Therewere were no Rolls royce, no wives, no fucking planes, just the four of us and somewhere we´d got list in the glory of it all.”
While Ozzy recruited young American guitarist Randy Rhoads/ ex- Quiet Riot/, bassist Bob Daisley / ex- Rainbow/ and drummer Lee Kerslake / ex- Uriah Heep/ and completed work on his first solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, the original Sabbath triumvirate of Geezer, Tony and Bill were working on their first album with Dio, Heaven and hell.
For Ozzy it was a case of facing up to prsonal demons. “I didn´t know if I could do it at all on my own,” he admits. “I was scared shitless and I really have to thank my wife Sharon for kicking me out there and telling me I coulf.”
In Sabbath´s case it was a new way of working, Butler and Ward finding that Dio´s presence negating their customary participation in the four- way songwriting process. “Because Ronnie was very talanted it became very clear that the role that Geezer and I had occupied was no longer the same at all,” states Bill. During the latter period of the recording of Heaven and hell, Ward also found himself subject to a customary practical joke.
“billy walked into the studion one day and I said to him “Can I set you on fire?”. He said” Not now, I´m busy,” laughs Tony. “before he left he came back and he said” You can do it now” so I poured all this lighter fuel on him and lit a match. He went up in flames and we thought it was hilarious, until we realised he was screaming.” “They´d done that before and usually I put the flames out pretty quickly. This time though, I was pissed and the fuel went throught my cloths because I reacted so slowly. I ended up in hospital with my leg badly burnt. I remember my mum calling Tony and telling him off. “
“The weird thing was that I´d got used to that kind of bihaviour. You do after a while, it´s like the debagging.” Shrugs the drummer. “My arse has been seen by millions of people around the world. In the end you get used to it and you giv up.”
Tomfoolery aside, Sabbath managed to beat Ozzy to the punch, releasing “Heaven and Hell” in may ´80, hitting number nine in the UK / 28 in the US/. A polished effort with quality tunes like Neon knights, Children of the sea, and the title track itself, the album was well received. Except by Ozzy.”I was hurt. It was like finding your wife´sgot a new boufrind.” explains Ozzy,reflecting on the post- Osbourne Sabbath. “I became obsessed with and it became a case of me versus them with us saying some awful things but never quite meaning them.”
When Ozzy released Blizzard…in september he went one better that Sabbath´s album, hitting number seven in the UK and peaking at 21 in the US. “It was weird when I heard that album because I was gla he´d done it,” confesses Geezer. “He was in such a state, we all were, and no one thought he could do it, but he did. It was hard to say that at the time.”
Ironically, an unofficial live Sabbath album, Live at last, wich was recorded in ´73 on the Vol.