Dio

Whose bright idea was it to put this out? Was this a contractual obligation or does Ronnie James Dio have balls of steel, because this is total crap? I am not a big fan of the Dio catalogue after their first two amazing records, so when I found this was a performance of the Holy Diver album in its entirety, I was pumped. Unfortunately, Mr. Dio wasn’t quite as into it on the night in question. While his backing band does an admirable job, the former Rainbow and Black Sabbath singer — an extremely talented and respected vocalist — is flat, uninspiring and, at times, embarrassing. With his vocals being the key to the band, it makes this even worse than the boring Evil and Divine DVD that came out a few years back. Avoid at all costs and forget the CD version also. If this wasn’t bad enough, the vocals seem even worse on compact disc. Yikes. (Eagle Rock/EMI)