Heaven & Hell, Live at Radio City Music Hall DVD

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Heaven & Hell, Live at Radio City Music Hall DVD

POSTED: Monday, September 17, 2007, 3:32 AM

Filed Under: DVD | Music

There's a place just south of Witches' Valley. If you know what I mean.

Heaven & Hell is what they’re calling the re-re-re-reanimated Black Sabbath — this time with Dio, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler (with Vinny Appice on drums). The band comes with a little bit of a push, in the form of a Black Sabbath: The Dio Years best-of and this DVD/CD set which compiles a big gig from earlier this year.

Ten Things I learned while watching the Heaven & Hell DVD

1. Ronnie James Dio looks like Vigo mixed with Roberto Benigni.

2. Dio is exactly what Jack Black was going for with his whole metal persona. It’s not just the hellacious shrieking, it’s the ridiculously free-form evil-lite lyrics:

We made the mountains shake with laughter as we played
hiding in our corner of the world
Then we did the demon dance and rushed to nevermore
threw away the key and locked the door

3. These just aren't the same kinds of songs that Ozzy used to sing. It's a different era.

Dio

4. Tony Iommi shreds in any era.

5. The metal accoutrements are there, but kinda understated: silver cross inlays on Iommi’s axe, the cross-shaped cymbal on the drum kit (does that even work, acoustically?), the slick screen above the stage showing stained glass and smoking angels and lots more crosses, the cemetery-ish gates on either side. Dio occasionally punctuates his between song banter with a straight-fingered metal salute.

Vigo, master of evil

6. “Lady Evil” is hilarious.

There's a place just south of Witches' Valley
where they say the wind won't blow
and they only speak in whispers of a name
There's a lady they say who feeds the darkness
it eats right from her hand
With a crying shout she'll search you out
and freeze you where you stand

and here’s your chorus….

Lady Evil, evil!
she's a magical, mystical woman!
Lady Evil, evil in my mind!
She's queen of the night!
all right!

Roberto Benigni

7. Geezer Butler’s still holdin’ it down on bass, too.

8. “The Sign of the Southern Cross” is supposed to be some kind of epic masterpiece, I guess, but it’s really this endless, redundant bore. A new one, “The Devil Cried” fit right in with the old stuff until Vinny Appice started into a big stupid drum solo. Just when you think it’s over he stands up and does some more.

9. The song “Heaven & Hell” sums up this sexless faux-evil era of metal neatly: Killer riffs, haunting vocals, meaningless lyrics, sing-along parts for the crowd.

10. Black Sabbath: The Dio Years was better. The songs just get longer and wronger in concert. And Dio can still wail like a metal demon god whatever but I am so tired of looking at him.

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