Almost in the way like Iron Maiden, the Sabbaths with Ozzy and Dio are two completely different bands and are just as equally as awesome. Dio is probably the best metal singer of all time all around, and Ozzy say what you want about Ozzy, but Ozzy with Sabbath (and Ozzy's first 2 albums with Randy Rhodes) was awesome. I love both Sabbath's equally.

Ozzy is always going to come up in any Black Sabbath conversation because the Ozzy-era was the longest, most prolific, and most influential era Black Sabbath had. Dio fits so well on the Dio-era albums because those songs were tailored to fit him. He wrote the words and helped in the writing and arranging of the music, things that Ozzy, for the most part, could not do. Ozzy can not play an instrument and Geezer wrote most of his lyrics. Geezer and Tony had to write with Ozzy in mind, but his own input was limited.

As far as some of the other responses in this thread, I'd say that Ozzy, in his prime, was not at all a terrible vocalist, quite the contrary, but his vocal range was very limited. Dio is far and away the better technical singer, but Ozzy is a better entertainer, for the most part, and that's what accounts for a lot of his longevity. Dio can sing his ass off but can't work a crowd as well as Ozzy and thus, does inspire as much devotion as Ozzy. One just needs to look at their respective solo careers to see that. Ozzy can put out mediocre and crappy albums and still draw huge amounts of fans. Dio does the same and is forced to play clubs. That's no knock against Dio's ability as a musician, but he's just not the entertainer that Ozzy is.

I like the Dio-era. I think that "Heaven & Hell" is one of Sabbath's all-time classics and the other Dio albums are great, too. However, there is clearly a difference in the Ozzy and post-Ozzy eras. Throughout much of the Ozzy-era, the band had that fuck-all, "I don't give a shit" aura about them and their music. They seemed more ominous and anti-social. With the Dio-era and beyond, the band became much more of a stream-lined heavy metal band. They were still dark, but didn't possess the same misanthrophic vibe of the early stuff.

Dio Rules.

Just got a copy of Elf's "Carolina County" - even more blues-influenced then i expected. goo wailing though. how appropriate is it that Dio apparently translates into "god"

No worse than Tony Martin singing it


Actually, Martin could sing all three(not counting Hughes in this) of his predecessors quite well.

Have you ever heard Kerry Livgren's solso album w/ Dio doing the vocals?

nope. recommended? will have a browse round for it. pretty keen to get the whole document of that guy. he is up there. have they released like a dio "boxset", with all of his stuff from pre Elf, to new stuff with Queensryche, and DIO, etc?