Like the Beat of a Heart (live)

The legacy of the man on the silver mountain, known to the masses as Ronnie James Dio, is about as contentious as it is universally recognized. It is particularly so regarding the competing eras that took shape at the duration of the 1980s, with rival camps debating not only which guitarist was the better contributor to the Dio sound between Vivian Campbell and Craig Goldy, but whether or not the latter era was even legitimate. The sense of loyalty that certain old school fans have towards Campbell, in spite of the vast array of amazing songs that followed his exodus from the fold and decades of bad blood that followed, borders on cult-like. Nevertheless, the live releases that came about during both eras definitely betray two radically different stage personas and stylistic quirks, bringing some legitimacy to the rationale behind this schism between fans, and no clearer are these distinctions made than during the two legs of the Sacred Heart tour that ran from 85-86, each featuring one or the other shredder performing 97% of the same set in radically different ways.

Along with the Super Rock '85 In Japan release, the Like A Beat Of A Heart single represents the last rays of twilight in Campbell's collaboration with Dio, and even absent the visual indicators of the former release, it's pretty clear that Ronnie's original Irish six-string extraordinaire was cut from a more rock-based, working class mold than Goldy. There is a sense of looseness to how he works through the Deep Purple inspired crunch of the principle riff that points to more to the same NWOBHM feel of his Sweet Savage days, and the addition licks that he peppers over the extended outro of the song has more of a slovenly, late 70s vibe to it. Although the song itself functions as more of a keyboard-heavy variation/sequel of the punchy Holy Diver anthem "Straight Through The Heart" with some trace elements of "Breathless" off Last In Line, this particular performance is given something of an epic upgrade during its aforementioned outro, as Ronnie does his usual shtick of revving up the crowd before the band nails that classic free time wall of sound ending that was perhaps a bit overused during the height of the 80s metal craze.

If nothing else, this single stands as something of an outlier in Dio's catalog, featuring exclusively live content from three different tours, yet it stands as one of the more worthy ones to check out for those outside the completist camp who want a slightly better understanding of how the Campbell era worked in a live setting. The inclusion of the iconic opener off both the Last In Line album and subsequent 1984 tour "We Rock" along with the debut album title track on the '83 tour provide a timeline of growth and development during Vivian's tenure, each performance seemingly becoming slightly more fancy and tech-based, perhaps lending some credence to the complaints that Campbell would make later on that Ronnie wanted something closer to a Malmsteen sound, though his tapping of Goldy to replace Campbell tends to cut against that notion given the former's more disciplined, albeit still more virtuoso presentation. The author of this review's tendency to prefer Goldy not withstanding, this is a solid set of performances and definitely a good listen for any old school metal head.