POLL: Heaven & Hell or Blizzard of Ozz?

[WildRanger]

Two heavy metal classics from the same year.
What do you prefer?

[bosk1]

Wrong question.  I'll take Heaven and Hell and Blizzard of Ozz.  Thanks.

[Max Kuehnau]

I'd go for both as well actually, because both albums have aspects about them that I like and that I find to be very fitting musically speaking.

[Samsara]

Wrong question.  I'll take Heaven and Hell and Blizzard of Ozz.  Thanks.

This.

[JayOctavarium]

Both are fantastic, but gun to my head....

HEAVEN AND MFING HELL MOTHA LICKAS!

[pg1067]

H&H was my first inclination, and I think it's a pretty wide margin.

Blizzard
I Don't Know is just ok.
I love Crazy Train, but it's one of the few songs that I love that I truly think is overplayed.
Never a Big Fan of Goodbye to Romance
Dee is fine for what it is.
Suicide Solution was so cool when I was in high school, but it hasn't aged well.
Mr. Crowley is another track that was cool in high school.  It has aged better than Suicide.
No Bone Movies is a big dull dud.  Never really cared for it.
Revelation is the runaway star of this album.  Five out of five stars.
Steal Away is a close second to Revelation.  The entire band -- and particularly Bob Daisley -- shines on this one.


H&H
Neon Knights is one of my favorite album openers.  Punches you in the face right from the start.
Children of the Sea is the runaway winner of the best "Children of" track on a metal album.  Very cool song.
Lady Evil is a song that I probably shouldn't like (more bluesy than most stuff I like), but there's a lot of cool stuff in the song that I learned as a result of my old band covering it.
The title track is a bit overplayed, but not anything close to Crazy Train.  That riff is easily top 5 for me.
Wishing Well, Walk Away and Lonely Is the Word are all average songs for me, but they're all miles better than No Bone Movies, and each has something I like.
Die Young is one of my favorites.  The intro and middle sections are very cool, and Geezer has some very tasty bass lines..

Wrong question.  I'll take Heaven and Hell and Blizzard of Ozz.  Thanks.

Yeah...at the end of the day, this is the right answer, and both are part of what I consider to be the best five year period in the history of heavy music.

[jjrock88]

I’ll go with Heaven & Hell but Blizzard is pretty darn good too 

[Stadler]

Heaven And Hell is just a garden gnome better than Blizzard Of Oz
Diary Of A Madman is oceans better than Mob Rules

[TAC]

Heaven And Hell is just a garden gnome better than Blizzard Of Oz
Diary Of A Madman is oceans better than Mob Rules

I agree.

Mob Rules was Dio's absolute vocal peak, followed very closely by Holy Diver.

[Grappler]

Heaven and Hell is a better album to me, but Blizzard of Ozz was one of the very first metal albums that I ever bought and I'm really nostalgic for it.

[Zydar]

Definitely Blizzard for me.

[gazinwales]

H&H by a long shot, IMO both Ozzy albums are way overrated and today sound awfully dated.
While both Sabbath albums with Dio have more than stood the test of time.

[wolfking]

This is actually a great matchup.  Heaven and Hell for me.

[bl5150]

Blizzard for me - I fell in love with those songs moreso via the beefed up versions on RR Tribute.  This is one of my most influential childhood albums which always tilts the scales somewhat .

By the time I got into Dio he was a solo artist ................I had to work my way back from Martin era Sabbath to get to Heaven and Hell.

[pg1067]

Heaven And Hell is just a garden gnome better than Blizzard Of Oz
Diary Of A Madman is oceans better than Mob Rules

Are you calling RJD a garden gnome?!   

Didn't we have a Mob v. Diary thread a while back?

I think Mob Rules is underrated (i.e., I seem to like it a lot better than most folks).  The only song that isn't at least "really good" is Over and Over, and Falling off the Edge of the World might be the best RJD song with Sabbath.

Diary (the song) is my favorite Ozzy song ever, and SATO and Over the Mountain are great, and You Can't Kill Rock and Roll is really good.  Flying High Again always seems to be the "go to" song on this album, but I kinda feel like it's overrated (although the pre-chorus and guitar solo are great).  I've never been a big fan of Believer, and I think both Little Dolls and Tonight are no better than average.

I might like Diary (the song) better than Falling Off, but on the whole, I think Mob Rules >> Diary.


P.S.  I'm a bit surprised that this is as much of a blowout as it seems to be (currently 21-5 for H&H).

[Stadler]

Thank you for pikcing up on that.

Surely you're familiar with the incident where Dio almost lost a finger in an "argument" with a garden gnome at his house (and to make the story complete, about a year and a half ago or so, there was an auction of a bunch of Dio memorablia, and THE GARDEN GNOME WAS IN THERE.  My friend and I were going to go in together and bid up to $400 if need be, but it ultimately sold for... I think about $1,200.   

The "oceans" is a reference to "S.A.T.O.", often thought to stand for "Sailing Across The Ocean". 

Just me, personally, I rate Diary much higher.  It's one of my favorite records of all time, and a big part of my high school years.   "Tonight" isn't average; it's my favorite Ozzy song by a long shot and maybe in the top favorite songs of all time by anyone.  The only song I'm not thrilled with is Believer, though the song itself is good, I just can't stand that burp-y bass intro. 

Mob Rules is good, not great.  Turn Up The Night was done better on Heaven and Hell (Neon Knights), and side two is okay, average, with "Falling Off..." being the high point.  Sign of the Southern Cross may be the best Dio-Sabbath song, or at least is in the conversation. 

Honestly, I was trying to be objective with H&H/Blizzard.  I got Blizzard when it was first released, and wore it out I played it so much (the only duff song for me is Suicide Solution) and so FOR ME, it's the winner.  I didn't get into H&H until a couple years later, when I got into Rainbow and then Dio (Holy Diver is an ungodly record for me; almost perfect), then figured out he was in Sabbath too. 

[pg1067]

Thank you for pikcing up on that.

Surely you're familiar with the incident where Dio almost lost a finger in an "argument" with a garden gnome at his house (and to make the story complete, about a year and a half ago or so, there was an auction of a bunch of Dio memorablia, and THE GARDEN GNOME WAS IN THERE.  My friend and I were going to go in together and bid up to $400 if need be, but it ultimately sold for... I think about $1,200.   

The "oceans" is a reference to "S.A.T.O.", often thought to stand for "Sailing Across The Ocean". 

Just me, personally, I rate Diary much higher.  It's one of my favorite records of all time, and a big part of my high school years.   "Tonight" isn't average; it's my favorite Ozzy song by a long shot and maybe in the top favorite songs of all time by anyone.  The only song I'm not thrilled with is Believer, though the song itself is good, I just can't stand that burp-y bass intro. 

Mob Rules is good, not great.  Turn Up The Night was done better on Heaven and Hell (Neon Knights), and side two is okay, average, with "Falling Off..." being the high point.  Sign of the Southern Cross may be the best Dio-Sabbath song, or at least is in the conversation. 

Honestly, I was trying to be objective with H&H/Blizzard.  I got Blizzard when it was first released, and wore it out I played it so much (the only duff song for me is Suicide Solution) and so FOR ME, it's the winner.  I didn't get into H&H until a couple years later, when I got into Rainbow and then Dio (Holy Diver is an ungodly record for me; almost perfect), then figured out he was in Sabbath too.

No, I wasn't aware of the garden gnome story.  I'll have to look it up.

And you and I have had previous discussions about Tonight, so I'm aware of your preference.  At the end of the day, these are all pretty great albums, so there's no wrong answer.