Hypothetically speaking. That is what he's

getting

at. In other words would that same album have gotten the exposure that it did without the Ozzy era existing beforehand. This isn't a tough concept to follow.

Imagine Black Sabbath came out as a new band in 1980 with the album Heaven & Hell. Would it have gotten the same recognition. We know in reality H&H probably wouldn't exist in real life without the ozzy era. What he is getting at and I will repeat this one more time is this....in a different reality if Sabbath was a brand new band in 1980 and H&H was their debut album would they be as recognized as they are now and how does one think they would be perceived?

That is what Vadim is getting that.

Precisely. I think Ben is being deliberately obtuse. Not the first time.

Its not deliberate.

What's your take on this, Tony?

VTS

I am taking that Dio's presence would have helped the band since Rainbow would have had some recognition. I think this also Helped sabbath in the real life reality we know today. If the Ozzy era never existed people would have seen him as a downgrade when he would have joined in 1997. I still think the Dio albums would be just as influential and a guy like Tony Martin would have been accepted better than he was. He is a totally underrated vocalist.

Since in this reality Sabbath didnt exist I think Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin would have had a more profound influence over the metal scene.