Dio
Dio's Inferno. The Last In Live

In the seventies and eighties, the live album held a special role, often sealing the career of a band, immortalized in its ideal dimension, the stage. If with the passing decades some records in this sense have become iconic – from “Made In Japan” downwards – it is peculiar that an artist like Ronnie James Dio waited so long to release a work of this type, with the exception of the brief and tentative “Intermission” in the eighties.

Filling this void in 1998 is “Dio’s Inferno. The Last In Live”, a complement to the tour supporting the much-criticized “Angry Machines” from a couple of years earlier.

To understand the context in which “Dio’s Inferno” was released, a small step back is needed: if Ronnie had been among the absolute idols of rockers in the roaring eighties, fresh from his stint with Black Sabbath and Rainbow, as well as the protagonist of a very successful solo career, things in the following decade would not have gone the same way. After a brief reunion with “his” Sabbath, which materialized in the decent “Dehumanizer” of '92, attempts to modernize his sound to make it more “modern” were not particularly convincing, despite the quality of an album like “Strange Highways”. The subsequent “Angry Machines”, from 1996, would meet the same fate, judged lackluster by many, also due to a guitarist, Tracy G, too far from the classic and refined style of the likes of Vivian Campbell and Craig Goldy.

As the saying goes, however, class is timeless and certainly a couple of debatable albums cannot put decades of career into question.

“Dio’s Inferno,” in fact, proves to be a quality product, well-played – it would be impossible to expect otherwise – and with a rather balanced setlist, drawing a bit from the entire discography of the New York sprite.

Those who had the fortune to admire the great Ronnie James live certainly know that he certainly did not lack grit and charisma, and this double CD has the merit of rather faithfully recapturing the atmosphere felt during his concerts.

After the customary intro, the show kicks off with “Jesus, Mary And The Holy Ghost”, a track symbolic of those post-“Dehumanizer” sounds that caused so much debate, robust and powerful. Paradoxically, although the tour was for “Angry Machines,” it is the iconic “album number one,” “Holy Diver”, that gets literally plundered, which in 1983 marked the start of the Italian-American singer's new career. “Straight Through The Heart,” “Don’t Talk To Strangers,” and “Stand Up And Shout” , along with the immortal title track, remind us why Ronnie James Dio continues to be missed by many: powerful, electric, and rousing tracks, authentic compendiums of what heavy metal should be.

All the musicians deliver great performances, even the much-debated Tracy G, who shows a muscular performance: not a guitar hero, but certainly convincing. And how could one not spare a few words for that whirlwind, Vinny Appice? Dio's eternal associate confirms himself as one of the best drummers in rock, thanks to a seismic and personal style.

The entire concert is a sequence of historical tracks: from a long and heartfelt “Heaven And Hell” to the “Mistreated/Catch The Rainbow” duo, which perhaps cannot compete with the versions on the mythical “On Stage,” but still gives more than a shiver.

It is followed by a parade of other great tracks, all well known to anyone who has a hard rock or heavy metal LP at home, but a review never hurts, especially when it is the good Ronnie himself singing. Here then are "Rainbow In The Dark," "Mob Rules," and the inevitable "Long Live Rock'n'Roll," perfect for recalling what a great band Rainbow (the real ones!) were. The grand finale is entrusted to the well-rounded "We Rock," a heavyweight track that always hit the mark live.

"Dio’s Inferno" thus proves to be a well-crafted product, perhaps a bit short, but nonetheless remarkable, which can appeal to both those who know Dio's entire discography by heart and those who are just now getting into the band. In the following years, other similar works would be released, like the excellent "Evil Or Divine," but this "Dio’s Inferno" continues to hold its own despite the passage of time and deserves more than one listen. Horns up!

Dio:

• Ronnie James Dio, vocals
• Tracy G, guitars
• Larry Dennison, bass
• Scott Warren, keyboards
• Vinny Appice, drums

“Dio's Inferno. The Last In Live”

CD 1:

1. Intro

2. Jesus, Mary And The Holy Ghost

3. Straight Through The Heart

4. Don’t Talk To Strangers

5. Holy Diver

6. Drum Solo

7. Heaven And Hell

8. Double Monday

9. Stand Up And Shout

10. Hunter Of The Heart

CD 2:

1. Mistreated/Catch The Rainbow

2. Guitar Solo

3. The Last In Line

4. Rainbow In The Dark

5. Mob Rules

6. Man On The Silver Mountain

7. Long Live Rock’n’Roll

8. We Rock