rules" for the soundtrack of the film Heavy Metal. The track "E5150" is also heard in the film but not included on the soundtrack. According to guitarist Tony Iommi's autobiography Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven & Hell with Black Sabbath, the band began writing and rehearsing songs for Mob Rules at a rented house in Toluca Lake in Los Angeles. Initially the band hoped to record in their own studio to save money and actually purchased a sound desk; but, according to Iommi, "We just couldn't get a guitar sound. We tried it in the studio. We tried it in the hallway. We tried it everywhere but it just wasn't working. We'd bought a studio and it wasn't working!" The band eventually recorded the album at the Record Plant in Los Angeles.

Mob Rules was the first Sabbath album to feature Vinny Appice on drums, who had replaced original member Bill Ward in the middle of the Heaven and Hell tour.[5] Asked by Joe Matera in 2007 if working with a new drummer was jarring after so many years, bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler replied, "No, because Vinny was a big fan of the band and loved Bill's playing. Bill was one of his favourite drummers and so he knew all his parts and my bass parts and he adjusted accordingly to everybody in the band. He was brilliant. He came in and totally filled in Bill's shoes."

In an interview for the concert film Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven and Hell, Butler cites "The Sign of the Southern Cross" as his favourite Mob Rules track because "it gave me a chance to experiment with some bass effects". The album was the last time the band worked with producer and engineer Martin Birch, who went on to work with Iron Maiden until his retirement in 1992. Iommi explained to Guitar World in 1992, "We were all going through a lot of problems at that time, most of it related to drugs. Even the producer, Martin Birch, was having drug problems, and it hurt the sound of that record. Once that happens to your producer, you’re really screwed."

Mob Rules would be singer Ronnie James Dio's second and final studio recording with Black Sabbath until the Mob Rules-era line-up reunited for 1992's Dehumanizer. The seeds of discontent appear to have sprouted when Dio was offered a solo deal by Warner Brothers, with Iommi stating in his memoir, "After the (Heaven and Hell) record became such a great success, Warner Brothers extended the contract at the same time, offering Ronnie a solo deal. That felt a bit odd to us, because we were a band and we didn't want to separate anybody." Dio confided in an interview on the Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven and Hell DVD that the recording of Mob Rules was far more difficult for him than Heaven and Hell because "we approached the writing very much differently than the first one. Geezer had gone so we wrote in a very controlled environment in a living room with little amplifiers. And with Mob Rules we hired a studio, turned up as loud as possible and smashed through it all. So it made for a different kind of an attitude".

Vinny Appice stated in a 2021 interview with Pariah Burke that the writing for the album was largely a collaborative process done through jam sessions. He stated, "We put [songs] together by jamming and playing together and putting ideas in the pot. It's a natural way of doing it and it works really well for us. That's how we did all the big albums like Mob Rules and Holy Diver. Nobody came in with a song.”[6]

Iommi reflected to Guitar World in 1992, "Mob Rules was a confusing album for us. We started writing songs differently for some reason, and ended up not using a lot of really great material. That line-up was really great, and the whole thing fell apart for very silly reasons — we were all acting like children." The major problem, noted by Mick Wall in his book Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe, was that the balance of power within the band had shifted: "With Bill and Ozzy happy to leave the heavy lifting to Tony and Geezer, in terms of songwriting, coming into the studio only when they were called, even as their flair deserted them over the final, dismal Ozzy-era albums, at least everybody knew where they stood. Now, though, the creative chemistry had shifted."

"I still like that album", Iommi reflected in 1997.[7]

Artwork

[edit]

The cover of Mob Rules is adapted from a 1974 painting titled “Dream 1: Crucifiers” from a series of paintings by Greg Hildebrandt of the Brothers Hildebrandt partnership. The paintings were created after a projected documentary on world hunger by the brothers under the guidance of the Catholic Church fell through. Greg’s relationship with the church soured, which resulted in the series of dream paintings. These paintings, including "Dream 1…" were published in 1978 by Ballantine Books in the book The Art of the Brothers Hildebrandt. [8]

There were alterations, besides the inclusion of the band’s name and album title, in the artwork. A hook seen dangling from the left side of the torture implement was changed to a cross. The blood stain in the center of the piece was also altered to more closely resemble a devil’s head. [9]

Release and reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Classic Rock[11]
Martin Popoff10/10[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[14]

Mob Rules was released on 4 November 1981 to mixed reviews. In the US it went gold and in the UK it reached the Top 20 and spawned two chart singles, the title track and "Turn Up the Night". AllMusic's Greg Prato called the album "underrated"[15] and enthused, "Mob Rules was given a much punchier in-your-face mix by Birch, who seemed re-energized after his work on new wave of British heavy metal upstarts Iron Maiden's Killers album. Essentially Mob Rules is a magnificent record, with the only serious problem being the sequencing of the material which mirrors Heaven and Hell's almost to a tee."

Guitarist Tony Iommi acknowledged this common criticism in his memoir, admitting that he was frustrated at being accused of making Heaven and Hell part two and speculating that the band would have been criticized regardless of their approach. [citation needed]

Seven of the album's tracks were played live on the Mob Rules Tour. "E5150" was used as an intro tape, and "Over and Over" was the only song not featured on the tour in any way. While the title track was the only song from this album regularly played by Black Sabbath on subsequent tours, "Falling Off the Edge of the World" was performed live by Heaven & Hell (which consisted of the same Black Sabbath lineup that recorded Mob Rules), and "Sign of the Southern Cross" occasionally played live by Dio.

J.D. Considine of Rolling Stone gave Mob Rules a negative review in February 1986. Profiling the album in 2008, Bryan Reesman noted: "Even with Dio bringing in more fantasy-based lyrics and moving the group away from seemingly Satanic verses, the title track to Mob Rules, not to mention its menacing cover could easily imply a call to anarchy. But beyond the snarling guitars and vocals is actually a cautionary tale against mindless mayhem."[citation needed]

In modern re-evaluations, the album is generally looked upon very favorably, with Rolling Stone awarding the album a positive review of 3 stars, and other reviewers such as Allmusic's Fred Thomas observing that "Mob Rules and Heaven and Hell work well as each other's companion pieces, making the first round of Dio-fronted Sabbath material a bright spot surrounded by relatively grim efforts on either side."[16] and Classic Rock complimenting the lyricism alongside Tony Iommi's riffs.

Track listing

[edit]

Standard Edition

[edit]

All songs were written by Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler. All lyrics were written by Ronnie James Dio except where noted.[17]

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Turn Up the Night"3:42
2."Voodoo"4:32
3."The Sign of the Southern Cross"7:46
4."E5150" (instrumental)2:54
5."The Mob Rules"3:14
Side B
No.TitleLength
6."Country Girl"4:02
7."Slipping Away"3:45
8."Falling Off the Edge of the World"5:02
9."Over and Over"5:28
Total length:40:36

2010 Deluxe Edition

[edit]

Disc 2 is a repackaging of the previously released limited edition CD Live at Hammersmith Odeon.

Disc 1
No.TitleLength
1."Turn Up the Night"3:42
2."Voodoo"4:32
3."The Sign of the Southern Cross"7:44
4."E5150"2:54
5."The Mob Rules"3:15
6."Country Girl"4:02
7."Slipping Away"3:42
8."Falling Off the Edge of the World"5:03
9."Over and Over"5:28
10."Die Young" (live, 12" single B-Side of Mob Rules)4:04
11."The Mob Rules" (Heavy Metal OMPS/ Original demo version)3:14
Total length:47:51
Disc 2
No.TitleRecording dateLength
1."E5150"2 January 19821:18
2."Neon Knights" (Dio, Iommi, Butler, Bill Ward)2 January 19824:37
3."N.I.B." (Ozzy Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward)1 January 19825:16
4."Children of the Sea" (Dio, Iommi, Butler, Ward)1 January 19826:07
5."Country Girl"1 January 19823:53
6."Black Sabbath" (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward)31 December 19818:24
7."War Pigs" (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward)1 January 19827:40
8."Slipping Away"31 December 19813:18
9."Iron Man" (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward)1 January 19827:04
10."The Mob Rules"31 December 19813:35
11."Heaven and Hell" (Dio, Iommi, Butler, Ward)1 January 198214:24
12."Paranoid" (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward)31 December 19813:21
13."Voodoo"2 January 19825:45
14."Children of the Grave" (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward)31 December 19815:05

2021 40th Anniversary Edition

[edit]

Disc one tracks 12, 17 & 18 and all disc two tracks previously unreleased.[18]

Disc 1: Original Album (2021 Remaster)
No.TitleLength
1."Turn Up the Night"3:42
2."Voodoo"4:32
3."The Sign of the Southern Cross"7:44
4."E5150"2:54
5."The Mob Rules"3:15
6."Country Girl"4:02
7."Slipping Away"3:42
8."Falling Off the Edge of the World"5:03
9."Over and Over"5:28
Total length:40:33
Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
10."The Mob Rules" (Heavy Metal soundtrack version)3:14
11."Die Young" (live B-Side of "The Mob Rules")4:03
12."The Mob Rules" (new 2021 mix)3:24
Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, December 31, 1981 – January 2, 1982
No.TitleLength
13."Country Girl"3:59
14."Slipping Away"3:15
15."The Mob Rules"3:21
16."Voodoo"5:46
Live at Portland Memorial Coliseum, U.S.A., April 22, 1982
No.TitleLength
17."Intro: E5150"0:59
18."Neon Knights"4:27
Disc 2: Live at Portland Memorial Coliseum, U.S.A., April 22, 1982 (continued)
No.TitleLength
1."N.I.B."6:02
2."Children of the Sea"7:13
3."Voodoo"5:52
4."Black Sabbath"7:30
5."War Pigs"7:19
6."Drum Solo"3:06
7."Iron Man"8:09
8."The Mob Rules"3:36
9."Heaven and Hell"9:44
10."Guitar Solo"3:10
11."The Sign of the Southern Cross / Heaven and Hell (Reprise)"7:29
12."Paranoid"3:30
13."Children of the Grave"5:29

Personnel

[edit]

Personnel adapted from Mob Rules liner notes[17]

Black Sabbath

Additional performer

Production

  • Produced and engineered by Martin Birch
  • Assistant engineers – Eddie DeLena, Angelo Arcuri
  • Technicians to Black Sabbath – Ian Ferguson, Michael Howse, Les Martin, Peter Resty
  • Remastered by Dan Hersch (2008 reissue)
  • Cover illustration by Greg Hildebrandt
  • Art direction by Richard Seireeni

Release history

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Region Date Label
United Kingdom November 1981 Vertigo Records
United States November 1981 Warner Bros. Records
Canada November 1981 Warner Bros. Records
SFR Yugoslavia 1982 PGP RTB/Philips
Mexico 1982 Vertigo Records
United Kingdom 1996 Castle Communications
United Kingdom 2004 Sanctuary Records
United States October 2008 Rhino Records
United States March 2021 Rhino Records

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[31] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[32] Gold 100,000‡
United States (RIAA)[33] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "Black Sabbath - Mob Rules Review • metal.de".
  2. ^ "Black sabbath singles".
  3. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. ISBN 9780862415419.
  4. ^ "Mob Rules: Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
  5. ^ Saulnier, Jason (24 March 2012). "Vinny Appice Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Dio, Last in Line, Resurrection Kings) Interview – PariahRocks.com". The Hard, Heavy & Hair Show - PariahRocks.com. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  7. ^ Scott, Peter (May 1998). "Tony Iommi Interview". Southern Cross (Sabbath fanzine) #21. p. 40.
  8. ^ "Spiderwebart Gallery: Crucifiers-Mob". Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  9. ^ "The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit - Album cover of the week: Mob Rules". Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  10. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Black Sabbath: Mob Rules > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
  11. ^ Rock, Classic (26 February 2018). "Album Of The Week Club: Black Sabbath - Mob Rules". Loudersound. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  12. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  13. ^ Considine, J. D. (19 February 1986). "Album reviews Mob Rules". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  14. ^ "Black Sabbath: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  15. ^ Prato, Greg. "Black Sabbath: Live at Hammersmith Odeon > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-09-14.
  16. ^ Black Sabbath - Mob Rules Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic, retrieved 2 December 2023
  17. ^ a b Mob Rules (CD) album notes. Warner Bros. Records, Inc. 1981. pp. 2–3.
  18. ^ The Mod Rules (CD sleeve). Black Sabbath. Warner Records R2 599497. 2021.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0430". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  20. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Black Sabbath – Mob Rules" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  21. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  22. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  23. ^ "Charts.nz – Black Sabbath – Mob Rules". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  24. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Black Sabbath – Mob Rules". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  25. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  26. ^ "Black Sabbath Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  27. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Black Sabbath – Mob Rules" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  28. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  29. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  30. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  31. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Black Sabbath – Mob Rules". Music Canada.
  32. ^ "British album certifications – Black Sabbath – Mob Rules". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  33. ^ "American album certifications – Black Sabbath – Mob Rules". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
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