After Ozzy Osbourne left Black Sabbath for a solo career, the band recruited Ronnie James Dio in 1980 to take the mic for its Mob Rules, Live Evil and Dehumanizer discs. Dio then left the band for his own solo career, but last year, the “Mob Rules” era Sabbath lineup reunited for a live tour and recorded a couple new tracks for a “best of” album. Since Black Sabbath now has Ozzie back at the helm, the Dio-era lineup opted to adopt the moniker and tour as Heaven and Hell, while Ozzie was occupied with solo commitments. The result is captured in the new 15-song concert album Heaven & Hell Live at Radio City Music Hall 2007 on Rhino Records. The disc includes live versions of “The Mob Rules,” “Children of the Sea,” “Heaven and Hell,” “Neon Knights” and more. There is also a DVD available featuring the live video of the same songs on the CD, as well as a “Heaven and Hell Road Movie.” Fans can see them take the tour back on the road for a brief fall tour when they hit Chicago's Sears Center on September 22.
Scorpions
Humanity Hour 1
(New Door/UMe)
I have to admit that I have never owned Love at First Sting, the Scorpions bestselling 1984 album that produced their first Top 30 hit “Rock You Like A Hurricane” and its followup “Still Loving You.” My tastes 20 years ago were more focused on hip synthpop and didn't follow the winds of metal. But over the past two decades, while most metal bands have fallen to rust, Scorpions have continued to craft ever stronger new albums – and I've personally slowly come to realize what an amazing musical force this German band is.
Humanity Hour 1 celebrates a songwriting partnership between Rudolf Schenker and singer Klaus Meine that goes back more than 35 years. The band's first album was released in 1972, but a listen to their latest disc reveals a band still astonishingly sharp and vital. There's no hint of geezerdom here – the new disc opens with an aggressive barrage of drums and a guitar grind that makes the whole body vibrate.
Meine's vocals raze through rockers and power ballads alike. He urges listeners to “stay down” in the amazing opener “Hour 1” but then offers some bittersweet moments in “The Game of Life” when he sings
“In the game of life
We live and die
Another breath begins
Another chance to win the fight
From the moment that you hit the ground
In the game of life.”
Meine helped establish the metal ballad as a form of its own with Scorpions' early ‘80s hit “No One Like You,” so it's no surprise that Humanity Hour 1 includes some great additions to the form, from “The Game of Life” to the gloriously dramatic piano and twining guitar twining strains of “The Future Never Lies.”
But the band still rocks hard. In the playful “You're Lovin' Me to Death,” co-written with former Hooter Eric Bazilian and Desmond Child, they put the guitars at full strut factor as Meine grouses
“You're lovin' me to death
And leavin' me to die
You make me wanna scream
But my tongue is tied
You played me like a toy
You made my life a mess
Everybody knows
You're lovin' me to death.”
While Scorpions have always known how to turn the amps to 11 and punch out some hard rock, they've also always had an exceptional melodic sense, and Meine's voice only seems to get better at exploiting that with every album. Tracks like “Your Last Song” will keep you nodding your head in thrall within seconds of its first play. And if it's driving guitars you want, give a close listen to the buzz of “The Cross,” which features a guest appearance by Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins.
The day of pop metal may have faded, but the sting of the Scorpions remains as potent as ever.