* * * * ½
A live album from one of the last performances by Heaven And Hell. Essentially this is Black Sabbath but with Ronnie James Dio (R.I.P.) singing instead of Ozzy. So we have metal masters Tony Iommi on guitar and Geezer Butler on bass. Drums are by Vinnie Appice as Bill Ward declined to take part. Hidden in the wings is Dio's keyboard player Scott Warren. I always thought it a bit shabby the way Sabbath hid their keyboard players from view, and it's a shame this practice continued in the later band. Talk about being in denial!
This is a really good performance, and we are lucky to have this as an official release. There is also a DVD of this show with extra music and interview footage. Tracks on the CD which didn't appear on their earlier Live from Radio City double are "Time Machine", "Bible Black", "Fear" and "Follow The Tears". In truth that earlier release was a bit better than this one, perhaps because this one is outdoors. I have also heard better performances on various bootlegs. Nevertheless, this is a bit of a gem and an essential purchase for Dio fans.
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