Heaven and Hell

[naturochem]

Originally posted by ELVIS
I never realized that moog sounding thing throughout the studio version of The Sign Of The Southern Cross was Geezer with a wah pedal !!!

Thats awesome, check it out...

Great catch on that, I'd totally thought that was all synth!

[bueno bob]

Interesting...I had figured Geoff Nicholls as well...

Nice!

[binnie]

Those vids are great Elvis, cheers!

[bueno bob]

GREATEST.

MOTHER.

FUCKING.

NEWS.

EVER.

***

HEAVEN AND HELL — the band featuring BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, singer Ronnie James Dio, and drummer Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO) — is currently in discussions with various record labels about recording a brand new studio album in 2008, Butler has confirmed to Black-Sabbath.com. More information will be made available soon.

[katie]

Originally posted by bueno bob
GREATEST.

MOTHER.

FUCKING.

NEWS.

EVER.

***

HEAVEN AND HELL — the band featuring BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, singer Ronnie James Dio, and drummer Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO) — is currently in discussions with various record labels about recording a brand new studio album in 2008, Butler has confirmed to Black-Sabbath.com. More information will be made available soon.

That is great news!

Shame Ozzy could not get his act together in the studio for the past 9 summers.......

Ronnie Dio = Class act / Rock Legend

[eddie78]

I loved Ronnie's comment in the 'Louder than Life' metal documentary, regarding how to treat the fans.
I guess he watched Blackmore shit all over his adoring audience on several occassions while in Rainbow, leaving many High & dry, as he passed them in the rain on his way to the Limo.
Dio realized at that moment, this would never happen once he was calling the shots in his own band (or with Sabbath).

[Shaun Ponsonby]

Originally posted by bueno bob
GREATEST.

MOTHER.

FUCKING.

NEWS.

EVER.

***

HEAVEN AND HELL � the band featuring BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, singer Ronnie James Dio, and drummer Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO) � is currently in discussions with various record labels about recording a brand new studio album in 2008, Butler has confirmed to Black-Sabbath.com. More information will be made available soon.

YAY!!

[binnie]

This is good news. If they can keep up the standard of the three new tunes, we are in for a killer!

[bueno bob]

You ain't shittin', brother...those three new tracks were VERY good, best thing Tony's done since his first solo album (I didn't like the two with Glenn Hughs very much).

Very exciting!

[Shaun Ponsonby]

1 week and counting...

[Hardrock69]

Dude, you are going to have a fucking blast!

[binnie]

Here's a review from the show at Manchester MEN on Friday 9th November: Iced Earth, Lamb Of God and H&H.

The MEN arena looks virtually empty as Iced Earth took the stage at 7PM. There are maybe 1000 people watching, many of whom are die-hard fans. At certian Bueno Bob once told me that Iced Earth'd career could be summed up with the phrase "A day late and a dollar short", and that's certianly in evidence here, as it is clear that they would like to be a more epic Judas Priest. I've never really been a fan of their records, but they are an enjoyable band live: big, booming sound with awesome vocals from Ripper Owens. They are one heavy band, even if most of their songs stick to the same formula. They don't really have an amazing stage pressence, but they rock pretty hard nonetheless; and even though they are in desperate need of a decent vocal melody or a chorus, I enjoyed their short set. They are solid, but I can't imagine that they'll ever be spectacular (I much prefer Ripper's other band, Beyond Fear.)

Next up come Lamb of God, whom a lot of the younger members of the crowd are here to see (many people left soon after their set.) Their recent record "Sacrament" is great and saw them really grow into themselves; for me their early records included lots of sons that sounded like other bands, whereas on "Sacrament" they took their influences and made them their own. I thus had high hopes for their set, but was sorely dissapointed. When you have a cookie-monster vocalist, you limit yourself as a band, and listening to this guy go "uhhhhh, roaoooorrrr, gurkrkk" all night becomes really grating: 45 minutes felt like 2 hours. I just wanted to scream at him "you're not Phil Anselmo, you'll never be Phil Anselmo, so why bother?" Added to this, there's not enough bass in the mix so they don't sound anywhere near as heavy as Iced Earth. Mark Morton's bluesy solo's are a stnadout feature of their set, and if they develped his role in the band and injected some melody into their songs then they could do something spectacular. I was relieved when they finished.

So far then, I had seen a singer who wanted to be Rob Halford, and a singer who wanted to be Phil Anselmo. How relieving then to see one who IS Ronnie James Dio! What an amazing voice, let alone for a guy in his mid-60s. The set's opener is a bit of an anit-climax though: the sound for Mob Rules is almost bass-less and nowhere near loud enough which is a little dissappointing when it's your favourite Dio-era song! That being said, from then on the band are amazing: utterly powerfully, booming and very uncomplicated - points in which they contrast with the opening bands. The combination of Iommi's guitar and Geezer's bass makes the venue rattle and is the definition of heavy. Iommi's solo's are amazing, and are brimming with emotion, a point which I don't think he gets enough credit for.

So many stand out points: Die Young, Heaven and Hell, Neon Nights were all truly exceptional, and the songs from Dehumanizer sounded unbelievalby heavy. Could have done without Vinnie's drum solo (which I imagine the drummer from Lamb of God was laughing at!) or Ronnie's constant reminder of what albums songs were from (we fucong know Ronnie!) but that's beside the point: there was magic in the air when these guys play, and the fact that there can't have even been 4000 people in this 20,000 seater made me a little sad at how under-appreciated this band is over here. If they'd done this gig at the Apollo it would have been perfect.

I left with my ears ringing, and a grin on my face from ear to ear. Absolutely stella.

[bueno bob]

Bitchin' review, Bin!!!!

[binnie]

Cheers Bob, I try to be honest.

Dio is a legend, he really is. And Iommi is God, there's no doubting that.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

Originally posted by binnie
Here's a review from the show at Manchester MEN on Friday 9th November: Iced Earth, Lamb Of God and H&H.

The MEN arena looks virtually empty as Iced Earth took the stage at 7PM. There are maybe 1000 people watching, many of whom are die-hard fans. At certian Bueno Bob once told me that Iced Earth'd career could be summed up with the phrase "A day late and a dollar short", and that's certianly in evidence here, as it is clear that they would like to be a more epic Judas Priest. I've never really been a fan of their records, but they are an enjoyable band live: big, booming sound with awesome vocals from Ripper Owens. They are one heavy band, even if most of their songs stick to the same formula. They don't really have an amazing stage pressence, but they rock pretty hard nonetheless; and even though they are in desperate need of a decent vocal melody or a chorus, I enjoyed their short set. They are solid, but I can't imagine that they'll ever be spectacular (I much prefer Ripper's other band, Beyond Fear.)

Next up come Lamb of God, whom a lot of the younger members of the crowd are here to see (many people left soon after their set.) Their recent record "Sacrament" is great and saw them really grow into themselves; for me their early records included lots of sons that sounded like other bands, whereas on "Sacrament" they took their influences and made them their own. I thus had high hopes for their set, but was sorely dissapointed. When you have a cookie-monster vocalist, you limit yourself as a band, and listening to this guy go "uhhhhh, roaoooorrrr, gurkrkk" all night becomes really grating: 45 minutes felt like 2 hours. I just wanted to scream at him "you're not Phil Anselmo, you'll never be Phil Anselmo, so why bother?" Added to this, there's not enough bass in the mix so they don't sound anywhere near as heavy as Iced Earth. Mark Morton's bluesy solo's are a stnadout feature of their set, and if they develped his role in the band and injected some melody into their songs then they could do something spectacular. I was relieved when they finished.

So far then, I had seen a singer who wanted to be Rob Halford, and a singer who wanted to be Phil Anselmo. How relieving then to see one who IS Ronnie James Dio! What an amazing voice, let alone for a guy in his mid-60s. The set's opener is a bit of an anit-climax though: the sound for Mob Rules is almost bass-less and nowhere near loud enough which is a little dissappointing when it's your favourite Dio-era song! That being said, from then on the band are amazing: utterly powerfully, booming and very uncomplicated - points in which they contrast with the opening bands. The combination of Iommi's guitar and Geezer's bass makes the venue rattle and is the definition of heavy. Iommi's solo's are amazing, and are brimming with emotion, a point which I don't think he gets enough credit for.

So many stand out points: Die Young, Heaven and Hell, Neon Nights were all truly exceptional, and the songs from Dehumanizer sounded unbelievalby heavy. Could have done without Vinnie's drum solo (which I imagine the drummer from Lamb of God was laughing at!) or Ronnie's constant reminder of what albums songs were from (we fucong know Ronnie!) but that's beside the point: there was magic in the air when these guys play, and the fact that there can't have even been 4000 people in this 20,000 seater made me a little sad at how under-appreciated this band is over here. If they'd done this gig at the Apollo it would have been perfect.

I left with my ears ringing, and a grin on my face from ear to ear. Absolutely stella.

Ah...you were there too...

Agree with most of your review...although I'd say there were more than 4000 there from what I could see. The upper tier was closed anyway, and that isn't open for all gigs at the M.E.N. anyway (in fact, I've been to more where it's been closed)...the first two blocks of the seated area were full on both sides...there seemed to be enough standing from what I could tell...still think they should have played the Apollo though...or a night at the Apollo and a night in Liverpool...the Aintree Pavillion would have been good enough.

I'm glad they're opening with Mob Rules now and not "After All (The Dead)" though, even if it was a lil' disappointing sound-wise. In fact, the sound guy sucked...he even cut Ronnie's mic off at one point.

BTW...how pissed off did Ronnie look during "Neon Knights" when that plastic glass of beer hit him? Lost his train of thought and everything...

But, yea...Iced Earth were OK live, Lamb of God sucked, H+H ruled, even if they dropped a bunch of songs from the set (and yet kept Vinnie's solo?).

The only redeeming thing about Lab of God is that when the guitar tech as checking the strings, he played the riff from "Unchained". In fact, at Foo Fighters last week they played "Cradle Will Rock" over the PA...CVH is back, people...even in the UK.