Dio
The Very Beast of Dio

December 2000
Released: 2000, Rhino
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: EvilG

Ronnie James Dio - vocalist, legend, metal god!! This man needs no introduction, and if you've never heard of him after him being in the music biz in the order of 40 years, then you are not much of a metalhead!! This CD covers Dio's career throughout the 80's. Besides that oversight (possibly due to legal reasons?) this CD serves as an excellent introduction into Dio's past catalog. There is a definite focus here on Dio's classic works: four songs are from his first solo CD Holy Diver from 1983, three songs are from his second CD The Last In Line (1984), four songs from the 1985 album Sacred Heart, one song from Rainbow (taken from the way cool live Dio CD from 1986 entitled Intermission), two songs from 1987's Dream Evil, and finally one song each from Lock up the Wolves and Strange Highways. I'm glad the focus here is on his older material even though the Rainbow section of this tribute is lacking not to mention Elf or Sabbath? 80's Dio represents the highpoint of his solo career both in terms of the music that was made and in it's popularity. With Dio's new album, Magica, he is getting back to where he once was. Don't get me wrong, I like albums like Lock Up The Wolves very much, it's just that those slow plodding songs are not what get me going. There's not much that needs to be said here, this is something for the new fan and something for us long time Dio fans to reflect back upon with hope for even more.



Hot spots on this first Dio "Beast Of" include: Holy Diver, The Last In Line, Rock 'n Roll Children and Man On The Silver Mountain. It's all first-rate traditional heavy metal and there will hopefully be much more to come!! Long live heavy metal!



THE VERY BEAST OF DIO

STAND UP AND SHOUT

HOLY DIVER

RAINBOW IN THE DARK

STRAIGHT THROUGH THE HEART

WE ROCK

THE LAST IN LINE

MYSTERY

KING OF ROCK AND ROLL

SACRED HEART

HUNGRY FOR HEAVEN

ROCK 'N' ROLL CHILDREN

MAN ON THE SILVER MOUNTAIN

DREAM EVIL

I COULD HAVE BEEN A DREAMER

LOCK UP THE WOLVES

STRANGE HIGHWAYS