Customer Reviews

Inferno: Last in Live

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Look people, this cd is live. No live CD captures the experience
of actually being there. No, not even KISS : Alive 1 - 100.
I'm a teenager who is constantly surrounded by rap and other
musical garbage, yet I listen to what my dad did when he was
my age. I know good music. This CD is a great Dio album.

This is a sprawling two disc live set that if nothing else proves that at the end of the century Ronnie James Dio still has some of the best set of pipes in the business. The album was recorded on the "Angry Machines" tour, but looks back on his career with Rainbow, Sabbath and Dio. In fact he even throws in a cover of Deep Purple's "Mistreated", a song that he used to sing with Rainbow although it was not a Rainbow original. Probably my all time favorite Dio related disc is Rainbow's live "On Stage" album in which Ronnie totally won me over as a vocalist. This is not on a par with "On Stage", but it is a very strong live album. Most of the tracks are classic Dio with only one song from the "Angry Machines" album. In addition he performs Sabbath tunes "Heaven And Hell", and "The Mob Rules". There is also a surprising amount of Rainbow material with "Long Live Rock N Roll", "Catch The Rainbow", and "Man On The Silver Mountain" all represented here. On the down side there is a rather lame drum solo by Vinnie Appice, and a guitar solo by Tracy G. that is overly long, but for the most part the Dio band is tight and on the mark. The sound quality is also very good. All in all this is a very nice live album from Mr. Dio and company.

I remember back in the day (83 or 84') and Dio came through the southern Cal area and only had time to play one show at the Santa Monica Civic center because of his tour schedule. Well the show sold out the first day, and a lot of people at my high school were pretty dissapointed because Dio was just coming off his incredible, legendary, and magical string of Rainbow, Black Sabbath and solo "Holy Diver" success and was considered the most powerful voice in rock at the time. This would of been the first chance for many of us to actually experience what his voice sounded like live and to see if it was as powerful as his legend. To everyone's amazement he decided to throw in a second show on the same night! Anyone who has ever been involved with music will tell you that singing through an entire show is a feat in itself, but to make it through two full shows with the intensity and vocal gymnastics that it takes to sing Dio's catalog would practically be imposible. So the drama built and half the high school had tickets to the first show and half for the late second show. Needless to say, this night went down as musical legend around my parts in sourthern Cal and at my high school. Dio blew all who witnessed away with two full shows consisting of songs from Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Holy Diver. His vocals absolutely floored everybody and kicked everyone's ... by all accounts. His band consisting of Appice, Bain and Campbell ripped it up and were incredibly tight. Point being, they don't make rock n roll like they did back then period! Today's cheap imitations and rehashed commercialized ... is a joke! If your lucky enough to catch a living legend that can actually still do it as well as this man can, then get off your ... and go see him for yourself. If you can't make that happen then at least treat yourself to a brief glimpse of the power that once was and get this little piece of ear candy. The Hawk

Ronnie James Dio is a real treat. If you get a chance to catch him live, do it!

This live album is from the tour supporting one of Dio's less regarding works, "Angry Machines." But, perhaps tellingly, only one track "Double Monday" is played. For the most part, this is a good example of the "live album serving as a sort of greatest hits" phenomenon, and that's not a bad thing in this case. Never one to "phone it in," RJD performs with the sheer excellence that he's known for. And it's a great listen.

The guitar player is Tracy G, not that well regarded by most Dio fans. But fear not. The band sounds tight and good. I personally prefer Craig Goldy or Vivian Campbell, but G does fine. As does the rest of the band. The guitar solos are a bit "out there," as in less melodic than other Dio soloists, but nothing spoils this album

One of the better live metal albums for sure!

...the crowd chants and drum solo make me wonder why I bought this.I probably thought that stuff was cool in 1985,but now it makes me grimace!The music,on the other hand,rocks!I mean,that IS why I bought this.A great overview of DIO's work,with an emphasis on "Holy Diver".

WHY DID THEY STOP MAKING THIS CD!? This has to be one of the best live metal cd's ive ever heard. The guitar is not overwhelmed by the crowd and the drums and especially bass are heard perfectly. Dio's voice is also sounding, even better than on his studio albums when he was younger. This includes all Dio/Rainbow/Black Sabbath hits that Dio made, LIVE all at one concert. Put this baby back into production!

Ronnie James Dio is a true musical artist. I just was at the current Tour, Killing the Dragon. He gives his fans 100% effort, for those of you Older Metal Heads you know what I mean. Today's so called "Metal" does not hold a candle to this age of Metal. Thanks Ronnie for your fine work and continued success!!!

ronnie es un excelente cantante y en este album doble lo confirma, por algo tony iommi buscó una voz identica a la de dio...dio-heaven and hell-black sabbath es lo mismo aunque se enoje ozzy..cool!!!

One thing that Dio's solo catalog is missing is a truly great live album. Dio has no "Live After Death" or "Unleashed In The East" that stands as a monument like those albums do to Maiden and Priest. Fifteen years after Holy Diver, I think RJD started to regret this fact, as he has pumped out three full length live albums since 1998: "Inferno", "Evil or Divine", and "Holy Diver - Live". In my mind, all three of these live albums are very, very good, but none of them are quite "classic".

RJD's vocals are by far the strongest here on "Inferno", as he had lost some of his range and strength by the 2002 recording of "Evil or Divine". On "Inferno" you get to hear Ronnie sounding pretty much as he has since 1983, and hitting a lot more high notes than he does on the later live albums. The only drawback is that on "Inferno" he seems to sing in a less precise way, perhaps because this album is culled from multiple shows. "Evil or Divine" and "Holy Diver Live" both come from single concerts that were also being filmed: Ronnie seems to put a lot more effort into sounding good and staying close to the original studio vocals, and even though he has to struggle (especially on "Holy Diver Live"), he pulls it off and sounds great. At any rate, Ronnie's vocals on "Inferno" are still fantastic, and definitely more "young" sounding.

A lot of people have made a big deal about Tracy G's performance as guitarist on this album, and in my opinion it's very good. He has a really modern style that is all over the newer tracks that he co-wrote, but he sticks pretty close to the original style when playing the classics. The only major exception to that are his guitar solos, on which he makes very little attempt to recreate the originals. This may be good or bad for you, depending on your point of view. I'm okay with the changes; if I want to hear the solo exactly as it's played on the original album, I'll just listen to the album. If that bugs you, check out both of the later live albums, because Doug Aldrich is excellent at recreating the original guitar solos as they were played on the studio albums.

Overall Dio's band on this album is really solid; you definitely won't be wanting for heaviness! Check out the very end of the drum solo track, where Ronnie fecetiously tells the crowd he's going to play something "unplugged" before launching into the most brutally heavy version of "Heaven and Hell" you've ever heard!

Overall this is a very strong live album that most Dio fans should enjoy. If you love Ronnie's voice, you will be happy. If you weren't a big fan of "Strange Highways" or "Angry Machines", then I suggest skipping "Inferno" for now and trying "Evil or Divine" or "Holy Diver Live" for more of a "classic" Dio sound.

dio is one of the oldest and most remarkable voices of metal.
along with tracy-g on guitar and ex black saabath partner vinnie appice on drums , agreat show canbe taken for granted.
the track list is perfect, it didn't fail to include "man on the silver mountain" and "long live rock'n roll" from his rainbow days along with "heaven & hell" and "mob rules" from the sabbath years. Of course all his solo hits are in ,making
this album a must have for sabbath,rainbow or simply dio fans