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DIO ‘Evil Or Divine’Spitfire Records (2005)
This CD follows on from the live DVD of the same name, released under
the Eagle Vision label. The concert was recorded on December 13 2002 in
New York’s Roseland Ballroom, with Ronnie Dio joined by long-time cohort
Jimmy Bain (bass) - he’s since jumped ship again, ex-AC/DC/UFO drummer Simon
Wright, Scott Warren on keyboards and guitarist Doug Aldrich (now in
Whitesnake).
You’ve got the Rainbow classics, ‘Man On A Silver Mountain’ segued with
‘Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll’ (my only criticism of Dio in that he likes
medleys or ‘Dio’s megamixes’ as my friend calls them!).
Then there’s a touch of Sabbath in ‘Heaven And Hell’ (sadly no ‘Neon Knights’) and of course a
stack of Dio classics including ‘Holy Diver’, ‘Stand Up And Shout’ and ‘The
Last In Line’.
But it’s not all nostalgia as newer songs, ‘Killing the
Dragon’ and the excellent ‘Push’, come across nice and loud. Stars of the
show are Dio, who seemed to love every minute of the show and Aldrich, who
switches with ease from metallic riffing to effortless soloing.
The only minor blip is that rather than the tracks neatly flowing into each other you
get pauses between tracks which does take away the feel of a complete show.
Certainly the best official live album to feature Ronnie Dio and a must
for Dio fans, as he gets better with age.
****
Review by Jason Ritchie
DVD review
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