Favorite Dio (band) album

Yeah, Dream Evil has some great songs but the mix...yikes.
I like Goldy's playing on there a lot too.

 

Bring Down The Rain is epic!

 

So odd seeing all the love for Lock Up The Wolves...people hated it when it came out!
I liked it...I like it a little less today. Wild One, Born On The Sun (maybe my favorite Dio tune!), Hey Angel and Lock Up The Wolves are great tunes, but the rest falls a bit flat.

 

I love Sacred heart. I don't get the hate at all for it. I agree that Shoot Shoot is a terrible song though.

 

Great mix on that album but the songs are so-so. I love My Eyes. He talks about his whole career.

 

Well said, Curve! Currently announcing itself with suitable, audible girth next door. {I'm currently flipping manically between Dio and Uriah Heep and then, rather inexplicably, Sammy Hagar's voice with the first Chickenfoot record which I've suddenly realised is addictive.}

 

Yeah, Lock Up the Wolves is where I quit completely.

I remember my friend bought the cassette and I looked it over and Dio had a completely different band and I was like, "that's it". I never really gave it a chance.

 

The band was great....saw that line-up live (with Yngwie opening!) too and Rowan was a monster guitarist.

 

Gave Lock Up the Wolves a spin after many years. Found it to be great! Dunno if my tastes changed or what, but back then I wasn't impressed enough to play it more than once or twice....

 

Lock Up The Wolves.
The music and sound quality is excellent.

 

Magica. IMO, the most consistent and powerful Dio album.

 

Yeah, the muddy mix screws up some great songs. But, that bass tone!

 

The Last In Line and Dream Evil. I can't pick between them so I choose both.

 

Magica definitely deserves retrospective scrutiny.

Like most if not all Dio's material, it has worn well and even those bouquets which initially resulted in an impromptu rejection, years later, reveal themselves to be slow burners of the highest order.

On this album, I still find myself baulking slightly at Goldy's tendency to indulge a staccato style rather than Campbell's more legato, fluid, type delivery of soloic smelthammer: however, he remains one helluva player and the 'dat-dat-dat' moments have become part of the Dio guitar signature and when overlaid by the all-consuming power of Dio's melodies, disdain is ameliorated. Even so, he doesn't entirely deny us (me!) the classic approach and then rapture resumes...

Ultimately, I keep coming back to the power and supreme majesty of that voice the likes of which I've never heard before or since.

I was spinning up disc 1 from the Inferno: Last In Live double CD a couple of nights back. As far as I'm concerned, everything else can do what it likes - it will forever be gazing up at RJD.



PERFECTION.

 

5 star masterpieces: Holy Diver, Last In Line
4.5 star- rock solid metal classics: Dream Evil, Sacred Heart
4 stars- Lock Up The Wolves, Killing The Dragon, Magica
3.5 stars- pretty much the rest

I will say that Sacred Heart, Dream Evil and Lock Up The Wolves are highly underrated and INCREDIBLE albums. For the more recent stuff I really enjoyed Killing The Dragon and Magica. If you have the opportunity I highly recommend picking up as much Dio vinyl as you can get your hands on. The full analogue sound is amazing on all of these metal classics!

 

So the other night I got a beautiful copy of Dream Evil vinyl in the mail and promptly cleaned it and put it on the turntable. Side one of that record is a masterpiece. Sunset Superman never sounded stronger. All The Fools Sailed Away is mind blowing. Dio's voice may have never been better than it was captured here. The difference between the Dream Evil Cd and Dream Evil vinyl is staggering. The vinyl hits you like a Mike Tyson right! Same goes for the vinyl of the first three albums. Lock Up The Wolves is on the way from the U.K.!

 

Good man.

The reality is that these records needs some serious chewing on, especially the later material; it seems that Ronnie was no slouch at the production helm and as the sound quality gets better through his career, the crankability coefficient remains favourable.

 

Just wanted to add that Lock Up The Wolves sounds fantastic on vinyl. Highly recommended!

 

Holy Diver for me. What a great singer Ronnie was.

 

Holy Diver

 

Lock Up The Wolves

It was Kick-as* then, and it's still fun to listen to. A great, driving album.

 

Last in Line.

 

I heard Strange Highways for the first time last night which is pretty amazing considering I have every Elf, Rainbow, Sabbath, and almost all Dio albums (vinyl and CD) in my collection. That is a rock solid and HIGHLY underrated album. I was lamost blown away by how great it sounded. I have not yet heard Angry Machines except for the last incredible piano song. Also, have to generally agree that the Rainbow and early Sabbath output is really hard to beat. I like Killing the Dragon but it falls in the time period with the worst production and horribly compressed mastering (2001-2006- Rush Vapor Trails, Metallica Death Magnetic, etc.). Unfortunately that hurts the rating for me.