Heaven And Hell -- Los Angeles, CA -- April 26th, 2009

[2handband]

Originally Posted by Blitzkrieg Witchcraft

I've heard the whole thing a handful of times and I have to say it's so so at best. 3 to 4 ok songs and the rest are mediocre. And dont get me started on the lyrics. Even on the songs I like, the lyrics are bad.

All that being said, I'll still go see them in concert.

Lots of great metal has dumb lyrics... I don't let it bug me.

[Blitzkrieg Witchcraft]

Originally Posted by 2handband

Lots of great metal has dumb lyrics... I don't let it bug me.

Some bad lyrics I can fight through and some I can't.
These are pretty bad.

[EvilCheeseWedge]

If you're looking for a good deal on the album it's $9.99 from BestBuy.com, and it comes with a bonus DVD and has free shipping.

Even though I don't particularly like the album, I do still have it on order from there...

And yeah, the lyrics are exceptionally bad, even by Dio standards. Sometimes, they're typical Dio fare - like "Bible Black," which I don't think is exactly horrible. It's like a cheesy campfire story that tries to be scary or something. It's not great, but it has some coherency to it. But other times, the lyrics are just absolutely senseless. I find that disappointing, because Dio’s obviously a smart, well-read guy who has spent his life traveling the world. You’d think he could do better than nonsense about “caravans to Superman” and stuff.

[HandOfDoom]

Ive listen to it a few times and I have to agree that the lyrics are pretty lame but I'm really digging Tony and Geezers riffage.

[BlackmoreOfBowling]

An album with Dio, Iommi and Butler and a "fucking sucks" tag does not compute.

I'd sure love to know what "fucking sucks" about it, because when I listened to it, I heard 52 minutes of consistently bludgeoning traditional heavy metal goodness from the most experienced metal musicians alive. Sure, it's been almost 2 decades since Tony and Geezer have done anything noteworthy in the studio, but to be quite honest, there probably won't be anything that can top this monster of a comeback from the innovators of heavy metal this year. Maybe Candlemass... And that's one of the biggest of conceivable 'maybes'..

The album's entitled "The Devil You Know" not "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder" in case there's a misunderstanding.

[b_halperin]

Originally Posted by BlackmoreOfBowling

"Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder" in case there's a misunderstanding.

that was a sick album

DARKNESS INCARNATE

[JRA]

MASTER OF INSANITY AND BURIED ALIVE GODDAMN YOU!

[Maiden33]

Originally Posted by BlackmoreOfBowling

An album with Dio, Iommi and Butler and a "fucking sucks" tag does not compute.

I'd sure love to know what "fucking sucks" about it, because when I listened to it, I heard 52 minutes of consistently bludgeoning traditional heavy metal goodness from the most experienced metal musicians alive. Sure, it's been almost 2 decades since Tony and Geezer have done anything noteworthy in the studio, but to be quite honest, there probably won't be anything that can top this monster of a comeback from the innovators of heavy metal this year. Maybe Candlemass... And that's one of the biggest of conceivable 'maybes'..

The album's entitled "The Devil You Know" not "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder" in case there's a misunderstanding.

As much as I'd love to agree with you, this album sucks. Everything about it screams "we're not even trying". They managed to record an album with absolutely no hooks, nothing remotely catchy, and nothing memorable in any way shape or form. And I know all of those "Metal fucking rules, fuck sissy shit" people think hooks and catchiness aren't important, but they are. If you listen to Heaven and Hell, there are hooks all over the place. The songs are incredibly strong, very memorable. Songs like "Die Young", "Children of the Sea", "Neon Knights", and the title track stand up incredibly well today, because they were extremely well written songs that understood the balance between heaviness and melodic substance... something this album is entirely devoid of. Are the riffs heavy? Yes. Are the riffs good? Generally not. Dio's lyrics are a mere shadow of his once somewhat poetic brilliance. Every song is pretty much the most bland form of dull, and I had to try very hard to not turn it off on the first listen. You keep waiting for quality that never comes, it's just not there, no matter how much I want it to be.
And for the record, I am a huge Dio and Dio-Sabbath fan, and I had the highest of hopes for this. I just won't play nice with an album as inconceivably disappointing as this was.

[TonyD]

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoID=50960153
0:32

[2handband]

Okay, just gave it a first listen. First impressions are NOT positive. It isn't really bad... but I don't think it's really good, either. With this band you expect brilliance pretty much all the time. Who knows, maybe it will jump out and attack me on the second or third listen. It's happened before.