Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell is the ninth studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 18 April 1980. It is the first Black Sabbath album to feature vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who replaced original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne in 1979. Produced by Martin Birch, the album was a commercial success, particularly in the United States, where it reached number 28 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum for one million sales. In the UK, it sold well enough to be certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry in April 1982. Overview The initial sessions for what became Heaven and Hell began with Ozzy Osbourne following the conclusion of Black Sabbath's Never Say Die! Tour. The band convened in Los Angeles for eleven months to record a new album, a process described by guitarist Tony Iommi as a "highly frustrating, never-ending process". Osbourne has stated that he had become fed up with the experimentation on the preceding albums Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die!, preferring the band's earlier, heavier sound. In his memoir, Iommi revealed that he still possesses a recording featuring Osbourne singing an early version of what would become "Children of the Sea" with different lyrics and "a totally different" vocal melody. Ronnie James Dio was introduced to Iommi in 1979 by Sharon Arden, who would later marry Osbourne. Initially, Dio and Iommi discussed forming a new band, rather than a continuation of Black Sabbath. The pair met again by chance at The Rainbow on Sunset in Los Angeles later that year. Both men were in similar situations: Dio was seeking a new project and Iommi required a vocalist. "It must have been fate," Dio recalled, "because we connected so instantly." The pair kept in touch via telephone until Dio arrived at Iommi's Los Angeles house for a relaxed, getting-to-know-you jam session. On that first day, the duo finished "Children of the Sea", a song Iommi had abandoned prior to Osbourne's firing.