Heaven and Hell!

[$heriff Tom]

Dio, with Sabbath! They simply cant call themselves Black Sabbath cause of Sharon's meddling.


A representative for BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi has confirmed that the highly anticipated and much-rumored reunion of Iommi, Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward appears to be shaping up and taking a new form. After various promoters have approached the former SABBATH bandmates' respective representatives, the guys have started taking all of this very seriously, as they have aparently wanted to reunite for some time now. It looks as if the new shape may be that of HEAVEN AND HELL — that is the moniker that the band is likely to use on their new venture. If all goes well, HEAVEN AND HELL should be hitting the road in early 2007.

In an August 16, 2006 appearance on the syndicated radio show "Rockline", Dio had the following to say about the possibility of further collaborations with BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi:

"We've already written one [new] song together. The reason for that is that there's a release coming out, it's called 'Black Sabbath: The Dio Years' — they've already done one, of course, 'Black Sabbath: The Ozzy Years'; that was the beginning and, really, the best part of it all — but they've decided to do one, again, 'Black Sabbath: The Dio Years', and we wanted to make it a little but more special, not just give you things you've not heard from a live perspective. These are two things you'll never hear again — two new songs. We are going to do that. It's been fun already. The one we've done — the one that I've done with Tony has been really wonderful — just great to realize how magnificent a player he was. You forget that after 10 years at a time that you don't work with someone. So we are gonna be doing that. And I hope you'll like it. I think it'll be great."

On the rumors of him possibly rejoining BLACK SABBATH, Dio said, "There's always rumors about everything — about a RAINBOW reunion, about a BLACK SABBATH reunion. Our purpose was to do this because we wanted to have this product be a bit more special than anything else — not just, 'Here's a live track you've never heard before.' I mean, that's cool, but I'm sure people have heard that. We wanted to do something a bit more special, so the whole band would write and play these songs, and… They've wanted to hear them long enough, so here they are. But it's not anything that we've talked about leading to anything other than that. No, it's for that project."

[9]

This is cool, and a Rainbow reunion wouldn't suck, either.

[$heriff Tom]

There is a lot of push towards a Rainbow reunion, but Richie Blackmore has been the stick in the mud there. He is pretty adamanent against it.

[Chris]

Call me when there's a Krokus reunion!

[9]

LMAO!

Eat the rich! Eat the rich! Don't you know, life is a bitch?

[$heriff Tom]

I didnt even know Krokus broke up!

How sad is this, I know the name of Krokus' lead singer off the top of my head. Marc Storace. I need help.

[9]

He was no Kevin Dubrow, I'll tell ya that.

[Chris]

This was a comment left on a YouTube Krokus video:

"Krokus was good. These guys were about as good as AC/DC back then. I own the greatest hits. SO MANY GOOD SONGS. I'd advise people to check it out. "

[9]

As good as AC/DC? Oh my GOD.

[Chris]

I'd advise the author of that comment to GET CHECKED OUT.

[$heriff Tom]

The first U.S. gig for the HEAVEN AND HELL tour will be March 30 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. There will be no opening act for this show; it's just HEAVEN AND HELL. The band is expected to play an extra-long set at this concert. Tickets are priced between $54.00 and $74.00 and go on sale Friday, January 26 at 10:00 a.m.

[9]

For any Canadians on the board:

The first dates for the Heaven & Hell Live 2007 World tour have been announced.

Mar 11 2007 Pacific Coliseum Vancouver, British Columbia
Mar 13 2007 Rexall Place Edmonton, Alberta
Mar 14 2007 Saddledome Calgary, Alberta
Mar 16 2007 Brandt Centre Regina, Saskatchewan
Mar 18 2007 MTS Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba
Mar 20 2007 Steelback Centre Sault Ste Marie, Ontario
Mar 22 2007 Air Canada Centre Toronto, Ontario
Mar 24 2007 John Labatt Centre London, Ontario
Mar 26 2007 Bell Centre Montreal, Quebec
Mar 27 2007 Colisee Pepsi Arena Quebec City, Quebec
Mar 28 2007 Civic Centre Ottawa, Ontario
Mar 30 2007 Radio City Music Hall New York, New York

[$heriff Tom]

The first comprehensive introduction to the band's legacy, "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years" features a dozen classic studio recordings, plus one live track — "Children Of The Sea" from 1982's "Live Evil". The collection also contains the three brand-new tracks — "The Devil Cried", "Shadow Of The Wind", and "Ear In The Wall". The disc will be available April 3 at all physical retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested list price of $18.98. The album will also be available at all digital retail outlets for a suggested retail price of $11.99.

Arranged chronologically, the compilation spotlights Dio's time with BLACK SABBATH and draws heavily from the lineup's 1980 debut and 1981 follow-up, "Heaven and Hell" and "Mob Rules" respectively. Recognized as back-to-back metal classics, the albums feature such signature songs as the title tracks, "Neon Knights", "Die Young", "Turn Up The Night" and "Voodoo". "The Dio Years" also features "After All (The Dead)", "TV Crimes" and "I" from the singer's brief reunion with SABBATH for the "Dehumanizer" album and tour.


"Black Sabbath: The Dio Years" track listing:

01. Neon Knights
02. Lady Evil
03. Heaven And Hell
04. Die Young
05. Lonely Is The Word
06. The Mob Rules
07. Turn Up The Night
08. Voodoo
09. Falling Off The Edge Of The World
10. After All (The Dead)
11. TV Crimes
12. I
13. Children Of The Sea - Live
14. The Devil Cried*
15. Shadow Of The Wind*
16. Ear In The Wall*

* Newly recorded tracks

[9]

LOL @ "physical retail outlets!"

[$heriff Tom]

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, singer Ronnie James Dio, and drummer Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO) will be signing copies of the new BLACK SABBATH CD, "The Dio Years", on Tuesday, April 3 between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Best Buy (44th & 5th Avenue) in New York City. Contact the store for further details: [phone].

[$heriff Tom]

VH1 Classic will air "Hangin With: Heaven and Hell" — featuring interviews that VJ Eddie Trunk conducted with HEAVEN AND HELL members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Ronnie James Dio last November in Birmingham, Endland — on the following dates/times:

Saturday, March 31 at 3:00 p.m. EST
Saturday, March 31 at 11:00 p.m. EST
Sunday, April 1 at 9:00 p.m. EST
Monday April 2 at 1:00 p.m. EST
Friday, April 6 at 8:00 p.m. EST

[$heriff Tom]

According to a posting on Ronnie James Dio's web site, Rhino has officially set August 28 as the release date for the HEAVEN AND HELL "Live from Radio City Music Hall" DVD and two-CD set. As the title implies, both the DVD and CD packages will include HEAVEN AND HELL's (the band featuring BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, singer Ronnie James Dio, and drummer Vinny Appice) performance on March 30, 2007 at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The group's setlist was as follows:

01. [E5150 Intro]
02. After All (The Dead)
03. The Mob Rules
04. Children of the Sea
05. Lady Evil
06. I
07. The Sign of the Southern Cross
08. Voodoo
09. The Devil Cried
10. Appice Solo
11. Computer God
12. Falling Off the Edge of the World
13. Shadow of the Wind
14. Iommi Solo/Die Young
15. Heaven and Hell
Envore:
16. Lonely is the Word
17. Neon Knights

[$heriff Tom]

Sigh. Quite the quandry. What do I get on the 28th? The double-disc audio CD? Or the DVD of the live performance? I am sure I will get a heap of more spins on the audio. Then again, the DVD would be quite an addition to my collection of concert vids.

I wont get both at this time. I am thinking the CDs. Maybe I will get the DVD used down the line.

[Chris]

Easy Tom. Buy the CD, Netflix the DVD and burn it.

[$heriff Tom]

Rumor: HEAVEN AND HELL, JUDAS PRIEST, MOTÖRHEAD To Tour Together This Year - Mar. 22, 2008

HEAVEN AND HELL, JUDAS PRIEST and MOTÖRHEAD are strongly rumored to be teaming up for a North American tour later in the year (as partially predicted by BLABBERMOUTH.NET on January 17, 2008). It should be noted, however, that this information has not yet been corrobated by an official source and should be considered a rumor only at this point.

HEAVEN AND HELL is currently writing material for a full-length studio album, tentatively due late 2008/early 2009 via an as-yet-undisclosed record label.

HEAVEN AND HELL played the final show of its U.S. tour with ALICE COOPER and QUEENSRŸCHE on October 6, 2007 at the Verizon Wireless in Irvine, California. Before the encore, Indie 103.1's Full Metal Jackie presented the band with gold plaques on stage to honor U.S. sales in excess of 25,000 copies of the group's "Live at Radio City Music Hall" DVD. Vocalist Ronnie James Dio thanked the fans for their support, then dedicated the encore song ("Neon Knights") to veteran KNAC DJ Tawn Mastrey, who died in early October of liver failure brought on by hepatitis C.

JUDAS PRIEST's upcoming tour will include shows where the group's entire upcoming "Nostradamus" album (based on the legendary 16th century prophet Nostradamus) will be performed as well as concerts featuring the band's classic songs.

MOTÖRHEAD entered the studio in January to begin recording the follow-up to 2006's "Kiss of Death". A late spring/early summer release is expected.

[$heriff Tom]

HEAVEN AND HELL To Guest On This Weekend's 'Headbanger's Ball' - Aug. 27, 2008

An exclusive interview with HEAVEN AND HELL will be featured this weekend on "Headbanger's Ball", which airs Saturday nights on MTV2 from 12:00 a.m. (midnight) to 1:00 a.m. (technically early Sunday morning). Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice will be speaking about their Metal Masters Tour with JUDAS PRIEST, MOTÖRHEAD, and TESTAMENT, the new Dio-era BLACK SABBATH box set "The Rules Of Hell" as well as future plans for HEAVEN AND HELL. Watch snippets from the chat below.

Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice signed copies of "Black Sabbath: The Rules Of Hell" on August 2 at Vintage Vinyl in Ford, New Jersey. Check out photos at the Brooklyn Rocks music blog and photo journal.

BLACK SABBATH's "The Rules Of Hell" box set sold around 2,650 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"The Rules Of Hell" is a box set featuring all three of BLACK SABBATH's Dio-era studio releases ("Heaven And Hell", "Mob Rules", "Dehumanizer") and its double live collection ("Live Evil"), each recently remastered for the first time. "The Rules Of Hell" comes packaged in a deluxe slipcase with extensive liner notes featuring all new interviews with the band.

[$heriff Tom]

HEAVEN AND HELL Begins Recording New Album - Nov. 28, 2008

HEAVEN AND HELL — the band featuring BLACK SABBATH members Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Vinny Appice (drums) — has entered Rockfield studios in Wales, England to begin recording its new album, the group's first since SABBATH's "Dehumanizer" (which was also recorded at Rockfield) in 1992. An early 2009 release via Rhino Records is expected.

Two years ago, Dio, Iommi, Butler and Appice reunited to record a trio of new songs for Rhino's "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years" before launching a highly anticipated and greatly acclaimed world tour under their new moniker HEAVEN AND HELL. Revitalized by the reunion, the lineup is back in the studio now recording the first-ever full-length studio album from HEAVEN AND HELL. To whet the fans' appetites for the new album, HEAVEN AND HELL returned to the road this past summer for a short stint on the Metal Masters Tour, a month-long North American trek with JUDAS PRIEST, MOTÖRHEAD, and TESTAMENT.

Regarding the band's decision to continue to operate as HEAVEN AND HELL rather than BLACK SABBATH, Iommi told Billboard.com earlier this year, "It really is BLACK SABBATH, whatever we do. We just choose to go out as HEAVEN AND HELL so everyone knows what they're getting [and] so people won't expect to hear 'Iron Man' and all those songs. We've done them for so many years, it's nice to do just all the stuff with did with Ronnie again."

HEAVEN AND HELL will hit the road in early 2009 in support of the new album.

[$heriff Tom]

HEAVEN AND HELL: Album Title, Release Date Announced - Feb. 10, 2009

HEAVEN AND HELL — the band featuring BLACK SABBATH members Tony Iommi (guitar), Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Geezer Butler (bass) and Vinny Appice (drums) — has set "The Devil You Know" as the title of its debut album, due on April 28 via Rhino. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Bible Black", "Rock & Roll Angel", "Breaking Into Heaven", "Atom & Evil" and "Eating the Cannibals". The LP was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, U.K. where the 1992 SABBATH album "Dehumanizer" was also tracked.

"Everyone had so much fun playing together that we didn't want it to end," says the group. "We started writing together and the songs started flowing like we never stopped. We wound up writing and recording an album that stands up to anything we've ever done. We're really proud of the music and excited for people to hear it."

"Each of us submitted a CD of our ideas, and we narrowed it down from there," Iommi told Classic Rock. "In some ways it was like picking up where we'd left off with 'Dehumanizer'."

In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, Ronnie James Dio described the material on the HEAVEN AND HELL album as "a real cross-section of everything we've done, from 'Heaven and Hell' through 'Mob Rules' and 'Dehumanizer'. I think there's a lot of 'Dehumanizer' in it, but a lot of other things, too, a real good blend of what this band has represented."

[9]

Eating the Cannibals? LOL!

[$heriff Tom]

This comes out this coming Tuesday. I already have it on preorder, and heard one track - "Bible Black." Not much an impression on it other than it sounded good at the time I streamed it. Im very much looking forward to this release. Get on it!