Dio

Dio – Angry Machines – 1996 Dio left Warner Brothers. Or he was dropped. I don’t know. I don’t really care. This album seems to double down on the core. These aren’t songs, per se, as much as they are exercises in dark, metallic, apocalyptic constructs. Ho hum. Been here, Continue Reading

Dio – Strange Highways – 1995 Metallica really invigorated the medium, didn’t they? All that 80s pop-metal posturing has been tossed out the window in the 90s as bands like Sabbath, Ozzy and Dio go for a harder and harder sound. Strange Highways opens, as so many Dio records do, Continue Reading

Dio – Lock Up the Wolves – 1990 This record explodes with power at the outset. “Wild One” is a barnburner and makes me just hope that the rest of the album can keep up with it. It’s more likely a testament to new guitarist Rowen Robertson than RJ, honestly. Continue Reading

Dio – Dream Evil – 1987 At this point I have to say: Whatever metal has transformed into, it’s not pretty, it’s not fun, it’s kind of boring. It’s the same thing over and over and over again. No wonder it was killed so easily by, well, musicians who wrote Continue Reading

Dio – Sacred Heart – 1985 Amping up his attempt at commercial viability, RJ Dio’s last album with Vivan Campbell is a mixed bag. Every metal cliche is present from declaring himself a King of Rock and Roll to super fast licks to cliche’s abounding during the era of Spinal Continue Reading

Dio – The Last in Line – 1984 I like this record. I don’t expect anything more from it than it is prepared to give. Taking all he’s learned from Rainbow, Elf and Black Sabbath, Ronnie James Dio made the album of his life with the previous Holy Diver. Why Continue Reading

Dio – Holy Diver – 1982 Opening with “Stand Up and Shout” A shredtastic offering that uses all the things that I’ve come to adore in metal (exceptional energetic playing) and none of the things I don’t (fantasy mythology), Dio’s first solo record is a call to arms from the Continue Reading