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The actual name of this line up is Heaven & Hell as only Ozzy fronted bands can call themselves Black Sabbath�..apparently! This line up is: Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitars), Geezer Butler (bass guitar) & Vinny Appice (drums). Which last appeared on the vastly underrated De-humanizer album from 1992.
What made this show different from the recent Ozzy fronted Sabbath shows is that all the songs were selected from the 3 albums fronted by Dio, namely Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules & De-humanizer�.and what a refreshing change it was.
First band up was the American power-metal outfit, Iced Earth whom I happen to think are one of the best metal bands out there�..technically very gifted with some wonderful melodic metal that come pretty close � in my opinion - to matching the mighty Maiden. Their vocalist is the outstanding Tim �Ripper� Owens who was recently with Judas Priest before Mr Halford decided to get back where the money was! The recent Iced Earth album � �Framing Armageddon � Something Wicked Part 1� (Part 2 to come in April 08) is one of the best metal releases this year � definitely a must buy for lovers of melodic metal. They were only on stage for 30 minutes, which was ridiculous, considering the band that followed.
Lamb Of God � now Death/Thrash Metal has it�s place, but it wasn�t at this show!. Whoever put this mob in this line up needs stringing up�..totally out of place. More Iced Earth would have been MUCH more preferable than this lot�.loads of energy, but not much else. Most of the crowd were at the bar & merchandise stalls �nuff said I think!
Onto the legends�.what can one say that hasn�t been said before about these guys. The show they put on was simply stunning � a great set list from the 3 Dio albums, meant they didn�t have to play Iron Man, Paranoid, Black Sabbath or War Pigs for the thousandth time. You could tell they really enjoyed playing the different material. Tony Iommi was staggering - even by his amazing standards�.impossible to pick a highlight of his playing, but if pushed � his instrumental version of Die Young was god-like. Geezer Butler was rock solid as he always is plucking his bass with style! Vinny Appice was a powerhouse on the drums, even his solo wasn�t boring! The man himself Mr R.J Dio gives hope to all pensioners out there � he is at least 65 years old now, but his voice still has everything one could wish for & more. In my view only Brucie from Maiden is his superior�but Bruce is 20 years younger!!
Too many highlights to list them all here. But here are a few of my fave tracks�. Sign Of the Southern Cross, I, Mob Rules, Computer God, Falling Off The Edge Of The World, a 20 minute version of Heaven & Hell!!�.and the crushingly heavy brand new track, Shadow of the Wind�.the riffs literally shook the foundations of the arena � amazing stuff from Mr Iommi yet again. Finally, an honourable mention to the stage set design � the lighting effects were amazing!
Set List:
Mob Rules
Children of the Sea
I
Sign of the Southern Cross
Voodoo
Drum solo
Computer God
Falling Off the Edge of the World
Die Young (guitar instrumental & full vocal versions)
Heaven & Hell (20 minutes)
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Shadow of the Wind
Neon Nights
Summary:
The Living Legends that are Black Sabbath live on and with a new album on its way in late 2008�they show no sign of letting up. Bring it on!
Prodigal's star rating:
Black Sabbath 10/10
Iced Earth 10/10
Lamb of God 1/10 (shouldn�t have been there)
Were you at the gig?
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