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JORN – Dio
Jorn – Dio (2010, Frontiers Records)
1. “Song for Ronnie James” … 8:08
2. “Invisible” … 5:23
3. “Shame on the Night” … 5:21
4. “Push” … 4:00
5. “Stand Up and Shout” … 3:23
6. “Don’t Talk to Strangers” … 4:55
7. “Lord of the Last Day” … 4:50
8. “Night People” … 4:24
9. “Sacred Heart” … 6:26
10. “Sunset Superman” … 4:56
11. “Lonely Is the Word / Letters from Earth” … 5:28
12. “Kill the King” … 4:03
13. Straight Through the Heart (live)” … 5:05
Band:
Jorn Lande – Vocals
Tor Erik Myhre – Guitar
Jgor Gianola – Guitar
Tore Moren – Guitar
Nic Angileri – Bass
Willy Bendiksen – Drums, Percussion
Additional Musicians:
Tommy Hansen – Keyboards
Producer: Tommy Hansen
This album was quite a surprise that shocked the metal world for a short time. I believe it was only a week or two after Ronnie James Dio’s passing that a press release was sent out announcing Jorn Lande’s Dio tribute album would be arriving soon. Many people were confused and upset over this. Was Jorn exploiting the memory of Ronnie James? How would he have recorded this album so quickly? Well, soon the word got out that this album had been in the works since 2009 and it had the blessing of Ronnie and his wife Wendy. So all was good in the world again and the metal community then began to anxiously await Jorn’s take on some Dio classics.
The album features a few Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell and Rainbow tunes but it mostly focuses on the Dio band. 5 songs come Holy Diver and the next in line (not an intentional pun!) is Dream Evil, which is represented with 2 songs. I was pleasantly surprised by the track listing. Do we really need another cover of “Holy Diver”, “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll”, “Heaven and Hell” or “Rainbow in the Dark”? No. Instead, we get some less obvious, but still great, choices like “Push” (from 2000′s Magica album!), “Invisible”, “Lord of the Last Day”, “Sacred Heart” (maybe my favorite song from the Dio band) and “Sunset Superman”. I really would’ve liked to have heard something from the Killing the Dragon album as well, I think that’s one of Dio’s best albums.
If there are a few complaints I could make about the song choices, it’s that I would have liked to have heard Jorn cover some of Rainbow’s more epic songs like “Stargazer” or Dio’s “The Last In Line” (even “Stars” would’ve been fun). I guess those count as “obvious” covers but I really would have loved to hear Lande’s voice on those pieces. And what a voice! Though I’m not in love with much of Jorn’s original work, you can’t deny he has a fantastic voice. Had he been around in a previous era, he’d probably be considered one of the all-time great rock singers. In this day and age, if anyone can do Ronnie James Dio justice, it’s Jorn Lande. In fact, if Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler are interested in doing something other than a reunion with Ozzy, I would love for them to work with Jorn on some original material.
The songs are pretty straight-forward covers. There’s no experimentation being done here, which is fine. If you’re like me, you didn’t buy the album to hear them fool around with the songs. You bought it to hear Jorn’s voice and he doesn’t disappoint. Given the advances in technology since the originals came along, it’s also nice to hear re-recorded versions anyway. There is one original song: “Song For Ronnie James”. When I first heard it, I didn’t like it and thought it was very cheesy but it has grown on me.
If you’re a huge fan of either Ronnie or Jorn, I think this is an album you need to have in your collection.
Highlights: “Song For Ronnie James”, “Push”, “Stand Up and Shout”, “Don’t Talk to Strangers”, “Sacred Heart”, “Sunset Superman”
http://www.jornlande.com/
http://www.myspace.com/realjorn
Like this:
BLACK SABBATH – The Dio Years
Black Sabbath – The Dio Years (2007, Warner Bros. Records/Rhino Records)
1. “Neon Knights” … 3:51
2. “Lady Evil” … 4:23
3. “Heaven And Hell” … 6:59
4. “Die Young” … 4:44
5. “Lonely is the Word” … 5:50
6. “The Mob Rules” … 3:13
7. “Turn Up the Night” … 3:42
8. “Voodoo” … 4:32
9. “Falling Off the Edge of the World” … 5:03
10. “After All (The Dead)” … 5:42
11. “TV Crimes” … 4:02
12. “I” … 5:12
13. “Children of the Sea” (live) … 6:12
14. “The Devil Cried” … 6:01
15. “Shadow of the Wind” … 5:40
16. “Ear in the Wall” … 4:04
Band:
Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
Tony Iommi – Guitar
Geezer Butler – Bass
Bill Ward – Drums (Tracks 1–5)
Vinny Appice – Drums (Tracks 6–16)
Additional Musicians:
Geoff Nicholls – Keyboards (Tracks 1–13)
I’m becoming quite the completist when it comes to Ronnie James Dio and Black Sabbath. I never gave much thought to this album until recently. I own all of Sabbath’s albums so why would I need a compilation of the Dio years? For the three new songs: “The Devil Cried”, “Shadow of the Wind”, “Ear in the Wall”.
As a representation of Sabbath’s Dio era, this is a near perfect release. The only songs I think they missed the boat on are “The Sign of the Southern Cross” from Mob Rules and ”Computer God”, “Master of Insanity” and “Time Machine” from Dehumanizer. What can I say? I’m a huge fan of Dehumanizer. It’s one of Sabbath’s most underrated albums alongside Born Again and Headless Cross.
But let’s get back to the new tracks. The story goes that the label had informed Iommi & Dio that they were putting together this compilation and asked if they had any unreleased songs they could use. They didn’t but Tony and Ronnie got to talking and decided to try to work together again on some new stuff for the album. The rest is history and the third go-round of this fantastic partnership lasted up until Ronnie’s unfortunate passing due to cancer.
The new songs don’t really sound like anything they might have done on Heaven and Hell or Mob Rules. The songs here sound more powerful, darker, and gloomier. Much more in line with Dehumanizer, though not quite as heavy. Anyone who likes The Devil You Know will like these tunes as well. “The Devil Cried” is the best of the bunch but truthfully none of these songs are classics but it is all still solid & enjoyable Sabbath. It’s mid-tempo, plodding doom metal (“Ear In the Wall” picks up the pace a bit) with Dio in as good as form as ever. As time went on, his voice never wavered in power but got slightly deeper and richer in sound.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with the Dio years and wants to dip their toes in the water, this is a great way to do so.
www.blacksabbath.com
www.heavenandhelllive.com
www.myspace.com/heavenandhelllive
DIO – Intermission
Dio – Intermission (1986, Vertigo Records – German Import)
1. “King of Rock and Roll” … 3:41
2. “Rainbow in the Dark” … 4:42
3. “Sacred Heart” … 6:23
4. “Time to Burn” … 4:25
5. “Rock ‘N’ Roll Children” Medley: “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll”/”Man on the Silver Mountain” … 9:40
6. “We Rock” … 4:55
Band:
Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
Craig Goldy – Guitar
Jimmy Bain – Bass
Vinny Appice – Drums
Claude Schnell – Keyboards
Additional Musicians:
Vivian Campbell – Guitar
Producer: Ronnie James Dio
Intermission is a fantastic live EP which features one new studio track. All of the live songs were taken from a performance on 12/06/85 at the Sports Arena in San Diego, CA. I’ve read a couple of different theories on why this EP was created. One theory states that it was an attempt to boost sales for the previous year’s Sacred Heart album (which found itself not doing quite as well as Dio’s first two efforts). The other theory is that it was meant to introduce new guitarist Craig Goldy to the world. Goldy had replaced Vivian Campbell in the middle of the Sacred Heart tour.
Vivian was still in the band at the time of the recording of the live songs so they actually had Goldy re-record some of those guitar parts. The new studio song “Time to Burn” was recorded entirely with Goldy on guitar. It’s a good song that is on par with some of Sacred Heart‘s better moments but anyone in 1986 who was hoping it would be a return to the Holy Diver or The Last In Line albums would have been disappointed… even more so since half of this EP is compromised of Sacred Heart songs. I’m a big fan of that album though so I think this EP is great. The live performances are typically very good. You can’t go wrong with Dio live. I especially enjoy “King of Rock and Roll”, “Sacred Heart” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Children” (which features a medley of “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll” and “Man on the Silver Mountain”).
I’ve had this album on my want list for a long time but it was always a low priority because it was a live EP. With the unfortunate passing of Ronnie, I decided there was no time like the present to get it. I tried to order it used on Amazon’s Marketplace but two or three days after placing my order, the seller told me they did not have it in stock and probably would not be getting it in stock again. So I went to my usual online stop CD Universe where they had it on backorder but I knew that was normal because every time I looked at the listing in the past it was always listed as such. I went ahead and placed the order anyway and hoped for the best. The CD finally shipped about a week and a half after I placed the order.
Highlights: “King of Rock and Roll”, “Sacred Heart”, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Children”
My thoughts on the 2010 Revolver Golden Gods Awards
This was the second annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards and the first to be broadcast on VH1 Classic (was the first on Fuse TV?). The awards took place in April and aired last night on VH1 Classic at 10PM as a one-hour special. Revolver is a hard rock & heavy metal magazine based in the U.S. I’ve never bought an issue but just by flipping through it a few times in the last couple of years, they seem to focus more on the current metal scene than anything else but don’t come across as a genre band-riding fanzine like other U.S. metal mags Metal Edge, Circus or Hit Parader have.
I knew “Golden Gods” sounded familiar. Apparently this awards show is going to co-exist with the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards (both magazines are owned by Future Publishing, which also publishes the amazing Classic Rock magazine). Both shows have similar categories but their nominees aren’t always the same. Basically, the Revolver show caters more to America and Metal Hammer more to England. I can understand that as there’s often a big difference between both countries in terms of rock and metal preferences but I think having them both billed as “Golden Gods Awards” is a bit confusing and unnecessary. I guess they’re betting on fans in both countries to not care enough about the other to realize there are two of these shows.
The show itself was okay but the editing was HORRIBLE. I’m sure this event easily was about three hours in length so why they decided to chop it down to one hour of “highlights” is beyond me. There was so much jumping around it was annoying, no segment had time to breathe. As soon as a band was done playing, the show clipped to the next batch of presenters rambling off the list nominees.
In my opinion, an event that brings together Chris Jericho (host), Andrew W.K. (host), Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Slash, Ozzy, Ronnie James Dio, Vinnie Paul, Lemmy, Dave Grohl, Dave Mustaine, Jerry Cantrell, Zakk Wylde, Joey Vera, Rob Halford, Kerry King, et cetera, et cetera is a HUGE event and should be treated like such. The whole set up was cheap looking and was not helped by the intimate little venue it was booked to be held in. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the idea of the Golden Gods, I LOVE that VH1 Classic aired it, I just wish better care was given to the editing and the production of the show in general. Hopefully, the show did decent numbers and Future will pump a little more money into the show next year.
I guess I shouldn’t be too harsh on an awards show that is only in it’s second year but it would really help if they took the time to explain what the categories were all about and what they meant. Obviously “best guitarist” is self-explantory but one example is the actual Golden God Award. There was no build up given to this award. Ozzy announced what the award was the handed it over to Rob Halford. TELL US WHAT IT MEANS! In addition to that, another cool feature would have been maybe some clips of Halford footage and a narration telling us why Rob deserved to be “honored” with this award. Things like that go a long way in making the show and the individual awards feel special. This goes for all the awards. Show some clips of the best guitarist shredding, show a graphic of each nominated album of the year as you’re reading the list of nominees, etc. It’s pretty easy.
Again, the idea is great but the execution was lacking. Hopefully as the years go on, this will become a bigger and better hard rock & heavy metal awards show. They’ll know what worked, what didn’t work, hopefully get a bigger budget, hopefully get some more airtime on whatever station it ends up airing on.
Of note, the late, great Ronnie James Dio won Best Vocalist for his work in Heaven & Hell. How cool is that? This was Ronnie’s last public appearance and you couldn’t even tell he was sick. It’s so sad that just a few weeks after this was filmed the cancer took a turn for the worse and took Ronnie away from us.
Check out Ronnie accepting the award:
Complete list of winners:
Revolver Golden God Award: Rob Halford
Revolver Golden Gods Lifetime Achievement Award: Lemmy Kilmister
Album Of The Year: Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue
Best Vocalist: Ronnie James Dio
Best Guitarist: Zakk Wylde
Best Drummer: Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan
Best Live Band: Metallica
Comeback Of The Year: Alice In Chains
Best Underground Band: The Dillinger Escape Plan
Hottest Chick In Metal: Maria Brink
Ronnie James Dio – 1942-2010
When I woke up this morning and got online, I logged into my Google account and scrolled through the news that had piled up since last night in my Google Reader’s “Music” folder. Late last night news “broke” that Ronnie had passed away. Ronnie’s wife Wendy quickly laid those rumors to rest but added they were at a hospital and that Ronnie was not doing well at the moment. Fast forward to this afternoon and I am saddened and heartbroken to say that this early morning Ronnie passed away and unfortunately that is the truth.
The statement Wendy Dio issued to Blabbermouth.net:
Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. [on Sunday] 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.
Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all.
We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us.
Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss.
Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.
I know in the coming days and weeks there will be many touching tributes and words directed towards Ronnie James from family, friends and fans alike. In fact, many are already be posted online.
For myself, I must admit that up until just a few years ago, I wasn’t a huge fan of Dio’s music. I had no ill feelings towards his work but it never clicked with me despite owning a few Black Sabbath and solo albums: Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, The Last In Line, Stand Up and Shout: The Dio Anthology. It wasn’t really until he reunited with Black Sabbath under the name of Heaven and Hell that I gave him (and Sabbath) a second chance. I started to immerse myself in the works of Sabbath, revisited those first two albums with Dio and fell in love with them. Then I began to pick up the rest of Dio’s solo work (only Intermission and Strange Highways elude me now) and just recently I picked up Rainbow’s Rising and Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll.
I won’t turn this into some retrospective, as I’m sure many of those are to come, but the guy had an amazing career dating as far back as 1958. It wasn’t until the early ’70s and the band Elf that the Ronnie James Dio the world knows and loves began to take shape. From there, he went on to front Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven and Hell. In short, if you’re not familiar with Ronnie’s discography then you’re missing out on some of the most essential and landmark rock and metal albums of all time.
I never got the chance to see Ronnie perform in person. Heaven and Hell came to nearby Detroit last summer but I didn’t go see them. It’s been a regret of mine ever since and obviously an even bigger regret now.
Dio has played a large part in my music obsession these last few years. His songs have dominated my playlist in the last year and because of this I’ve grown to feel a great connection and fondness for this man, who by all accounts, legitimately comes across as one of the nicest and most intelligent and articulated men in rock. No matter what band he was in at the very least you knew the album would be solid and it’s not hyperbole to say he’s one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time. No longer do I have a merely passing interest in all things Dio. He is one of my favorite singers and personalities in rock ‘n’ roll and Black Sabbath and Dio are two of my favorite bands of all time.
Literally just yesterday I was watching Dio’s Evil or Devine concert DVD courtesy of Netflix and now here I am writing about his passing. It’s all a bit hard to take. Ronnie had been battling stomach cancer since last year so I think everyone knew this outcome was a real possibility but it doesn’t lessen the impact or shock.
I don’t really know what else to say other than rest in peace, Ronnie James Dio. You will be missed greatly.
UPDATE:
A number of my metal blog brothers have posted their own thoughts & feelings on this tragic situation. Here are the links. I will post more as they come to my attention:
- http://heavymetaladdiction.com/2010/05/16/r-i-p-ronnie-james-dio/
- http://demolishmag.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/dio-r-i-p-reflections-on-a-metal-legend/
- http://hardrockhideout.com/2010/05/16/rest-in-peace-ronnie-james-dio-july-10-1942-may-16-2010/
- http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2010/05/remembering-ronnie-james-dio.html
- http://metalodyssey.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/ronnie-james-dio-rest-peacefully-and-rock-with-the-angels/
- http://themetalfiles.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/thanks-senor-dio/
- http://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/dio-rip/
Here is one of my most favorite songs that Dio ever sang on– Black Sabbath’s “I”. Amazing vocal performance.
DIO – Sacred Heart
Dio – Sacred Heart (1985, Vertigo Records – West German Import)
1. “King of Rock and Roll” … 3:49
2. “Sacred Heart” … 6:27
3. “Another Lie” .. 3:48
4. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Children” … 4:32
5. “Hungry for Heaven” … 4:10
6. “Like the Beat of a Heart” … 4:24
7. “Just Another Day” … 3:23
8. “Fallen Angels” … 3:55
9. “Shoot Shoot” … 4:20
Band:
Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
Vivian Campbell – Guitar
Jimmy Bain – Bass
Vinny Appice – Drums
Claude Schnell – Keyboards
Producer: Ronnie James Dio
Alright! I own a Cold War-era import! I’m guessing the U.S. pressing (where it was released on Warner Bros.) is out of print? Doesn’t matter, owning imports gives you an extra bit of credibility and cool and this is one of the last few Dio album I needed to acquire to make my collection complete.
I’ve read a lot about this album not stacking up to Holy Diver or The Last in Line and that may be true but it doesn’t make Sacred Heart anything to stick your nose up at! In fact, this is pretty good stuff. It’s Dio! How can you go wrong? Just his voice alone makes his albums worth the price of admission and sure he’s criticized for using the same themes over and over again but honestly — what’s wrong with angels, dragons, rock ‘n’ roll and evil women? I’ve listened to this album 4 or 5 times in full since buying it and I haven’t gotten tired of it.
There are a few keyboard-heavy commercial efforts here. Seems a if Dio was trying to replicate “Rainbow in the Dark” with songs like “Rock ‘n’ Roll Children” and “Hungry for Heaven” but that’s okay because I happen to like the songs. They’d be better though without the keyboards and that goes especially for “Hungry for Heaven” which is a catchy rocker but it totally loses its balls when the keys come in.
Dio’s first two albums went platinum and this one only went gold (500,000 copies sold). None of his albums have been certified gold or platinum since. If this is the beginning of any popularity “downfall” for Dio there’s still more than a few good notes here for him to go out on. Quality certainly isn’t the issue as far as I’m concerned. Sacred Heart is a solid release in a long history of them from Dio.
In addition to being Dio’s last flirt with mainstream success, this was guitarist Vivian Campbell’s last album in the group. Vivian joined Whitesnake in 1987 and has enjoyed a cushy job in Def Leppard since 1992.
“Shoot Shoot” is often cited as one of Dio’s worst songs but I don’t see it that way. It’s not great and the lyrics are silly but I don’t think the song is terrible. I guess I’m just not that hard to please when it comes to Dio.
Highlights: “King of Rock ‘N’ Roll”, “Sacred Heart”, “Another Lie”, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Children”, “Hungry for Heaven”
DIO – Dream Evil
Dio – Dream Evil (1987, Warner Bros. Records)
1. “Night People” … 4:06
2. “Dream Evil” … 4:26
3. “Sunset Superman” … 5:45
4. “All the Fools Sailed Away” … 7:10
5. “Naked In The Rain” … 5:09
6. “Overlove” … 3:26
7. “I Could Have Been a Dreamer” … 4:42
8. “Faces in the Window” … 3:53
9. “When a Woman Cries” … 4:43
Band:
Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
Craig Goldy – Guitar
Jimmy Bain – Bass
Vinny Appice – Drums
Claude Schnell – Keyboards
Producer: Ronnie James Dio
I’m not really sure why I put off buying Dio’s solo albums for so long. I’ve never had a problem with the music or the man and I’ve become a HUGE Black Sabbath fan over the last two years. I basically figured Ronnie’s Stand Up and Shout collection was pretty much all I’d ever need but boy was I wrong! Dio is going to be one of those artists for me where I eventually plan on collecting all of his studio albums.
I bought this album the same time I bought Lock Up the Wolves. For whatever reason, I was drawn to Lock Up the Wolves first but now that I’ve backtracked chronologically to this album — I can say as much as I liked Lock Up the Wolves, Dream Evil is much better. Dream Evil is right up there with Holy Diver and The Last in Line as far as classic Dio goes. Perhaps if 1986′s Sacred Heart had stuck to the traditional Dio sound a bit more closely, Dio wouldn’t have already seen such quickly diminishing returns by the time this album was released.
Their really isn’t any filler to be found on this album in my opinion but I have to admit the album’s second single, “I Could Have Been a Dreamer”, is a guilty pleasure. Definitely the slickest most radio-ready song of the bunch but it peaked at No. 33 on the U.S. rock radio charts.
It’s a shame this album started Ronnie’s spiral into obscurity (though it was the gold-status Sacred Heart that did the damage, really) when it comes to the masses because this is a great heavy metal album that stands shoulder to shoulder with the group’s first two efforts.
Highlights: “Night People”, “Dream Evil”, “Sunset Superman”, “All The Fools Sailed Away”, “I Could Have Been a Dreamer”
www.ronniejamesdio.com
www.myspace.com/dioofficial
Buy It!
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CD Universe
DIO – Lock Up The Wolves
Dio – Lock Up The Wolves (2008, Reprise Records)
Original Release: 1990, Reprise Records
1.”Wild One” … 4:02
2.”Born on the Sun” … 5:39
3.”Hey Angel” … 4:59
4.”Between Two Hearts” … 6:27
5.”Night Music” … 5:05
6.”Lock Up The Wolves” … 8:30
7.”Evil on Queen Street” … 6:01
8.”Walk on Water” … 3:42
9.”Twisted” … 4:44
10.”Why Are They Watching Me” … 5:00
11.”My Eyes” … 6:34
Band:
Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
Rowan Robertson – Guitar
Teddy Cook – Bass
Simon Wright – Drums
Jens Johansson – Keyboards
Producer: Tony Platt and Ronnie James Dio
This album is from a reissue series called ‘Flashback’, a line of budget priced titles from artists and labels that fall under the giant umbrella of Warner Bros. Barnes & Noble’s website lists the label releasing this edition as Rhino Entertainment but all I see on the CD and in the liner notes is Reprise Records, so I’m still going with that. Doesn’t really matter though, since both Rhino Entertainment and Reprise are owned by Warner Bros.
To be honest, I never intended to buy this album. I’ve always read mixed reviews on it. For an album with mixed reviews, I never saw a price low enough to warrant the investment. Luckily, these Flashback titles are priced to sell at $5.99 so I couldn’t resist when I saw it at Barnes & Noble and figured it nothing else I’d be getting a cool piece of cover art. The insert folds out to reveal Dio posing with some hair band.
For my tastes, Dio albums (while good) can sometimes be a bit too slow. That’s not really the case here. This album was recorded and released when heavy metal was flashy and more often than not it was accessible to the mainstream as well. Therefore, this release find itself straddling the line between Dio’s typical brand of metal and a more “eighties” metal sound. The results are really enjoyable if not really amazing.
“Wild One” is a fast number and the best choice to open the album. “Born on the Sun”, “Lock Up the Wolves” (Does anyone else think of Back to the Future with those clocks ticking?) and “Hey Angel” are typically epic Dio songs. “My Eyes” is a fun nod to Dio’s past bands and songs. I’m usually a sucker for a song like this from veteran bands.
Definitely worth the $5.99 I paid for it and I think this is an underrated Dio album. I think it probably isn’t favored as much from Dio fans just because it’s a bit more flashy and polished than his albums are usually known to be. There’s some great guitar playing here from Rowan Robertson.
I would have like to have heard more from this line-up that consisted of former AC/DC drummer Simon Wright, wunderkind Rowan Robertson (who went on to do a series of instructional guitar videos and plays in various bands to this day) and Jens Johnasson (who has played in power metal band Stratovarius since 1995). Don’t ask me about Teddy Cook. I don’t know.
Highlights: “Wild One”, “Born on the Sun”, “Hey Angel”, “Night Music”, “Lock Up The Wolves”, “My Eyes”
DIO – Stand Up and Shout: The Anthology
Dio – Stand Up and Shout: The Anthology (2003, Rhino Records)
Disc One:
1. “Hoochie Koochie Lady” … 5:34
2. “I’m Coming Back for You” … 3:28
3. “Carolina County Ball” … 4:47
4. “Man on the Silver Mountain” … 4:39
5. “Starstruck” … 4:07
6. ” Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” … 4:21
7. ” Neon Knights” … 3:53
8. “Children of the Sea” … 5:34
9. ” Heaven and Hell” … 6:58
10. “Turn Up the Night” … 3:42
11. “The Sign of the Southern Cross” … 7:45
12. “The Mob Rules” … 3:15
13. “Voodoo (live)” … 5:30
14. “Sacred Heart (live)” … 6:28
Disc Two:
1. “Stand Up and Shout” … 3:18
2. “Holy Diver” … 5:51
3. “Don’t Talk to Strangers” … 4:55
4. “Straight Through the Heart” … 4:32
5. “Rainbow in the Dark” … 4:16
6. “We Rock” … 4:35
7. “The Last in Line” … 5:45
8. “Egypt (The Chains Are On)” … 7:01
9. “King of Rock and Roll” … 3:51
10. “Hungry for Heaven” … 4:12
11. “Dream Evil” … 4:24
12. “All the Fools Sailed Away” … 7:13
13. “Lock Up the Wolves” … 8:33
14. “Strange Highways” … 6:52
Musicians:
Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
(No, I’m not listing 30+ years worth of musicians. You know the bands, you know who played what.)
Spectacular career retrospective of Ronnie James Dio and it isn’t just his solo work that’s featured. This two disc collection covers his work in Elf, Rainbow and Black Sabbath as well. All that’s missing is a few doo-wop songs from his days with the Red Cap and the Prophets! Disc one covers his time in Elf, Rainbow and Sabbath while disc two focuses entirely on the band Dio.
This is hardly the first Dio compilation, but to my knowledge, it is the first to not focus exclusively on his solo career. All of the original songs by the original bands are here (meaning these aren’t re-recordings by Dio and his band), which is awesome. Getting the Sabbath songs on the album probably wasn’t too hard because Rhino is a part of Warner Bros. (the longtime label of Black Sabbath), but Elf was released under Epic Records (owned by Sony) and Rainbow comes from Polydor Records (owned by Universal). So Kudos to Rhino Entertainment for working with three separate labels to give us a truly wonderful career overview of one of rock’s most amazing singers.
It’s evident from “Hoochie Koochie Lady” to “Strange Highways” that Ronnie’s voice has not faltered through the decades. Ronnie James Dio defies time itself! In fact, if anything, his voice has better more rich and powerful as time soldiers on. The only gripe I can have about this album is that “Computer God” is the only song from Dehumanizer. That album was great! “Voodoo” is from Sabbath’s Live Evil and I’m assuming the live version of “Sacred Heart” comes from Intermission.
I wanted to pick this album up when it was first released because I was just then beginning to take an interest in Black Sabbath and Dio, but I held off because I think the album was $25-30 at the time and I wasn’t sure if I would even like it. I picked it up a year or two later at Walmart for $13. I’m sure this album can probably be found for that same price or maybe even less these days.
Sometimes referred to as The Dio Anthology: Stand Up and Shout or Stand Up and Shout: The Dio Anthology.
DIO – Magica & Killing the Dragon
Dio – Magica & Killing the Dragon (2007, Snapper Music – German Import)
Fantastic import because it is a two-disc set featuring Magica (2000) and Killing the Dragon (2002) and I picked it up online brand new for only $10. These albums had been on my “I”ll get to it someday” wish list since they were first released. I hadn’t had a full sampling of Dio’s music yet earlier this decade and I knew both albums had positive reviews at the time of their release. I couldn’t pass this up when I saw it listed. I like the album art, incorporationg both albums, but I would have also liked a more prominent representation of the original albums’ art. All we get are two TINY thumbnails of each album’s full cover on the back of the booklet insert!
Let’s break down each disc…
Disc 1: Magica (Original Release: 2000, Spitfire Records)
1. “Discovery” … 0:54
2. “Magica Theme” … 1:16
3. “Lord of the Last Day” … 4:04
4. “Fever Dreams” … 4:37
5. “Turn to Stone” … 5:19
6. “Feed My Head” … 5:39
7. “Ebeil” … 7:25
8. “Challis” … 4:25
9. “As Long as It’s Not About Love” … 6:04
10. “Losing My Insanity” … 5:04
11. “Otherworld” … 4:56
12. “Magica (Reprise)”… 1:53
13. “Lord of the Last Day (Reprise)” (Dio) … 1:44
14. “Magica Story” … 18:26
Band:
Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
Craig Goldy – Guitar
Jimmy Bain – Bass
Simon Wright – Drums
Scott Warren – Keyboards
Produced by: Ronnie James Dio
Magica is a concept album, a “science fiction tale of the future”. It’s good vs. evil and Dio’s singing about it. What more do you really need to know to get on board?
I personally think the album is a bit bogged down with instrumentals, reprises and spoken word pieces (there’s only 9 legit songs here), but all of the songs are rock solid and at least the tracks that are there only to flesh out the “concept” are fairly short. Well, “Magica Story” is extremely long. It’s Ronnie telling the tale of “Magica”. That’s interesting, but thankfully, it was included as the last track in order to skip it quite easily. =)
Overall, this is definitely one of Dio’s finer moments. I think it is similar to Master of the Moon in that it doesn’t have a lot of fast rockers, but these trudging numbers are so heavy and scream “classic Dio” so loud that it doesn’t even matter.
Veteran Dio guitarist Craig Goldy made his return with this album.
Highlights: “Lord of the Last Day”, “Fever Dreams”, “Turn to Stone”, “Feed My Head”, “Ebeil”, “Challis”
Disc 2: Killing the Dragon (Original Release: 2002, Spitfire Records)
1. “Killing the Dragon” … 4:25
2. “Along Comes a Spider” … 3:32
3. “Scream” … 5:02
4. “Better in the Dark” … 3:43
5. “Rock & Roll” … 6:11
6. “Push” … 4:08
7. “Guilty” … 4:25
8. “Throw Away Children” … 5:35
9. “Before the Fall” … 3:48
10. “Cold Feet” … 4:11
Band:
Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
Doug Aldrich – Guitar
Jimmy Bain – Bass, Keyboards
Simon Wright – Drums
Additional Musicians:
Scott Warren – Keyboards (“Before the Fall”)
King Harbour Children’s Choir — Chorus (“Throw Away Children”)
Produced by: Ronnie James Dio
This isn’t a concept album, but a bit of Dio’s fascination with the future & technology carries over from Magica as he has said the dragon in “Killing the Dragon” is meant to be technology.
Anyway, this album is another great moment in Dio’s career and one of his top albums, in my opinion. Not sure where guitarist Craig Goldy went, even though he has a few songwriting credits here. He played on Magica, skipped out on this album, then came back for 2004′s Master of the Moon. Doesn’t really matter though because his replacement here is the amazing Doug Aldrich. I was fortunate enough to catch Doug live with Whitesnake in 2009 and he’s gotta be one of the rock’s top active guitarists.
Back to this album, maybe Dio realized Magica was a plodding beast (heavy and solid, but plodding) because Killing the Dragon doesn’t have that problem. The tempo is a bit faster and some of Dio’s best numbers roost here. “Killing the Dragon” is a great opener and “Scream” is just too catchy. Who wouldn’t love a song featuring Dio screaming “SCREEEEAM”?
“Cold Feet” is my favorite song from the album (yes, I know it is a mid-tempo number). It’s got a great classic rock vibe and I like the use of keyboards in it.
An even better release than Magica. And Magica is nothing to stick your nose up at.
Highlights: “Killing the Dragon”, “Scream”, “Better in the Dark”, “Push”, “Guilty”, “Cold Feet”
