Heaven & Hell

Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven & Hell
Live in Europe (Eagle Rock)

Shot last year at Deutschland’s Wacken Open Air Festival, Ronnie James Dio raises his horns heavenward on a raw “Children of the Sea,” cameras later zooming in on a stage prop of burning longhorns. Touching on the Black Sabbath offshoot’s entire catalog, from a 17-minute “Heaven & Hell” and Mob Rules‘ “Falling Off the Edge of the World” to 1992’s serrated Dehumanizer (“I”) and taken-for-granted 2009-er The Devil You Know (“Bible Black”), Dio booms deeper than the Atlantic, while Tony Iommi abuses a scarred Gibson SG. Edited CD also available, though neither is 2007 CD/DVD Live From Radio City Music Hall. Dio backstage: “This is a wonderful, wonderful time of all of our lives.” R.I.P. RJD.

***.5

This article appears in December 3 • 2010.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.