Black Sabbath ‎ Mob Rules Rare 1981 Warner Bros. Records Original Vinyl LP EX

$

50

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Mob Rules Studio album by  Black Sabbath Released 4 November 1981 Recorded 1981 Studio Record Plant (Los Angeles) Genre Heavy metal Length 40:36 Label Vertigo Producer Martin Birch Black Sabbath chronology Live at Last
(1980) Mob Rules
(1981) Live Evil
(1983) Singles from Mob Rules

1. "Mob Rules"
   Released: 23 October 1981
2. "Turn Up the Night"
   Released: February 1982

Mob Rules is the tenth studio album by the English heavy metal 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.

Release and reception

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" 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. 

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."

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." and Classic Rock complimenting the lyricism alongside Tony Iommi's riffs.

Track listing

Standard Edition

All lyrics are written by Ronnie James Dio, except where noted; all music is composed by Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi.