Dio - 'Finding the Sacred Heart: Live in Philly 1986' CD Review (Eagle Rock)

Another archival live album from the vaults...this 2CD set captures Dio on the second leg of the Sacred Heart tour, headlining a sold-out show at Philadelphia Spectrum. Portions of this show were originally released as a 60 minute VHS entitled "Sacred Heart 'The Video'" - this new 16-track release runs 96 minutes.

This release marks Dio's fifth live album and the second from the Sacred Heart tour, as 1986's "Intermission" EP captured the first leg of the tour with original guitarist Vivian Campbell, prior to his falling-out with Dio.

This is a solidly recorded album (clear sound from the mixing board) but there are good and bad points to the show. To start with the good points, Dio was at his commercial peaks on this tour (he played smaller halls on each successive tour) and he and the band feed off the energy of the crowd.  While this is a CD review, one needs to see the live video for "Sacred Heart" to appreciate Dio's sword and sorcery stage show. For anyone who missed the arena tours of the 80's, this may seem a bit like Spinal Tap but this show goes back to a time when rock bands traveled with mammoth concert sets and the theatrics were just as important as the music. (For anyone who is curious - check out any live footage from Pink Floyd's The Wall tour, any Alice Cooper or Iron Maiden tour, etc.)



The show kicks off with "King of Rock and Roll" and "Like the Beat of a Heart", which are two of the stronger rockers from Sacred Heart. The Sacred Heart album though had a few songs that drifted into AOR territory and the heavy keyboards on "Hungry for Heaven" and "Time to Burn" sound very dated (...and too much like 80's Heart or Def Leppard). Looking at other parts of the set, almost 20 minutes of the show are taken by each member soloing which again seems rather dated and self-indulgent. The six minute keyboard solo which is immediately followed by a 7+ minute guitar solo will likely have most listeners skipping over these tracks on their CD players. Lastly, while most of Dio's live medleys generally sound on-point, the Rainbow songs "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" and "Man of the Silver Mountain" are butchered by too fast of a tempo. Coming out of these soft spots, the disc ends on a strong note with strong versions of "Stand Up and Shout", Rainbow in the Dark" and "We Rock".

I'm sort of hit-and-miss on this release but hope that the archival releases will eventually extend into Dio's time with Black Sabbath (a Dehumanizer-era live album would be a nice thing).

Links:
Ronnie James Dio

Holy Grail - "Seasons Bleedings" EP Review (Prosthetic Records)

The two best metal Christmas releases this year came from Holy Grail and Austrian Death Machine.

Los Angeles thrashers Holy Grail released a two song, limited edition colored vinyl 7” (“Holy shades of Sub*Pop Batman”), "Seasons Bleedings", and these two songs are also included on a four-track digital EP which was issued under the same name. The vinyl single contains covers of King Diamond’s first solo single “No Presents for Christmas” and Rainbow’s “Kill the King” and the digital EP adds covers of Judas Priest’s “Exciter” and Accept’s “Fast as a Shark.” These later two cuts are from the original pressing of the band's " Improper Burial" EP





This release marks the recording debut of guitarist Alex Lee (x-Bonded By Blood) and he and guitarist Eli Santana give “No Presents for Christmas” a heavier feel than the King’s original. The band has some fun with this track, substituting a selection from the Nutcracker Suite in place of the original’s “Jingle Bells” and some music from Charlie Brown’s Christmas for the original’s snippet from “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”. The second track, “Kill the King”, is a heavier, thrashed-out rendition of Rainbow’s classic song where the original’s keyboards have been substituted for Holy Grail’s dual guitar attack.



The vinyl version of "Seasons Bleedings" is limited to 500 copies (250 on Red and 250 on Green) and is still available through Prosthetic Records’ web shop for $6.66.

Links:
Holy Grail

Rainbow - "Rising" Deluxe Edition CD Review (Universal)

On March 22nd, Polydor will issue a 2CD deluxe edition of Rainbow's second album Rising (1976). Rising is phenomenal album but, unfortunately, this deluxe edition adds little to its legacy.

I've got a friend who is a huge Beatles fan and he was ecstatic after finding a bootleg at a street fair with 30+ takes of "Strawberry Fields". I listened to the disc once with him and, for the most part, the takes all sounded very similar yet my friend "studied" this disc and could tell you which take had an extra second of guitar solo, where there was an extra drum beat and where Ringo was passing gas (only kidding on this last one). I feel like the Deluxe Edition of Rising offers similar fare as you have three complete takes of the Rising album and they all sound similar.

Disc One contains the "New York mix" and the "Los Angeles mix" of the album and they sound almost exactly the same. Between the two versions, the tracks differ only a few seconds in length so I couldn't hear any differences when playing each mix through sequentially. In comparing the individual tracks, you can hear that different instruments are brighter in each of the mixes but it still appears to be the same take of the song. As an aside, I've heard for years about the longer keyboard intro in "Tarot Woman" on the UK version of Rising. If all that everyone had been talking about is the ~8 second difference between where the guitars kick on on the "Los Angeles mix" vs. the "New York mix", you are missing little.

Disc Two contains the "Rough Mix" of Rising along with one live rehearsal track. I'm assuming that the "Rough Mix" tracks are the same Cozy Powell tracks that have been floating around as a bootleg for the last few years. There are some notably difference in the "Rough Mix" which include a keyboard into to "Stargazer" and a longer outro to "Run With The Wolf". All-in-all, the total running time is about a minute longer than either of the two mixes on Disc One. The last track is a live rehearsal of "Stargazer". While of bootleg quality (though decent sounding), it would have been nice to have included more tracks from this rehearsal as Disc Two is only 43 minutes. (Note: when the Rising Deluxe Edition was originally announced, a tour rehearsal version of a "A Light in the Black" was planned for inclusion but was obviously dropped from the final release).

Given the large volume of quality bootlegs (both live and tour rehearsals) from this era, I had hoped for better from this Deluxe Edition. Newcomers are better off sticking with the single disc version (which is available new for under $5 on Amazon) and there is no compelling reason for long-time fans to upgrade.



Links:
Ritchie Blackmore

Dio - "At Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987" CD Review

Ronnie James Dio and his manager/wife Wendy formed the label Niji Entertainment early in 2010. Last month marked the label's first official release, Dio At Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987. Both shows on this two-disc set are high-quality soundboard recordings and I believe these shows were also broadcast on FM radio.

The first disc comes from the Holy Diver tour and captures Dio's (the band) first UK show which took place at the Monsters of Rock Festival at Castle Donington on August 20, 1983. The band had only played about a dozen shows prior to this, predominately opening for Aerosmith during the last gasps of their Rock In a Hard Place tour, but sound remarkably on their game for being so 'young'. Dio and band play an aggressive eight song set which sounds both raw and hungry. The set features four of the nine tracks from Holy Diver along with full versions of Black Sabbath's "Children of the Sea" and "Heaven and Hell" along with somewhat (to completely) abbreviated versions of Rainbow's "Stargazer", "Starstruck" and "Man on the Silver Mountain".

The second disc comes from Dio's return appearance at the Monsters of Rock Festival on August 22, 1987. This time around, Dio (the band) was a veteran touring act and this show took place early into the tour for Dio's fourth disc Dream Evil. The band's lineup is essentially the same as the 1983 show with the exception being that Craig Goldy (x-Giuffria) replaced Vivian Campbell on guitar which gives the band a harder-edged sound. This harder-edged guitar sound is reinforced by better sonic fidelity across the whole show which gives the band a fuller sound with more bottom-end than the 1983 show.

The set list for the 1987 show is similar in spirit to the 1983 show with six tracks from Dio's solo albums (three from Dream Evil) along with a mix of Black Sabbath and Rainbow tracks. This time around though Dio included most of the Sabbath and Rainbow songs in medleys so these are abbreviated versions. There is a full-version of "Neon Knights" but, somewhat surprisingly, an abbreviated version of "Holy Diver" serves as a lead-in into "Heaven and Hell".



This set does an excellent job in capturing the experience of a Dio concert so hopefully this is the first of many archival releases. The disc's $11.44 price point (at Amazon) makes it a no-brainer to add to one's collection.

Links:
Ronnie James Dio

Black Sabbath: Live at Hammersmith Odeon Scheduled for Ltd. Edition Vinyl Release in January (Metal Club)

Black Sabbath's Live at Hammersmith Odeon is coming out on a limited edition 3-LP vinyl pressing on January 11th next year. These tracks were originally released on a limited edition Rhino Handmade CD in 2007 (now sold out) and more recently were included in the 2CD reissue of Mob Rules.

The fourteen tracks on this set were compiled from four shows that Black Sabbath played at Hammersmith Odeon between Dec. 31st 1981 and Jan. 3rd 1982. According to Rob Dwyer (sabbathlive.com), here is the breakdown:

1) Neon Knights (January 2nd, 1982)
2) N.I.B. (January 1st, 1982)
3) Children Of The Sea (January 1st, 1982)
4) Country Girl (January 1st, 1982)
5) Black Sabbath (December 31st, 1981)
6) War Pigs (January 1st, 1982)
7) Slipping Away (December 31st, 1981)
8) Iron Man (January 1st, 1981)
9) The Mob Rules (December 31st, 1981)
10) Heaven And Hell (January 1st, 1982)
11) Paranoid (December 31st, 1981)
12) Voodoo (January 2nd, 1982)
13) Children Of The Grave (December 31st, 1982)

This 3-LP set is on 180 gram vinyl with a triple gatefold packaging and it will be limited to 3,000 numbered copies.

Links:
Black Sabbath

Ronnie James Dio Loses Battle With Cancer This Morning

After a long weekend, I wasn't planning on posting anything tonight but Dio's music has been an important part of my life for the last 30 years. Evidently Dio lost his battle with stomach cancer this morning.

My heart goes out to Wendy Dio tonight; I don't think there are many people in the industry who weren't touched by Dio and/or his music. Rainbow was my first concert and gave me the reason to pick up a guitar (as I couldn't sing).

I've had the opportunity to talk with Ronnie a number of times over the years and, the last time, I was so impressed that he took the time to talk with my teenager who was only vaguely aware of who Rainbow, Black Sabbath or Dio is. Here is a picture of Ronnie "goofing" as he watched me trying to take some photos after being moved through the autograph line at Vintage Vinyl.

RIP my friend - You were one of a kind!

Links:
Dio

Heaven & Hell: Win A Vinyl Copy of "The Devil You Know" (Courtesy of Rhino Records)

It has been a while since I've done a give-away...

To keep this simple - drop me an email at 'mike.brooklynrocks at gmail dot com' with the subject 'Giveaway'. Be sure to include to include your first and last name and postal mailing address in the email.

I'll close this out on July 2nd and choose a winner at random.

Links:
Heaven & Hell's Website
Rhino Records

Heaven & Hell Announce Show at MSG on August 25 - Pre-Sale Tickets on Sale Tomorrow (May 6th)

Heaven & Hell is touring this summer with Coheed & Cambria and the tour stops at Madison Square Gardens on August 25th.

Pre-sale tickets go on-sale tomorrow at 10AM (the password is supposed to be 'devil') and tickets are available to the general public starting at 10AM on Friday, May 8th. Ticket prices range between $54.50 - $79.50.

Here is the full list of tour dates for the band's August tour:
07 Vancouver, BC, Thunderbird Arena
08 Seattle, WA, WaMu Theater* (w/Neurosis)
10 San Jose, CA, Event Center Arena
11 Los Angeles, CA, Greek Theater
12 Phoenix, AZ, Dodge Theater
14 Albuquerque, NM, Journal Pavilion
15 Denver, CO, Red Rocks
18 Cincinnati, OH, PNC Pavilion
19 Chicago, IL, Charter One Pavilion
21 Detroit, MI, Meadow Brook Pavilion
22 Cleveland, OH, Nautica Pavilion
23 Baltimore, MD, Merriweather Post Pavilion
25 New York, NY, WaMu Theater @ MSG
27 Wallingford, CT, Chevrolet Theatre
28 Boston, MA, Bank Of America Pavilion

Links:
Heaven & Hell's Website

Heaven and Hell: Advance Tracks from "The Devil You Know" (Black Sabbath)

Stream: Heaven and Hell - Five Advance Tracks from "The Devil You Know"

Who ever thought Black Sabbath would reunite with Dio...and record a new studio disc?

Heaven and Hell (I have a hard time not saying 'Sabbath') have their first studio disc coming out on April 28th on Rhino Entertainment. The last time this lineup of the band went into the studio was 1992's Dehumanizer.

There are a couple of different versions of The Devil You Know coming out next week:
- The iTunes version contains bonus live versions of "I" and "Die Young" (from Heaven & Hell's 2007 tour)
- At select indie record stores, a signed booklet or a t-shirt comes with the purchase of the disc (check out Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ)
- The Best Buy version comes with a bonus DVD of behind-the-scenes content with interviews, studio footage, etc.
- The Wal Mart version features an exclusive cover with a logo similar to the old Sabbath logo

Here is the teaser promo video for The Devil You Know:


Links:
Heaven and Hell's Website

Heaven & Hell - Pictures from CD Signing at Vintage Vinyl, Fords, NJ 8/2/08

I'm not much for CD signings but I couldn't pass up meeting Heaven & Hell. Like most signings/in-stores, this was a wristband-only event. With only 500 wristbands available, I thought would sell out right away so I drove out to Vintage Vinyl a few weeks ago and purchased the Heaven & Hell - Radio City DVD and got a wristband. Surprisingly, I heard some people talking that wristbands were still available early in the day. It seems at bit unbelievable that this wasn't as mobbed as the Ozzy/Sabbath CD signing at VirginMega back in the late 90's.

Anyway, the line seemed to move fairly quickly and it was about a 90 minute wait to meet the band. The band was really cool and I got a few pictures in addition to the signed DVD.



Heaven & Hell are playing PNC Arts Center on August 9th and Jones Beach on August 10th.

Links:
Heaven & Hell's Website

Hydrogyn: 'Deadly Passions' CD Release Interview, NYC 6-25-08

Hydrogyn released their newest CD, Deadly Passions, on Demolition Records last month and I had a chance to catch up with the band when they were in town for a CD launch party at The Delancey.

We spent a few minutes to talking about the new CD, the new band lineup, their past work with Craig Goldy (Dio) and Michael Wagner (Skid Row, Alice Cooper). The band also talked about their upcoming 'female voices' tour with Benedictum which they are going to take to Europe and then through the US in the Fall.



Deadly Passion marks the start of a three-release deal that the band signed with Demoltion Records. The new disc was produced by guitarist Jeff Westlake and the band recorded the disc at Steve Riley's Smash Hits Studio in Huntington, WV.

"Steve does fantastic work out there," Jeff said. "The album is really big, the guitars are big, the drums are big, of course, the vocals are big, the bass guitar is phat, it really is the way we wanted it to sound. Before we ever got into the studio, we did a lot of pre-planning, and it helped out a lot. When it came time to mix the album, it was mixed right in your face -- no big room reverb, I wanted it to be right here." (from Herald-Dispatch.Com)

Links:
Hydrogyn's MySpace Profile
Hydrogyn's Website

Heaven and Hell Confirm NYC Show - Radio City Music Hall on March 30th

There has been a lot of anticipation about the reunion of the Dio-era Black Sabbath lineup. The first NYC show for band (who are calling themselves Heaven and Hell) be March 30th at Radio City Music Hall. According to www.black-sabbath.com, there will be no opening act for this show and the band is expected to play an extra-long set at this concert. Ticket prices range betwwn $54.00 - $74.00 and go on sale Friday, January 26 at 10:00 a.m.

As this lineup hasn't played together since Black Sabbath's 1992 Dehumanizer tour, I would expect this show will sell out within minutes.

The new Black Sabbath compilation Black Sabbath: The Dio Years will be released April 3rd and will contain three new tracks that were written by Ronnie and Tony.

Eddie Trunk is scheduled to air his interview with the band on Feb. 10th and there is an interview posted to Eddie's site where Rudy Sarzo (now part of Dio's band) discusses both Dio and Heaven and Hell.

Tenacious D - The Pick of Destiny CD Review

Spinal Tap move over -- this is a really funny disc. Tenacious D's songs are a throwback to the late 70s/early 80s epic metal balladry of Meatloaf, Rainbow/Dio and Iron Maiden. The disc is the soundtrack to the film The Pick of Destiny and contains numerous between-song soundbites from the film. (The only exception is that The Government Totally Sucks is a new song that wasn't included in the film) The band's playing is competent and solid but the fun is listening to Jack Black's lyrics.

From "The Government Totally Sucks":

Ben Franklin was a rebel indeed.
He liked to get naked while he smoked on the weed.
He was a genius but if he was here today,
the government would fuck him up his righteous A!

From "Kickapoo":

You've disobeyed my orders son, Why were you ever born?
Your brother's ten times better than you, Jesus loves him more.
This music that you play for us comes from the depths of hell.
Rock and roll's the devil's work, He wants you to rebel.
You'll become a mindless puppet; Beelzebub will pull the strings!
Your heart will lose direction, And chaos it will bring.
You'd better shut your mouth, You better watch your tone!
You're grounded for a week with no telephone!
Don't let me here you cry, Don't let me hear you moan!
You gotta praise The Lord when you're in my home!

Ronnie James Dio and Dio very fittingly are guest vocalists on the song Kickapoo and Dave Grohl adds drums and guest vocals to the song Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown).

POD was released as a single and the video has been posted to YouTube:


If you are looking for good mindless fun -- this CD is worth checking out. It offers enough musically that it should hold up to repeated play.