Heaven & Hell: Live From Radio City Music Hall (DVD)

Reanimated and renamed they may be, but the Dio-era Black Sabbath never had anything to prove in their prime, and they maintain that proud record today. Live: Radio City Music Hall 2007 presents a live show built exclusively around their own too-brief output, which of course means there's no room for any of the Ozzy-era classics that always hung awkwardly on Dio's lips, and that's a good thing, because it means you can concentrate exclusively on the sheer brute force that was this lineup's vinyl legacy. "Neon Knights," "The Mob Rules," "Children of the Sea" are the inevitable highlights, while their first reunion album, 1992's oft-ignored Dehumanizer, also serves up a few goodies, including an impassioned "Computer God," "I," and the opening "After All." Standing out, too, are two of the three new songs included on the Dio Years compilation that preceded this reunion, "The Devil Cried" and "Shadow of the Wind," and the expressions on the players' faces prove that they're as much in tune with one another now as they ever were back then. An excellent set, great lights and visuals, and dynamite sound give the DVD extra fission, while the generous extras include enough backstage and background documentation to satisfy the hungriest fan. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide