-- Black Sabbath - The Dio Years | (Audio CD) MSRP $ 18.98 Amazon Price $ 9.99 Savings $ 8.99 | |  Release Date: 03 April, 2007, Rhino / Wea
TRACK LISTING - Neon Knights
- Lady Evil
- Heaven & Hell
- Die Young
- Lonely Is The Word
- The Mob Rules
- Turn Up The Night
- Voodoo
- Falling Off The Edge Of The World
- After All (The Dead)
- TV Crimes
- I
- Children Of The Sea (Live)
- The Devil Cried
- Shadow Of the Wind
- Ear In The Wall
Usually ships in 24 hours | | | Missing way to much good stuff!! | I am a die hard Sabbath fan and to me the first 5 Sabbath albums are must have cd`s for any true metalhead. However in life, times change and so do band members.
After major successes with their first 5 albums, the group was starting to have some internal issues. The writing seemed to be on the wall in that their next two release were sub par efforts. The band had come to the conclusion that continuing on with Ozzy was an impossibility and the search was on to find the right replacement.
Ronnie James Dio was chosen to replace Ozzy after Ozzy was told his services were no longer needed. From the get go, the chemistry between Dio and the rest of the group was magic. Dio`s far out imagery/fantasy lyrical style fit in perfectly with Sabbath`s style of writing. The Heaven and Hell release was a fantastic piece of music and the follow up Mob Rules was just as good. They had given themselves a fresh lease on life with Ozzy`s departure. However as I stated above, times change and so do band members. After they recorded Live Evil, the band ended it`s relationship with Dio and moved on yet again. However years later, Dio was back in the fold and they recorded Dehumanizer with little or no fan fair. We Sabbath fans new this release would be very good because that`s what we`ve come to expect from this collaboration. It was indeed a very good cd and yet, it never really took off like those early 80`s releases did and Ronnie was out again.
Well here we are again with a Dio Sabbath reunion tour/release and this time they have given us a greatest hits package that contains those classic tunes and a three new ones.
Overall I have to say that I`m a very happy that these guys are again back together. I saw them in concert just a week ago and they still rock! However as excited as I was to see them again and to hear that they would be releasing some sort of new material, I was just as disappointed to hear what this new release would be. My biggest disappointment with this release is NOT because of what it contains, it`s what it DOESN`T that bugs me. I was really hoping for a Black Box style release when Dio returned this time out. I wanted all the Dio stuff remastered and put into one nice bigass package. I wanted all the tunes to be present from those great releases and a book containing history/pics of those years in that package. This is what I wanted!!
This release is good, but it`s a far cry from what it could have been. The three new tunes rock and tell me these guys can still write together. The older ones sound fuller and fatter and a whole lot better than the original cd`s do.
However I just can`t help but wonder what a fully remastered Heaven & Hell would sound like. Probably incredible!!
As I sad, give me a Black Box style release of the Dio years with all those classic songs remastered and then top that off with the three newer tunes and this cd gets a 10 star review.
For what it is, it`s ok I guess, but theirs just so much good stuff missing to really give it a good rating.The band easily earns my respect and gets a 10, but this release is sub par and only really deserves a 2 or a 3 for what it does and doesn`t contain.
Hopefully the powers that be will rethink this and do the right thing in time as the Dio years deserve much more than this hits packages contains. | | | | The Dio Years | | Its great to see a new album out and 3 new songs. But it would have been better if they went with the orignal plan to make "Black Box 2" which would consist of all the albums Sabbath did with Dio. Hopefully they will do that someday. I think they should ditch Ozzy and continue on with Dio from here on out. Ozzy era of Sabbath was great but Dio era is even better. Good complation CD. If you buy at Wal-Mart it comes with a DVD which is called "Hangin with Heaven and Hell" its a VH1 special. | | | | A near definitive collection of the Dio-led era | 4.5 Stars
Because the Ozzy Osbourne era of Black Sabbath is regarded by most fans and critics as the band`s golden era, the Dio-led era (`80-`82, `92) is sometimes not given the credit and praise it deserves. Because the first six Sabbath albums are so (rightfully) highly regarded, it`s easy to forget that the band floundered towards the end of the 70s. Releasing two commercial and critical failures, (1976`s "Technical Ecstasy" and 1978`s "Never Say Die") being blown away by opening act Van Halen, as well as the loss of vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, by 1980 Black Sabbath was left for dead.
But just when everyone thought the band was through, Black Sabbath reemerged with a new singer, former Rainbow frontman Ronnie James Dio, and the band was given a second era to add to their legacy.
Ronnie James Dio`s creative imagery and themes, veteran status as a heavy metal frontman, and killer, killer pipes were exactly what the band needed. The Dio-led era of Black Sabbath created two classics, "Heaven and Hell" (1980) and "Mob Rules," (1980) which proved to be as good as anything from their legendary first six albums with Osbourne. More focused than the last two Ozzy-era albums and armed with some of the band`s most memorable, well-written songs, "Heaven and Hell" and "Mob Rules" stand as two of the best albums in the band`s catalogue.
Alas, the Dio-led Sabbath proved to be short-lived. After feuding over the mix of the band`s "Live Evil" (1982) Dio and drummer Vinnie Appice (who had then replaced original drummer Bill Ward, playing on "Mob Rules") left the band to form the successful, aptly named, Dio.
For the next decade Dio and Black Sabbath (with numerous line-up changes, at times with only guitarist Tony Iommi) soldiered on, until finally reuniting for the "Dehuminizer" (1992) album and tour. Although not nearly as strong as "Heaven and Hell" and "Mob Rules," "Dehumanizer" was a decent album, featuring at least a couple great songs. But again the Dio-led lineup proved to be short-lived. Sabbath went on to resume work with singer Tony Martin (who had played on many of the band`s post-Dio albums) and then Ozzy Osbourne, while Dio sporadically recorded and toured.
2007 sees another Sabbath/Dio reunion (now calling themselves "Heaven & Hell" as the Ozzy Osbourne led-band is still together and on hiatus). To commemorate the new reunion tour, the band has released a new compilation, "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years" (2007).
Although one could argue for some songs in favor of others, (i.e., the best cuts from "Dehumanizer" are left off in place of weaker ones) "The Dio Years" does a pretty good job of capturing the best of the Dio-led era. The sound quality of these songs is superb, sounding crisp and fresh, and is a huge improvement over the quality of the original CDs (which badly need to be remastered and reissued).
Two of the new songs, the sluggish "The Devil Cried," and "Shadow of the Wind" are good enough, but not all that great. The hard-rocking "Ear in the Wall," however, is fantastic and shows that the Dio-led Sabbath still has something to offer.
While the track-list could have been slightly better, "The Dio Years" is a near definitive collection of the Dio-led era and is definitely worth buying for the outstanding sound quality alone.
| | |
-- zzzz
 |
