1294. Lock Up the Wolves. 1990. 3.5/5

Upon his decision to leave Black Sabbath in 1982 and start up his own band under the name Dio, Ronnie James Dio and his new entity had had wonderful success on the back of albums such as “Holy Diver”, “The Last in Line” and “Sacred Heart”. The band had created songs that had captured the imagination of heavy metal fans around the world, and continued the rise of Dio that he had ascended through his stints in Rainbow and Black Sabbath. The band had parted ways with guitarist Vivian Campbell on the tour to promote the “Sacred Heart” album, and Craig Goldy had come in to replace him, and then write and perform also on that album’s follow up “Dream Evil”. In some ways, the first real slide of Ronnie James Dio’s career began at this point. “Dream Evil” did not do as well in sales as the previous three albums had, and while there had been a building dissention from previous gutiarist Campbell in regard to money, it seems that the problems were not just limited to the band’s first guitarist. Following the tour, Goldy also found himself on the outer and out of the band.
This event created a worldwide search. Dio opened up the position to almost a public ballot. He encouraged anyone and everyone to send their demo tapes in as he searched for a suitable replacement, someone he felt could come in and be the breath of fresh air that the band needed. Dio claimed at the time that he received and listened to over 5000 demo tapes from aspiring band members from around the world. One of those was a 17 year old from England called Rowan Robertson. He had become aware of Goldy’s departure, and though he went through the channels of the band’s management in order to put his name in contention he was unsuccessful, as he was when he also went through Dio’s then record company Phonogram Records. Undeterred, Robertson then reached out to the band’s official fan club, hoping someone with closer ties to the frontman could help him get in contact with him. This ended up succeeding and his demo tape ended up in the hands of Dio, and led to an audition for the role, for which he was flown to Los Angeles to do so in front of Ronnie and Wendy Dio. A second audition followed, and not long after Robertson was made an offer to join the band, with the official announcement made on 20 July 1989. As you can imagine, this became the focal point for all the music media for the next 10 months leading up to the release of the album.
Robertson’s arrival in the band, perhaps surprisingly and through no fault of his own, ended up spelling the end of the remainder of the original members of Dio. Keyboardist Claude Schnell was the first to go, soon replaced by Jens Johanssen who moved on from Yngwie Malmsteen’s band to join Dio. After this, bass guitarist Jimmy Bain was also moved on, replaced by Teddy Cook, the almost equally as unknown as the newly hired guitarist. Finally, just two weeks before the band was to head into the studio to record the newly written album, Vinny Appice also left the band. Appice later confirmed that he was there until the album was written and left because he felt "This is not Dio" with "all these young guys in the band". As his replacement, Dio brought in his friend Simon Wright, who had moved on after a successful stint with AC/DC to take up the role.
In an article in the Los Angeles Times in September 1990, Ronnie was quoted as follows as to his decision to break up his original band, suggesting he was prompted by his sense that the band members had lost interest. “They just weren’t putting out anymore,” he said. “I’m very intense about what I do, and the guys in the band seemed to be merely going through the motions, bringing their lunch to work and looking at the clock, waiting to go home. And I just can’t go for that. I view this as a brand-new band, with four new guys and one old guy--me,” Dio said. “And after a three-year layover, we’re essentially starting all over again.”

“Wild One” comes out of the block immediately with Simon Wright’s drum intro to the band followed by the opening riff from new guitarist Rowan. The tempo is immediately up and about, and everything seems to lock in from the start. As the opening to the new era of the band, and indeed the completely converted line up of the band, it hits all the right moves from the outset. Rowan is giving plenty of opportunity to showcase his wares, to show why he has been brought in at such a tender age to be Dio’s new gunslinger. Straight up he is more Goldy than Campbell but there is nothing wrong with that. This is followed by the more subdued pace but increasingly brooding mood of “Born on the Sun”. There is a fantastic building of intensity through the song in both music and from the frontman himself. Dio’s vocals hit those gritty highs throughout the song, and Rowan sounds absolutely spectacular on this track, really ramping up the energy to make it as wonderful as it is.
From this point on, it is noticeable about the change within the structure of the album, the direction that this fifth Dio album has decided to take that differs with the albums that have preceded it. The tempo from this point on more or less sits in a slow mid-tempo, marking the way that Ronnie himself seems to have wanted the music to flow. “Hey Angel” is highlighted by Rowan's great solo in the middle of the song, which almost sounds like it is trying to get this song to speed up and come in at a better tempo that would improve its output markedly. It doesn’t succeed, but it still pushes Dio’s vocals to a more pleasing output as the song reaches its conclusion. “Between Two Hearts” has a passion about the vocals, most especially in the verses rather than the chorus, but the morbidly slow tempo that accompanies it holds back its true enjoyment as a result. This acts as one of the best examples of tracks on this album that sound reasonable in places but just need to ramp up the actual speed of the musical output to get it to an enjoyment level that would please the long-time fans of the band. “Night Music” is slightly brighter but follows the same pattern, a slower tempo riff that sounds terrific but isn’t allowed to break the barriers et for it. Indeed, the groove of the chorus here is terrific and Rowan’s solo again sounds great, but it just feels like this is saddled again with the grind and broken gears of a tractor trawling through mud. Ronnie’s vocals ramp up the end of the track again, sometimes making you wonder why he is leaving the real power for the end.
When it comes to the title track this continues in spades. “Lock Up the Wolves” possibly even slows down even further than anything to this point of the album. And yes, I’m aware that music doesn’t have to be fast or even mid pace to be great and entertaining. But this really does border on going backwards, so slow is the tempo. Just getting to the first drumbeat and riff feels like an eternity... and then another terminal pause before the next one. At times it is amazing that Simon has a tempo to keep on the drums because it drags so slowly between drumbeat and hi hats crashes. This song goes for 8.5 minutes but feels so much longer because of its terminal tempo. That’s a tough way to complete side one of the album. Then you flip it over and begin side two, and you get pretty much the same thing with “Evil on Queen Street”. Dio’s vocals take on the main role once again here, vocalising his lyrical story, while his band sit in their mono tempo track with the basic drum and bass rhythm pattern holding together underneath, and Rowan’s basic riff settling into the walk of the song. Both of these songs are well designed to set up the visual of the story being told with the desolate and moody characteristics of the music. But coming in to listen to a Dio album and hearing these songs back to back? That’s a tough ask. Ronnie’s vocals do climb at the back end of the song to bring some passion and vitality to the track.
The back third of the album does spend a little time trying to pull itself out of the mire in regards to tempo, and while it does do that it is the mood that is hard to replace. “Walk on Water” brings us back to a mid-tempo range, Dio singing in a less ominous and a more tale-telling fashion. This song is reminiscent of what the band produced for the “Dream Evil” album, which given the fact that all of those members had now gone is slightly ironic. “Twisted” pulls back a fraction again, and also has a less exciting rhythm style about it, one that doesn’t allow Rowan to break free of the spell easily and put his own mark on the track. “Why Are They Watching Me” is perhaps the fastest tempo of the album after the opening track, with Simon and Teddy even allowed to break their spell as well. The shame is that the song fades out as Rowan lets rip on a second solo, and yet it takes it with it as it fades into nothing. Such a shame, just give us 30 more seconds and I think it would have been a terrific finish. The album then closes out with the autobiographical “My Eyes”, the lyrics covering songs and albums and bands of Ronnie’s career all meshed into the track, perhaps fittingly closing the album on a high note. Indeed, perhaps in many ways once this album was released, it could have felt as though it was an appropriate way to bring to a close the bands days, which for a time was not so far away from the truth as may have been imagined.

Oh my... I was soooo looking forward to the release of this album. And due to the early announcement of the recruitment of a new guitarist in Rowan Robertson so early on, and the constant reporting of it in magazines such as Hot Metal and Kerrang and Metal Hammer, I had about a year to wait before its release. And that was interminable at the time. “Dream Evil” had been released right on the cusp of the end of our school years, and is still a burning memory of our final days of high school. So yes, I was excited and could wait to get this album.
It’s fair to say that I have rarely been as disappointed in my life as I was when I got this album.
I bought this on vinyl at Utopia Records as soon as I possibly could after its release... and was almost morbidly horrified at what I heard. This was so far away from what I had expected it to be, there are points of the universe as yet undiscovered that would be closer to what I thought this album would be like. Yes, it was an entirely new band, but the songs were actually mostly written by the same writers as they had had for years. Dio Bain Appice, and Robertson. So how could they be so different? Was it Rowan who was to blame for this? Now, let’s cut this off before we go any further. You get the feeling that Rowan was very tied up in what he was allowed to do to express himself musically on this album. That’s not unusual for a Dio-helmed album. He was a kid, a very YOUNG kid, and on his first ever project he was always going to have to tow the line pretty much all the way. There are some really terrific moments on this album where he shows what he can do, and they were then and still are today wonderful to listen to. And Ronnie writes all the melodies and the structure of the tracks. So no, Rowan was not to blame. It is harsh that he had to shoulder a fair percentage of the disappointment fans had with this album on its release. To be fair, it is such a shame that he didn’t get a second album on which to collaborate and perform with this band and perhaps give a clearer indication of his own songwriting abilities.
Dio drags back the tempo on this album, at which point it is molasses-slow for no real discernible reason. There is no proof of the following statement, but it is my own theory regarding this album, and how much of his band’s music goes from this point onwards. Ronnie often spoke about wanting to bring the heavy to his music. But by heavy it often seemed from 1989 onwards as though what he wanted was to slow down the songs, accentuate the guitar riffs and express himself with a heavier droning pace, which seems to be what he considered a heavier kind of music. It isn’t doom because that’s not what his guitarists played best. But it is deathly slow, and without those exciting break out riff and solos from his chosen guitarist it becomes a lot less interesting than it may be. It’s a real shame.
The drumming too is very much in the style that you would expect Vinny Appice to play in, which certainly binds with the account that his replacement came after all of the songs had been written, and Wright came in and played a close approximation to what Vinny would have played anyway. It sounds fine, but Simon is a different type of drummer, something he was able to show on Dio’s later albums.
So yes, when this album came out I was mortified. Compared to so many of the other amazing releases in the year 1990, this was a deep dark pit of disappointment.
Flash forward seven years. Dio has been back to Black Sabbath to release one of the heaviest albums ever recorded, one so different from this one that it is hard to imagine they reside so closely together. Then he’s out again, and he’s back with Dio and has released two more albums with the same sort of polarising of opinion that “Lock up the Wolves” produced. “Strange Highways” mirrors “Dehumanizer” in places, while “Angry Machines” is almost an industrial metal album, so completely unlike anything Dio has ever produced that it invoked from me a question – was this just like “Lock Up the Wolves”? So I reached into the collection, to an album I likely hadn’t listened to in seven years. And I put it on. And what I found was an album... that wasn’t as bad as I remembered it. Yep, it was still molasses-slow in the middle as I remembered it, but overall I thought it was okay. And for the first time I found myself wondering... if Dio had released THIS album in 1995 or 1996, would it have been better received? The changes in music had been stark in that time, and perhaps it better suited what heavy music had BECOME than what was prevalent at the time it was released.
Since then, I have listened to “Lock Up the Wolves” more often. It started off only occasionally, but over the years it has become a more regular occurrence. And although I still remember how much I thought this was a great big pile of crap when it was first released, now I really enjoy it. Once I got used to the pace of the album, I think there is a lot of great material to listen to here. And I am biased when it comes to Dio the band and Dio the artist. That much will always be true. And this will never be regarded as a great Dio album by anyone. But even over the last couple of weeks, having listened to it many many times again, I still love the mood and the way the album comes together. Sure, out of the ten studio albums the band released I would rank this at 9, I still love hearing Rowan’s only contribution to the band, and I still love listening to Ronnie. This is definitely a variant when comes to the band Dio’s discography, but being this far separated from the era makes this a far easier listen than it was 35 years ago.

1226. Dio / Strange Highways. 1993. 4/5

From what could be assumed to be the absolute peak of Ronnie James Dio’s career, with his band Dio’s third studio album “Sacred Heart” in the mid-1980's, the band and his own fortunes had begun to plateau, and the road became a more rocky one than he had traversed in some time. After the band’s “Dream Evil” album in 1987, Dio had more or less fired the entire band and brought in new personnel for 1990’s “Lock Up the Wolves” album, one that didn’t gain the all encompassing love that the band’s previous four had brought. The change in tempo and mood caught fans unawares, and their popularity had begun to seep away somewhat. Then came the reformation of the Mark II lineup of Black Sabbath, and the album “Dehumanizer”, one that for a short period of time caught the imagination of the fans once again, with a revitalised heavy and modern sounding metal album from one of the great band lineups of all time. Of course, this then collapsed again with the decision by Iommi and Butler to open up for Ozzy Osbourne’s famous ‘last gig ever’, and once again both Dio and drummer Vinny Appice moved on from Black Sabbath in controversial circumstances. If ever there was a way to metaphorically shoot yourself in the foot, that four year period was one where Dio had done a pretty good job of it. And now, in a period of upheaval in the music world with the onset of the grunge movement, one of heavy metal’s greatest singers had to find a way to pick himself up off the carpet for the first time in a very long time.
And so, back to Dio the band it was. Appice, who had been dismissed during the writing session for “Lock Up the Wolves” in favour of former AC/DC drummer Simon Wright, was now back in the band, no doubt due to his locality and recent time together on that Black Sabbath album. Dio also decided to go for a whole new look with the band lineup. Guitarist Tracy Grijalva, better known as Tracy G, was brought in on guitar, Jeff Pilson, who had plied his trade with Dokken for several years, came in on bass guitar and keyboards, while Scott Warren who had been in Warrant would become the band’s keyboardist on tour.
Many wondered what this version of Dio could bring to the music world, given that by 1993 it had moved on from glam and hair metal and was hurtling into a new dimension. Could the band famous for dragons and rainbows find a way to still be relevant in the 1990’s decade? In many ways, the title of the new album, “Strange Highways”, was a metaphor for the journey the band was about to begin.

There is an interesting transition over the three-album spread between “Lock up the Wolves”, “Dehumanizer” and “Strange Highways”. The first of these albums saw the band’s sound slow the tempo from previous albums and have a slightly more serious tone about the lyrics, still delving into fantasy and other realms but in a different tone. “Dehumanizer” of course was a Black Sabbath album, with the attitude that that band always possesses. However, moving into “Strange Highways”, there’s little doubt that similar tones are being used for this album as well. It may not be Iommi and Butler here, but the music is what could be said to be an extension from that album. Is it too similar? Does it come across as a rip off of the “Dehumanizer” album? Some fans believe so, generally those that are not fans of this album. More accurately, I think this album mirrors what Dio’s writing was portraying at this stage of his career, and the previous two albums he had written progressed to this point and would further down the track with the follow up to this album. What it does is place itself at a destination far away from where the Dio band had started with “Holy Diver” some ten years earlier.
Ronnie’s vocals are more aggressive than any from the previous Dio albums, but less so than he gave us on “Dehumanizer”. Tracy G’s guitar does not copy what Iommi produced on the same album, but it is in a similar vein given the writing of the band. So, we have that same kind of heavy Sabbath-inspired songs here, which Ronnie attaches his heavier vocals to. In many ways this would be as a result of the appearance of the grunge bands and their sound. Whilst many hair metal bands tried to move to the grunge sound and failed, Dio here have moved in a heavier slower direction to combat that music trend, almost as if to say ‘this is heavy metal in the 1990’s, come follow us’.
Songs such as the opener “Jesus, Mary & the Holy Ghost”, the hardcore “Firehead”, "Hollywood Black” (which apparently had been demoed for the “Dehumanizer” album), “Evilution” and “Pain” all move in this newish direction that the new Dio has paved. Vinny’s drumwork has always appeared to be leading to this kind of work, the hard hitting, slow 2/4 tempo style that resonate through the speakers at you, and Tracy G seems happy to play the game. There’s no doubt that it takes some getting used to if you came into the band through the 1980’s.
The title track “Strange Highways” could have come straight off “Dehumanizer” - indeed, listen to “After All (the Dead)” from that album and then listen to this song, and you’ll know where the inspiration for the music and tone of the lyrics comes from. I couldn’t understand why I enjoyed this song so much when I first got the album, and then it clicked. And it’s the same reason people who don’t enjoy the Sabbath album also don’t enjoy this song. It was the real point at which one can tie the writing of this album to that previous album but the other band.
One thing that has disappeared almost completely is the lyrical mysticism that Dio had spent almost two decades weaving into his songs, in this band or his others. There are no rainbows, no dragons, no knights, no heaven and hell. Here the songs come at you with modern themes, social issues and darker elements throughout. This is apparent in songs in the back half of the album, such as “One Foot in the Grave”, “Give Her the Gun” and “Blood from a Stone”, with Ronnie passionately almost spitting the lyrics out with Tracy and Pilson pushing the hard core line musically. The album then ends almost cynically lyrically with “Here’s to You” and “Bring Down the Rain” bringing a slightly different tone to the conclusion.
As an album from this band, it is quite unique, and definitely not like anything they had done before. But it is done awfully well.

When I first got this album, which was pretty close to the release date, I really wasn’t sure what I was in for. “Lock Up the Wolves” had been a bit of a barrier to many of my friends in regards to Dio albums, with the musical changes involved there having them look in another direction. I had found enough to like and love about that album, but sonically it was very different. Then “Dehumanizer” had reinvigorated Dio’s mettle once again, and his stocks rose. The Sabbath separation again left the Dio band at a new crossroads, and I really didn’t know what to expect. And, as it turned out, I had some trouble reconciling what I heard when I initially listened to this album. Why? Well, looking back now, I think what made it difficult for me was that I was expecting to hear the band Dio that I knew, the band that produced those first three amazing scintillating albums, and hearing that energy and buzz and awesomeness. And what I got instead was this album – just not what I was expecting. So I was less than excited, but I kept listening to it, because something about it did click with me. And it wasn’t for some time (probably longer than it should have been) that I realised that this album was far more similar to the album Dio and Vinny had done with Sabbath the previous year than to anything they had done in the 1980’s. And that (eventual) realisation was what unlocked the love of this album for me. And once I had ignored what I had wanted the tempo to be, and just listened to it for what it is, I really did come to enjoy this album immensely.
Is it affected by the time it was released? I think so, but I also think it was written as a statement of the times, and that for many Dio fans, that isn’t what they were after. They wanted more dragons and night people and being hungry for heaven, when the reality was that Dio wanted something else, something that mightn't move with the times but set the agenda. It’s just that the times didn’t agree, and were actually looking for something different.
I listen to this album now, and I still find most of it thoroughly enjoyable. It needs to be in the right environment, and it needs to be LOUD to get the full impact of what the band plays here. And even 30 years on, it has an impact. It mightn’t be from Dio’s classic era, and it might be from a time when Dio’s form of classic heavy metal was on the ropes, but he still delivers vocally as he always did, and his commentary on social issues on this album, which was not something he made a lot of time doing, it still as biting as it was on its release.
The fact is that “Strange Highways” will never rate as one of the great albums, or the essential albums of all time. Asked to choose the best five albums from the band Dio, this probably won’t make your list. Those who were slightly younger than me when this was released tens to rate it much more highly than those of my generation. Perhaps that is its best light – it spoke to a generation that came next from the one he originally touched back in 1983. As a musician, to be able to do that in any age, is a pretty worthwhile achievement.

1162. Dio / Killing the Dragon. 2002. 4/5

The doldrum days were behind the band Dio by 2002. The 1990’s hadn’t been kind to the band, but with the excellence and success of the album “Magica”, Dio had reasserted itself as a band worth taking notice of. Following on its success, band leader Ronnie James Dio discussed in circles that the next album would be a sequel as such to that album’s story, titled “Magica II”. And I guess, given that it had brought his and the band’s career back on track, that was something worth considering. Eventually, that idea was put on the back burner, to be considered at a later time, and instead Dio and guitarist Craig Goldy began writing other songs in preparation for the next Dio album. Interestingly though, there had been rumours of tension between Goldy and both Dio and bass guitarist Jimmy Bain at the end of the Magica tour, and even though song writing continued, this tension must have remained, because in January 2002, Goldy left the band, apparently for ‘family commitments.’ Nothing has ever been said about this since it occurred, and although it appeared as though it must have been an acrimonial split, Goldy did return to the band less than two years later so whatever the situation was, it didn’t appear as though it was unsolvable. Three songs co-written by Ronnie and Goldy appear on “Killing the Dragon” so writing must have been going well to that point in time.
In his place, Doug Aldrich was hired, a man who had a great reputation as a session guitarist as well as in other bands in his own right. In an interview before the album was released, Aldrich was quoted as saying that he felt that his role in coming into the band was to restore Dio to its 1980’s heyday, in regards to pushing for a faster pace in the songs and more vitality. In his mind (and many of the fans), the band had been slowing down the tempo of the songs on the latter albums too much, and that the band sounded better when the songs were played faster and with more energy. He even went as far to say he wanted the guitars to sound the way former member Vivian Campbell used to play on those early albums. I’m not sure Ronnie would have overly enjoyed that statement. However, it was music to the ears of fans, who were eager to have that kind of arrangement made for the writing and recording of the album. With Doug pushing Ronnie throughout the writing and recording process to achieve his own vision for what the album should sound like, we came up with “Killing the Dragon”, an album that, at least in some places, achieves exactly what Doug Aldrich was hoping for.

All albums are pieced together to make the fit work as best as they can, and on some albums it is interesting as to how they find a way to mix in the various different styles of songs to make the album work. This one is no exception, and while I think it works well, there are still moments when you wonder exactly what was being thought as the songs were being put together.
The first six songs on the album meander beautifully along, finding their rhythm and feeding off each other in their ways to elicit a response. The high voltage opening of the title track is a beauty, not only brought to life with Simon Wright’s powerful thumping drum kit and Jimmy’s rumbling bass, but at the perfect tempo that isn’t rushed. Doug’s guitar riff and brilliant solo bring the album to life early, as our first hearing of him play it is superb. And of course Ronnie’s powerful, dominating vocals, just superb. This is a great opening track and showcases exactly what Doug had been talking about, and opening track that draws you into the album immediately. This is followed by “Along Comes a Spider” which continues this faster pace than recent albums, with Ronnie’s vocals in a terrific mid-range that doesn’t extend himself beyond his range. He’s not 35 anymore, and though his voice remains the greatest in music he has found a great spot here to stick to. “Scream” is just fantastic, a much moodier song that moves along like the tide rushing out the river heads, a great counter point to the two opening tracks without losing any momentum into the start of the album. This cannons into the fastest song of the album, “Better in the Dark”, with Ronnie not only delving back into monster lyric territory but with Simon and Doug being allowed off the leash, and Jimmy adding a nice solo bass piece in and under the guitar solo in the middle. I love this song, it is arguably my favourite on the album. But – then comes the counterpoint to all of this, the slow, grunging and heavy tones of “Rock and Roll”. Mixing the elements of the kind of songs the band did in the 1990’s, but by adding a better arrangement of guitars and drums rather than the tuned down stylings of those songs, this is a great song. Ronnie gets the kind of tempo he has drifted towards for years, but is lifted by the brightness of the music from his bandmates rather than it feeling as though it is bringing the mood down. It is really very enjoyable. The final of those first six tracks is “Push”, again a track pushed along by Doug to ensure it doesn’t sit in a mid-range tempo that wouldn’t have worked. Dio’s vocals are supreme, very much reminiscent of those first three albums of the band. The song even had Dio’s first music video in years made for it, helped along with an appearance by Tenacious D. this video helped push the popularity of both the song and the album. It’s still a ripper.
The final four songs of the album don’t quite reach the same standard as the first six, but are by no means second class. Perhaps it is the downgrading of the tempo in three of the songs that makes it feel like that to me, and perhaps I am just being pedantic. “Guilty” is the first of these songs, and I’ve always wondered if Dio wrote this about himself, as it seems like an interesting topic to write about if it wasn’t. “Throw Away Children” is a similar style, and if you believe what is written in certain places, was originally planned to be a part of another “Hear n Aid” styled project to raise money for Ronnie’s charity, but nothing came of it and it found its way onto this album instead. I love “Before the Fall”, obviously written about someone chasing stardom but falling to the same pitfalls of many people before them. This is a classic styled Dio/Bain track, and with the keys mixed in with the track it has similarities to their Rainbow days as well. The album then concludes with “Cold Feet”, which is fine... but remember the days when Dio had epic closing tracks to their albums? I’d have loved one of those to be here as well.

I still remember my excitement prior to this album’s release. “Magica” had been a real hit for me, I had loved everything about it, and reading everything about this album leading up to its release just exacerbated that. And when I got it, I wasn’t disappointed. It came in the mail on the day of its release – a whole new experience by 2002 rather than heading out to the record store to buy it – and when I got home from work there it was, and on it went. And it was one of those albums that I loved from the very start, something that becomes less and less likely the older I get. But this was everything that it promised. It had songs that felt more closely tied to those first three albums than the next three. Doug Aldrich on guitar was magnificent, Simon Wright and Jimmy Bain just as wonderful as ever, and Ronnie’s vocals were truly brilliant. I think it is the final recording he made where his vocals were truly supreme, that they weren’t straining under age to be as they were in his youth. His singing here doesn’t feel or sound like he is trying to compensate for not being able to hit the exact same notes as he could 20 or 30 years previously. The songs as I mentioned have a tempo that had been missing for some time in Dio’s music, and that is rectified for the most part on “Killing the Dragon”. I played this a lot, at work and at home, for those few months after its release. It is still one of the best albums for me that has been released in this century.
Perhaps the biggest shame of it all is that it is the only Dio album that Doug plays on. About a year after its release, he moved on to join Whitesnake, and Craig Goldy returned for the next, and final, Dio album. He does however play on two Dio live albums, where he not only showcases how good he is on his material, but how faithfully he plays on the older material, a true mark of his love of the work.

1043. Dio / Sacred Heart. 1985. 5/5

The upward climb of the popularity and greatness of Ronnie James Dio had moved from the 1970’s into the 1980’s, and through three bands Rainbow, Black Sabbath and then his own eponymous band Dio. That step, to leave one of the biggest acts in heavy metal after he had been so heavily involved in its revival in the early 1980’s, to form his own band was enormous. The band’s debut album “Holy Diver” had taken all before it, stormed the charts and ensured that this venture would not be as short lived as his other projects had been. The follow up album “The Last in Line” proved that it wasn’t a one-off hit, that this quartet of musicians had something that was powerful and strong. While Dio himself as the frontman commanded the stage as the focal point with his amazing voice, the band that had been built around that was just as important to the success the band had created. Drummer Vinnie Appice’s hard hitting, and uniquely timed drumming was a key aspect of the forcefulness that the songs portrayed to the listener, along with Jimmy Bain’s rumbling bass guitar. These two had been around the block before joining Dio, Vinny in Black Sabbath and Jimmy in Rainbow, and the combination worked well. And guitarist Vivian Campbell had broken out of his Irish boundaries to unleash his craft upon the world to ever increasing acclaim.
Band situations are rarely harmonious to a fault, and Dio was no exception. The first signs of trouble in paradise came with the sessions to create the band’s third studio album. The central core of the problem was, as often becomes the case, money – or at least the perceived fairness of cash distribution. When the band began, an agreement as such was apparently struck with the players in the band, that if they would accept a smaller than deserved reward for the first two albums the band produced, in essence to ensure that the bills for touring and recording and promotion would be commensurate with what they wanted to be in order to push the band, then come the third album their share would increase as a result. For Campbell, the youngest in the band and perhaps with the least knowledge of how the ‘business’ worked, that meant that this new album should mean he was going to receive closer to what he felt he deserved to be paid, and he began to ask questions about how and when this would occur. When he wasn’t getting the answers that he felt he deserved, he apparently became more insistent. All of this must have created a difficult situation for everyone involved. Along with this, Ronnie and his wife Wendy, who was also the band’s manager, were going through a split in their relationship at the time, which led to Ronnie’s mood being less enjoyable during the writing and recording of the album. Whereas for the first two albums the whole band would be in the studio, playing and socialising, for the third album there was less of this, with members coming in, recording their parts and heading home. Combined with this, Ronnie had begun composing songs with more keyboards in them, which not only shifted the sound that the band had created over the first two albums where it was a far more guitar focused band to one that perhaps began to mirror other genres, it was a decision that the other band members were not totally on board with.
With all of these changes happening within the mix of the band – most of it unknown to the fan base itself at that time – Dio came forth with their third studio album, one that still divides opinion to this very day, with the bag of mixed lollies titled “Sacred Heart”.

Looking and listening to this album from a critical point of view, “Sacred Heart” still has the same mix of songs that talk about the fantasy elements that Ronnie James Dio has centred around since his Rainbow days along with the songs that seem more pointed to things that were occurring around him at the time of writing. Whether the mix is in favour of the strengths of the band is another question.
The opening track is the faux live setting of “King of Rock and Roll”. This is fast Dio straight out of the blocks, opened by Vinny’s drum roll introduction and then the firing in of guitar and bass riff with Ronnie giving off his best impression of a lead singer on the stage. The question that s always posed is “does this song come across better because it sounds as though it is live, or could it have worked just as efficiently without it?” I’ve often pondered that question. Did the opening track of this album need to feel like a live song to get across a certain mood of the track to the listener? If I was listening to this with a critical ear, I would say that the injection of the crowd noise acts more as a distraction to the great work done on the song by Campbell, Appice and Bain. When it comes to actually listening to the album and the opening song, I rarely think about fakeness of the background audio. I’m more interested in Vivian’s guitaring. Still, surely somewhere tere exists a tape without the faux crowd. I’d like to hear it.
The epic title track comes next; a sprawling magical dragons and wizards track that Dio has spent most of his career singing about. Here is a song that has more of the keys and synths added to it than had been the case in the past, used in conjunction with the guitars rather than as a background. It is a style that does fit with what was beginning to occur in the extended genre of heavy metal at the time, and one that perhaps mutes the efficiency of the solid core of the band being a four-piece guitar driven entity. Vivian still gets his chance to shine in this song, but it does have it entwined with Claude Schnell’s keyboards throughout. Solo wise he is able to unleash both in the middle and towards the end without being vanquished.
“Another Lie” is a pointedly written track lyrically by Ronnie, and with the added aggression in the lyrics and vocals the guitars and drums reestablish their dominance. Ronnie and Wendy were going through their separation at the time, and it is hard not to equate that the basis of this song is to do with that, especially with a line like “She jumped at the moment, a chance to tell you, another lie”. Ronnie is passionate and aggressive with his vocal delivery through the song, especially the rise up an octave into the back half of the track, Vinny’s pounding drumbeat emphasises what he is singing, and the guitar and bass line dominate as they always did in the best Dio songs. While “Another Lie” is rarely mentioned when it comes to great Dio songs, for me it has always been one of the standout tracks on the album, perhaps because it is one that has the most similarity to the songs of the first two albums.
The two singles from the album close out the first side of the album and open the second side, and are often cited as points of difference between those that do not rate the album and those that adore it. “Rock and Roll Children” was the first single from the album, replete with video of two teenagers being lost in a magic shop and facing their worst fears, while Ronnie swirls his hands over a crystal ball throughout. It is telling, perhaps, that only Ronnie appears in the video for the song. There is a connection to the lyrics of many of the songs on this album, as usual the good and the evil, but also the theme of lying. Though taken out of context, it is possible to read into Ronnie and Wendy’s troubles again on this song, with the line “They were paper and fire, angel and liar, the devil of one another”. Is Ronnie referring to their relationship here? Perhaps subconsciously. The keys again maintain a greater influence through the song which ties it to this era, though their presence do create the atmosphere on the track that Dio was hoping for, again pushing the mystical and magical theme. It fades out to complete the first side of the album in wonderment.
Then the second single opens side two of the album. “Hungry for Heaven”, one where Ronnie’s lyrical bent plays catch up with each other, offering two sides to the story throughout; “You're a runner, but you're chasing yourself, feel a hot breath on your shoulder. Your emotion, running cold, running warm, but young just getting older”. “You’re hungry for heaven, but you need a little Hell”. Through his career Ronnie had moments where he wrote lyrics that didn’t always tell a story or make a lot of sense, just a jumbled series of lines that interact together. And on those occasions, it is best to just go with the flow. “Hungry for Heaven” is probably one of these occasions.
While both of the singles have a heavy keyboard element in them, no doubt looking to hook onto the rising tide of commerciality, that certainly isn’t the case with the heavy guitar focused tracks that followed them. “Like the Beat of a Heart” is a beauty, the Dio mid-tempo set by the rhythm section, Vinny’s drums stuck into their hard hitting groove, and Jimmy’s bass line setting the stomp of the track that reflects the title of the song. Vivian’s guitaring here again is just superb, not muted by any keys on this occasion. Ronnie lyrics that reference the coming of the werewolf are beautifully descriptive and delivered with passion, just typical Dio wonderfulness with “we can hide in the dark til the moon steals the light from the dying sun” and the brilliant “cos the tear that never dries can only make you blind”. Just perfect. It’s a great song, a heavy track that only sounded heavier when played live. This is followed by yet another severely underrated track from the Dio catalogue, “Just Another Day”. Bring forth Vivian Campbell to take all before him please! Another of the fast paced rippers that this band could produce, Viv takes centre stage, Ronnie comes along for the ride. Lines like “you don’t believe in someday, and the truth is what you prove” and “You laugh but you never smile” are just terrific, along with the sentiment “but it’s all right, well it’s all right, it’s just another day”, words to live your life by. The passion in Ronnies vocals through this song are just terrific, but it is Vivian Campbell on guitar that stars on this song. Again.
OH! And just for good measure, they are again on “Fallen Angels”. The opening riff into the track, the squeal of guitar that leads into Ronnie’s vocals, are fabulous. Ronnie is back here in an aggressive fashion, the power of his vocals dominating this track with their demanded presence. That opening burst: “Screaming out alone in the night, just a time and place but it's real alright. We are diamonds that shine without fire, we're climbing the stairs, going down and never higher” - that is just magnificent. And the burst of Viv brilliance through the song just tops it all off. Those three songs back to back really hype up the second side of the album.
The album concludes with “Shoot Shoot”, another song that I think has lyrics from Ronnie that reference how he was feeling about life at the time. Not that he wanted to kill himself, or anyone else, but that he felt under enormous pressure from the partnership in his life, and that he was trying to come to terms with it all. To me, the lines “Well, now it's a matter of mind, you know you can be free forever. So the next time someone points a gun at you, say ‘shoot, shoot’, I don't care” are more about him trying to say, ‘okay, I don’t have to go through this, I can free my mind and say to you ‘I don’t agree with you anymore, and I don’t have to put up with this anymore, I can walk away and start again’. And I think maybe this is what he was referring to, and his marriage. Of course, I could be completely mistaken.

Once again, before I begin my personal appraisal of this album, I would like to point out that if you are not listening to the podcast titled ‘And Volume for All’, hosted by the handsome and talented Quinn, then that should be your immediate port of call following this episode. Among many things he has done on that podcast is a wonderfully beautiful and informative look at the career of Ronnie James Dio, including this era of his music. It is a series that everyone should listen to, whether you are a fan of Dio or not. His insights and the work put into the podcast is outstanding. Go listen to him. I should also point out that we disagree on the validity of this album, which probably only proves, once again, that I am wrong.
When it comes to the year that most influenced my love of music, of the type of music that became what I loved more than any other, and in the discovery of artists and bands who became the most important in my music-loving life, 1986 is the year that wins hands down. In particular two such events could be appraised as perhaps the most important. The first was the discovery of the artist named Ronnie James Dio, his then-current band named Dio, and their third studio album which was titled “Sacred Heart”. Dio came to us in Year 11 of high school through an American exchange student called Steve, who brought the band’s first two albums with him. My heavy metal music dealer then purchased this particular album, and through the swapping of blank C90 cassettes I was able to gain all three albums released by the band to this time. And from this an obsession grew. And that’s what it was. I couldn’t stop listening to those albums, and through them not only did Ronnie James Dio become my singing hero, but Vivian Campbell also became a guitar god for me.
Though in retrospect it is obvious that there was tension between Dio and Campbell, all of which has been well documented in the years since, it didn’t stop the band putting together an album that had the best of everything that the era had to offer. Some listening to the album now some 30+ years after its release may feel it is dated, or at the very least tied to the era in which it was released due to some of its elements. There is probably some truth to this, but that doesn’t detract from just how good an album it is. Vinny Appice continues to pound the beat that allows the rest of the band to put their pieces together, and his big drum sound again works perfectly here. On bass Jimmy Bain again found a rhythm that laid the groundwork for each song, and his writing contribution again cannot be overlooked. Claude Schnell’s keyboards have more of an influence in places on this album, which given it is the mid-1980’s does fit in with the period. Vivian Campbell is again an out-and-out star here. His guitar riffs, licks and solos are as much the sound of Dio the band as the man whose name adorns the band. That he parted ways with the band after this album is a regret for all fans of the band. Dio had some good guitarists play in the band over the following twenty years, but none rivalled Vivian and what he produced on these first three albums. Ronnie as always is magnificent. His vocals soar, his lyrics tell stories and his passion reigns supreme.
I started by saying there were two events in 1986 that rounded my love of music. The second? Well, Dio toured Australia on this album in September 1986, and it was the first band I ever saw live. Regrettably there was no Vivian by that time, replaced by Craig Goldy, but it was a spectacle I have never forgotten. If you are interested in that story, you can find it in full detail on my Patreon page.
There are many who don’t enjoy this third instalment in the Dio lineage, and I really believe that most of those came onto this album after its heyday and judge it on how the music sounded then rather than how it sounded when it was released. That’s understandable and fair, but for those of us that grew up with this album, and had it burned into our psyche playing it over and over a thousand times, it will always be a great album. It may not be as dramatically awesome as “Holy Diver” or “The Last in Line”, and the saturation of Claude Schnell’s keyboards may date it well and truly to its time, but it still hits all the right places for me.
I have been listening to this album for the last two weeks now, at least once a day and often more than once. And it never gets old. What does interest me is how my feelings about the album and its songs has definitely changed. When I first got the album, it was the songs “King of Rock and Roll”, “Sacred Heart”, “Hungry for Heaven” and “Rock and Roll Children” that dominates my perspective. They were the great songs, the ones I sang with gusto and looked forward to every time I put the album on. These days, it is the tracks “Another Lie”, “Like the Beat of a Heart”, “Just Another Day” and “Fallen Angels” that I look forward to most. A change of the times? Me getting older? You be the judge.
With Vivian being sacked from the band halfway through the touring schedule for this album, Dio the band would never be the same. They still put out some very good, even excellent, albums, but this period of the band, when everything clicked with the four main players, was over. Perhaps that was a good thing. Perhaps they had achieved everything as a foursome that they could have hoped for. No matter what, those three first Dio albums still stand the test of time, and “Sacred Heart” stand alongside them as one of the pillars of the heavy metal genre of the 1980’s.

829. Dio / Master of the Moon. 2004. 3.5/5

The fact that Ronnie James Dio has had such a profound influence upon the past thirty years of my life does not distort the fact that not everything he did towards the latter part of his career was as brilliant as other things. The two albums that Dio released during the 1990's were average at best, though he returned to form with both Magica and Killing the Dragon. Master of the Moon, due to future events in the forming and touring of Heaven & Hell and then failing health, sadly became the final album released by Dio, which can sometimes make one listen to it with a touch of melancholy.

The album marked the return of Craig Goldy to the band, with Doug Aldrich having moved on to the gig with Whitesnake. It also had Jeff Pilson returning on bass guitar. What is most noticeable about this album compared to the previous release is that the tempo has returned to a slow-to-mid speed through the majority of the songs, more reminiscent of those albums in the 1990's, and something that had been for the most part missing from Killing the Dragon. Such is the way that the band's music generally fared in the post-1980's writing. It's not necessarily hampering the songs, but it has always been my belief that Dio works best when the songs are up-tempo and lively, allowing Ronnie's vocals to carry the melody of the song, and the drums and guitar can avoid a sludgy muddy sound that sometimes seems to be the result of moving along at a snail's pace. Perhaps it is just my hangover from those early Vivian Campbell-driven albums from the 1980's, but I don't think it is a coincidence that Killing the Dragon with its Doug Aldrich-inspired guitar and writing input was the best Dio album (aside from Magica) since Dream Evil.
Still, enough of the past. This is the album before us, and once you have taken in the slower tempo, the album is a pleasing collection of songs that showcase a solid rhythm section in bassist Jeff Pilson, keyboardist Scott Warren and drummer Simon Wright, some good guitaring from Craig Goldy, and the vocals of Dio himself. If you are looking for fast paced songs, or breakout guitar solos, or even something extraordinary from the great man himself, then you have come to the wrong album, because there is very little of that here.
"One More For the Road" is the opening track, and is the fastest song on the album in regards to tempo, without ever being electrifying in itself. "Master of the Moon" is driven by the wonderful melody and harmony of Ronnie's vocals. He lifts this above the moody tempo that is being played underneath and makes it into that typical Dio song that can be uplifting to you when you listen to it. "End of the World" stays in that same tempo, while again it is Ronnie's vocals that do all the hard work in the song, though this time just straight and without the melodic duelling the "Master of the Moon". "Shiver" shares the dual aspect of a chugging Goldy riff with Dio's commanding vocals to toughen this song up. All in all it has been a reasonable start to the album.
"The Man Who Would Be King" and "The Eyes" have what I call the Vinny Appice Tempo, because it's very solid slow tempo 2/4 time, with the rhythm barely changing throughout the length of the song, and Ronnie singing over the top. That's perhaps unfair on Vinny, because he was no doubt asked to play in such a way during his time in the band, and now Simon has been asked to play along as well. Ronnie puts on his mournful wailing for both of these songs, and the pace barely reaches first gear at any stage. It's not a stretch for any of the musicians here, nor even with Ronnie's singing. They aren't bad songs, but you find yourself slumped back in an armchair listening to them, rather than on the edge of your seat  and air guitaring.
"Living the Lie" and "I Am" aren't slow by comparison but they don't race along either, but are solid songs that don't engender any emotional response according to the music. Which is then funny because "Death By Love" does finally have that faster tempo in the mix, but it just isn't a particularly enjoyable song. It has the basic riff running through, before a really strange change in pitch and riff into what serves as the chorus. Yep, just don't like this song much at all. "In Dreams" is the album closer which still just doesn't have that real punch or kick that Dio songs are supposed to have. Again it is very straight forward in song structure, not really giving any of the members of the band the chance to express themselves in any way, but to warble their way through just over four minutes with barely a change in rhythm of lyrical pitch.
By the time you've made it this far you can probably finally tap in to the emotion you are looking for with this album - it is BORING! It barely has an iota of excitement, especially after the first four songs. You can listen to this album over and over again, and gain an appreciation of it, and an enjoyment of it. I have, and it did take quite a few repeated listenings to it to do so. but what casts the stone against it is that if you choose just about any other Dio having done this, and put it on, it feels as though it just blows this album away, and to me that is the biggest problem with Master of the Moon. It's not that it is a particularly bad album - in fact it really is above average - but it is missing that magical ingredient that the majority of Dio albums have that make them legendary, and therefore makes this pale in comparison.

It may appear from the above that I have torn apart the album a little, and many would think I have done so unfairly. I can honestly say that I still enjoy listening to this album, but that whenever I do I miss the faster pace of the previous album, and of those seminal albums from the 1980's. This is the style that Dio preferred in the latter part of his career, and so you flow with it, but as I mentioned, it just misses that one ingredient that would have lifted it up an extra rung or two on the ladder.

Rating:  Turn around and then you face the sun.  3.5/5

819. Dio / Magica. 2000. 5/5

More than most would have imagined, Ronnie James Dio suffered hugely on the back of the movement of music through the 1990’s decade, the shift that went from metal in 1990 to grunge 12 months later and then the rise of industrial and alternative through the second half of the decade. His band Dio had been one of the leading purveyors of the craft between 1983-1987 with four albums that were as highly rated by fellow musicians as they were by the fan base. The change in tone and tempo of his music, starting with “Lock Up the Wolves” was in hindsight a precursor as to what would happen in the middle of the 90’s decade. Indeed, if "Lock Up the Wolves” had been released at that time it may well have been better received than it was in 1990. After the 12-month sojourn with his old bandmates to record and tour the “Dehumanizer” album, he returned to Dio with “Strange Highways”, an album that merged the two directions those previous two albums had been heading.
From here, the fork in the road appeared – to perhaps return to a sound of the era where he had the most success and see if that would suit his fan base, or continue down the road that music was heading and find an alternative or even industrial path to follow. He chose that latter, and “Angry Machines” was the result, an album that divided and in many cases put a sword through the fan base, an album whose sound was so divergent from what the man had produced over the previous 20 years that some people were unable to comprehend or engage in what it contained. It failed to reverse a trend for the band. In the excellent documentary “Dio: Dreamers Never Die”, it showed Dio the band at the depths of this decline, playing 200 seat clubs where in the past they had sold out arenas, while the industrial and nu-metal bands had their period of dominance in record sales and concert ticket sales.
This time, there was no fork in the road, it was a crossroads that Dio arrived at. Despite some in the media having praised Dio for stretching their boundaries and going outside of the box they had created with their music from the glorious 1980’s heavy metal scene, and despite the hard work put in by the current lineup on those two albums from the 1990’s, something had to change if the ship was going to be righted. The management had been pushing for a return, at least in some way, to the music that had made the band who they were. At some point in time, clearer heads prevailed. Following on from the tour to promote “Angry Machines”, which had produced the live album “Inferno: Last in Live”, the entire band was moved on. Tracey G, the guitarist and co-writer of those two albums, seemed to bear the brunt of what had occurred which even today seems unfair given the knowledge that Ronnie is always the ringmaster when it comes to writing the songs for his albums. He was replaced by the return of Craig Goldy who had left the band after the “Dream Evil” album and tour. Jeff Pilson who had been on bass moved on to his next project and was also replaced by a familiar face in Jimmy Bain whose last appearance had also been the “Dream Evil” album, while Vinny Appice, who had been replaced by Simon Wright on the “Lock Up the Wolves” album but had returned following rejoining Ronnie for the Black Sabbath “Dehumanizer” album, also was once again replaced, this time once again by Simon Wright. The first step to reverting the band’s sound to their 1980’s heyday had been completed by recruiting a band that had that familiar look to it.
There was of course no guarantee that all of this change would in fact help Dio return to the popularity that you can be sure their management and record company were hoping for. Changes only work if the fans enjoy the direction that has been taken, and that would require promotion of the album in a way that would help to bring back disaffected fans to give the new album a chance. What then happened was probably beyond the imagination of what everyone concerned would have hoped for.

The decision to make what for all intents and purposes could be described as a ‘comeback album’ as a concept album was a bold move. The great concept albums in the history of music, especially those in the metal genre, are legendary but there are also those that have flopped. But Ronnie James Dio has always been a storyteller, and here he chose to do so over the course of an album. One that had a great deal riding on it. And the best concept albums generally have songs that are so good on it that it isn’t necessary to know what the story being played out is to enjoy the album. That was the challenge that awaited Dio on this album. At the end of the album Dio actually tells us the story of the album, which in short is this: "Magica is the saga of Blessing, a netherworld invaded by dark forces that vaporise people into pure, evil energy. The planet's saviours are master and apprentice heroes Eriel and Challis, who must recite a spell from the sacred book of Magica to defeat their foe, Shadowcast”.
The album starts with the arrival of robots from another planet, who discover the desolate planet whose suns dies a thousand years before, and begin to read the manuscript to understand what has occurred, and they appear between tracks to continue their investigation of the circumstances surrounding what is being played out in each track of the album.
After the opening banter of “Discovery” and “Magica Theme” the album opens into the first song proper of “Lord of the Last Day”. Though the tempo is reminiscent of the past two albums, the energy being pushed out from the guitars of Goldy and Bain, and the wonderful hard beats of Simon Wright on drums – something that is a star of this album – leads into the powerful middle section of the song, when Dio’s vocals carry the lines with intent: “I don't feel pain or sorrow, The child's a man tomorrow, Crossing the line, then he's mine, Don't care which god you follow, Whose promises you swallow, Time and again, we must meet at the end”. It is a great opening track, setting the platform for the songs and story to come.
“Fever Dreams” has a great chugging riff from Goldy that sets up the song beautifully, and tells us of Shadowcast’s effort to cloud Blessing’s Grand Wizard Eriel’s mind so as to avoid a confrontation as he begins his takeover of Blessing, as emphasised in the lyrics; “I have seen some evil as I've walked upon the earth, But this is way beyond what eyes can see, Wicked is as wicked does and if I lose control, Is this the way that hell is gonna be?”. “Turn to Stone” follows, describing how the bodies of the inhabitants of Blessing turn to stone as their spirits are transited to Otherworld. The song settles into a mid-tempo again led by a great guitar riff from Goldy and that leading and defining back beat from Wright with the bass line from Jimmy Bain holding everything together. Dio’s lyrics are perfectly emphasised again by the master as he sings of the terror that has come to Blessing with wonderfully horrific lyrics; “Welcome to sundown, Welcome to the dark, Could it be that evil has heroes?” and “Words have control, To take away your heart and then your soul”. Sometimes you wonder if these lyrics portray our own world as it is in the current day.
Then we have the closing song of act one, “Feed My Head”, when the captives of Otherworld are assimilated into the collective evil. The opening of the song, from Goldy’s riff backed by Wright’s heavy-handed drum beat, into Dio’s spitting diatribe of Eriel’s fears of what is to come, and the loss of his people to the machine that deprives them of their life and the assimilation of their spirit into Shadowcast. HIs despair and need for action comes through the music, hard handed and powerful to start, to the quiet and reflective of the middle of the track and into the inevitable build back to the heavy and loaded end of the track, which closes out side one and act one of the album.
“Eriel” is the longest track on the album, and coming as it does off a sequence of songs that build in tempo and intensity, reaching a crescendo of the story, this one plays as the epic opening to the second act of the story, of the master of the Book of Magica Eriel finds himself in the middle of a crisis he feels partly responsible for, and how he must try to limit the damage and save his people against the evil being unleashed. This song stretches out to almost 7.5 minutes, unchanging in its plodding tempo and without the saving grace of a true change of vocals from Dio or drum beat from Wright, and the play out of the song travels longer than necessary. “Eriel” segues straight into “Challis”, the tempo moves to a slightly faster time and Wright’s drums again take on the hard-hitting rhythm that drives through the song in the same way he has throughout the album. Dio’s vocals take on the role of the hero, powering through the opening lines “I am a rock and you are glass, never broken, never last, and if you’re in my way I’ll knock you down, If it's a joke, I’ll never laugh, here’s exactly how I see you in the light”. This gives the album the impetus that it had lost during the previous track, showcasing the anger that the character must release if he is to be a hero of the story.
“As Long as It’s Not About Love” acts as the power ballad of sorts of the album. Ronnie has shown in the past that he can master these songs as well as anyone, and this one being such an important piece of the album leaves him in the position of having to deliver again. The song talks of how Eriel had to spurn the love of his soul mate Annica as he needed to keep his mind free of all emotion in order to be the spiritual leader of his people, with him reminiscing of how he had to do so. While the song is sung beautifully softly and emotionally by Dio throughout, it still has the powerful interlude of the guitars and drums to lift the drama of the track into the back half of the song. Dio serenades us as Eriel with the words: “From the first time we touched with our eyes, Only magic could take away my heart, I am always afraid for my heart, So lay beside me now and tell me lies, sweet lies, As long as it's not about love, Shall we sail off the edge of the world, Fall forever and never look behind, But I must keep my heart from my mind, Lay beside me now and tell me lies, As long as it's not about love”.
From here the album builds up again with “Losing My Insanity”, as Challis tries to come to terms with the burden he has been left with, as the only person who can save the people of Blessing from oblivion.
“Someone said You'll light up the universe, It's there in your head then Crazy comes to call, Break me down, I'm only an everyone, Running from free, Running for me, And though it's not of my choosing, I'm losing my insanity, Again”. The folk music opening and conclusion reminds you of the dance being held at the start of the story, as old in “Lord of the Last Day”, before breaking into the harder riff from Goldy that then drives through the rest of the song. Just another great song. Moving into the conclusion of the album, it starts with the song of the same name that tells us of the horrors of “Otherworld” and into “Magica Reprise”, both of which share a similarity with the song “Eriel”, in that they are a bit too long and musically a bit too dreary. As a part of the story they comprise the end of the tale, and overall hold true to the music of the album, but perhaps doesn’t quite finish everything off in the way it deserves.

After the enormously difficult and downtrodden “Angry Machines” album, and the “Inferno: Last in Live” album that followed it, I began to think that all was lost in the Dio music machine. It had been a great ride, almost 25 years of great albums from the likes of Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio, for the most part all legendary. But was the well at last seeping dry? There had been question marks over “Lock Up the Wolves" back in 1990, and then “Strange Highways” had also seemed more on the average side of great than you would like to have your music. I was concerned that this was an end point.
Despite this, I still bought “Magica” when it was first released. The fact that it was a concept album, with a story written by Ronnie, tweaked my interest a little, and though I put the CD on and listened to it a couple of times, while reading the CD insert in regards to the story, I really didn't pay too much attention to it immediately. It wasn't until a mate of mine, who I was spending a lot of time with playing cricket and socialising with afterwards, started constantly singing, "I love the night, so many shadows" at almost every pause in conversation, that it started to get into my head as well, and I began to invest myself in the album. And once that door had opened, the world beyond changed for me.
Why did this album take its time to get its hooks in me, and then what dragged me in so deep? I don't really know. It took awhile because I had been burned by the previous album, and also the tempo of the songs was still settled in that very mid-range of the previous three albums. I really prefer the faster pace, but as the hooks sunk in, I found that this didn't matter to me anymore, that the songs themselves were so good that it eradicated from me any rhetoric involved in such ventures. So, once I got past those issues, I discovered the power of the music, and the power of the lyrics, and thus the power of the vocals. Each improves the other throughout this album. The story intertwines and connects the album as well, along with the discoverers of the Magica story's comments throughout which link some of the songs. And while this plays some importance, I soon found that I enjoyed the album and the individual songs as themselves, and not necessarily as a greater part of the whole. The strength of any concept album is that it can be listened to in its entirety as the story, and that individual songs can indeed be listened to and enjoyed on their own without having to be a part of that story. “Magica” ticks all those boxes.
Musically this album brings back some familiar faces, whose style and connection with the band's great era help to focus the music in a much better atmosphere. Craig Goldy returns on guitar and also in co-writing duties. Jimmy Bain returns on bass guitar, and lends his friendly and familiar rumbling throughout the album. Simon Wright returns on drums, adding a different style on the drumming than long-time cohabitant Vinny Appice does. Scott Warren remains on keyboards, and again fulfills his role with aplomb. He is the sole survivor of the disappointment of the previous two albums. Without wishing to lay the blame for the problems associated with those albums with the musicians who were involved with them, there is no doubt that the return of these members to the band makes it feel a lot more like the real Dio, and that is a real bonus for the album.
Despite the story concept, it is now the furthest thing from my mind when I listen to this album - which is still often. I think the songs all flow beautifully to each other, playing off each other. The music is fantastic. I love Simon's drumming on this album. It can feel or sound like he is playing very simply, not extending himself, but when you really listen to what he's playing it is just terrific, especially his emphasis when it is needed most. It really makes a difference, and along with Jimmy's bass it gives the rhythm section a real presence throughout. Craig guitaring is also great, again it may not be overstated and may not be flashy but it makes its presence felt when necessary. And then we have Ronnie James Dio, who rises back to his seat of power on the throne of exalted legendary vocalist. The power through the middle section of "Lord of the Last Day" is the first sign that the band and its leader is back. "As Long as It's Not About Love" is the game changer on the album, removed from the mood of upbeat into the moody and introspective. Ronnie again proves his mastery on this song, as his vocals soar in a way that only the most brilliant can achieve. It may not be as hauntingly beautiful as "Rainbow Eyes" from his days in Rainbow, but as a power ballad it is up at the top of the tree. Like I said, this was a real creeper for me, but it soon grabbed my heart and has never let go. It isn’t the story that really found me, it was the music and the passion that is felt throughout the album that made this. A great band and a legendary singer had fought back from the brink, returned to their roots, and found themselves again. And I love it for that.
I have spent the last week and a half listening to this album all over again. At work, at home. Singing at the top of my voice, hammering along to those wonderful drum beats from Simon Wright, and generally getting all emotional about an album that has driven its stake through my heart and never left. And then listened to it all over again. 25 years after its release, and 15 years after the great man’s passing, it is still as wonderful to listen to as it ever has been.
Dio the band released ten studio albums over its career. This ranks for me at #4 of those ten, though there isn’t much that separates all but one of those albums.
Following the success this album had in revitalising the band and the lead singer’s career, it was floated at different points of the next decade that Dio and Goldy had a plan to release “Magica Parts 2 and 3” to complete the story that they had come up with when preparing for this album. Two tracks, the instrumental “Annica” and sister track “Electra” finally came to be released following Dio’s passing in 2010, a death that halted any chance of sequel story albums coming to fruition. Thankfully, Dio’s resurgence carried on strong from this point, giving us all more music to enjoy from one of the greatest vocalists of all time.

716. Dio / The Last in Line. 1984. 5/5

When you are on a roll, you are on a roll. While at the time it was occurring it was unlikely that Ronnie James Dio thought that he was, the retrospective look back at the material and albums that he had been a part of during the time span of 1976 through to 1984 is incredible. And, having to try and follow up each album or each project, in itself must have been both traumatising and electrifying. The first great album came with Rainbow’s “Rising” album, a seminal point in time with songs that still resonate through to the modern day. Then they followed that up with “Long Live Rock and Roll”, again with songs that are still so powerful today. It is hard to believe that Dio could possibly have been moved on from the band at that point, but he was. And so he joined up with the singer-less Black Sabbath, and helped create the amazing “Heaven and Hell” album, that brought the band back from the dead. Then they followed that up with “Mob Rules”, another incredible feat given how big the previous album had been. And then of course, it is hard to believe that Dio could possibly move on from the band at that point, but again, he did. This time, he set up his own band under his own name, and THEY happened to produce an album by the name of “Holy Diver”, one that again is still heralded in the metal fandom. Most of these albums already have episodes dedicated to them on this podcast, and if they don’t already, they certainly will have.
So not only had Dio been involved in composing and recording some of the best albums of that age, he and his bandmates kept finding ways to follow up great albums with another great album. And following the amazing success of “Holy Diver”, it was exactly where the band Dio found themselves once again – charged with the task of trying to come up with a follow up to an album that, like those other albums, appeared impossible to follow. “Holy Diver” had sold and performed extraordinarily well, on the back of relentless touring from the new band, and many of the tracks on that album had already become classics. To then come out a year later and release an album that would be as remotely well received as it had been was quite a task.
One of the things that boded well for the band was that they had now been together for over a year, touring together and being able to gel on the stage, such that the quartet – which had now added a member in touring keyboardist Claude Schnell – knew everything that the others were capable of. They had ideas that were born of their touring time together and could now see that bear fruit in regard to the writing of stronger and more focused songs on the back of it.

There's not much you can say about the opening two tracks of “The Last in Line” that hasn't been said somewhere else a thousand times. "We Rock" opens the album in brilliant style, and became one of Dio's anthems and often the closing song of the live set, drawing the band and audience together through the lyrics and making you feel a part of the legacy. There aren’t many album opening tracks that you can say have opened an album brilliantly but can also act as a concert closer, but “We Rock” is definitely one of them. From the outset, Dio grabs you and pulls you along for the ride. This is followed by the masterpiece that is "The Last in Line" - heavy, loud, melodic, booming. Ronnie's vocals power the song along, Vinnie Appice's heavy-handed drumming, beats down hard, along with Jimmy Bain's gutteral bass guitar, and topped off by Vivian Campbell's squealing guitar licks. And that guitar solo in the middle – my word, just amazing. Still an absolute classic forty years later. And the film clip that went with it, as the first single released from the album, is still as 1980’s cheesy brilliant as it was back in the day playing on video shows all over the planet. When Ronnie cries “We’re off to the witch, we may never never never come home!” you are ready to charge off with the band wherever they want to take you.
Just as awesome as these opening tracks are the follow ups. "Breathless" is dominated by Vivian's guitaring, and despite all of the brilliant songs on this album, this remains my absolute favourite. I love Ronnie's vocals here, and the rhythm ties it all together magnificently. Jimmy’s bass line is terrific, and though I am woeful on that instrument it is my favourite song to play on the bass. This is followed by "I Speed at Night", which runs along at a speed that is worthy of the title. This is a terrific example of the best that Dio can produce. While the band (and most of Dio's work in general) don't usually dabble in such fast-paced songs, this is a beauty, and one of my only regrets with Dio's discography of songs is that he, and the band, didn't do more fast songs like this. Completing side one is "One Night in the City", a more typical tempo song of the band after the frantic opening, but still a great one that brings the heavier drum and guitar riff out to compensate for that, and a song that eventually hung around set lists for some years.
Just like “Holy Diver”, the strength of this album is not just in the songs that everyone knows and of the singles that were released from it, it is in the heart of the album, the songs that mightn't have been heard by casual listeners of the band's work. Not every song on an album has to be an epic. It doesn't have to be that you try and fit nine songs as memorable as "We Rock" on an album. Not every song has to be absolutely unforgettable or considered a timeless song in the anthology of the band. The strength of any album should always be judged by the songs that aren’t as well known, or aren’t as well publicised or played in the live environment. Those are the songs that make a truly great album, because if they can hold their own away from the spotlight, then the album can also do so away from its hit songs. And here on “The Last in Line”, that is certainly the case, in my opinion at least. Songs such as those mentioned - “Breathless”, “I Speed at Night”, “One Night in the City” - certainly have that. "Evil Eyes" and even the closing track on the album, the enduring and epic "Egypt (The Chains Are On)" may not be the first songs you think of when it comes to Dio's best, but they help to make this album as great as it is, because they meld into the fabric of the track list, and become enmeshed in the whole listening experience. What's more, if these songs happen to come up on a random mix at home or at a party, they immediately stand out to you, because although you may not think of them often especially in the framework of listening to the album from first track to last, when you hear them on their own out of that environment you absolutely appreciate them. I love them both.
"Mystery" was one of the singles from the album and was often slated as one that was written directly for the commercial market, some believe as an attempt to create the same success as “Rainbow in the Dark” from the previous album. Whether or not this is true I don't know, but while it is the less heavy song on the album, I have always loved and still love it. As a retaliator, listen to Ronnie's vocals on "Eat Your Heart Out". Heavy lyrics, which Ronnie spits out with emotion. He really dishes it out on this song especially, in a fashion like those of the two opening tracks. It is the brilliance of both Dio and his band, that they are able to mould so many different aspects into their music without losing the focus and drive of each track.
Everyone on this album again stands up and performs their part brilliantly. Ronnie’s vocals are supreme once again, not only soaring when they need to but also being forceful and cutting when the mood of the song requires it. I am biased but he truly is a vocal God. Jimmy Bain’s bass lines again on this album are terrific, filling out the songs and giving them a real depth in the way Geezer Butler and John Deacon do for their bands, perhaps without the undeniable brilliance of those two performers. Vinny Appice’s drumming again is spot on for the way the songs are written, his drum fills and timings again sometimes get missed by those not paying enough attention. And Vivian Campbell reigns over all again, now not an apprentice but a true master of his instrument, playing riffs and solos that capture the imagination of all, and again prove how important he was to this band in the era of these albums.

Back in Year 11 in high school, about six months after my friend group went from having a couple of people who had listened to heavy metal music before, to our entire cavalry being on board, we had an exchange student from the US turn up for a few months. Fortunately for us, Steve arrived bearing cassettes of his favourite bands and albums. Amongst them we were first introduced to bands such as Night Ranger and Ratt. And also the band Dio through the two cassettes he brought with him, “Holy Diver” and “The Last in Line”. And after we had ALL gotten copies of these albums on cassettes of our own, the joy and obsession with the band Dio began. For me, at least. And it is a love that has continued to grow over the almost 40 years since, and an obsession that has never died.
I can’t tell you how much I listened to this cassette, over and over again. It was a time in my life that I had so much going on in regard to school and sport, and the amount of music that was flooding my existence as a result of discovering heavy metal was immense. It was overload. Maiden, Metallica, Ozzy, Sabbath, Megadeth, Purple. And yet Dio still kept up with all of them, constantly on rotation in the car once I had my drivers licence, or at home in my bedroom on my portable tape deck. This and “Holy Diver” just kept being played. And I never got sick of them. I knew every note, every word, every nuance of this album, singing along on the invisible microphone, playing guitar alongside Vivian on my cricket bat. Man I loved this album. Wait... what I mean is... man, I LOVE this album.
It has been there through awful times. This album, without fail, I can put on when I feel lost in the dark or at an emotional crossroad, and it fixes everything. It never fails to lighten or brighten my mood. It can bring me to tears whether I am joyous or sad, all for the right reasons. These days it is usually the song “Mystery” that does it to me. My lovely wife and I struggled to fall pregnant for many years, and at one point we felt we may never get to have children. Fortunately, through the miracle that is IVF, we were able to have our eldest daughter Jessica 21 years ago this month. And when she was young, and I was trying to send her off to sleep either by bouncing her on my knee or rocking her in my arms, I used to sing “Mystery” to her, because the lyrics spoke to me about the miracle of her conception, and the mystery of why and how she came to be with us. The result is that I listen to that song now and it still drags out tears, of just how lucky we are.
Ronnie's vocals here are at their peak, soaring at velocity. Vivian's guitaring too is just brilliant, driving the songs and taking over during the solo breaks. Those that only know him through his work with Def Leppard would not believe he could be this good. He is just brilliant on this album, unbelievably excellent. And, though you may not necessarily notice them between these two legends, Vinny's drumming and Jimmy's bass are as solid as ever here, providing the foundations for the other two to work their magic.
On first glance, when balancing the worth of the tracks on the first two Dio albums, most would probably say that “Holy Diver” is the better album, hands down. On closer inspection and listening, there is really not that much between the two of them. “The Last in Line” is a creeper, because the balance of the less famous songs stands up pretty well against those of the debut album. When push comes to shove, I find it very difficult to separate the two when it comes to choosing a favourite. Suffice to say that I still think this is a brilliant and, perhaps in many instances, underrated album. And this song is one of the best ever written.

568. Dio / Intermission. 1986. 4.5/5

Back in 1986, in the middle of the Sacred Heart tour, guitarist Vivian Campbell quit the band, and former Guiffria guitarist Craig Goldy was drafted in to take his place. Amongst the confusion, Dio released this live (apart from one song) EP entitled Intermission, perhaps as a way of introducing Goldy to Dio fans, perhaps just to put some more material out there to keep the fans happy.

No matter what the plan, here then is Dio live sans Campbell, which to me was somewhat of a tragedy, as he was a hero of mine at the time (still is, I guess). And no matter how good this sounds, you immediately notice the difference in the guitaring between the original versions with Vivian, and the live versions with Craig. Now there’s nothing wrong with it being different – a guitarist should be able to put his own stamp on songs in a band – but it just isn’t Vivian, and I can’t get past that!
The live versions are also noticeable for the greater influence the keyboards have, certainly more pronounced here than they are on the studio versions.

Away from all of this, Intermission is a worthy instalment in the Dio legacy. A selection of the band’s best is here, along with an excellent medley version of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Children” with Rainbow’s “Long Live Rock and Roll” and “Man on the Silver Mountain”. Slap in the middle (which was Track One of Side Two for those that had the vinyl like me) is the only studio track on the album, “Time to Burn”. It mightn’t be a world beater, but it again introduces Craig Goldy’s guitaring to the Dio universe, and is catchy enough.

This was released in Australia just before his tour in September 1986, and served as an excellent appetiser to that wonderful moment when I first saw Dio live. As a live EP in a collection of a career spanning five decades, it a pretty fair listen still.

566. Dio / Donington Monsters of Rock Festival 22-8-1987 [Bootleg]. 1987. 5/5

Ah, Donington. If only we could all travel to England and see this festival. Well, and also travel back in time. One day I'll build that DeLorian...

This is a brilliant bootleg of Dio's set from the 1987 festival, taken from the Dream Evil tour, and is the first time I have heard anything from this tour. It is soundboard recording, meaning A+ sound.
It's great to hear the songs chosen from the album live - "Dream Evil", "Naked in the Rain" and "All the Fools Sailed Away". They all sound superb. In fact, the entire set list is awesome. Great versions of "Neon Knights", an absolutely blistering performance of "The Last in Line", which moves seamlessly through "Holy Diver" and "Heaven and Hell", a sensational rendition of "Rock 'n' Roll Children", the great Rainbow songs "Long Live Rock and Roll" and "Man on the Silver Mountain", and not forgetting "Rainbow in the Dark". Every song is at its peak.

Ronnie himself is is awesome form. I'm not sure he has ever sounded better on a live album that he does here. His voice is just so powerful and awe-inspiring, it sends chills down the spine. Backed by Craig Goldy, Jimmy Bain, Vinny Appice and Claude Schnell, this is a scintillating hour of some of the best music Dio has given us up until 1987. I don't have enough superlatives to praise this effort enough. If only I had been there in person. 23 years later, I can at least be happy with this recording, and to finally hear it in all its glory.

557. Dio / Inferno: Last in Live. 1998. 4/5

This live album, the first one released for the band Dio (apart from the 1986 EP Intermission), always had one huge hurdle in its path. This was recorded on the tour to promote the most average album Dio has ever released, Angry Machines, and as a result has a couple of those included on this release. Fortuitously for everyone, the songs “Double Monday” and “Hunter of the Heart” sound much better live than they do on the studio album.
Add to this the inclusion of “Drum Solo” and “Guitar Solo”, which is an automatic ‘skip’ when you listen to most live albums. Vinny Appice has been playing the same drum solo for 30 years, and Tracey G does do a good enough job on the guitar, but no matter how skilful both are with their instruments, it really isn’t that interesting to listen to in the comfort of your home (or car or workplace for that matter).

Taking all of that into account, this is still an excellent live album. Dio’s vocals are as wonderful as ever, and take centre stage as they always have. The music itself feels a bit sludgy at times (very much in keeping with how Angry Machines sounds), which is either the way Tracey G plays it (possible) or the way RJD wanted it at the time (probable - though he soon realised it was a mistake). The setlist is mostly from the definitive first three albums of the band’s career, and they all sound great. There is also a great version of Deep Purple’s “Mistreated” (which Ronnie also played in his time in Rainbow) and Black Sabbath’s “The Mob Rules”. You cannot fault the material here, though the complete lack of any songs off Dream Evil and Lock Up the Wolves is a slight disappointment. In the long run this is a pretty fair live album, which the band would eventually outstrip in two future releases, Evil or Divine: Live in New York City and Holy Diver Live.

504. Dio / Holy Diver Live. 2006. 5/5.

The new century has seen an interesting innovation come to light – firstly some bands (Dream Theater) began paying tribute to the albums that influenced their music by playing those entire albums live in concert. Secondly, bands realized this was a popular thing, and began dedicating parts of their own concerts to playing an entire album of their own!

Here then is Holy Diver Live which contains amongst other tunes the entire Holy Diver album.
The DVD of this concert has the gig in its running order. For the double disc version, they have wisely split in into two. The first disc contains Holy Diver in its entirety, including Simon Wright’s drum solo (which surely is becoming increasingly unnecessary in this day and age) and Doug Aldrich's guitar solo (less unnecessary, but still a time-filler). The second disc contains the remainder of the concert, including songs from the range of Dio’s career as a singer.

Anyone expecting Dio to sing this exactly as it was recorded 20+ years previously are expecting too much. Interesting to note is an interview with Doug Aldrich some time after this release, in which he states he was unhappy with his own performance, due to the lack of actual rehearsal leading up to the night. While his guitaring is actually pretty spot on to the original versions put down by Vivian Campbell (one of Aldrich’s finest assets), it does sound like Dio is unsure as to how to approach singing songs he hasn’t performed for two decades, or at all. If I was to be picky, I’d say that he could have done better – but how do you say that to the man with the greatest voice in metal? It is unrealistic to expect ‘studio’ vocals sung live, especially after so many years.

All in all this is a great live album. It is great to hear the entire album done live, with so many wonderful songs. The second disc is also just brilliant, combining such Rainbow classics as “Tarot Woman” and “Gates of Babylon” with “One Night in the City” and “We Rock”.
Originally, Craig Goldy was playing on this tour, but was injured not long before this was to be recorded, and Doug Aldrich came on board to help out. It is one of the redeeming features of this album.

Rating: Chock fun of greatness. 5/5