A while ago we had presented Heaven & Hell’s DVD that captured the band live at the prestigious Wacken Open Air Festival a couple of years ago and only months before Ronnie James Dio’s shocking death. This is the audio part of that show and it actually includes the same tracklisting. Now, I hope that you don’t expect from me to criticize the songs or the overall band performance…not, that I believe that there are certain groups that above any criticism. After all, when you release a product, you are open to any possible review and judgment. Bu in the Heaven & Hell case, we must certainly make an exception. We are talking about a bunch of musicians and personalities whose input in heavy metal is literally invaluable. So the words are not enough and this is the mere truth…
In comparison with the DVD edition, the CD includes far less talking/intros by Dio but the atmosphere that all those fans in Wacken had created is absolutely stunning and it adds to the emotionally charged mood of the listener who surely takes a minute to think about the best heavy metal singer that ever graced the face of the earth!
I had expressed my opinion in the fast and I will say it once again…I really hope that our favorite music gives birth in the future to such groups as Machine Head, Slipknot, Stone Sour, Avenged Sevenfold etc (the names are randomly picked). But, I am 100% certain that personalities like Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Ronnie James Dio were not only unique and one of a kind but they cannot be duplicated by anyone. That’s the mere truth…
Highlight: The imposing 17-minute rendition of “Heaven and Hell”…
