2021 CD [ Amazon US ] | 2021 LP [ Amazon US ]
2010 Deluxe CD [ Amazon US | Amazon UK ]
2008 CD [ Amazon US ] | 2009 Vinyl [ Amazon US ]
1996 CD [ Amazon US | Amazon UK ] | Original CD [ Amazon US | Amazon UK ]
MP3 [ Amazon US ] | Deluxe MP3 [ Amazon UK ] | iTunes (US)

Personal Note

• This was the first Black Sabbath album I ever bought. Before this, I only owned one metal album, that being AC/DC’s Back in Black. I was thumbing through a Circus Magazine, and saw the cover art for this album, which totally kicks ass. There was a remark in there about “See Black Sabbath on tour at a venue near you” or something like that. I thought I’d check out what kind of band would have cool cover art like that. The first Black Sabbath song I ever listened to was “Turn Up the Night”. I was totally blown away. Unfortunately, Sabbath had just left Philadelphia (I was living there then), so I had to wait until Born Again to see ’em for the first time. The week after this, I bought Paranoid (totally at random), and I was hooked forever. I credit this album for getting me into Black Sabbath.  My original purchase was on pre-recorded cassette tape.  To this day I still have the paper sleeve insert, and the actual tape media.  But the shell the tape was got broken years ago, so I transplanted it into another cassette tape shell I got from Radio Shack at the time.  I still have this as of the writing of this page on November 2011, 30 years later. Still works, surprisingly.

Track Listing

Disc 1

1. Turn Up the Night
2. Voodoo
3. The Sign of the Southern Cross
4. E5150
5. The Mob Rules
6. Country Girl
7. Slipping Away
8. Falling off the Edge of the World
9. Over & Over
10. The Mob Rules (Heavy Metal version, 2010 & 2021 Deluxe only)
11. Die Young Live (B-Side to The Mob Rules 2021 only)
12. The Mob Rules (New remix, 2021 only)
13. Country Girl (Live Hammersmith, 2021 only)
14. Slipping Away (Live Hammersmith, 2021 only)
15. The Mob Rules (Live Hammersmith, 2021 only)
16. Voodoo (Live Hammersmith, 2021 only)
17. E5150 (Live Portland, 2021 only)
18. Neon Knights (Live Portland, 2021 only)

NOTE: Tracks 13-16 on the 2021 version of Disc 1 appear to be taken from the 2010 Deluxe version.

Disc 2 (2010 Deluxe only)

Live at the Hammersmith Odeon (12/31/81 – 1/2/82)

1. E5150
2. Neon Knights
3. N.I.B.
4. Children of the Sea
5. Country Girl
6. Black Sabbath
7. War Pigs
8. Slipping Away
9. Iron Man
10. The Mob Rules
11. Heaven & Hell
12. Paranoid
13. Voodoo
14. Children of the Grave

Disc 2 (2021 Deluxe only)

Live in Portland  1982

1. N.I.B.
2. Children of the Sea
3. Voodoo
4. Black Sabbath
5. War Pigs
6. Drum Solo
7. Iron Man
8. The Mob Rules
9.  Heaven and Hell
10. Guitar Solo
11. The Sign of the Southern Cross / Heaven and Hell (Reprise)
12. Paranoid
13. Children of the Grave

Writing Credits

• All songs written & arranged by Geezer Butler / Ronnie James Dio / Tony Iommi
• Lyrics by Ronnie James Dio

Credits

• Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
• Tony Iommi – Guitar
• Geezer Butler – Bass
• Vinny Appice – Drums
• Geoff Nicholls – Keyboards
• Produced & Engineered by Martin Birch
• Asst Engineers: Eddie DeLena & Angelo Arcuri
• Recorded at the Record Plant, Los Angeles
• Cover art by Greg Hildebrandt
• 1996 Remaster by Ray Staff @ Whitfield St Studios
• 1996 Design, booklet notes, and sleeves by Hugh Gilmour
• 2008 Remaster by Dan Hersch @ Digiprep
• 2008 Product Supervision: Mason Hersch
• 2008 Project Manager: Liz Erman
• 2008 Art Direction: Masaki Koike
• 2010 Remaster by Andy Pearce
• 2010 Project Manager: Steve Hammonds
• 2010 Product Manager: Jon Richards
• 2010 Sleeve Notes by Bryan Reesman
• 2021 Project Manager: Liuba Shapiro Ruiz
• 2021 Release Coordinator: Hugh Gilmour
• 2021 Remaster & new mix by Andy Pearce

Catalogue Numbers

• LP Warner Bros BSK-3605 (US 1981)
• CASS Warner Bros M5-3605 (US 1981)
• LP Vertigo 6302-119 (EUR 1981)
• LP Nippon 20PP-94 (JPN 1981)
• LP Warner Bros XBS-3605 (CAN 1981)
• LP Nippon 25PP-36 (JPN 1981)
• LP PGP RTB 2221055 (YUG 1982)
• LP Vertigo 6302-119 (UK 1985)
• CD Warner Bros 3605-2 (US 1989)
• CD Warner Bros/Col House W2-3605 (US 1989)
• CD Essential ESMCD332 (UK 1996)
• CD Castle TECW-20184 (JPN 1996)
• LP Earmark 41042-P (IT 2003)
• CD Sanctuary SMRCD073 (UK 2004)
• CD Rhino R2-460156-B (US 2008 – Rules of Hell)
• CD Rhino R2-515959 (US 2008 – Individual Release)
• LP Rhino R1-03605 (US 2008)
• CD Universal 2735070 (UK 2010 – Deluxe)
• CD Universal UICY-94474/5 (JPN 2010)
• CD Universal UICY-25127 (JPN 2011)
• LP Rhino R1-599497 (US 2021)
• CD Rhino R2-599497 (US 2021)

Notes

• No known (to me, anyway) music videos for this album.
• E5150 and Mob Rules from this album also appear on the soundtrack to the movie Heavy Metal with a slightly different mix.  The version of “The Mob Rules” from the Heavy Metal soundtrack was finally released officially on a Black Sabbath album on the 2010 Deluxe Edition of the album.
• When asked via email in March 2007, Geezer Butler said the voice in E5150 said this..   “It says “Up The Villa” in Latin”.
• Look up the word “ochlocracy” in a dictionary.  :)   OK, nevermind, go read about it on Wikipedia.
• The album cover art was originally a painting called “Mob Dream” by Greg Hildebrant – Sabbath licensed the art for their cover. The original version is shown here. You can find more info on it at Hildebrant’s site; you can buy it, too. No wait, you can’t anymore, it’s been sold. You can also check out a two part audio interview with Greg about the artwork. You can listen to that here and here.
• Disc 2 of the 2010 Deluxe Edition was previously released as “Live at Hammersmith“.  In it’s original release, Hammersmith was a limited edition release of just 5,000 copies.  This was mode widely available.

Links

• Wikipedia

Ozzy Osbourne on Mob Rules?

Ozzy Osbourne on Mob Rules? That album was released in 1981, about 3 years after Ozzy & Sabbath parted company. What am I talking about? Well, Ozzy himself doesn’t appear there. If you look to your right here, you’ll see the Mob Rules album cover. Underneath the second from the right person standing there, you’ll see the name of the person who drew the cover, Greg Hildebrandt. Underneath that is what looks like the word Ozzy drawn into the ground.

If you look closer, it’s a bit more obvious to see (by looking at this magnified portion shown below. What this means, we don’t really know. Was it intentional by the band, or something that Greg Hildebrandt did as a joke, and it slipped by the band? Who knows… (Thanks to Pete Scott for the edited graphic) I’ve gotten some feedback on this page that claims there is actually the phrase “Kill Ozzy” in the artwork, but I can’t find the word ‘kill’ in there.

Some time ago, I got an email from someone who claimed to be involved with the record label at the time – and they claim the “Kill Ozzy” thing was put in there at the direct request of the band. Don’t know how true that is, though.

In February 2001, I was sent this image which claims to show the “Kill” in the image.  I personally don’t see it, but here it is anyway.

In May of 2004, I was sent an email from a fan (Joe P), who had emailed Greg Hildebrant at his site about this issue. This is what Greg Hildebrant replied back with..

Nice to hear from you.

The painting on the Black Sabbath album was one I did many years before the album came out. It was actually a dream image I had.

Black Sabbath licensed the image from me for the cover.

Sorry but there are no hidden images in the painting.

Greg Hildebrandt

I would tend to believe that Greg is telling the truth, so either this is a HUGE coincidence, or someone altered the painting for the cover usage. One never knows, I suppose. ;) Here is a direct link to the mob rules cover art from the Hildebrant site.

Images

• Here is the 2010 “Deluxe Edition” cover art.

• The following three images are all back cover art images: 1996 Castle Remaster, 2008 Rhino/Rules of Hell Remaster, & the 2010 Deluxe Edition.

• The following image is a back cover scan of an alternate track listing for the Mob Rules album. When I asked Internet Dio expert Tapio Keihanen about it, he said this.. “The original album back cover had the songs in different order than how they were arranged on the album. Also most of the CD releases from Europe have the original album back cover. However, some CD releases had different back sleeve with the songs in correct order. These include apparently all the Japanese releases, European 1996 remastered release and all the Warner Bros CD releases from US and Canada.”

• The image below is the cover of the tour program from the Mob Rules tour.

• The next image is the back cover for the 1989 original US pressing of the album on CD.

• Turn Up the Night Single image.
• The following three images are from the original 1981 US cassette tape release.

• This is the sticker that was on the front cover of the 2021 re-release of Mob Rules.
• These are the spines of the 2021 re-releases of Mob Rules and Heaven and Hell. Oddly enough the Mob Rules album uses the same font as the front cover of the Heaven and Hell album.  The front from the front cover of the Mob Rules album would be fairly unreadable there, so I get it.  It just looks odd to see the Heaven and Hell font on the Mob Rules artwork like that.
• And finally, there’s this.  When I was finishing this page on Nov 14, 2011 (before the site launch), I scanned in a copy of my original Mob Rules tape purchase.  Bought it back in 1981, and still have it.  Oddly enough, the cassette tape in there still plays some 30 years later, although it’s got some distortion and dropout.  The inside of the paper insert has “John” on it.  When I was in college, I had loaned the tape to a friend, and he lent it to his girlfriend.  When I got it back, someone had written “John” on the inside, but I did get it back.  While the outer plastic case is not original (the one I have now says TDK on it), and the cassette shell is not original (I had to transplant the tape itself from the original to a replacement from Radio Shack..  This WAS my first ever Black Sabbath purchase of any kind.

Turn Up the Night

A rumble of thunder, I’m suddenly under your spell
No rhyme or reason, or time of the season, but oh well
The darkened deliver, I shake and I shiver down your soul
You know what to cover, I think for another it’s a story told
So get a good hold, yeah

Regiment fooled you, you thought that you knew who you are
A simple equation, that’s the relation, but that’s gone too far
A time of suspicion, a special condition that we all know
So let it all go!

Turn up the night!
Turn up the night!
Turn up the night, it feels so right!

Nighttime sorrow, taken like a pain
Black will not become a white, it’s all the same
Evil lurks in twilight, dances in the dark
Makes you need the movement, like a fire needs a spark to burn!

A rumble of thunder, I’m suddenly under your spell
No rhyme or reason, or time of the season, but oh well
The darkened deliver, I shake and I shiver down your soul
So get a good hold, yeah

Turn up the night!
Turn up the night!
Turn up the night, it feels so right!
Turn up the night!
Turn up the night!
If it feels right
Turn off the light!
Turn up the night!

 

Voodoo

Say you don’t know me, you’ll burn
You can refuse, but you’ll lose, it’s by me
Say you don’t want me, you’ll learn
Nothin’ you do will be new, ’cause I’m through

Call me a liar, you knew
You were a fool, but that’s cool, it’s all right
Call me the Devil, it’s true
Some can’t accept but I crept inside you

So if a stranger calls you
Don’t let him whisper his name
‘Cause it’s Voodoo, oh!

Fade into shadow, you’ll burn
Your fortune is free, I can see it’s no good
Never look back, never turn
It’s a question of time ’till your mine and you learn

So if a stranger sees you
Don’t look in his eyes
‘Cause he’s Voodoo!

Say you don’t know me, you’ll burn
You can refuse, but you’ll lose, it’s by me
Say you don’t want me, you’ll learn
Nothin’ you do will be new, ’cause I’m through

Voodoo!

Bring me your children, they’ll burn!
Never look back, never turn!
Cry me a river, you’ll learn Voodoo!!

 

The Sign of the Southern Cross

If there isn’t light when no one sees
Then how can I know what you might believe?
A story told that can’t be real
Somehow must reflect the truth we feel, yeah

Fade away, fade away
Vanish into small
Fade away, fade away
Break the crystal ball – OH!

It’s the sign
Feels like the time!

On a small world, west of wonder
Somwhere, nowhere all
There’s a rainbow that will shimmer
When the summer falls
If an echo doesn’t answer
When it hears a certain song
Then the beast is free to wander
But never is seen around

And it’s the Sign of the Southern Cross
It’s the Sign of the Southern Cross
All right
Sail away
To the sign
Ohh

From the book, the word is spoken
Whispers from forgotten psalms
Gather all around the young ones
They will make us strong
Reach above your dreams of pleasure
Given life to those who died
Look beyond your own horizons
Sail the ship of signs

And it’s the Sign of the Southern Cross
It’s the Sign of the Southern Cross
Fade away, fade away
Break the crystal ball
Fade away, fade away
I can’t accept it anymore

On a real world, west of wonder
Somewhere, nowhere all
There’s a rainbow, see it shimmer
When the summer falls
From the book, the word is spoken
Whispers from forgotten psalms
Gather all around the young ones
They will make us strong!

It’s the Sign of the Southern Cross
It’s the Sign of the Southern Cross

Don’t live for pleasure
Make life your treasure
Fade away!
Eight miles high, about to fall
And no one there to catch you
Look for the sign, the time
The Sign of the Southern Cross, yeah

 

E5150

Instrumental

 

The Mob Rules

Close the city and tell the people that something’s coming to call
Death and darkness are rushing forward to take a bite from the wall, oh

You’ve nothing to say
They’re breaking away
If you listen to fools…
The Mob Rules
The Mob Rules

Kill the spirit and you’ll be blinded, the end is always the same
Play with fire, you burn your fingers and lose your hold of the flame, oh

It’s over, it’s done
The end is begun
If you listen to fools…
The Mob Rules

You’ve nothing to say
Oh, They’re breaking away
If you listen to fools…

Break the circle and stop the movement, the wheel is thrown to the ground
Just remember it might start rolling and take you right back around

You’re all fools!
The Mob Rules!

 

Country Girl

Fell in love with a country girl, morning sunshine
She was up from a nether world, just to bust another soul
Her eyes were an endless flame, holy lightning
Desire with a special name, made to snatch your soul away, yeah

We sailed away on a crimson tide, gone forever
Left my heart on the other side, all to break it into bits
Her smile was a winter song, a Sabbath ending
Don’t sleep or you’ll find me gone, just an image in the air

In dreams I think of you
I don’t know what to do with myself
Time has let me down
She brings broken dreams, fallen stars
The endless search for where you are
(Sail on, sail on)

Fell in love with a country girl, morning sunshine
She was up from a nether world, just to bust another soul
Her eyes were an endless flame, unholy lady
Desire with a special name, made to snatch your soul away, oh!

Don’t sail away on a crimson tide!
Don’t leave your heart on the other side!
Her eyes are an endless flame
Desire with a special name
Don’t ever fall in love!
Don’t give your heart away!
No never, never fall in love with a country girl!

 

Slipping Away

Slipping away, just a heartbeat from disaster
Nothing could make me stay, close your eyes and I’ll be gone
Turn the page, yeah, time to start another story
Slipping away, slipping away, time to move along

No reason to stay
Oh, when I’m slipping away

Take a look at yourself, you’ve been running in a circle
Round and round you go, you’re a start without an end
Start a new life, yeah, from the city of the gypsies
Running away, slipping away, right behind the plow

Slipping away
Slipping away
Nobody to pay
Look out, ’cause I’m slipping away

Rockin’ the glass, I won’t leave you my reflection
A future without a past, no more road to take me back
Come if you will, just don’t question my direction
Running away, slipping away, we can find the sun

Slipping away
Slipping away
Got nobody to pay
And you’re slippin’ away

No more running in a circle
It’s time to move along
Round, round, round we go
A start without an end
So I’m slipping away
Slipping away

 

Falling off the Edge of the World

I think about closing the door
And lately I think of it more
I’m living well out of my time
I feel like i’m losing my mind

I should be at the table round
A servant of the crown
The keeper of the sign
To sparkle and to shine

Never, no never again!
Listen to me and believe what I say if you can
Never, this is the end
You know I’ve seen the faces of doom and I’m only a man
Help me, tell me I’m sane
I feel a change in the earth, in the wind and the rain
Save me, take me away
You know I’ve seen some creatures from hell and I’ve heard what they say!

I’ve got to be strong
Oh, I’m falling off the edge of the world
Think you’re safe, but you’re wrong!
We are falling off the edge of the world!

Look out! there’s danger! no where to run!
It seems like desperate measures but sometimes it has to be done
Over, it’s over at last
There’s a message inside as we build a new life from the past

We’re falling off the edge of the world!
Yes, the edge of the world!
It’s the end of the world!

 

Over and Over

Sometimes I feel like I’m dying at dawn
And sometimes I’m warm as fire
But lately I feel like I’m just gonna rain
And it goes over, and over, and over again, yeah

Too many flames, with too much to burn
And life’s only made of paper
Oh, how I need to be free of this pain
But it goes over, and over, and over, and over again

Yeah, sometimes I cry for the lost and alone
And for their dreams that will all be ashes

But lately I feel like I’m just gonna rain
And it goes over, and over, and over, and over again