Album of the Day

It's pretty risky when a group changes lead singers, but Ozzy Osbourne's departure for a solo career and the arrival of former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio marked a new beginning for Black Sabbath. When the first Dio-led Sabbath album, HEAVEN AND HELL, hit the streets on this day in 1980, it was clear  the U.K. heavy metal quartet were firing on all cylinders. Featuring such superb songs as opener “Neon Knights,” “Die Young,” “Children Of The Sea” and the riff-driven title track, the collection became one of the band's most successful in America (and eventually went platinum). That nine albums into their career, Black Sabbath still had a stunner like HEAVEN AND HELL in them is one reason the group is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.