The Contrarians "Reliving Old Reviews..." BLACK SABBATH - Mob Rules w/Martin Popoff

[@paulkonieczny3815]

In my top 3 metal albums of all time!

[@inmyhouse11]

A stone cold Sabbath Classic

[@americathisweek.6077]

Mob Rules is a classic. One of sabbaths best.

[@witchcitymusic01]

Agreed. IMHO, second only to Heaven and Hell

[@guillermomaldonado6277]

That guy was a sore Ozzy fan 🤣

[@Ontariosound]

Way to use a lyric from “Yesterday Don’t Mean Shit”. Killer song 🤘👏🏻

[@borisdisko4322]

Talk about listening to fools lol.

[@pjbrown4736]

Nothing dull witted about this album. Meaty, punchy pounding heavy metal. A constant play from the first time I bought it.

[@mistreated]

What a stupid review. Damn. Head spinning about this one. Thanks Martin, loved it

[@FrenchToast589]

Wow what a take, haha. I guess, on balance, if someone considers the production of Mob Rules to be a bit muddy or less dynamic than H&H, I'll give them that. Or if they preferred the more psychedelic '70s Sabbath and found MR to be too straight ahead metal, that's fair. But summing up the album as "lame riffs and dumb lyrics, performed as poorly as possible..." I don't even know what to say to that! I'd love to know if this reviewer changed their mind years later. Because, if I'm being generous, the band was clearly in a transition state with Dio on vocals. If you were dedicated to the Ozzy era, these albums MIGHT throw you a bit on first listen. But there's no way a serious rock/metal reviewer could dismiss Mob Rules so cruelly without either 1) having an axe to grind, or 2) just not being ready for this new era of Sabbath in 1981.

[@thecontrarians2438]

well said thank you!

[@ahuse1]

i'd prefer to hear the review first and your reaction afterward. fun stuff!

[@dwl1117]

Ouch! I love this album.

[@channelsurfer3710]

JD was supposed to be the guy who liked metal..

[@paullennon8366]

Jesus, if he thinks this album is bad, I’d hate to know what he thinks is GOOD.

[@martinjones6762]

Got Sabotage and Born Again books 📚 Over and Over good song Voodoo and Country girl very good E5105 /Mob Rules even better Turn up the night /Sign of the southern cross ☦️ and falling off the edge of the world absolute classics to my ears

[@ClaytonDuBose-ks3ib]

Written by someoe who couldn’t perceive the majesty that was Sabbath in that period. A band that could have died with Never Say Die and the embarrassing tour with VH but regained inspiration and drive to release back to back classics.

[@davidgeorgemorin]

This may be the worst review of the series so far. Dio's vocal performance is excellent while his lyrics may fall just short of his past and future 10/10 lyrical contributions. Iommi is excellent, Butler is excellent, and Appice dwarfs the legendary Ward's performance on the previous record. The album features a greater sense of teamwork than Heaven and Hell by a country mile as Butler, at least, came in at the eleventh hour to re-record bass parts. I'm surprised that the reviewer did not bring up the idea of this record being too much like Heaven and Hell in terms of types of songs and sequencing. That particular opinion, I think, is an oversimplification that does not assess the record on its own merit. Over and Over, for example, is great and Lonely is the Word being the last song on the previous record doesn't change that.

[@CathyLahn]

"This may be" the worst? Oh, it IS the worst yet. No doubt about it!

[@zeprls]

Shocking……. A Rolling Stone review that is as wrong as possible. If I had a dollar

[@williamwalker146]

Hilarious review, especially in closing, but hardly correct for sure. To compare Iommi to Mark Farner in 1981/1982, completely unbelievable and insulting. Of all the true guitar gods you could compare Iommi to in 1982, and you gotta pick Mark Farner! That's like talking about what cavemen did for technology in the wake of the twentieth century.

[@thecontrarians2438]

the old reviews are fascinating!

[@ericdinse5047]

It's fun to listen to these reviews from Rolling Stone because they mostly had a snotty view of hard rock & metal going back to the first Led Zeppelin album. They're really wrong most times, I mean comparing Tony to Mark Farner ?

[@notsparctacus]

Talk about flatulence

[@theironworker781]

Rolling stone sucks

[@deansmith6593]

That review was way off the mark.

[@poneal666]

Rolling Stone stopped being relevant sometime before 1980. They lumbered along for decades like the corpse of a hipster reanimated by a combination of its own inflated ego (like the gasses that bloat any corpse) and a false sense of relevance dancing around like St. Elmo's Fire - pretty to some, obscure to many, and lacking any real ability to illuminate the situation. Their reviews have always been utter shit, pandering to an aging Boomer readership base and lacking any ability to offer real, critical commentary.

[@lostcauseforkl]

Hahaha you gotta admit lots of critics have a blast writing these pieces 😂