1983 ALBUM BATTLE! BLACK SABBATH, DIO, OZZY

On this episode we are delving into another 1983 album battle with three albums celebrating 40th anniversaries in 2023.
Black Sabbath's Born Again, Dio's Holy Diver & Ozzy's Bark At The Moon.
I asked our panelists to pick their favorite of the three albums.
This episode's guests.
Ed Farshtey
Tony Dio
Denis Barthe
John McEntee
Kristian Maiorino
Ove Rendum
Chris Alo
Peter Pardo
Count Ralphus
Craig Kaminski

[@taranguapo]

Love your panels, Steve! Lots of fun. 3 killer albums! 1. Holy Diver 2. Bark at the Moon 3. Born Again

[@andywitch666]

1) Born Again 2) Holy Diver (the first two are very close in my mind) 3) Bark at the moon (the song 'So Tired' brings it down a few steps for me...)

[@jimekberg]

1. Bark at the Moon (1.Bark at the Moon, 2. Centre of Eternity, 3.Rock and Roll Rebel) 2. Born Again (1.Disturbing the Priest, 2.Trashed, 3. Zero the Hero) 3. Holy Diver (1. Caught in the middle,2. Holy Diver, 3.Stand up and Shout)

[@independenceltd.]

1. Born Again - Born Again, Trashed, Zero the Hero 2. Holy Diver - Don't Talk to Strangers, Shame on the Night, Holy Diver 3. Bark at the Moon - Bark at the Moon, Waiting for Darkness, Rock 'n' Roll Rebel

[@garyjoyce2160]

Craig and the legendary Chris ALO added to a good show , simply makes it GREAT 👍💯

[@craigkaminski]

Thanks Gary! Special thanks to Mr. Keeler 🤘for allowing me to be a part of this fun show 😄

[@garyjoyce2160]

And obviously it goes without saying PETE on any episode adds ratings GALORE ! 👍💯

[@DjangoPorter]

83 and 84. Were. Probably. The. Most legendary 2 years of heavy metal

[@battleshipnewhook]

1. Bark at the moon 1. Waiting for darkness 2. Bark at the moon 3. You’re no different 2. Holy Diver 1. Stand up and shout 2. Holy diver 3. Don’t talk to strangers 3. Born Again 1. Trashed 2. Born again 3. Disturbing the priest

[@franksalo3466]

I saw the Born Again tour, it was Great! As a Purple and Sabbath fan, what more could you ask for. I also saw them on the Heaven and Hell tour with Dio, and later with Ray Gillan singing. I had tickets in April of 82 to see Ozzy on the Madman tour. Randy died a couple weeks before that. They rescheduled the show for May, and did see it with Brad Gillis. He did a good job trying to fill in for Randy. But I understand the let down of Bark at the moon. It just wasn't on the same level as the 1st two. Plus i agree that keyboards get used incorrectly in metal sometimes. It's why I have a hard time really liking most Symphonic Metal. I saw Dio a couple times when he was solo, but not on the Holy Diver tour. In 1983 I was 17 and Holy Diver just takes my right back there. It's a top 10 of all time album for me. 1 Holy Diver 2 Born Again 3 Bark at the moon

[@martymartin2894]

Ralph is a great addition to these channels he has serious passion for his music, and he has such a great collection of cool stuff.

[@countralfus6408]

Thanks Marty! I have a lot of fun doing these.

[@rockfantasysteve]

Agreed

[@mikewhiteley641]

40 years on, I don't reach for either of these albums often. To my ears, Born Again holds up better than the other two.

[@dennisazzopardi2089]

AWESOME EPISODE ..........Great topic,Great Cast.

[@seekerp67]

Too hard to pick but with a gun to my head: 3. Bark at the Moon 2. Born Again 1. Holy Diver 🤘🏻😝🤘🏻

[@martymartin2894]

Great show and great panel well done Steve keep it up I love these album Head to head panels.

[@americathisweek.6077]

For me - Ozzy, Black Sabbath and Dio in that order. I have no issues with the keyboards. Bark is a classic album

[@jonrhythm3686]

I think the Bark album is an easy call for 3rd but Jake's solo on the title cut is easily a top 5 all-time greatest metal solo for my money. 1. Born Again- Disturbing the Priest, Trashed, Born Again 2. Holy Diver- Holy Diver, Shame on the Night, Don't Talk to Strangers 3. Bark at the Moon- Bark at the Moon, Centre of Eternity, You're no Different

[@garym6688]

As good as Holy Diver is, I couldn't choose it over Born Again. The weird thing about BA is that no matter how many times I've listened to it, every time I do I find myself surprised all over again just how damn good it is. How it can still surprise me in that way after all this time makes zero sense, but it still happens. And Steve is spot-on ... Alo is a multi-media mogul star haha Always make a point to tune in when he's on any panel - always hilarious and drops lots of knowledge too.

[@richdisilvio4591]

1. Bark at the Moon (1. Center of Eternity, 2. Bark at the Moon, 3. Waiting for Darkness) 2. Born Again (1. Zero the Hero, 2. Disturbing the Priest 3. Stonehenge) 3. Holy Diver (1. Holy Diver, that's it.)

[@richdisilvio4591]

@steven milstead Wrong. I not only listened to Holy Diver many times but worked on several of Dio's releases. I know his work very well.

[@richdisilvio4591]

@steven milstead You're entitled to your opinion, me to mine. Holy Diver is way overrated in my book. Bark at the Moon title track along with those I mentioned are superior anything Dio did solo. But again,you can enjoy whatever you like better. That's the beauty of diversity.

[@danielperry6692]

Great episode as always! I now have to go back and listen to my 3rd least favorite Sabbath album LOL

[@david-rogers]

These are all great albums and I was lucky enough to see each band live while supporting these albums!

[@seekah1]

Wow just discovered the files Steve, just as good as HVS, these two shows are all I need. Thanks so much for the content! 🤘

[@rockfantasysteve]

Thank you ! Check out my archives

[@mitchwooten5150]

Hell Yeah 3 of my personal Favorites of all time. Killer panel tonight 🤘🤘

[@Drumdude74]

Good show so far guys, I love all three albums but I will be going against the popular choices here today for the most part. lol My choices are: 3. Black Sabbath - Born Again ( 3 ) Disturbing The Priest ( 2 ) Born Again ( 1 ) Zero The Hero 2. Dio - Holy Diver ( 3 ) Stand Up and Shout ( 2 ) Rainbow in the Dark ( 1 ) Caught in the Middle 1. Ozzy Osbourne - Bark At The Moon ( 3 ) Waiting For Darkness ( 2 ) Rock n Roll Rebel ( 1 ) Bark At The Moon

[@Redrum1981]

Awesome! Then I am not alone 🤘

[@Drumdude74]

@@Redrum1981 You are not alone Ove! lol I love all three albums, Dio was a close call too, as that album has grown on me even more over the years but the Sabbath album, although really good, is nowhere near as good as Ozzy for me! Cheers from Canada Ove!

[@Redrum1981]

@@Drumdude74 that's great to hear 🤘 Canda really nice.. my favorite hockey team is from Canda 🍁

[@Drumdude74]

@@Redrum1981 Oh cool, what team do you like?

[@Cornelius798]

1. Dio 2. Sabbath 3. Ozzy

[@lgbass]

Great discussion. Awesome albums.

[@kevinbrown1893]

1. Holy Diver 2. Born Again 3. Bark at The Moon

[@metalmat3651]

I like all three of these quite a bit, my ranking: 1. Bark at the Moon 2. Holy Diver 3. Born Again I think both "Holy Diver" and "Bark at the Moon" are legendary albums and neck and neck in my rankings. "Born Again" is clearly third, I like the album but I don't think it's one of the better Black Sabbath albums. Besides the mix being rough I find that the lyrics are either a bit too goofy or make no sense on some of the songs. On top of that Gillan does a little too much yelling throughout the album, he could've turned it down a notch. Black Sabbath isn't the Gillan band, it didn't need all the yelling lol.

[@garyjoyce2160]

.99 c. For DIO in 8️⃣6️⃣. What a steal. Damn 👍💯

[@kristianmaiorino3918]

Actually it was around ‘96

[@franciskocher200]

1/ Holy Diver (very good album) 2/ Bark at the moon (very good album) 3/ Born again (bad album)

[@Twotontessie]

Finally somebody making sense

[@steinarskaaland1570]

1. Born Again (1. Hot Line 2. Disturbing the Priest 3. Zero the Hero) 2. Holy Diver (1. Invisible. 2. Holy Diver. 3. Rainbow in the Dark) 3. Bark at the Moon (1. Center of Eternity. 2. Rock ‘n’ Roll Rebel 3. Bark at the Moon)

[@mattflesch1365]

3 bark at the moon 2 born again 1 Holy fucking diver

[@frankstanovic4401]

Great show and great panel. Been trying to get into Born Again for 40 yrs. I should love it cuz i love Sabbath and Gillan. Im gonna try it again now. And, i dont love bark at the moon either. Its very good, but Diary and the debut are my favs. 1) holy diver 2) bark 4) born again

[@seekah1]

I need to have a decent listen to Born Again. The Bark album imo shouldn't have been in this battle, it's just too weak. In saying that the title track and Waiting For Darkness are killer songs that have endured well. The Ultimate Sin deserves to have a battle in 1986 though, such a better effort, my all time fave Jake album!

[@brianknox529]

Born Again tour in Chicago was my first real concert. Born Again is also my favorite Sabbath album and my winner for this list.

[@jaredmoen9114]

Two ideas for 1983 album battles - shout at the devil/MOTLEY CRUE - pyromania/DEF LEPPARD - lick it up/KISS And/or - kill em all/METALLICA - piece of mind/IRON MAIDEN - melissa/MERCYFUL FATE

[@seekah1]

Piece of Mind vs Melissa would be ultra interesting!

[@kurtemeigh]

Piece of Mind. Than Show No Mercy

[@image30p]

I'm halfway in and I want to write my comment so no one thinks I'm copying. They're all great albums. In terms of commerciality. Bark at the Moon. Very commercial with the keyboards the songs are formatted as pop songs (most of them). Holy Diver. Keyboards. It's not that it's completely commercial. But. somewhat. Born Again - One of the most brutal and awesome Sabbath albums ever made. I love this album. Bark at the Moon sounds great. Crank up the volume. It does not disappoint. There are some crappy pop tunes on there, but if they had done what Sabbath did and make it a 5 or 6 song album it would be insane. I would make Born Again number 1, but it's going against Holy Diver. I love Born Again. I listen to the title track still to this very day. I'll probably listen to it today. Everything about it is perfect. The vocals are outstanding. The lyrics I'll be honest sometimes are a little more interesting than Dio's.

[@aggelostsolakopoulos5160]

Great albums. I will go with bark at the moon

[@gtp1172]

Best album front to back: holy diver Best song: bark at the moon - batm My personal favorite: born again

[@BlackMoore82]

1: Born Again (It's my favorite Sabbath album). 2: Holy Diver (Maybe sacrilege to say but Sacred Heart & The Last in Line remain my favorite DIO albums). 3: Bark at the Moon (Not a fan of Ozzy's solo material).

[@orchidcarpetcleaningrp6061]

Holy Diver 9.5/10 Bark at the moon 7/10 Born Again 5/10

[@GODemon13]

Have to go with Born Again.

[@pjones8404]

1) Born Again 2) Holy Diver 3) Bark at the Moon

[@user-cc9jj9fv7z]

Completely agree with John McEntee on everything here. 🤘🏻

[@tylerpatterson4787]

Great choice I have to say out of the three my favorite is Dio holy diver that album I can listen from start to finish not a weak song, bark at the moon would be next again great album not a perfect album some filler but the good stuff title track obviously, rock n roll rebel. Born again my least favorite again it’s ok but for me Sabbath is always ozzy and Dio for me

[@btfvinylmagic1180]

1) Holy Diver (10/10) Dont' talk to strangers, Rainbow in the dark, Invisible 2) Born Again (10/10) Disturbing the priest, Digital Bitch, Born again 3) BArk at the moon (8/10) Waiting for darkness, Rock and roll reberl, bark at the moon Bark at the moon is so much better than the average Ultimate sin. With No rest for the wicked Ozzy will come back to magnificence. the first two album are unbeatable though... Born again is fantastic, amazing, unique album. Holy diver maybe the best metal album of the eighties together with Diary of a madman and Rage for order.

[@THEEArmoredSaint]

I am a fan of all three of these albums, so I decided to throw them all into a playlist and listen for a few hours at work to let them battle it out. The results? 1. DIO 2. OZZY 3. SABBATH I found myself rocking out more and getting energized everytime a Dio song played. I'll put it at the top of my list based on that alone and Ozzy comes in second based on Jake E. Lee alone. I could have done without the keyboards, too.

[@crusheverything4449]

To my ears, Holy Diver obliterates the other two albums easily. It’s full of classic tracks and has real fire, whereas the other two records, not so much. There are some good tracks on Born Again, but coming after Mob Rules, it was a real drop in quality and that applies tenfold to Bark at the Moon coming after the all-time masterpiece, Diary of a Madman.

[@garyjoyce2160]

1️⃣- DIO. 2️⃣-B.S. 3️⃣-0ZZY. 👍💯

[@maximwinner5326]

Piece of Mind.

[@TimCarter-j1i]

1 Black Sabbath Born Again 2 D i o holy Diver 3 Ozzy Bark at the moon No doubt about end of story

[@chrisflood9205]

Born again best by a mile 2.holy diver 3. Bark at the moon probably haven’t heard it in forty years

[@guillermomaldonado6277]

Definitely 1- Holy Diver, 2- Born Again, 3- Bark at The Moon 🍺🤘

[@davidbaron8330]

My Rating in 1983 would have been 1:Holy Diver, 2: Bark at the Moon. 3: Born Again. Today, my rating is (and has been for the last 20+years) 1: Born Again, 2: Holy Diver, 3: Bark at the Moon.

[@leelifeson2128]

Other than the opening and closing songs, Bark at the Moon is pretty much disappointing garbage. Born Again is a criminally underappreciated gem of an album. But Holy Diver is the only major classic here, and Ronnie delivered it past 40, which is quite a rare feat.

[@patriotpizzaman]

This wasn't as close for me as I would have thought but, after listening to the Deluxe Edition of Born Again yesterday, (it still holds up very well) my choices didn't change places. The songwriting and the production on Bark At The Moon were always a problem for me. The guitar sounds incredible and for some reason he decided to feature the keyboards on the album? I don't dislike keyboards but, I didn't buy an Ozzy album for the keyboard player. I was the biggest Ozzy fan when that album came out. I tried so hard to like that album but, ultimately, it was a let down compared to all the other stuff Ozzy had done before it. Diary Of A Madman, Sabotage, Master Of Reality, Blizzard of Ozz??? Jake's playing on the album was ferocious. IT needed to be front and center. Period! 01) Holy Diver ~ Don't Talk To Strangers, Shame On The Night, Gypsy 02) Born Again ~ Disturbing The Priest, Born Again, Keep It Warm 03) Bark At The Moon ~ Bark At The Moon, Waiting For Darkness, Centre Of Eternity

[@kevinsmith7-7-7]

🤘🤘 Miss the HVS every Monday night this was nice

[@dmacnic]

Man, that's difficult. I would have to say Dio - Holy Diver by a small margin, Sabbath and Oz are tied for 2nd

[@entelikey1]

Steve ‘NeverKeelOver’ always takes on the big issues. Great topic 🫡 Born Again - Hot Line! The Incantation guy John Mcntee has a very considered commentary on these three classics. Well spoken. All these guys are good when Chris is not trying bust out his Danzig/Geezer underpants tall story😂.

[@INTOTHEPIT]

That's a tough one 😲

[@amadovaldes4105]

😂❤🎉 awesome , from Middletown, n.y 🍎 🍏 🙏 thumb crying! MISS Dio 🙏 flowers 😢

[@DjangoPorter]

Love all these albums. I was 10. Born again probably my. Fav all time. Or. Dio

[@megaduck7965]

Holy Diver Bark at the moon Born again Not even close for me with Born again compared to the other two

[@stevemcnary7963]

I remember when Bark At The Moon came out & I hated the album cover & was hugely disappointed in the songs except Bark At The Moon & Centre Of Eternity. I saw the tour & Ratt opened at the San Diego Sports Arena. 2nd for me was Black Sabbath Born Again. Holy Diver for Dio for #1. I saw Dio open for Aerosmith on this tour before Tyler imploded & had the tour canceled. Order of favorite songs Black Sabbath-1. Disturbing The Priest 2. Trashed. 3. Zero The Hero. For Dio-1. Stand Up & Shout. 2. Don't Talk To Strangers. 3. Shame On The Night

[@lawrencefine5020]

3. Bark At The Moon 2. Born Again 1. Holy Diver. ONLY reason I don't put Born Again at number 1: The shitty production.. Songs would have been twice as good if it didn't have a shitty mix. If Born Again had Dio production THEN Born Again goes to number 1. I think I listened to Bark at the Moon twice, except for the title track, I thought it sucked comparatively to Ozzy's first 2 solo albums. As with Pete, it can switch between Dio and Black Sabbath at any time. But I like good production and I don't think Tony Iommi liked the crappy production of that album, although the songs themselves were superior and heavy as fuck.

[@dereks7745]

Your description says Ozzy's Holy Diver, lol.

[@rockfantasysteve]

Thanks it was late ! lol

[@ykmgeedee]

Love Bark at the Moon title track but remainder is unappealing. Born Again ok but not something I reach for. Up for the Holy Diver down stroke!

[@electrofunk5442]

Born Again Holy Diver Bark at the Moon

[@russellalbertson6245]

Born Again amongst these. Dio is next. Never cared much for Bark At The Moon

[@bernardgranite]

1983...best year in metal.

[@rupenkesenci8081]

Born Again by light years. Holy diver ahead of Bark at the moon, which is a joke toy cartoon offering. Nothing beats original sabbath. But born again is the sickest thing this planet has produced, next to the pyramids or any other of man's creation, good or bad. A masterpiece. Holy diver Dio's best album. All raw in your face heavy metal. Ozzy's best and only is with Randy. Those albums are great.

[@markjones9631]

Good job!!!

[@jonathanlundeen8954]

What is the thing on youtube Pete mentioned regarding born again remix?

[@integrity101]

Dio. Easy.

[@briandunlap8534]

Born Again Digital Bitch Zero the Hero Born Again Holy Diver Holy Diver Don't Talk to Strangers Shame on the Night Bark at the Moon Bark at the Moon Waiting for Darkness Centre of Eternity

[@user-zq5eb2hj9o]

I do not have the love affair with born again that everybody else seems to have. I think it’s good and I like it but I never loved it and the sound quality is pure garbage. I bought demos from people on the 80’s that sounded better. That really hurt my enjoyment of it as well. I love bark at the moon and holy diver

[@dawnpatrol700]

Born Again is sooo damn good, but I can't get past the horrendous sound. Did they record it on a boombox? lol. The industry always messes with albums that already sound fine, yet doesn't remix this disaster of a recording

[@stevetobin7495]

Born again....if only the production was better

[@DjangoPorter]

Tony dio? Son of Ronnie?

[@amadovaldes4105]

🥁 Stop b.s-in & fuckin play some jams😅!

[@paulfaulkner2855]

I like Cannibal Corpse's version of Zero the Hero better than the Original.. 1. Dio -Holy Diver- My favorite solo album with Dio, period. 2. Ozzy- Bark at the Moon 3. Sabbath- Born Again - I saw the tour with Quiet Riot when they were blowing up, and people were leaving during Sabbath because they were not good that night plus Gillan couldn't sing the Ozzy songs. It was in Vegas and people weren't digging Gillan because the place was only half full after about 3-4 songs.

[@crusheverything4449]

Dio couldn’t sing the Ozzy songs, so how the F could he sing the Dio stuff? He wisely didn’t attempt too many…

[@wti70]

Born Again for the win

[@kurtemeigh]

I’m apparently in the minority here. But this is not even a challenge. Holy Diver smokes both of these other albums. Not a bad song on the album. And by far the best singer. As for the second and third it isn’t even a challenge either. Bark at the moon, and here’s why. I do not like Born Again. It has some moments, but for the most part I think it stinks. Especially Ian Gillans vocals. I think he sounds like he sang the entire album through his nose. He is a great singer so why is he singing so badly on this!?!?!? Aside from that the songs aren’t even that good. I relistened to it after starting this video to see what I have been missing, and nope. It still sounds like Black Sabbath is confused as to why they didn’t try harder to keep Dio and Gillan is just wondering why he is singing with a horrible cold. Although even with Dio they would have had to completely record different songs. They all feel like they were recorded by musicians why have never even seen these instruments. Drums are basic, so is the base, and the guitars are just completely lack luster.

[@alexsuperpower1]

I agree. Dio holy diver no competition. I am also not a big fan of born again, maybe in a couple years down the line I like it more but after dio era black sabbath I found it disappointing.

[@tylerkelly2320]

This is terrible.

[@terryalessio6622]

What was at rock fantasy back in 83 was it pizza place

[@grahamevans9606]

1. Holy Diver 2. Bark at the Moon 3. Born Again

[@LarryFleetwood8675]

My ranking order too.

[@franciskocher200]

Mine also😃👍

[@tylerpatterson4787]

Same here