7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Finding The Sacred Heart Live In Philly 1986 was filmed at The Spectrum in Philadelphia on June 17th, 1986 during the second leg of the Sacred Heart tour, which featured new guitarist Craig Goldy. The show was issued in an edited form first on VHS and then DVD. Now for the first time the full concert is being released in the original running order, restored from the original 16mm film and with remastered sound. It s an extraordinary live show with a giant animatronic dragon towering over the stage and spectacular lasers and pyrotechnics. Ronnie James Dio is in fine voice as ever and the band deliver a blistering live performance featuring tracks from their first three albums alongside Black Sabbath and Rainbow classics. This will be a must-have release for any Dio fan!
Starring: Ronnie James Dio, Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain, Claude Schnell, Craig GoldyMusic | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: LPCM 2.0
English, French, German, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
When Ronnie James Dio died on May 16, 2010, it sent shock waves through a large and sometimes rabid fan base. Dio had been diagnosed with cancer just a few months previously, but the initial reports were that he was responding well to chemo and other treatments. Worry started to creep in when Dio’s tour dates were canceled and then almost unbelievably suddenly, Dio’s death was announced to the heartbroken public. Dio remains one of the most iconic hard rock vocalists of all time, one whose power and agility carried him through decades of performances and led to an amazing number of successful collaborations with high profile bands which Dio drifted in and out of during his long, if too quickly ended, career.
Dio: Finding the Sacred Heart—Live in Philly 1986 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision, an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. There's not much technical data provided with this release, but I'm assuming this was sourced from 16mm (if some enterprising reader knows for sure, drop me a line and I can update the review if I'm mistaken). With that understanding, there should be reasonable expectations set for what this high definition presentation can offer. There's no denying that the wide shots and even midrange coverage often looks fuzzy and even unfocused at times. That said, there is copious close-up footage here, and that tends to look rather good, at least by comparison. The stage lighting doesn't help matters, and there's some persistent crush, with the players sometimes disappearing into the dusky backgrounds. But the historical importance of this concert should outweigh and purely technical limitations of the source elements.
Dio: Finding the Sacred Heart—Live in Philly 1986 features what is advertised as remastered audio in both DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 formats. Both of these tracks are incredibly vivid, with abundant clarity and really nice delineation of the hard driving rhythm section and Dio's soaring vocals. Fidelity is excellent, though dynamic range is relatively limited to the head banging end of the spectrum.
Dio: Finding the Sacred Heart—Live in Philly 1986 is a wonderful concert program that finds Dio and his band in really good form. The songlist is also inviting, covering some well known pieces from Dio's career as well as a couple of unexpected selections. The video element here isn't fantastic, but that's easily overcome by excellent audio and some equally excellent supplements. Recommended.
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