DIO – Finding The Sacred Heart: Live In Philly 1986

Without a doubt, Ronnie James Dio, born Ronald James Padavona, has left a lasting impression on the Metal scene. Almost exactly on the day of the 30th anniversary of Holy Diver, fans get a new live double album from one of the greatest voices Rock has ever seen. Generally, this may look like a record company making some bucks off the artists’ legacy, and the fact that this is not a completely unreleased recording may support this claim, but when one takes a closer look it turns out to be a very welcome addition to the DIO catalog. Finding The Sacred Heart – Live in Philly 1986 was recorded on the zenith of Ronnie’s solo creativity, during the tour after his third solo album Sacred Heart. The show he brought to the stage then was the most elaborate he ever did, complete with a laser show and a giant dragon to be fought – and subdued – by the master singer.

The setlist reads like a best of Dio compilation — in 1986 he could do no wrong picking songs, and still everybody would be sad that he could not play all albums in their entirety. Of course, he also included tracks like “Children Of The Sea” and “Heaven And Hell” from Black Sabbath, and “Long Live Rock ‘n‘ Roll” and “Man On The Silver Mountain” from Rainbow — most nicely intertwined into medleys, something he loved to do and did skillfully. At his side were fantastic musicians — especially Vinnie Appice on drums and Craig Goldy on guitars have to be mentioned.  Both get their part in the spotlight with extensive solos, and even Claude Schnell on keyboards shows off with a long solo performance in the middle of the set.

This album is historic memorabilia, which was released in parts on VHS and DVD before, but this time is restored, remastered and published in its entirety and in the correct running order. And while the double CD set is nice and beautiful, it takes second place only because it is released at the same time on Blu-ray. In the end, Finding The Sacred Heart – Live in Philly 1986 is nothing short of musical history, and you should indeed witness one of the best Heavy Metal shows ever brought to the stage.