Customer Reviews

Very Beast of Dio

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

THE BAND (over the years): Ronnie James Dio (vocals, keyboards), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Tracy Grijalva (guitar), Craig Goldie (guitar), Rowan Robertson (guitar), Jimmy Bain (bass), Jeff Pilson (bass), Teddy Cook (bass), Claude Schnell (keyboards), Jens Johansson (keyboards), Vinny Appice (drums), Simon Wright (drums).

THE DISC: (2000) 16 tracks in chronological order clocking in at approximately 78 minutes. Included with the disc is an 18-page booklet containing a 15-page band intro with numerous photos, song titles/credits, what songs came from which albums, and original album cover artwork of each of Dio's releases over the years. This compilation covers the Dio solo years from 1983-94. Digitally remastered sound. Label - Warner Bros / Rhino.

ALBUM REPRESENTATION: Holy Diver (4 songs), Last In Line (3), Sacred Heart (4), Intermission (1 - live), Dream Evil (2), Lock Up The Wolves (1), Strange Highways (1).

COMMENTS: A great compilation here, though far from complete. A double-disc would have been better suited to cover these solo albums (there is a double-disc collection called "Stand Up & Shout - The Dio Anthology" 2003 with 29 tracks - but, it covers his entire career including Elf and Black Sabbath). Every track on "Beast" is deserving... except perhaps "Man On A Silver Mountain" which is a song written by Dio when he was with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (a great song, but just seems oddly out of place here)... but at only two-and-a-half minutes long, it's forgivable. I noticed three questionable calls here, in 1. - no songs from "Angry Machines" (1996) or "Magica" (2000). "The Beast Of Dio" was released in October of 2000, and "Magica" was released in March of 2000... so it was possible to include something from "Magica" here. As bad or weird as these two albums might have been, at least one song from each should have been included; 2. - the generous selections from "Sacred Heart" (4)... one or two songs too many in my opinion; and 3. - glaring omissions of some classic Dio tracks - i.e. "Egypt (The Chains Are On)", "Wild One", "One Night In The City", "Don't Talk To Strangers", "Jesus, Mary & The Holy Ghost", and perhaps one of my all-time favorites of his "Evilution". Maybe Dio will get another chance to make a 'Best Of' double-disc featuring ALL his solo works - including "Angry Machines", "Magica", and his more recent "Killing The Dragon" (2002) and "Master Of The Moon" (2004). As for "Beast" - not a weak tune on the disc. 7 of the songs here are from "Holy Diver" and "Last In Line" - early Dio's masterpieces. The original line up of guitarist Vivian Campbell, bassist Jimmy Bain, and drummer Vinny Appice have proved to be both classic and timeless. "Beast" is a nice intro to Ronnie James Dio, though far from complete (4.5 stars).

A very good compilation by Rhino records. Gives a good overview of Ronnie James Dio solo career. The emphasis of the compilation is on his first 3 solo albums, Holy Diver, Last in Line and Sacred Heart which contribute 11 of the 16 tracks. Would have been nice to have a bit more songs from the latter studio albums to give a better view of Dio's progression during the years. Some very good songs from the latter years have been excluded but this compilation gives newcomer to Dio a very good indication of what the fuss is all about. There is not one week track on this album. Its starts of with a blast with Stand Up and Shout and never lets go till the last note on Strange Highways the last song of the album. Its nice to see Dio's comeback. He deserves all the success he gets. If you new to Dio start with this album or Holy Diver. You'll be hooked.

Ronnie James Dio was recently given an entitlement all his own in a heavy metal magazine, when they were profiling genres of 80's metal. They christened Dio with the phrase "Dragon Rock" and praised his solo debut "Holy Diver" as an album worthy of a category all its own. When listening to this collection of Ronnie James Dio's namesake band, it's easy to hear why he rates such a plaudit. His voice is so completely unique in rock, that it deserves to be mentioned along with such other perfect metal/rock voices like Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant and Rob Halford.

It made those first two Dio albums, "Holy Diver" and "Last In Line" 80's must haves. After splitting from latter day Black Sabbath once he'd given them a commercial shot in the arm, Dio teamed up with axe-hero Vivian Campbell and mustered two albums worth of anthemic, dark rock. His band also contained one of the all time great drummers, Vinnie Appice. It made for powerful sounding music, which found the core band in peak form through the first three albums and such classics as "Hungry For Heaven" and "Rainbow In The Dark," and also those three albums' title tracks.

Unfortunately, after Campbell's departure, the albums became a little spotty, and with the advent of hair metal and (by the time of 1994's "Strange Highways") grunge, dated sounding. Several of the better cuts make up "The Beast's" final four, though I would have wished for "Lock Up The Wolves'" titular song. But for 16 tracks of some of the best singing and playing the 80's had to offer, Ronnie James Dio and "The Beast Of Dio" deliver some of the genre's finest.

Released October 3rd, 2000, The Beast of Dio was the first domestically available compilation for Dio, second if you count the German Import Diamonds.

Ronnie James Dio. That name has been in music for over 40 years, When Dio got his start in a local band called the Electric Elves, later changed to Elf. After doing to albums with Elf, R. J. Dio left Elf to concentrate on harder rock, instead of the folky stuff he was doing, so joining up with Ritchie Blackmore, guitarist of Deep Purple, Dio and Blackmore formed Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, better known as Rainbow. Dio's popularity rose enormously as a vocalist while in Rainbow, and after only four albums with Rainbow, Dio joined the legendary Black Sabbath. There he recorded Heaven And Hell and Mob Rules, often praised as some of Black Sabbath's best records. After a dispute over the live album Live Evil, R. J. Dio left the band to begin a solo band. With Dio on vocals, ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain and ex-Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice, in addition to ex-Sweet Savage guitar shredder Vivian Campbell, Dio was set to rock the world! As the 80's went by, Dio released such critically acclaimed albums such as Holy Diver, The Last in Line, Sacred Heart, and Dream Evil, and as the new millennium came, Dio is still making music to this day! So how does The Beast of Dio, a compilation of the Mercury/Reprise label years, hold up? Read on to find out!

PROS-
-IN CHRONILOGICAL ORDER- Unlike most compilations, The Beast of Dio is in order so you can see the growth and changes of Dio.
-YOU GET ALL THE BIG HITS IF YOU'RE A CASUAL FAN- When you get the Beast of Dio, you can be expecting such radio hits as "Holy Diver", "Rainbow in the Dark", and "The Last In Line".
-MANY UNDERRATED MASTERPIECES ARE HERE!- Arguably some of Dio's best songs are the non-hits, and underrated songs such as "Stand Up And Shout", "Straight Through the Heart", "We Rock", "Dream Evil", and many others prove that theory right.
-THE BEAST OF DIO CONTAINS TWO AWESOME 90'S SONGS!- Although most compilations tend to overlook a bands less popular era, The Beast of Dio contains "Lock Up The Wolves" and "Strange Highways", some of Dio's best and darkest songs.
-CHEAP- Unlike other Dio compilations, The Beast of Dio is cheap and easy to find in any CD Store, including Best Buy and Circuit City.
-THE BEAST OF DIO HAS TWO AWESOME LIVE TRACKS- Although the label says there is only one live track, "King Of Rock N Roll" is also a live track along with Dio's cover of Rainbow's "Man On the Silver Mountain". Both these tracks rock and show Dio live and in their prime.
-GREAT LINER NOTES-Inside the CD Booklet, you'll find page after page of a Dio Bio, which documents their history and every album. Very informative and interesting read!

Cons-
-ALMOST NO MATERIAL FROM THE 90'S!- Although tracks like "Lock Up The Wolves" and "Strange Highways" are from the 90's, that is minimal at best. Albums such as Angry Machines, Magica, and Killing the Dragon get NO representation here, and that is disappointing!

Overall, this is one great compilation, and a great review of Dio's Glory Days. Although there is almost no material for the 90's, I won't deduct a star because there are at least TWO songs instead of none. I wish they would have done a Double-Set, but Oh Well, you don't always get what you want. Great for casual fans, but if you already own most of Dio's albums, there is really no reason to get this as there is nothing new here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! IF YOU ARE A CASUAL FAN OF DIO OR ARE INTERESTED IN HIM, PICK THE BEAST OF DIO OR STAND UP AND SHOUT: THE DIO ANTHOLOGY(MORE EXPENSIVE) TO START YOUR COLLECTION, AS THEY ARE EXCELLENT RETROSPECTIVES! WE ROCK!

Also Recommended:

Holy Diver-Dio
Diary of a Madman- Ozzy Osbourne
Powerslave- Iron Maiden

Thanks For Reading!

Tired of boring music that makes you yearn for the sweet caress of a nailgun after just a few listens? Like a good dose of the magical and mystical (unicorns, trolls, shadows, incomprehensible evil, etc.) with amazing hooks and Satan-rising riffs in your rock? Want all this from a 60-inch, gap-toothed arachnophobe?
Then this is your album, brother! When there's Dio, ya know it never brings me down!!

Ronnie James Dio might very well be the greatest heavy metal singer of all time. Sure, the younger singers like David Lee Roth and Vince Neil were more popular back then, and no one is as infamous as Ozzy, but Dio outranked them all in terms of passion and power. His music is life affirming, despite all the dark, evil imagery. The fact that Rhino collected his greatest songs on one disc is just as affirming. It's too bad there isn't a complete overview of Ronnie's career including his legendary Black Sabbath and Rainbow material. Regardless though, this CD is still a must-have for anyone curious about Dio or classic 1980's heavy metal. I truly envy the person hearing the brilliant and magical 'Rainbow In The Dark' for the first time.

Pretty evenly spead out between the Holy Diver through Dream Evil Era, which covers 12-13 tracks. A good investment for casual fans,

I bought this album at a local music store at a low price. At first I really did'nt like it, but after a while I grew to love it enough to give it 5 stars. I think Ronnie James Dio is one of the most telented guys on earth. The songs are power metal meets classic metal like Black Sabbath and Rainbow. I plan to buy many more Dio CDs. This band can really put the heavy in heavy metal, as the sticker suggests. I would highly reccomend this album for metal newbies, since in pretty much sums up every meaning of the word metal in every moment on headbanging.

Oh man, this is my idol. Every song! EVERY SONG! Every song is about night, or nightmares, or winter nights, or flying into the night, or demons in the night, or ghosts in the night. YOU ARE MY SAVIOUR, DIO! Stand up and shout is just a pounding night song. Holy Diver has the wind of night effect, Rainbow in the DARK(Dark as night!) has the ancient keyboard line, this has it all! LONG LIVE DIO! All hail the man on the silver mountain!

Made in USA in 2000, Serial# R2-79983, Playing Time 78:42

If you don't have the 1992 compilation entitled "Diamonds", then this compilation is for you. It's packed with solid, powerful rockers. If you already have "Diamonds", then you already have 9 of the tracks on this CD.

This compilation is co-produced by RJD himself, and I must say that even though it focuses a lot more on his first 3 albums, I would have done the same: I find his earlier work much more creative (lyrically, and definitely musically) than "Lock Up Of The Wolves" and "Strange Highways", which are heavy but slow and pounding, a bit like very early Black Sabbath.

The songs are presented chronologically, which clearly shows the trend in his musical direction, at least up to "Strange Highways". Because of this, I suggest you don't press the "shuffle" or "random" button when airing this. His latest right now is "Magica" which brings us back in time (both thematically and sonically), but that's a subject for a different review.

Compared to another good compilation that's out there called "Master Series", what you get here are the full-length versions (except track 12 which is part of a medley); "Master Series" presented, out of the 18 tracks on it, 12 "edited" versions.

If you don't own any of DIO's albums, shame on you! I'm not sure whether you should get "The Very Beast", or start with his first album, "Holy Diver". Either way, you'll probably get hooked...