Archive for heaven & hell heavy metal band

RONNIE JAMES DIO – A TRUE HEAVY METAL WARRIOR!

Posted in 1980's heavy metal bands, 1980's heavy metal music, 1980's heavy metal songs, 1980's heavy metal videos, 1980's metal bands, 1980's metal music, 1984 heavy metal music, 1990's heavy metal bands, hard rock music, Heavy Metal, heavy metal album covers, heavy metal albums, heavy metal albums 1984, heavy metal bands, heavy metal history, heavy metal legends, heavy metal music, heavy metal music 1984, heavy metal videos, heavy metal vocalists, metal music, metal odyssey, Music, old school heavy metal, old school heavy metal bands, rock music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2010 by Metal Odyssey

RONNIE JAMES DIO – The prolific and ultra legendary lead singer for bands: Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, DIO and currently Heaven & Hell. A Heavy Metal warrior is Ronnie James Dio… in my Metal opinion. I grew up following Ronnie James Dio, as countless other Old School Metal fans did as well. Without question, the Heaven And Hell and Mob Rules albums from the Dio fronted Black Sabbath are Heavy Metal benchmarks, never to be duplicated and only to be revered. Thanks to these two albums, 1980 and 1981 were a time when Heavy Metal shed away any identity crisis and made a lasting mark on the world. Ronnie James Dio, through his vocals and lyrics, gave Heavy Metal a new found darkness that I couldn’t resist, from Man On The Silver Mountain to Lady Evil to Mystery.

A new DIO album always incited the Heavy Metal psyche within me… the anticipation of hearing Dio’s vocals once again, on all new songs. I could probably carry on for another five thousand words, explaining just how personally important Dio’s vocals and lyrics have meant to me, throughout the decades. As the years have gone by, I never have taken for granted any of my favorite bands or musicians. I couldn’t think of it. I always feel lucky when I get to see a band I like, live and onstage. Seeing DIO years ago at The New Haven Coliseum was a Metal thrill, (seeing Savatage and Megadeth open up for DIO made it a triple Metal thrill too). Best Metal Buddy Scott and friend Rob should remember that evening… they left me stranded in a dark, cold and foreboding New Haven alley while I was taking a leak, after the concert. Gee Metal whiz… no pun intended. I found my way home though… fellow Metalheads are always eager to lend aid to one another in time of need.

There isn’t a week that goes by, where I don’t listen to part of or a whole album that Ronnie James Dio is lead singer on. It’s just been that way… and I hope it never stops.

What makes Ronnie James Dio so special is his ability to connect through song… his lyrics come to life if you let your Metal mind wander. Plus, Ronnie James Dio is a fighter… that’s what being a Metalhead is and always will be about.

I always and forever will love the DIO album – The Last In Line, (from 1984), especially the title track. Yes, the video for The Last In Line may have been outdone over the years with newfound special effects and video technology… still, this music video brings back some very cool Metal memories for me. I hope you enjoy this unreal great DIO song as much as I do… if so, crank it up LOUD and raise the horns to the air!

LONG LIVE RONNIE JAMES DIO!

Stone.

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Black Sabbath – “Mob Rules” still rules the Metal world

Posted in 1980's heavy metal music, 1980's metal music, Album Review, Black Sabbath, classic metal, classic rock, cool album covers, dio, essential heavy metal albums, heaven and hell heavy metal band, Heavy Metal, heavy metal album covers, heavy metal album review, heavy metal albums, heavy metal guitarists, heavy metal music, Heavy Metal Reviews, heavy metal vocalists, Metal, metal music, Metal Reviews, Music, old school heavy metal, ronnie james dio with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 23, 2009 by Metal Odyssey

In my Metal opinion, this is such a tremendous album, a true Metal mainstay for so many years. Released in 1981, this is Old School, Black Sabbath that time cannot age. I highly endorse “Mob Rules” to be in every Metal fans music collection. Every song is enormous, with the prolific riffs and leads from Tony Iommi on guitar, I so admire this musician. Geezer Butler on bass and Vinny Appice on drums make for what I consider one of the greatest rhythm sections in Metal history. Ronnie James Dio is pure Metal perfection on vocals. Between the music and Dio’s voice, this Black Sabbath lineup takes a back seat to no one. “Voodoo”, “Turn Up The Night”, “Slipping Away” and “Mob Rules” are songs that have that unrelenting Metal energy that does not subside. Unbelievable Metal Classics, in my Metal opinion. “E5150” is an instrumental that has the eerie Black Sabbath ambiance flowing over, a perfect fit for this album. The real sleeper tune on this album, for me, is “Country Girl” – this song has a really cool groove going on, a real Heavy Metal song that doesn’t get the same attention as the previous tracks I mentioned.

“Mob Rules” is, as I see it, one of the most complete Metal albums ever made, it has the songs, vocals, Metal and lyrics. The album artwork definitely gets a Metal thumbs up! This macabre artwork definitely fits in with the song “Mob Rules”. I remember the very first time I heard the opening riff to “Voodoo”, I still get the same Metal rush from it now as I did back in 1981. I distinctly remember when this Metalhead buddy of mine, back then, held this album jacket in his hands, put the vinyl on the turntable, turned to me and said: “Dude, wait ’till you here this song “Voodoo” “. I knew at that moment, it was some special Metal awaiting me. It is an amazing Metal accomplishment, for these four musicians to still be creating new music together in 2009, as Heaven & Hell. Do not skip over this Metal gem for too long, you could be enjoying it right now!

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Rainbow “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” long lives indeed!

Posted in 1970's hard rock, 1970's heavy metal, 1970's Rock, Album Review, classic rock, cool album covers, dio, essential hard rock albums, essential heavy metal albums, Hard Rock, hard rock album review, hard rock guitarists, hard rock songs, Heavy Metal, heavy metal album review, heavy metal albums, heavy metal guitarists, heavy metal music, Heavy Metal Reviews, heavy metal vocalists, Metal, metal music, Metal Reviews, Music, rainbow heavy metal band, Rock, rock music, rock music vocals, ronnie james dio, vintage rock albums with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2009 by Metal Odyssey

There never seems to be a day that goes by, where I do not peruse my Heavy Metal collection of albums and/or CD’s. One album in my collection, that recently caught my attention and reminded me of genuine Heavy Metal greatness is Rainbow “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll”. When I first bought this album, I did so when Ronnie James Dio was the lead vocalist for Black Sabbath, sometime between 1980 and 1982. I needed to, at that time, catch up and become familiar with any or all of Ronnie James Dio’s music and bands. This album, without any doubt in my Metal mind, is a keeper for life.

Released in 1978, this album upon my first complete listen, had me in awe. It still has that same affect on me, more than 25 years later. It just seems that the true elite of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal will shine on forever, keeping the flame of Heavy Music burning for decades on end. That is exactly what “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll does for me, it keeps it’s Heavy Rock sheen glistening, no matter how many times I listen to it. It is my opinion that this album deserves to be in any all time great lists. The two songs “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “L.A. Connection” alone are reason enough to add this album to your collection of Heavy Music. These two tunes pound away at a pace that is classic 1970’s Heavy Metal, yet the unmistakable sound is vintage Rainbow. Here is an album, that boasts strong and heavy music for it’s time, with intelligent lyrics and arguably one of the premiere lead guitarists and lead vocalists in all of Heavy Rock, back in 1978.

Fast forward to Ronnie James Dio joining forces with Black Sabbath, then decades later Heaven & Hell, we are all living in the present with the unstoppable Metal tandem of Tony Iommi and Dio. What is such a thrill to revisit, each time I listen to this album, is there was at one time, an incredible Heavy Metal duo of Ritchie Blackmore and Dio. Listening to Dio sing at this pertinent stage of his career, is hearing an emboldened vocalist, rich with sincere emotion and hunger that elevates the totality of this albums music. Ritchie Blackmore on guitar gives the songs on “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” their creative and at times medieval signature sound. “Gates of Babylon” is a fine example on this album, of what I mean, in mentioning a medieval guitar sound. What words can I truly use to compliment the guitar playing and skill of the legendary Ritchie Blackmore on this album? Let’s leave it that Ritchie Blackmore is guitar elite. The pair of Dio and Blackmore together in Rainbow may have been short lived, however, just as the title of this album states “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” – this album without question long lives.

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Heaven & Hell “The Devil You Know” is Metal greatness!

Posted in 1980's heavy metal music, Black Sabbath, classic rock, dio, Hard Rock, heaven and hell heavy metal band, Heavy Metal, heavy metal album review, heavy metal albums, heavy metal guitarists, heavy metal music, Heavy Metal Reviews, heavy metal vocalists, horror metal, Metal, metal music, Metal Reviews, Music, new heavy metal album, Power Metal, recent heavy metal albums, Rock, rock music, rock music vocals, ronnie james dio, tony iommi heavy metal guitarist, Vocals with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2009 by Metal Odyssey

92776864Alas, I finally received via U.S. mail, on April 29, 2009, directly from Best Buy online, the brand new Heaven & Hell release – “The Devil You Know” – (I pre-ordered the CD/DVD version) and I am simply ecstatic over this Metal! I feel I am exonerated from all the praise and hype I have been giving Heaven & Hell for their embarking on making this new album. Greatness is not enough of a positive adjective to describe the Metal tunes on “The Devil You Know” – and I mean all ten songs are enormously great. My favorite tune on this album is “The Turn Of The Screw” – it sounds incredible with Tony Iommi on guitar, for Iommi seems as if he let his melodic side take over with the leads and solo. Ronnie James Dio sounds like he is thirty years old again on not just this tune, all ten of these tunes!

Am I going too far with the praise so far? In my personal Metal opinion, nope. Anyone, albeit fan or professionally paid music critic, who does not agree that “The Devil You Know” is Metal greatness should go out and start listening to dance club music from the 80’s. Heaven & Hell sound as if they have let out their finest and most creative ideas musically, for this new album. Oh, yes, the vintage Tony Iommi guitar riffs are abundant, with dark and doom ambiance aplenty. Lyrically, the songs are what you can expect from Heaven & Hell, with the legendary Ronnie James Dio leading the way vocally, accentuating each syllable with Metal precision. Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice sound so tight as a rhythm section, I would swear they play & practice music together weekly, for the past twenty five years! The old school Metal meets a current Metal groove is happening on this album, I find it extremely addicting.

By no means has Heaven & Hell released a retrospective Metal album that carbon copies the work they accomplished during the 1980’s, no way. In my Metal opinion, this is as current a Metal sound as any recent Metal album release, by any band. Heaven & Hell did not just step it up  a notch, they stepped it up with class and respect for us fans – by writing and creating what I consider the highest quality of Metal I have heard in recent memory. I feel Heaven & Hell did reach back to their roots, yet they combined it with the maturation of their musical talents, giving my ears not what Metal used to sound like but what Metal truly is. “The Devil You Know” has instantly become one of those Metal albums, where I cannot believe how great and intense each song is. No skipping over any tune or quick sampling here. Veteran Black Sabbath – Heaven & Hell fans should be thrilled by this new album, new fans most certainly will be Metal impressed. It is not the cliche’ that Heaven & Hell has become of age, it is more that Heaven & Hell proves they are ageless.

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Still waiting patiently for the new Heaven & Hell

Posted in 1980's heavy metal music, Black Sabbath, classic rock, dio, Guitar, Hard Rock, heaven and hell heavy metal band, Heavy Metal, heavy metal albums, heavy metal guitarists, heavy metal music, heavy metal vocalists, Metal, metal music, Music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2009 by Metal Odyssey

92776863In my last blog, in regards to the new release from Heaven & Hell, “The Devil You Know,” I mentioned I was hoping my CD/DVD version would arrive on the 28th of April, via U.S. mail. Well, gosh, golly, I received a confirmation of shipment email from Best Buy online – it informed me they (at Best Buy), shipped my CD/DVD out on April 27th. Shucks. I am not faulting Best Buy here at all, yet, when I pre-ordered the new Slipknot CD – “All Hope Is Gone” last Summer of 2008, it arrived in my mailbox right smack dab on the release date!! Go figure. I am a patient Metalhead. Always have been, always will be. Great Metal things come to those Metalheads who wait. 

Since I am on the topic of the legendary Heaven & Hell, let’s face it, Tony Iommi is the super king of Heavy Metal riffs. Stoner riffs, Doom Metal riffs, whatever you want to call it, the Metal masses have followed Tony Iommi’s formula of riff excellence for four decades now. Geezer Butler has his very own signature sound coming out of his bass, just like his partner in Metal, (Tony Iommi), Geezer brings the heavy doom and boom to his playing. Man, I cannot wait to hear the incredible Ronnie James Dio belting out the vocals on these brand new Metal tunes! My favorite Black Sabbath album of all-time is without question, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”, in my opinion it really signified the status, of the Heavy Metal sound that this band was about. I am just so smitten, that these four guys are together again – releasing “The Devil You Know” and embarking on another world tour, even after touring last year. The truest spirit of Heavy Metal illuminates from Heaven & Hell, both from their music and lyrics. What an undeniable legacy, in my Metal opinion! Transcending the Metal music they are so talented for creating, Heaven & Hell exemplify that longevity does coexist with quality.

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