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Heaven & Hell - Live: Radio City Music
Hall
Rhino
www.rhino.com
Rating: B+
It's been over a quarter century since Ronnie
James Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. The now classic album
Heaven and Hell brought the band back from the dead and remains one of the
best selling albums in their catalog. Now back together again, they call
themselves Heaven and Hell due to Ozzy not wanting the group to be called
Sabbath (rumor has it there are contractual reasons behind this as well).
Regardless of what the band is called, the spirit
of the music is alive. Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ronnie James Dio and Vinny
Appice are selling our theaters across the land and bringing back to life such
classic tracks as "Lady Evil," "Children of the Sea," "The Mob Rules," "Neon
Nights" and a fifteen-minute version of "Heaven and Hell."
Rhino was smart enough to record the band playing
live at New York City's Radio City Music hall. They have released the concert
on a double-disc CD and on DVD (both are sold separately.) The DVD is better of
the bunch with exclusive interviews and behind the scenes footage. Seeing the
band with their amazing stage set brings the legend of this version of Sabbath
to life.
Ronnie James Dio continues to defy the aging
process. He commands the audience the entire night and all eyes stay on him.
His voice sounds amazing and his stage presence remains strong. The band behind
him do their part. Iommi and Butler have a newfound energy playing songs long
forgotten while Appice keeps things chugging along behind the band.
Hopefully this tour will lead to a new release as
it would be wonderful to see what this quartet could come up with all these
years down the road.
-- Jeb Wright
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