Here we have it, Ronnie James Dio's last filmed concert, with his brothers in Heaven & Hell at the famous Wacken Open Festival in Germany on July 30th, 2009. In front of a huge, loving, and loyal audience, Heaven & Hell just slay here, despite the fact that Ronnie was obviously at the beginning of his illness that would eventually take his life less than a year later. Eagle Vision has done a stellar job here, releasing this show as both a full DVD and slightly edited CD version which will certainly be gobbled up by the hordes of Dio fans who are still mourning their fallen hero.
Though you of course get the mandatory tracks here, such as the epic "Heaven & Hell", "Children of the Sea", "Mob Rules", and "Neon Nights", it's also great to hear the crushing "I" (perhaps the best track from Dehumanizer), "Time Machine", "Falling Off the Edge of the World", "Die Young", and newer pieces "Fear", "Follow the Tears", and "Bible Black". On the DVD you get a quick glimpse of "Country Girl" from Mob Rules, a song that was rarely played live by the band. Dio is, not surprisingly, in great vocal form here despite all that was going on with him, and the band were at their rampaging best. There's just something about the combination of Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice that always clicked, and you can tell the foursome were having the best time ever at this point. Sadly, all future plans for the band were cut short 8 months later when Ronnie passed away from stomach cancer.
Expertly filmed with stunning video & audio quality (this is as close to HD as you are going to get on a non-Blu-ray disc folks), and containing interviews with all four band members after the concert, as well as tribute statements to Dio from Tony, Geezer, and Vinny after Ronnie's passing, this is a must have set that you'll want both on DVD and CD. Though much of the Dio commentary to the audience at Wacken was edited on the CD due to time constraints, it still is a mandatory necessity for your car or home stereo.
Track Listing
1. E5150
2. The Mob Rules
3. Children of the Sea
4. I
5. Bible Black
6. Time Machine
7. Fear
8. Falling Off the Edge of the World
9. Follow The Tears
10. Die Young
11. Heaven and Hell
12. Encore: Country Girl
13. Neon Knights
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