My Review of the Radio City Music Hall DVD
If you're reading this review, then I likely do not need to explain the greatness of the music contained on this disc. I think it's just assumed you know about the Dio era of Black Sabbath, which is what this is all based on. If you're not a Black Sabbath fan, then you should probably stop now, as this disc will not appeal to you. On the other hand, you might find something new you like! ;)
Here's the track listing of what's on the DVD:
1) E5150/After All (The Dead)
2) The Mob Rules
3) Children of the Sea
4) Lady Evil
5) I
6) The Sign of the Southern Cross
7) Voodoo
8) The Devil Cried
9) Computer God
10) Falling off the Edge of the World
11) Shadow of the Wind
12) Die Young
13) Heaven & Hell
14) Lonely is the Word
15) Neon Knights
Again, a seriously awesome collection of tunes - if you don't know them, you will be in for a great treat. I'm not going to go down each track individually here, as that's been done better elsewhere in other reviews. This is a DVD review, so I'm trying to stick to that stuff here. A few indidivual song remarks, though: Ronnie's wail at the start of the track "The Mob Rules" is quite impressive, given his age. I have to admit to being surprised at hearing that. Also, the track "I" was not one of my favorites, but live it's a heck of a lot better and more powerful than the studio recording. The concert portion of the DVD runs one hour and fifty five minutes.
Now, the Rhino press releases are making a big deal that this was filmed in "high definition". This is **NOT** a high def release; it is a standard def DVD release. There is no high def release (in either format) forthcoming (so I'm told from Rhino). Because it was filmed in high def, this does appear to look better than most standard concert DVD's, I think.
There are four main menu selections on the DVD. "Play", "Track Selection", "Extras", and "Setup". The first two should be obvious what they are.
The setup section gives you a choice between 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround sound.
The extras section on the DVD comprises four parts, each of which are briefly detailed below.
"Radio City" - Shows off the venue itself. We're taken on a tour of the place by a Nicolette (Nicola?) Taylor, Production Stage Manager for RCMH. She does praise the union there, which I'll take a moment to point out is (probably) the same union that kept "Ear on the Wall" from appearing on the CD/DVD due to union rules. Runs 4 minutes, 6 seconds.
"Meet the Mob" - Interviews with fans outside the venue. To be kind, it's what you would expect from a thing like this when you talk to random fans. :) Might be cool if you were there, though. Runs 3 minutes, 14 seconds.
"Hail the Gods of Metal" - Background piece of the band, their legacy, the people in the band. Interviews with the guys in the band, as well as some of the stage people, and a couple of the people from the "Meet the Mob" sequence. Has some backstage footage of the band during warmups. Runs 5 minutes, 24 seconds.
"Heaven and Hell Road Movie" - The tour documentary film. The largest and the best of the "extras". How the whole project came together, how the album came together (Dio Years), and how the tour came together, etc, etc, etc. This also has a nice interview with the guy who designed the stage set for the tour. As this was recorded March 31st, there's some stuff here about the Canadian dates. This is a very nice documentary of the events of this came together, and how the tour runs. Has some candid footage of the band doing other interviews, and telling a few stories, including a moment that Tony calls a "Sabbath Tap" one. Good stuff. Runs 19 minutes, 14 seconds.
The "Road Movie" also explains the origin of the "angel" that's been used on the band's artwork for awhile. I won't tell you here, you'll have to go watch it. ;)
Given the quality of the music on this disc, and relatively cheap price (as it launches, the price was $11.99 on Amazon.com), it's an almost "must have purchase" to me. I personally could have done without the "666" motif in the logo and artwork though - seems a bit silly to me, but that's a minor quibble. I saw them in Dallas on this tour, and it was quite powerful. I'd seen them on the Dehumanizer tour 15 years ago, and it was impressive then. It's still impressive now. Grab the DVD, especially if you have a good home theatre system. This will rock it for sure. :)
(This was also posted to Amazon.com's review section. This is why some of the language sounds odd in tone. Didn't see the point in rewriting it for here, I just used the same text).
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:32 PM
