What is there to be said about Ronnie James
Dio, that hasn't been said? Not much eh?
To me
Dio is one of the biggest voices in heavy rock and heavy metal along with
Jorn Lande, David Coverdale and Daniel Gildenlöw. One thing about
Dio; He's been there from the start of hard rock/metal with Elf, later on
Rainbow and Sabbath, only to form his own band DIO who made one of the most influential albums with the debut Holy Diver, and he still rocks on. Anyone who has seen him live lately will know that for a fact.
When talking about DIO, Holy Diver along with Last in Line will be the two albums that always will be regarded as the DIO classics, and that is understandable, but for me Strange Highways is the best and most heavy album that DIO has ever made.
Dio's voice has never sounded this evil or divine.
The guitar work, like on all DIO albums deserves to get a special spot in any review, and on Strange Highways Tracy G is the 6-stringed hero, and what a magnificent job he does. Tracy G uses a lot of effects in his sound, but he makes good use of them, he's just a joy to listen to.
But also the great Vinny Appice on drums and Jeff Pilson on bass make the music a treat for the ears.
Jesus Mary & the Holy Ghost kicks off this the hardest of the DIO crusades in true DIO manner; a quick one, but with it's ultra heavy verse the tune is kept all dark and mean. The track sort of has two parts: The verse and chorus is part one, but then there's this other piece with a little bit of neo classic tendencies and a super solo, only to get down and dirty again when they unleash the beast and goes back into the verse.
Firehead continues in true DIO manor, a slow monster heavy one, that just rocks, and man it rocks!
Strange Highways is the heaviest and darkest DIO tune to date. Strange Highways has an atmospheric Holy Diver type beginning, and when
Dio sings with passion: "
It's a crazy world we live in, and I'm leaving it today, for another institution, where crazy people pray. Every time I climbed a mountain and it turned into a hill, I promised me that I will move on, and I will...", you just get the feeling that something very evil is lurking underneath all this prettiness, and that is exactly what is lurking, pure evil heavy heavy metal! This is just such a huge track, big, slow and mean the way only DIO can.
With DIO you just have to have a rock n' roll track, there's no avoiding it, and though it's very heavy
Hollywood Black sure is a rocking tune, in the classic DIO way.
In
Evilution you hear the best screaming, while Tracy G creates the feeling of a new beginning, and from time to time this sort of has a Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin) feeling to it, but it never looses its evilness. This tune has a little bit of a different feel to it, because just like with the Zeppelin thing, DIO experiments a little more with different sounds and sections.
Pain is just what the title suggests another one that hurts, and you really feel the pain in
Dio's vocals.
One Foot in the Grave is another rocker and perhaps not as heavy as the past 6 tracks, but good none the less. A new thing in this tune is that
Dio uses effects on his vocals in the chorus, and oddly enough it doesn't sound cheesy, it just works.
The quiet beginning and very passionate singing lets you think that
Give Her the Gun is a DIO ballad, and well, so is the verse that builds up, but to what? Well I wrote in the beginning that to me this is DIO's most evil and divine album, and this track just has tons of both, because
Give Her the Gun just has one mean chorus where
Dio really opens up and lets his amazing voice ring out. The tune is very slow and heavy but picks up a bit for the solo, where it gets up and rocks, but then it gets back down and starts to build up again. You can compare this tune to Last in Line, but it has way more chunk and balls, just amazing!
Blood from a Stone is another great DIO tune, the way only DIO does it. It doesn't stand out but it just gets the job done, and it's a great job!
Here's to You, well here we go another quick one, and this time with the reminiscence of the 80's and hair metal with a call and reply chorus.
Bring Down the Rain is the final track on this massive album, and DIO closes in style with another classic sounding tune. DIO doesn't let you go easy, because this is one of those tunes you cannot escape, so if you haven't succumbed to Strange Highway yet then
Bring Down the Rain will bring you down, and all there's left to do is rock along!
To sum it all up, I just cannot to save my life understand why this isn't one of those classic DIO albums you hear people talk about. I said in the beginning, and I'll say it again, to me this is the best DIO album to date. Unlike other DIO albums you get the feeling that some tunes are filler, to keep the album above 40 min. On this album you just don't get that feeling, it may not have hits like Holy Diver,
Rainbow in the Dark, The Last in Line or Don't Talk to Strangers but it's strength is in its darkness and heaviness but also in the quality of each track. So which two words describe this album the best?
Yes you got it, evil and heavy!
Written by
Morten Thursday, July 28, 2005
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