Monthly Archives: December 2010
Dio – Dio at Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987
Dio – Dio at Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987 (2010, Niji Entertainment Group)
Disc 1: 1983
1. “Stand Up And Shout” … 3:50
2. “Straight Through The Heart” … 4:49
3. “Children Of The Sea” … 6:16
4. “Rainbow in the Dark” … 4:38
5. “Holy Diver” … 5:09
6. Drum Solo
7. “Stargazer” … 1:43
8. Guitar Solo
9. “Heaven And Hell” … 11:06
10. “Man On The Silver Mountain” … 3:33
11. “Starstruck” … 0:47
12. “Man On The Silver Mountain (Reprise)” … 2:30
Disc 2: 1987
1. “Dream Evil” … 4:56
2. “Neon Knights” … 4:44
3. “Naked In The Rain” … 7:29
4.” Rock and Roll Children” … 2:47
5. “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” … 4:39
6. “The Last In Line” … 4:12
7. “Children Of The Sea” … 1:22
8. “Holy Diver” … 1:28
9. “Heaven and Hell” … 3:18
10. “Man On The Silver Mountain” … 4:29
11. “All the Fools Sailed Away” … 4:23
12. “The Last in Line (Reprise)” … 1:12
13. “Rainbow In The Dark” … 5:12
Band:
Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
Vivian Campbell – Guitar (Disc 1)
Craig Goldy – Guitar (Disc 2)
Jimmy Bain – Bass
Vinny Appice – Drums
Claude Schnell – Keyboards
Another great document and testament to the power of Dio live! This collection of two live Donington shows is the first album to be released under Ronnie & Wendy’s Niji Entertainment Group label. The album was in the works before Ronnie’s death (he gets executive producer credit) but sadly he did not get to see the release of this album. Disc One was recorded August 20, 1983 while Disc Two was recorded on August 22, 1987. These shows are available to us today thanks to the BBC archiving them (along with a couple of the other bands) for the purpose of a few radio broadcasts. Now they’ve passed the savings onto us!
And what a release it is! Very nice digipak foldout featuring some cool pics from the shows (the album cover is the best shot), promo art, a bit of history on the band leading up the shows, plus two mock-laminate passes for these ’83 and ’87 Monsters of Rock shows. Also, if you pre-ordered from Ronnie’s official site, included is an exclusive Dio VIP backstage pass. I’m not sure if the passes were from random tours but my pass is from the 1990 Throw ‘Em to the Wolves tour which of course had the band supporting the Lock Up the Wolves album. If the pre-order pass isn’t authentic and something they found in a warehouse somewhere, they really did a heck of a job with making it look so.
Disc One features a hungry band on fire and with something to prove. Ronnie was coming out of Sabbath and had just released Holy Diver the month before and the group was placed early on the bill. Ronnie and his gang had no choice but to throw down the gauntlet and show the world they could make it just fine, thank you. Half of the set list features songs from the then-new Holy Diver album while Ronnie also makes use of his Rainbow and Sabbath days to further win over the crowd. The worst part about this set? We are only teased with way-too-short versions “Stargazer” and “Starstruck”! But there is another lengthy and epic version of “Heaven and Hell” to make up for it while the band shows all kinds of flash, power and pizazz on their shiny new songs. A lively crowd throughout (even cheering on the new and soon-to-be classics) helps makes this an even better show.
Disc Two finds Craig Goldy stepping in for Vivian Campbell. An extended set list is here as well now that the band had graduated to “Special Guest” for their second Donington appearance playing second to last on the bill (Bon Jovi headlined this year). Dream Evil was the new album to promote that year (also coming out in the previous month) and it’s a good album so I have no problems with some of those songs making appearances but I would’ve loved to have heard “Sunset Superman” (in place of “Naked In The Rain”) and even “Sacred Heart” from the 1985 album of the same name. At least Sacred Heart‘s Rock and Roll Children made it! One of my favorite Dio songs. I’m also surprised “Holy Diver” got the short end of the stick but oh well. Still, with Dio now being able to call up on four albums of his own and adding a few more Rainbow and Sabbath nuggets to distinguish this set from the 1983 show, this is yet another great concert. Funny how “Rainbow In The Dark” had worked its way up to becoming the band’s closing number.
I won’t even get into the highlights this time. The first disc is full of fire and energy and the second disc thankfully does not repeat too much of disc one and is a fine total performance in its own right. Dio fans must own this album!
www.ronniejamesdio.com
www.facebook.com/officialronniejamesdio
www.myspace.com/dioofficial
Death Angel – Relentless Retribution
Death Angel – Relentless Retribution (2010, Nuclear Blast Records)
1. “Relentless Revolution” … 4:28
2. “Claws In So Deep” … 7:44
3. “Truce” … 3:31
4. “Into The Arms Of Righteous Anger” … 4:31
5. “River Of Rapture” … 4:35
6. “Absence Of Light ” …4:32
7. “This Hate” … 3:33
8. “Death Of The Meek” … 5:15
9. “Opponents At Sides” … 6:21
10. “I Chose The Sky” … 4:06
11. “Volcanic” … 3:34
12. “Where They Lay” … 4:30
Band:
Mark Osegueda – Vocals
Rob Cavestany – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Ted Aguilar – Guitar
Damien Sisson – Bass
Will Carroll – Drums
Additional Musicians:
Rodrigo y Gabriela – Guitars (“Claws In So Deep”)
Jason Suecof – Guitar (“Truce”)
Producer: Jason Suecof
I’ve never followed Death Angel until this year. I know Act III is supposed to be their masterpiece and one of the better thrash albums out there but it wasn’t until this year that I finally picked it up. I’m very picky with my thrash. A lot of thrash bands sound like garbage to me. I like thrash but it’s not my favorite sub-genre of metal. And I have zero interest in any thrash band that pushes themselves towards any type of ”extreme metal” sound. So it often takes me a while to come around and try thrash bands I haven’t heard before.
The good news is that I’m enjoying Death Angel very much. I’ve had Act III since earlier in the year but I haven’t gotten around to reviewing it or listening to it a whole lot but I’m really liking Relentless Retribution. It’s a great balance of aggressive and melodic moments. There are pure thrashers like “Truce”, “River Of Rapture”, “Into The Arms of Righteous Anger” but then songs like “Relentless Revolution”, “Claws In So Deep”, “Volcanic” and “I Chose The Sky” throw in enough melodic moments to keep the album interesting.
Not that the full-throttle headbanging numbers are anything to sneeze at. There are some excellent moments all throughout this album and of the few recent thrash albums I’ve heard over the last two years or so, Relentless Retribution has proven to be my favorite so far.
I’ve heard some minor quibbles from longtime Death Angel fans that the album carries too much of a modern metal vibe. I’m not sure how true that it is but so what, I found myself enjoying this disc.
Highlights: “Relentless Revolution”, “Claws In So Deep”, “River Of Rapture”, “Absence Of Light”, “I Chose The Sky”, “Volcanic”
http://www.deathangel.us
http://www.myspace.com/deathangel
http://www.facebook.com/deathangel
