Holy Diver Live

I've been a fan of Dio for many years - from Rainbow through Black Sabbath up to the current day. There's little doubt that that he has a great voice - but he does sound tired on this one and the songs are noticably slower (although he is in his 60's now!).

It's a shame that this offering features so many of the usual live tracks - good as they are perhaps its time to retire them. Don't get caught out like I was by the track listings on some sites (this one included!). Evil Eyes, The Last in Line, Mob Rules and Neon knights are not on this album which was very disappointing. And the running order is different too.

Die hard fans of Dio will buy it anyway and enjoy the mix of songs especially those from Rainbow and Sabbath. The drum and guitar solos are a waste of time and nothing special. Other rock fans will probably think its ok but not great.

"Holy Diver Live"? The original 1983 album "Holy Diver" is truely one of the greatest Heavy Metal albums of all time. Here, Dio has jumped on the bandwagon of performing classic albums in their entirety. Although exciting in theory, often this concept doesn`t work as some songs are not written to be perfomed, either because they have instrumentation that is tricky to reproduce or they are viewed as filler. It also doesn`t help when you stick a lengthy drum solo in the middle of the song "Gypsy" and an even longer guitar break in "Shame on the night". It breaks the momentum of the concert and ruins the concept of performing the album. Why not put them both in the middle of "Heaven and hell", which is where thay usually appear?

The second CD is a run through of the rest of Dio`s classic career, four from his Rainbow career, one each from his "classic" Sabbath albums and two from "The last in line". Interestingly nothing since 1985 appears here even though the band has recorded at least six studio albums since then. The performances are very good from a journeyman band including guitarist Doug Aldrich, bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Simon Wright. The only song that sounds laboured is "Gates of Babylon", which is far too slow and plods along with the band sounding as if they could blow it at any second. Dio`s vocals are great for a man of his age.

This collection is full of excellent set pieces and classic metal tracks. They have messed with the running order of the show, the "Holy Diver" part was originally in the middle of the set, here they have made it the first CD. I think I would have prefered the concert the way it was performed, the drum and guitar solos have spoilt the idea of the original running order anyway. A very good, but not classic, live album.

I purchased this CD recently, without particularly high expectations, as I assumed that it would be just another typical heavy metal release, not particularly different from any other in 2005. However, having listened to the CD a few times over, and being a long standing fan of Ronnie James Dio, I can honestly say that this must be one of the definitive hard rock performances of recent years, as it is difficult for me to envisage many other bands in the same genre coming anywhere near this level of performance. Clearly, the pitch of Dio's vocals has lowered somewhat in recent years, but this bears no importance in relation to the dynamics of this particular show, which showcases Doug Aldrich's superb guitar playing within an incredibly tight band. The highlights of the show are (I think) Don't Talk To Strangers, Heaven & Hell, and Aldrich's solo during Shame On The Night. Without any shadow of doubt, Ronnie Dio is as strong a performer as he has ever been, having found his way again after losing the plot somewhat during the 1990's. An essential purchase if you are a fan of classic hard rock/metal, young or old, new to Dio's stuff or familiar with it. There is very little else around to compete with this.