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.