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Posts tagged Heaven & Hell
Heaven and Hell – Neon Nights (Live 2009) (@256)
14 May 2011
(Review from roadrunnerrecords.com)
On Thursday July 30, 2009, Heaven & Hell took to the stage at the famous Wacken festival in Germany as part of the tour in support of their album ‘The Devil You Know’, released earlier in the year.
Although nobody knew at the time, it was to be Ronnie James Dio’s last recorded concert appearance before his death in May 2010 from stomach cancer. Heaven & Hell were on fantastic form and played a set blending tracks from the newly released album with classics from their Black Sabbath days.
This is a truly fitting tribute to one of the legendary voices of rock.
Line-up:
- Ronnie James Dio / vocals
- Tony Iommi / lead guitar
- Geezer Butler / bass
- Vinny Appice / drums
- Scott Warren / keyboards, rhythm guitar
Track List:
01. Mob Rules – 3:46
02. Children Of The Sea – 6:30
03. I – 6:16
04. Bible Black – 6:29
05. Time Machine – 4:39
06. Fear – 4:36
07. Falling Off The Edge Of The World – 5:39
08. Follow The Tears – 6:11
09. Die Young – 6:41
10. Heaven And Hell – 17:48
11. Neon Knights – 5:45
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Heaven and Hell – Devil You Know (2009) (@256)
18 May 2010
(Review from allmusic, blabbermouth.net, wikipedia)
After the band’s successful 2007 world tour, “Heaven & Hell” entered the studio to record the album “Devil You Know”.
This is a heavier album than any of its three predecessors with the same line-up (Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, Dehumanizer); whether it’s due to the bandmembers’ advancing age or the influence of anxieties felt throughout the world outside the studio.
The first songs of the album that make up the bulk of its running time, are like slow-motion avalanches, Iommi’s riffs and Appice’s drumming punishing the listener like medieval monks scourging unbelievers. Dio’s lyrics, too, seem to embody an almost Old Testament world-view, positing a universe of darkness, fire, and despair. His voice is as powerful as ever, but he’s no longer offering self-esteem lessons the way he once did; he seems consumed by fear and doubt. This gives The Devil You Know a feeling of genuine doom that leaves little opportunity for the catharsis provided by classic heavy metal.
It’s not until “Eating the Cannibals”, that the band revs into high gear the way it did on “Neon Knights” and “Turn Up the Night” 20-plus years ago.
Dio still sounds amazing, writing in a lower register these days but possessed of a grandeur and gravity that’s just awe-inspiring. He’s always been a consummate professional, able to give the dodgiest material a patina of class and grace, and when he’s working with Iommi and Geezer Butler, he’s clearly inspired to kick things up a notch. And speaking of Butler, the band’s oft-underrated secret weapon is all over “The Devil You Know”, his bass high up in the mix, with a larger-than-life tone and plenty of sly accents and fills burbling under the obsidian sheen of Iommi’s riffing.
Due to the death of Ronnie James Dio, this would be the band’s only studio album.
Line-up:
- Ronnie James Dio / vocals
- Tony Iommi / guitar
- Geezer Butler / bass guitar
- Vinny Appice / drums
Track List:
01. Atom & Evil – 5:13
02. Fear – 4:46
03. Bible Black – 6:26
04. Double The Pain – 5:23
05. Rock And Roll Angel – 6:02
06. The Turn Of The Screw – 5:00
07. Eating The Cannibals – 3:35
08. Follow The Tears – 6:09
09. Neverwhere – 4:32
10. Breaking Into Heaven – 6:53
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Heaven and Hell – Live From Radio City Music Hall (2007) (@256)
05 Oct 2008
(Review from wikipedia, allmusic)
Heaven and Hell is a musical collaboration featuring Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler along with former members Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice. Because of the projected continuation of Black Sabbath’s original lineup (Iommi, Butler, Osbourne and Ward) and the 2006 induction of the original lineup into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Iommi (owner of the Black Sabbath name) decided to call the touring group Heaven and Hell. The moniker was taken from the first Dio-fronted Black Sabbath recording, Heaven and Hell.
The four members of Heaven and Hell recorded and toured together as Black Sabbath from 1980-1982 and again from 1991-1992. In 2006, while the foursome reunited to record new songs and then decided to embark on a 2007-2008 tour. This live album was recorded at the legendary Radio City Music Hall during that tour.
The spirit of this live album is very much in the vein of the “Reunion” live album with Ozzy nearly a decade ago. A monstrous set list covering all aspects of the Dio-era with two newly written songs.
Even though some of this material is over 25 years old, it works phenomenally well in the context of this band. The pairing of Butler and Iommi is utterly captivating — always has been, probably always will be. The noise they make together is wonderfully musical, and at times just devastatingly heavy. Butler’s trademark bass throb, all fuzzy and dark, is the perfect foil for the riff-laden, slow to midtempo rock riffing of Iommi. Appice is a consummate big rock drummer, basic and powerful when the need arises, but he’s taken a few nods from John Bonham and Keith Moon as well; his fills are colorful and dynamic, and project the tunes forward underscoring every big riff, chorus, and post-line wail from Dio. And Dio… it’s hard to believe this guy’s actually 65 years old in the time of this recording. He is one of rock & roll’s great frontmen. He’s versatile, can project and wail on top of that boisterous trio.
So they run the course of their recordings together and it’s wildly obvious from the end of “E5150/After All (The Dead)” that these old guys are having a good time. They play like they mean it, they understand after all this time what a rock show is supposed to be (not what it is any longer), and they give it to the faithful in overdrive. There is crisp fresh energy here and the execution is nearly flawless.
Iommi’s wah-wah guitar solo in “Lady Evil” is just plain nasty. “The Devil Cried”, one of the new cuts, is among the best in the bunch. Beginning with a growling open-chord guitar riff and a sub-basement bass pummel, it gets the crowd into fist-pumping mode and, if the tape is accurate, keeps them there — yes, even through the drum solo.
At the end nothing but pure godless rawk power and orgiastic volume excess that somehow don’t seem as menacing as they do rousing, as the freewheeling closer, “Neon Knights”, finally fades.
“Heaven & Hell” are not a guilty pleasure; the band is a riot of the greatest aspects of stadium rock power and glory.
Line-up:
* Ronnie James Dio – vocals
* Tony Iommi – guitar
* Geezer Butler – bass
* Vinny Appice – drums
with
* Scott Warren – keyboards
Track List:
CD1
01. 5150 – After All (The Dead) – 8:30
02. The Mob Rules – 4:04
03. Children Of The Sea – 6:52
04. Lady Evil – 5:20
05. I – 6:27
06. The Sign Of The Southern Cross – 9:06
07. Voodoo – 7:42
08. The Devil Cried – 11:29
CD2
01. Computer God – 6:41
02. Falling Off The Edge Of The World – 5:45
03. Shadow Of The Wind – 6:05
04. Die Young – 7:44
05. Heaven And Hell – 15:15
06. Lonely Is The Word – 6:48
07. Neon Knights – 7:58
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