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A reunion of classic rock legends under a different name – and a final curtain for their second best-known lead singer – is the focus of Rhino’s latest box set, devoted to the late-period work of Black Sabbath under the name Heaven & Hell.
Breaking Out of Heaven 2007-2009 includes the complete studio recordings from the reunion of singer Ronnie James Dio, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Vinny Appice (including the album The Devil You Know and a trio of tracks recorded for a Dio-era Sabbath compilation that kicked off the reunion), plus two live sets at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in 2007 and the Wacken Open Air Festival in 2009. The box will be available on four CDs or seven LPs, with the former package adding a Blu-ray featuring previously released video of the aforementioned live sets and band interviews. Both sets feature a new illustrated book with liner notes by Hugh Gilmour, along with a replica tour program and poster. The package is available March 27.
Dio, who’d come into prominence for metal fans as the vocalist of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, was a powerful choice to replace an ousted Ozzy Osbourne as the frontman for British heavy metal icons Black Sabbath. He led the group on 1980’s Heaven and Hell and 1981’s The Mob Rules (the latter featuring session legend Appice in place of founding drummer Bill Ward) before creating his own, eponymous, ever-changing combo Dio and barreling through the ’80s with his engaging hard rock. But Dio was never fully away from Sabbath, even as Iommi continued to lead the group through changes: the Mob Rules lineup reconvened for 1992’s Dehumanizer, and joined forces once more in 2007 to record new material for a collection from Rhino devoted to this phase of the group.
The Sabbath members enjoyed working together again and made plans to not only tour but record additional material – but since Iommi and Butler had reunited with Osbourne and Ward in the mid-’90s and continued to perform together as well, the group decided to perform as Heaven & Hell. After a tour that saw the group exclusively play Dio-led Sabbath material in 2007, the quartet issued The Devil You Know two years later, which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard charts and spurred another tour; tragically, plans to keep performing were curtailed when Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He died of the disease a year later – and Breaking Out of Heaven is the latest tribute to his everlasting memory.
Amazon links for the box in each format are below and are expected to populate soon. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.) The set will be available March 27.
Heaven & Hell, Breaking Out of Heaven 2007-2009 (Rhino, 2026)
4CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
7LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
CD 1/LP 1-2: The Devil You Know (Expanded Edition)
Atom and Evil
Fear
Bible Black
Double the Pain
Rock and Roll Angel
The Turn of the Screw
Eating the Cannibals
Follow the Tears
Neverwhere
Breaking Into Heaven
The Devil Cried
Shadow of the Wind
Ear in the Wall
Tracks 1-10 released as Rhino R2 519468, 2009
Tracks 11-13 released on Black Sabbath: The Dio Years – Warner Bros./Rhino R2 116668, 2007
CD 2-3/LP 3-5: Live from Radio City Music Hall (released as Rhino Handmade R2 277564, 2007)
E5150/After All (The Dead)
The Mob Rules
Children of the Sea
Lady Evil
I
The Sign of the Southern Cross
Voodoo
The Devil Cried
Computer God
Falling Off the Edge of the World
Shadow of the Wind
Die Young
Heaven and Hell
Lonely is the Word
Neon Knights
All tracks recorded live at Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY – 3/30/2007
CD 4/LP 6-7: Neon Knights: 30 Years of Heaven and Hell Live At Wacken (released as Armoury Records ARM250462, 2010)
The Mob Rules
Children of the Sea
I
Bible Black
Time Machine
Fear
Falling Off the Edge of the World
Follow the Tears
Die Young
Heaven and Hell
Neon Knights
All tracks recorded live at the Wacken Open Air Festival, Wacken, Steinburg, Germany – 7/30/2009
Blu-ray
Live from Radio City Music Hall (released as Rhino Handmade R2 277564, 2007)
Neon Knights: 30 Years of Heaven and Hell Live At Wacken (released as Eagle Vision EV302189, 2010)
Band interviews