Holy Diver Live

Dio | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 18, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Eagle Records
• ASIN: B000EQ5QGS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,785 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Tarot Woman

2. Sign of the Southern Cross

3. One Night in the City

4. Gates of Babylon

5. Heaven & Hell

6. Man on the Silver Mountain

7. Long Live Rock `N' Roll

8. We Rock

9. Shame on the NightCD 2:

Editorial Reviews

Captured live in front of a sold-out London crowd, Ronnie James Dio delivers a truly memorable performance on this truly memorable night. Dio has been hailed as one of the finest voices in Heavy Metal for over 30 years now and for good reason. Due to his stints in Rainbow, Black Sabbath and as a solo artist, Dio is one of the few people in the history of music that can honestly say they have played on three classic albums, each under a different moniker. "Holy Diver Live" features the classic "Holy Diver" album in its entirety, from start to finish, recorded live for the very first time. It also features, among others, Heaven & Hell, Sign of the Southern Cross and Mob Rules from his Black Sabbath days, Tarot Woman, Man on the Silver Mountain and Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll from the Rainbow days and We Rock from his solo career.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Holy Diver, Batman....It's Dio Live in 2005, April 20, 2006

By 

Sky (New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Holy Diver Live (Audio CD)

This fall performance of the 2005 (that's right...2005!) Holy Diver tour was captured live at London's Astoria. Holy Diver Live features the Holy Diver album in its entirety, from start to finish, recorded live with other Dio, Rainbow and Black Sabbath classics.

Even better....this show will be released on DVD May 30, 2006 in the US according to the band's website. So why buy this CD? Well, one could argue that the performance is a refreshing, revitalized collection of some of the best Dio material making it worthy of having in your car or wherever it is you listen to your music.

I, on the other hand, love Dio's studio work and would much prefer it to the versions on this Live collection. Most of the songs that you want in a Dio collection are here on this CD, and they are all performed superbly (for a guy that's been pumping out screaming Heavy Metal for more than 30 years). But in my opinion the release of the DVD performance of this show replaces entirely the need for ANOTHER Dio live CD.

HOWEVER, the upcoming DVD release is some of the best, most exciting Metal news to come out this year so far.

As I said in my Amazon review of Dio's "We Rock" DVD (a 2005 release of a couple of shows circa 1983), I was hoping that the boys would reunite and record a show with high quality audio/video...Wish granted!!!....Almost.

Missing are Jimmy Bain, Vinnie Appice and Viv Cambell. In are a group of guys with some impressive resumes: Rudy Sarzo on Bass, Simon Wright on Drums, Doug Aldrich on guitar (Craig Goldy was out on injured reserve) and Scott Warren on keyboards.

Regardless, based on how well the songs sound on this CD, the ability to watch Dio do the classics recorded with today's technology (versus the 1983 junk audio/video on We Rock) will be nothing short of a front row seat to the actual performance.

So I'd say if you're a die-hard Dio fan and must have everything he releases then go ahead and hit the buy button for this CD...it's very good. But if you can wait for the true live performance experience of actually seeing what you're hearing and you don't need (more) live versions to listen to on the go, then wait for the DVD on May 30....I have my calendar marked!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Holy Shi....!, April 18, 2006

By 

William Smith (Fontana, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holy Diver Live (Audio CD)

I got this a day early and paid a premium price, but I guess it was worth it:) The inner sleeve tries to tell a tale of when this was performed but it is hard to follow, it was written so poorly making it appear to either be '95 or '05.

The band:

Best I can figure this was recorded with Doug on guitar in 2005, (though no pics of the guitarist... petty) and it really shines. He really hits the little Viv nuances (I agree, he is VERY Randy Rhoads) and Ronnie sounds like he is devouring the songs whole. Rudy is in there pumping away, sadly he isn't as loud as Jimmy Bain once was, though he's thrice the bassist. I never cared a lot for Simon on drums but he surely gets the job done. I would have preferred all the original members be on board as opposed to ONE member, though when that one member is RJD... whose complaining? :)

The songs:

Hard to go wrong with the flagship Dio disc, not too mention all in order and live with '05 production. I could have done without the opening intro dialogue bits and though Gypsy starts with a howl (what's that all about?) that would make Mike Tramp cringe all in all the songs are great. The second disc was hit or miss for me. It was amazing to hear 'Babylon' live (may be the best here) and of course who would have thought 'One Night in the City' (LiL's hidden gem) would rear its lovely head? Not I! Sadly, we are treated to 'Heaven and Hell' for the umpteenth time while 'Lonely is the Word' and 'Wishing Well' once again wait in the wings. Maybe next time on 'Last in Line Live':)

The conclusion:

I wish I could give this 5 stars but some of the songs aren't as fluent as Viv would have played'em and the song selection isn't all it could have been. The pics are puzzling but after all is said you MUST have this Dio cd for your collection, it is far superior to the shredfest of 'Last in Live' and it gives a little glimpse into what Doug can do, I for one miss his potential even if Killing the Dragon didn't reveal it all. This disc was worth the purchase just to hear 'Invisible' live for the first time since... 1983. I had contemplated just getting the DVD and not this, however... HOLY DIVER + played while driving = Holy Driver:)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Great, June 30, 2006

By 

fast eddy plank "j_doublediddy" (Tulsa, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holy Diver Live (Audio CD)

Well, I am a big fan of RJD's music, but this is not a great album. I'm disappointed in a couple of things: the first is the mix. The vocals are mixed way up front and are much more dominant than the music. Of course, with Dio, people love his voice, so it may not be a problem for most listeners. However, this leads to my second disappointment - his voice does NOT sound good here. It sounds hoarse, tired and old. Now, RJD has had recent live releases that sound much better, like Evil or Divine. Because of this, I think RJD just had an off night or was not 100% healthy. At least I like to think this instead of thinking that the great one is losing it. I saw Dio a couple of years ago and Ronnie sounded very good then - so that's another reason for me to think he was just off his game the night this was recorded. Otherwise, good music here, good guitar solo in Shame On The Night and a good song selection from the non-Holy Diver tracks (Disc 2) - although my personal peeve is that both "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll" and "We Rock" were included. I thought it was unnecessary to include both of these, especially since I don't like either one, but that's my personal opinion. Anyway, I would recommend one of his other live albums over this.