Review: "Ronnie James Dio: This is Your Life"

Any tribute to Ronnie James Dio begins with a conundrum for the artists involved. It’s Ronnie James Dio, one of the greatest singers to ever grace rock music, an iconic voice that can’t be duplicated. So the vocalists here have a tough job right out of the gate. But it’s all for a good cause, as proceeds from Ronnie James Dio: This Is Your Life will benefit the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.

Anthrax kicks off the album on a high note with a faithful rendition of the Black Sabbath classic “Neon Knights.” I often give Joey Belladonna a lot of grief when I write about Anthrax, but I also believe in giving credit where it’s due, and he holds his own. That’s no small feat, considering he’s being compared to Dio.

Something Borrowed: "Temple of the King," Angel Dust/Rainbow

If you're going to cover a song by the mighty Ronnie James Dio, you'd better bring it. If you're going to cover one of my favorite songs by Dio, you'd better blow me away. Much to my surprise, Angel Dust did just that with this version of Rainbow's "Temple of the King."

Review: Rainbow, "Live in Munich 1977"

If you have any doubt who the greatest singer in the history of metal, heck, maybe in the history of rock ‘n’ roll is, just pop this DVD into your player and fast forward to the second song.

When Ronnie James Dio belts out the vocal of Deep Purple’s “Mistreated,” an in-his-prime Robert Plant bows to the mastery and original singer David Coverdale quickly ducks back behind the curtain.

There’s so much power in the performance that song alone would be worth the price of this movie, but then you get seven more.

Don’t think that just because there are only eight tracks you’re getting cheated either. There’s a lot of free form jamming and improvisation. They pull 12 minutes out of “Mistreated,” nearly 20 out of “Catch the Rainbow,” around 16 each out of “Man on the Silver Mountain” and “Do You Close Your Eyes?” and a whopping 27 minutes from “Still I’m Sad.” The last one also includes extended drum and keyboard solos.

Review: Adrenaline Mob, "Coverta"

I kind of chuckled when I saw that Adrenaline Mob had chosen three Ronnie James Dio-related songs for its eight-song covers EP, but now I get it.

As a fan of Symphony X, I knew that Russell Allen was a hell of a singer. In fact, I thought he was sorely underutilized on much of Adrenaline Mob’s debut album Omerta. When I played the version of “Stand Up and Shout” on Coverta, I had to do a double-take and make sure that I had not accidentally clicked on the Dio version.

Allen pretty much channels the legend on the track, and follows suit on the cover of Rainbow’s “Kill the King” and Black Sabbath’s “The Mob Rules,” though those don’t hit as close as “Stand Up and Shout.”

Review: Dio, "Holy Diver" (Audio Fidelity remaster)

Believe it or not, there was once a time when metal was just metal. You didn’t have the death and black metal guys looking down their noses at the power and traditional metal fans and vice versa. You didn’t have publicists mangling language to create a subgenre like “blackened jazz thrash death polka” so their band could be the only act in that category. Metal just was.

I miss those days, and I get exasperated with my metal brethren who so often wall themselves up inside one subgenre and insist on bickering and fighting about what’s “true metal” or not. You can throw out a band name on many message boards and watch chaos ensue, but there are a few rare albums in history that you’re not likely to get much argument about. This is one of them.

Review: Flametal, "Heavy Mellow"

I’m a bit of a collector of offbeat recordings. I love strange stuff like (good) parodies, metal tunes covered by groups in other genres (and vice versa), metal Christmas tunes, etc. Given that, and the fact that I’ve always been a closet fan of flamenco guitar, Flametal’s Heavy Mellow was a must-listen for me.

Review: Jorn, "Dio"

Unlike the avalanche of Ronnie James Dio tributes that are sure to be headed our way in the coming months, Jorn Lande’s tribute was begun some time ago, when the metal legend was still very much alive. That, to me, puts it in a different league as a heartfelt tribute to the man and his music rather than a cold cash grab taking advantage of a tragic loss. That’s felt from start to finish on a record that is respectful, celebratory and would have been just as poignant if released before Dio’s death.

Jorn takes an interesting approach in selecting the songs, opting for songs that are meaningful to him rather than the “big” songs that might be expected.

Ronnie James Dio, 1942-2010

There’s no shortage of great things to say about metal legend Ronnie James Dio based purely on his body of work, from his earliest recordings with Elf and Rainbow, to his multiple stints with Black Sabbath and his stellar solo career. Inarguably one of the greatest voices in metal and the guy credited with bringing the “horns” hand gesture into the metal world (his superstitious grandmother used it to ward off the evil eye) Dio made the kind of impact on his genre that few artists achieve.

But in the hours after learning about his death, it isn’t so much his music that I keep thinking about, but a moment in the summer of 2002 when I had the pleasure and privilege of spending about half an hour with him.

Review: Dream Theater, "Black Clouds and Silver Linings"

I'm a little late in reviewing this, but I wanted to give it some time to sink in. I bashed Dream Theater's last record on a quick review, and I ended up quite liking it. I wanted to make sure that didn't happen this time.

On "Black Clouds and Silver Linings," Dream Theater is back in full prog mode. You can tell that by the tracklist. The CD is packed about as full as it can get with music, and there are only six songs, the longest, "The Count of Tuscany," checking in at nearly 20 minutes, the shortest, "Wither," clocking about five and a half.

I apologize in advance for the length of this review, but there's so much going on that it's practically impossible to write a complete review that's brief. There are just too many twists, turns and shifts. If they wrote songs like most bands, they could get six or seven out of each of theirs.

First the good:

Album opener "A Nightmare to Remember" gets things off to a rolling start with a heavy opening that borders on extreme metal with its crunching guitars and rolling drum line until the keyboards kick in. Vocalist James LaBrie takes on a dark, cutting delivery that reminds me of Jon Oliva in places. The tune slows down about the four-minute point, but remains dark for the next few minutes. We come out at about the 7:30 mark with a bluesy, rocking, jaw-dropping solo from John Petrucci that leads to an extended bit of madness on his part. Drummer Mike Portnoy makes a vocal appearance to give a deeper sound to a thrashy bit toward the end. The record's off and rolling to a good start.

"A Rite of Passage" is one of the less adventurous tracks on the record, but also one of my favorites. It's among the shorter tunes at around eight minutes, but features some more aggressive elements in the way of vocals and guitars. It's reminiscent of their one mainstream hit, "Pull Me Under," with a catchy chorus melody.

"The Shattered Fortress" is on the gnarly side for Dream Theater, which is a good thing. It opens with a heavy riff that moves into a melody with a feel reminiscent of some of the pirate metal bands popping up lately thanks in large part to the soaring keys of Jordan Rudess. It moves back to a thrash riff about two mintues in with Portnoy providing some snarled supporting vocals for Labrie. After a soft interlude where a deep spoken word bit (Portnoy again?) trades off with Labrie's vocals and finishes strong with a rolling heavy riff that leads to more histrionics from Petrucci.

The album is capped off with the epic "The Count of Tuscany," which while a bit too long, certainly shows off the band's skills. It opens with a heavy Rush influence before moving to an "Images and Words" feel. LaBrie's vocals here are in a very classic hard rock mode, and he uses the more aggressive vocals he's worked on recenlty here as well. The slow, atmospheric interlude that kicks in around the 10-minute mark probably could have been cut drastically from its four-minute run time and helped the song. A simple, Pink Floyd-ish acoustic piece follows that leads into a majestic close.

Now for the not-so-good. The ballad "Wither" is certainly the weakest link here. It's the most straightforward song and thankfully the shortest, and really doesn't have much excitement at all. "The Best of Times," despite some strong moments, is a bit too vanilla for my tastes as well, and goes on far too long at 13 minutes.

If you pick up the three-disc limited edition of the record, you'll also get a collection of cover songs that has some real fun in store. My favorite, unsurprisingly, is their fairly faithful cover of the underrated Iron Maiden tune "To Tame a Land." The Dixie Dregs' "Odyssey" gives the a chance to really put in a musical workout with its twists and turns. They pay tribute to a big influence with a cover of King Crimson's "Larks Tongues in Aspic Pt. 2," and rock out on Rainbow's funky "Stargazer." Perhaps one of the most interesting of the cover songs is a medley of Queen tunes, "Tenement Funster," "Flick of the Wrist" and "Lily of the Valley," and it doesn't disappoint. I like the fact that they chose three lesser known Queen numbers instead of a big hit. In fact, I like that about all of the covers, and I don't think there's a bad one in the bunch. It's well worth the few extra bucks for the limited.

It goes without saying that the musicianship here is impeccable and masterful. The band members continue to boggle the mind on all levels and frustrate wannabe musicians like myself who realize that, even if they spent the next 40 years locked in a room with their instrument, they'll never be that good.

In the end, I'm glad I gave the record some time to grow on me, as my initial impression was much the same as the last record. I still think there's a little too much "show off" on "Black Clouds and Silver Linings." Don't get me wrong, what Dream Theater can do is incredibly impressive, but I think that sometimes it comes at the expense of the song. It's not a record for casual listening on the drive to work (there are songs on here that would cover the morning drive, the afternoon drive and the next morning's drive), but like most of their efforts, something that needs to be experienced in full and digested.

Get "Black Clouds and Silver Linings" standard edition.

Get the 3-CD limited edition.

Interview: Ronnie James Dio

I'm a person just like everyone else," says heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio, almost shyly.

With more than three decades in the music industry - and a resume that includes influential stints with Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and the eponymous Dio - he has, in fact, earned the right to be called a legend.

But he seems a little uncomfortable with the tag.

"Perhaps I sing better and write better than a lot of people," Dio says, in a recent phone interview, "but I can't fix my television. I can't fix my car. I can't fix my plumbing. Does that make me better than the guy that can do all of those things? Absolutely not."

Still, he's Ronnie James Dio. So he's honored by the adulation - but he isn't about to stand pat.

"If people consider me to be a legend, I think that's wonderful - and I thank them all for it," he said. "But any time you start believing the people who call you a legend, your career suffers. You have a tendency to rest on those laurels, and that's something I never want to do."

Dio fronted Elf, then left for Richie Blackmore's band, then left for Black Sabbath, then left for a wildly successful early solo career - all within the span of the decade between 1974-1984. He's not done, either: Dio's latest album "Killing the Dragon" was released in May, and he's also embarked on a summer tour with a pair of other legendary bands, Deep Purple and the Scorpions.

Call this new tour a family affair: Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover produced the first album by Elf. Blackmore was a member of Deep Purple before forming Rainbow with Dio. Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan replaced Dio when he left Black Sabbath in 1982.

"They're all dear friends," says Dio, who toured with the Scorpions years ago, too. "It will be wonderful. It's like being out on the road with family."

WORKING IN CONTRAST
Dio will be touring in support of an album that's closer to the sound fans expect from him. After an experimental period, Dio's last two albums have been a return to his metal-pioneer roots.

"Magica," released in 2000, was a concept album, which Dio says served to reintroduce fans to the his penchant for fantasy-based songs. The CD also marked an instrumental homecoming for former Dio guitarist Craig Goldy and for bassist Jimmy Bain, who had been in Dio and Rainbow.

"We had done some things before 'Magica' that I think were very confusing to people who grew up as Dio fans," he says. "It was necessary for me to do an album that made people say: `That's got to be Dio. Only he can do an album like that.'"

While Dio, and fans in general, were happy with that album, he wanted his latest to be a contrast to the epic scope of "Magica."

"I didn't want 'Killing the Dragon' to be another conceptual piece," says Dio, born Ronald James Pardovana in 1949. "It's an album driven by songs, not story or concept. It seems to have worked pretty well. I think this is the album most people expected."

He regards "Killing the Dragon," as a classic Dio album - in the tradition of "Holy Diver" and "Last in Line," two fan favorites.

In fact, 1983's "Holy Diver" seems to be the benchmark for Dio - the album fans always compare his latest work with. He says that's been frustrating on occasion, but he's happy that the first Dio album has so much resonance.

"It's nice to have that piece of music as a standard, something you have to strive to reach. I think that makes you better," he says.

On "Killing the Dragon," Dio has mingled a few fantasy-themed songs with others that take a look at issues of the real world. One stands out: "Throw Away the Children," originally planned as a benefit song for one of Dio's favorite charities, Children of the Night.

The singer has worked with the organization, whose goal is to rescue runaway teens from prostitution, for many years. But when the song was finished, Children of the Night decided they wanted something more uplifting.

"There are two ways you can deal with these things," Dio says. "You can put pictures of starving children on the television … or you can be positive and say `we're going to overcome this.' My way was to smack people in the face with the despair and depression of it all."

The lyrics of the song are dark and reflect Dio's own experiences working with the charity. He says the lyrics may be disturbing, but the reality is even moreso. "I know all of these kids very well, and I've seen a lot them die from HIV(-related illnesses) at 16 years old," he says.

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
"Throw Away the Children" wasn't Dio's first encounter with charity work. Back in the 1980s, when some of the biggest pop stars got together to record "We Are the World," a lot of hard rockers wanted to help as well, but weren't invited to participate. In response, Dio helped organize "Hear 'n' Aid," a heavy metal benefit album. That album, now out of print, will be repackaged with a new "Hear 'n' Aid" project to benefit Children of the Night in the near future.

All of this charity work might seem out of character for someone with Dio's reputation. He has often been associated with darker impulses - beginning perhaps with 1980's "Heaven and Hell."

It's no matter to Dio.

"I know what I am, and I've always known what I am," he says. "I think the reputation started with Black Sabbath. Here's this band that was purportedly the most evil thing on the face of the Earth - and it was mainly because of the name. I know just how un-evil those guys actually are."

Fans of the television show featuring his Black Sabbath predecessor Ozzy Osbourne probably agree. Dio, for his part, liked the rest of the band enough to rejoin them a decade later for 1992's "Dehumanizer."

A lot of the criticism, Dio says, may stem from the fact that he's never defended himself. He'd rather let people draw their own conclusions.

"Instead of defending themselves, (Black Sabbath) didn't say anything about it," he says. "They just let people listen to the music and make their own judgments. That's what I try to do."

Dio says that anyone who finds evil in his music is obviously looking at it the wrong way. In fact, he points to lyrics from "Heaven and Hell:" "The devil is never a maker/the less that you give, you're a taker."

"I think anyone who listens to my songs or Sabbath's songs realizes that they were songs telling you to beware of evil," he says. "We were not saying `here comes the devil, he's a great guy.' It's exactly the opposite."

For fans who like the fantasy side of Dio's music, there's another treat on the way in the future. He planned the "Magica" concept as a trilogy, and he hopes to put out the next two installments as a double CD. He also hints that there might be a novelization of the concept in the works.

"That's something I'd planned to do, but unfortunately time is a consideration," he says. "It takes a long time to plan and write a book, maybe a year or more. If I ever have that year, I'm planning on doing it."

Dio is also working on an autobiography, one that is partially finished. He'd like to get the writing projects done before he retires, because he says, "when I retire, that will be it for me."

For now, however, the concept of quitting seems foreign. "I wouldn't know what (retirement) is; I've never even taken a vacation, because I feel too guilty about it," Dio says. "I think people will let me know when it's time to retire, and I'll know when my talent's diminished. But I don't see that in my future at all."

Things are simpler now for Dio, who fronted one the of the early 1980s' more dramatic heavy metal acts - complete with explosions, giant dragons and lasers.

"I'm doing what I love," he says, "and that's the greatest gift I've ever gotten."