Ozzy Osbourne is so indelibly linked with Black Sabbath that most young fans of the classic English metal band aren’t even aware that the group once made a handful of compelling albums without him.
Two Ozzy-less Sabbath albums in particular stand out: 1980’s “Heavy and Hell” and 1981’s “Mob Rules.” Both feature American vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Some aficionados of the band would even argue that these two works stand toe-to-toe with any of the more celebrated discs the group made with Osbourne in the 1970s.
If time is an accurate measure of a band’s worth, then the Dio-era Sabbath is certainly worthy of plaudits. This lineup is currently on tour in the United States playing to both old and young fans in cavernous hockey arenas. So this brief but fruitful period in the band’s five-decade career clearly has its fans, though it should also be pointed out that the presence of thrash-metal titans Megadeth on this tour is more than just a footnote.
Last Wednesday night, this edition of Black Sabbath rolled into the Forum in Inglewood bent on proving that it still had enough fire in the belly to play the music of its youth. Doubt may have been cast when the quartet first appeared on stage. Guitarist Tony Iommi looked as if osteoporosis had begun to set in to his less-than-agile body; drummer Vinnie Appice appeared to be a prime candidate for the South Beach Diet; and bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler seemed to be aptly nicknamed.
But if most of the band members appeared on the surface as if age and years of hard living had caught up with them, the music they played still managed to pack enough vitality to make the evening much more than an empty exercise in nostalgia. Iommi churned out his signature doom-and-gloom metal riffs to great effect. Butler and Appice aptly anchored the bottom end of the music with the latter demonstrating that he still had the stamina to execute an old-fashioned arena rock drum solo.
Perhaps most impressive was Dio, who looked like the most physically fit of the band members. The affable and gentlemanly front man delivered his dark-hued lyrics with the type of range and dynamism that are beyond the grasp of Osbourne, who relies more on inimitable style and character than technical proficiency. Dio’s operatic metal vocals place him among the genre’s most gifted singers ever.
It was nice to see that the band had enough confidence in its own material to eschew the temptation to mine Ozzy-era nuggets like “Paranoid” and “Iron Man.” Virtually the entire show was dedicated to material from “Heaven and Hell” and “Mob Rules.” Songs like “Neon Knights” and “Voodoo” sounded much as they do on CD-punchy and hooky. The band even served up a few new songs, suggesting that it may have a future and not just a present and a past.
Megadeth preceded Sabbath with a memorable set of its own. The Los Angeles-bred band shreds with the ferocity and speed of the best thrash bands while also playing with the dexterity and inventiveness of a top prog rock outfit. The highlight of the quartet’s set was a combustive version of its anthemic song “Peace Sells,” an interactive tune that had many fans singing along and others on the floor partaking of vigorous mosh pit action.
