Mob Rules
Encyclopedia
Mob Rules is Black Sabbath
's tenth studio album, released in November 1981. It peaked at number 29 on the U.S. charts.
In the UK, it became the fourth Black Sabbath studio-album to attain Silver certification (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in February 1982.
on drums, who had replaced original member Bill Ward in the middle of the tour in support of the previous year's Heaven and Hell
. This led to Ozzy Osbourne
dubbing the line-up "Geezer
and the three Wop
s".
The cover art is a modified version of artist Greg Hildebrandt's piece entitled Dream 1: Crucifiers from 1971, with Black Sabbath licensing its use for the cover of Mob Rules. The original artwork has been augmented for the album, where not only have the band and album names been conspicuously added to the back wall, but also the hook hanging on the left side of the structure was changed to a crucifix, and the stain in the middle of the structure has been altered to resemble a devil's head. Lastly, Greg Hildebrandt's name has been added to the bottom center of the piece, as the original was rectangular in shape with the artist's name and year in the lower left corner, thus being truncated in the album's square presentation. The lyrical themes are dark, notably on tracks such as "The Sign of the Southern Cross" and "Falling Off the Edge of the World".
The Live Evil album was recorded on the Mob Rules tour. The album is included in the Black Sabbath box set The Rules of Hell
. The Mob Rules lineup toured under the name Heaven & Hell from 2006 until Ronnie James Dio
's death in 2010. Their only album, The Devil You Know, was released in 2009.
, Tony Iommi
, and Geezer Butler
. All lyrics were written by Ronnie James Dio
.
: 5=V, 1=I and 50=L.
and is featured on the soundtrack album. In the UK, a 7" and 12" picture-sleeve single of Mob Rules (album version) preceded the album release. The B-side was a previously unavailable live version of "Die Young" (the studio version of which is on the Heaven and Hell album).
Additional performer
Production
certification
(United States)
BPI
certification
(United Kingdom)
CRIA
certification
(Canada)
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
's tenth studio album, released in November 1981. It peaked at number 29 on the U.S. charts.
In the UK, it became the fourth Black Sabbath studio-album to attain Silver certification (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in February 1982.
Album information
It was the first album to feature Vinny AppiceVinny Appice
Vincent Samson Appice , also known as Vinny Appice is a rock drummer of American Italian descent and the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice...
on drums, who had replaced original member Bill Ward in the middle of the tour in support of the previous year's Heaven and Hell
Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath album)
Heaven and Hell is the ninth studio album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in April 1980. This is their first album featuring Ronnie James Dio, and first with producer Martin Birch.-Album information:...
. This led to Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
dubbing the line-up "Geezer
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
and the three Wop
Wop
Wop is a pejorative racial slur for people from Italy that originated in the United States but is also used in the UK. There is an urban myth that the term "wop" is an acronym for "without papers" as many of the Italian immigrants did not have identification or visas...
s".
The cover art is a modified version of artist Greg Hildebrandt's piece entitled Dream 1: Crucifiers from 1971, with Black Sabbath licensing its use for the cover of Mob Rules. The original artwork has been augmented for the album, where not only have the band and album names been conspicuously added to the back wall, but also the hook hanging on the left side of the structure was changed to a crucifix, and the stain in the middle of the structure has been altered to resemble a devil's head. Lastly, Greg Hildebrandt's name has been added to the bottom center of the piece, as the original was rectangular in shape with the artist's name and year in the lower left corner, thus being truncated in the album's square presentation. The lyrical themes are dark, notably on tracks such as "The Sign of the Southern Cross" and "Falling Off the Edge of the World".
The Live Evil album was recorded on the Mob Rules tour. The album is included in the Black Sabbath box set The Rules of Hell
The Rules of Hell
The Rules of Hell is a collection of four albums by the heavy metal band Black Sabbath featuring Ronnie James Dio on vocals in remastered form. The albums included in the set are:*1980 Heaven and Hell*1981 Mob Rules*1982 Live Evil...
. The Mob Rules lineup toured under the name Heaven & Hell from 2006 until Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio
Ronald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
's death in 2010. Their only album, The Devil You Know, was released in 2009.
Track listing
All songs were written by Ronnie James DioRonnie James Dio
Ronald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
, Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
, and Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
. All lyrics were written by Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio
Ronald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
.
Side one
- "Turn Up the NightTurn Up the Night"Turn Up the Night" is the first song of the Black Sabbath's album Mob Rules. It reached number #37 and #24 in the UK/US charts, respectively....
" – 3:42 - "Voodoo" – 4:32
- "The Sign of the Southern Cross" – 7:46
- "E5150" – 2:54
- "The Mob RulesThe Mob Rules"The Mob Rules" is a song by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath from their 1981 album, Mob Rules.- Covers :*American heavy metal band Fozzy covered the song on their 2002 album Happenstance....
" – 3:14
Side two
- "Country Girl" – 4:02
- "Slipping Away" – 3:45
- "Falling Off the Edge of the World" – 5:02
- "Over and Over" – 5:28
2010 Deluxe Edition Disc 1 Bonus Tracks
- Die Young (Live, 12" Single B-Side of Mob Rules)
- The Mob Rules (Heavy Metal OMPS/ Original demo versionHeavy Metal (film)Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian fantasy-animated film directed by Gerald Potterton and produced by Ivan Reitman and Leonard Mogel, who also was the publisher of Heavy Metal magazine....
)
2010 Deluxe Edition Disc 2
This is a repackaging of the previously released Limited Edition CD Live at Hammersmith OdeonLive at Hammersmith Odeon
Live at Hammersmith Odeon is a live Black Sabbath album recorded at three concerts between 31 December 1981 and 2 January 1982, during the Mob Rules tour...
- "E5150" (Ronnie James DioRonnie James DioRonald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
, Tony IommiTony IommiAnthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
, Geezer ButlerGeezer ButlerGeezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
) - "Neon KnightsNeon Knights"Neon Knights" is a song by heavy metal band Black Sabbath from their 1980 album, Heaven and Hell. It is the opening track on Heaven and Hell, Black Sabbath's first album with American vocalist Ronnie James Dio.The lyrics were written by Dio...
" (2 January 1982) (Dio, Iommi, Butler, Bill Ward) - "N.I.B.N.I.B."N.I.B." is a song released by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It first appeared as the fourth track on the band's 1970 eponymous debut album, Black Sabbath. The lyrics are in the first person from the point of view of Lucifer...
" (1 January 1982) (Ozzy OsbourneOzzy OsbourneJohn Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
, Iommi, Butler, Ward) - "Children of the Sea" (1 January 1982) (Dio, Iommi, Butler, Ward)
- "Country Girl" (1 January 1982) (Dio, Iommi, Butler)
- "Black SabbathBlack Sabbath (song)"Black Sabbath" is a song by British heavy metal band of the same name, written in 1969 and released on the band's debut album, Black Sabbath...
" (31 December 1981) (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward) - "War Pigs" (1 January 1982) (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward)
- "Slipping Away" (31 December 1981) (Dio, Iommi, Butler)
- "Iron ManIron Man (song)"Iron Man" is a song by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath from their second studio album Paranoid released in 1970. It was later included on their initial greatest hits compilation We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll , as well as all subsequent greatest hits compilations.-Writing and...
" (1 January 1981) (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward) - "The Mob RulesThe Mob Rules"The Mob Rules" is a song by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath from their 1981 album, Mob Rules.- Covers :*American heavy metal band Fozzy covered the song on their 2002 album Happenstance....
" (31 December 1981) (Dio, Iommi, Butler) - "Heaven and HellHeaven and Hell (Black Sabbath song)"Heaven and Hell" is the title track to Black Sabbath's ninth studio album, Heaven and Hell. It was written mainly by Tony Iommi, but as with almost all Black Sabbath albums, credit is given to the entire band. The lyrics were written entirely by then-newcomer Ronnie James Dio...
" (1 January 1982) (Dio, Iommi, Butler, Ward) - "ParanoidParanoid (song)"Paranoid" is a song by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, featured on their second album Paranoid . It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song "The Wizard". It reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" (31 December 1981) (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward) - "Voodoo" (2 January 1982) (Dio, Iommi, Butler)
- "Children of the Grave" (31 December 1981) (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward)
"E5150"
This instrumental interlude became the concert opener on the supporting tour, replacing "Supertzar", which had been used since 1975. "E5150" would also be the opener on subsequent tours with Dio. The title is "EVIL" as roughly translated from Roman numeralsRoman numerals
The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...
: 5=V, 1=I and 50=L.
"The Mob Rules"
A different recording of the title track appeared in the animated motion picture Heavy MetalHeavy Metal (film)
Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian fantasy-animated film directed by Gerald Potterton and produced by Ivan Reitman and Leonard Mogel, who also was the publisher of Heavy Metal magazine....
and is featured on the soundtrack album. In the UK, a 7" and 12" picture-sleeve single of Mob Rules (album version) preceded the album release. The B-side was a previously unavailable live version of "Die Young" (the studio version of which is on the Heaven and Hell album).
Singles
| Year | Song | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Singles Chart Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Mainstream Rock |
US Modern Rock |
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
| 1981 | "The Mob Rules"/"Die Young" | — | — | — | 46 |
| 1982 | "Turn Up the Night"/"Lonely Is the Word" | — | 24 | — | 37 |
| 1982 | "Voodoo" | — | 46 | — | — |
| 1982 | "E5150" | — | — | — | — |
Personnel
Black Sabbath- Ronnie James DioRonnie James DioRonald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
– vocals - Tony IommiTony IommiAnthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
– guitar - Geezer ButlerGeezer ButlerGeezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
– bass guitar - Vinny AppiceVinny AppiceVincent Samson Appice , also known as Vinny Appice is a rock drummer of American Italian descent and the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice...
– drums
Additional performer
- Geoff NichollsGeoff NichollsGeoff Nicholls is a musician and keyboardist, who is best known as the longtime sideman for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Nicholls also played in the NWOBHM band Quartz before joining Black Sabbath...
– keyboards
Production
- ProducedRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and engineeredAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
by Martin BirchMartin BirchMartin Birch is a British rock and heavy metal music producer, who became renowned for engineering and producing albums by the British rock bands Deep Purple and Iron Maiden.... - Assistant engineers – Eddie DeLena, Angelo Arcuri
- Technicians to Black Sabbath – Ian Ferguson, Michael Howse, Les Martin, Peter Resty
- RemasterRemasterRemaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ed by Dan Hersch (2008 reissue)
- Cover illustration by Greg Hildebrandt
- Art direction by Richard Seireeni
Release history
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
November 1981 | Vertigo Records Vertigo Records Vertigo Records today is a UK-based record label operated by Universal Music UK.-History:Vertigo Records was the name Philips Records chose in the late 1960s for its record sub-label to counter the progressive labels of its rivals EMI with Harvest Records and Decca Records with Deram... |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
November 1981 | Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies... |
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
November 1981 | Warner Bros. Records |
| United Kingdom | 1996 | Castle Communications Castle Communications Castle Communications was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane and Jon Beecher. The company was acquired by the American music distributor Alliance Entertainment in 1994 and in 2000 it was absorbed into Sanctuary Records Group... |
| United Kingdom | 2004 | Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world... |
| United States | October 2008 | Rhino Records |
Sales accomplishments
RIAARecording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
certification
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
(United States)
| Date | Designation | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 13 May 1986 |
Gold | 500,000 |
BPI
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
certification
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
(United Kingdom)
| Date | Designation | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 5 February 1982 |
Silver | 60,000 |
CRIA
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...
certification
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
(Canada)
| Date | Designation | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1 March 1982 |
Gold | 50,000 |