C&L's Late Nite Music Club with Heaven and Hell (aka Black Sabbath)
I really loved this email I got from Ticketmaster this morning:
Two years ago, Ronnie James Dio, Tommy Iommi, Geezer Butler and drummer Vinny Appice reunited to record a trio of new songs for Rhino's Black Sabbath: The Dio Years before launching a greatly acclaimed world tour under their new moniker Heaven & Hell.
Revitalized by the reunion, the heavy metal pioneers return to the stage upon the release of their first ever full-length studio album The Devil You Know, set to be released by Rhino in early 2009.
Get advance tickets to see Heaven & Hell when you use the password "DEVIL" at checkout!
There's something about "use the password 'DEVIL' at checkout'" that made my day today a little brighter.
Can you believe that Ronnie James Dio is 66 years old?
This band is amazing.
Ronnie James Dio is almost 67, but that remarkable voice of his has barely lost any range or power. I can't think of any singer whose voice has held up as well over such a long career, certainly not in the metal genre.
I feel blessed to have been able to see them live 3 times over the last couple of years. The last album and tour they did was in 1992.
Iommi and Butler created metal...these guys are the true kings. All I have to say is "Ozzy who?"
Just 'Cos You Got the Power...THAT DON'T MEAN YOU GOT THE RIGHT!
Good luck on getting anything out of Ticketmaster, my sister tried to get 4 tickets to AC/DC from Ticketmaster; she got two the moment tix went on sale, then was immediately redirected to their scam site where, if she was lucky, she could pay a mere two or three times the same amount for even worse seats.
"Ronnie James Dio is 66 years old?"
yes and like the idea of using any facet of religion to sell something - this is "too old"
I'd believe it if he said he was 76.
I saw him up close too. It wasn't in concert though. It was at a Safeway in Santa Monica. he was with a guy that was 6'5" and he had a shopping cart full of dog food. I mean, it was FULL of dog food. Nothing else. This was about 1985.
a very strange mental picture.
Thanks Curt, you given me a new nightmare to obsess over.
to pass the torch! to me!!!!
....
your cape and sceptre....to me!!
I was more into Ozzy back into high school, and I still dig him now and then once in a while, but as I get older I appreciate Dio's amazing voice more and more. And he may be 66, but he's still very metal! ;)
I've never seen change without a fire
Ha! I saw Black Sabbath play with Ian Gillian. bet you none of you saw THAT!
Right, that was that record?
with Bev Bevan from ELO on drums, the Born Again tour...dark times indeed.
;-)
saw it tripping my brains out,,, the inverted crosses are still burned into my retinas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RqZXMl0swI. The song starts about after about a minute.
Seen Heaven and Hell three times now, but this time they'll be in San Jose while we're in Montreal for the Worldcon. Ronnie James Dio is a malevolent little elf, and no matter how old he is, he can still put on a great concert.
I saw them in Auckland, NZ a couple of years ago and they didn't have to encourage the crowd to sing Heaven and Hell. I don't think Dio had to get out more than the first word and the audience finished the song for him. And they actually sounded good! Awesome show but yes... we were slightly ahem... 'gray' :-)
So you realize it's Tony Iommi, not Tommy don't you?
Live Evil is still in my top 10 best live albums. Hope they come to Orlando.
I listened to this record two times through the night before last and was left feeling it was really lacking. Like a lot of 'new metal' the riffs were unmemorable attempts at being clever and heavy. That was the real beauty of Sabbath no matter the vocalist; the shit was catchy! Dio still really kicks ass but in my opinion even he couldn't save this record from falling flat on it's face.
Years ago I caught Sabbath many times with Dio, Ozzy, and (hold onto your hat)... Rob Halford. No shit.
Saw Sabbath some 10 years ago for their reunion tour with Ozzy in Spartanburg, South Carolina of all places. What a great concert! The opening band was Godsmack, and let me tell you they had nothing on Sabbath. Kinda tedious, to tell you the truth. How long can you listen to a guitarist who only seems to know how to play power chords? When Sabbath hit the stage the place really came alive. The first couple of songs something was off... sounded like Ozzy was singing out of tune. But after that the performance was flawless, and Iommi is still a master of the blues-inspired heavy rock guitar.
I'm also a bog fan of the stuff Sabbath did with Dio. Leaving Sabbath and forming Dio was probably a good move for Ronnie James, but it's a shame they didn't put out a few more albums together when the creative juices were in sync.
easily
its not sabbath with dio...come on give me a break.
...that was a record company concept back in the day, not the band's. "Boys, it'd be so much easier to market the record if you just...' - Sadly, even for name performers in that era it was hard to 'fight City Hall' so to speak, especially with labels that looked (as Warners and many others did at the time, IIRC) upon Metal as being déclassé.
No going along with the program, no promo...And the release dies the death while the act slips from top to bottom of the bill on the road.
Thank the gods for the Internet...A real game changer for artists, IMO.
So Geezer Butler finally is a geezer
:p
But thats it. I hate is arrogance and his stage presence.. let go of the over theatrical waving the horn finger thing... I get it Dio, you made that a popular symbol of all metal shows since, like the Bic® lighter during a "pussy" song from any band. BUt stop doing these VH1 Interviews talking as if you are slumming with metal bands like Black Sabbath or Rainbow when you are meant to be something better like on Broadway or in an Opera or something.
Dio pisses me off.
Comments are closed on this entry