949. Heaven & Hell / Live From Radio City Music Hall. 2007. 5/5

There are some defining moments that come along in life, events that become a part of you and that you carry with you for the rest of your life. The Heaven And Hell gig at Wollongong in August was one of those moments for me.
But this is not to review that night. This is to review the live CD/DVD that has been released.

Recorded early in the tour, this album carries what most of us never expected to hear again - Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio at the helm, playing the material they recorded from their three albums together. And to be quite honest, it is just sensational. The sound from the musicians is quite awesome. Geezer's bass sound and Tony's guitar sound are a stark reminder of just who is responsible for the style of music we like to call 'heavy metal'. Geezer's bass is almost gutteral, Tony's playing is flawless. Vinny Appice on drums again does a sterling job. He mightn't be flashy like a lot of drummers these days, but he doesn't miss a beat and has always complemented this band when he has been a part of it.
And the master, the greatest of them all, Ronnie James Dio, provides the face and the vocals of the band, and continues to be at the top of his game.

Favourites for me here are "After All (The Dead)", "I", "Computer God", "Falling Off The Edge Of The World", "Die Young", "Heaven And Hell" and "Neon Knights". Actually, I just should have listed the tracklist, because it is all just fantastic.

The rumours abound for what the future holds for Black Sabbath in the future - a 40 year anniversary recording with Ozzy for instance. If that happened, I guess it will be great. But this album - and the tour they have been on - to me just proves that a fully fledged new album with Dio at the helm would make for a much better option.

Rating:  "Oh no, here it comes again"   5/5.

(Note - I originally wrote this and posted it on my Rate Your Music page on September 2, 2007, just a month after seeing them live at Wollongong. I must have missed posting it to this blog, which is why it might seem out of place in the way I have written it. BP.)