The problem of being responsible for a number of bona fide classics is that everything that comes subsequently is, rightly or wrongly, judged against them. Dio, whose superlative voice adorned three absolute classics (Rainbow’s Rising, Sabbath’s Heaven & Hell, and his own Holy Diver) was an entertainer in the classic mould, working hard and eventually releasing ten studio albums under his own name alone, four of which make up this limited-edition reissue package from BMG / Niji Entertainment.
Each of the four albums on offer here (1996’s Angry Machines, 2000’s Magica, 2002’s Killing The Dragon and 2004’sMaster Of The Moon) were previously remastered for vinyl and CD in 2020 and, while these sets appear to use the same source, they sadly leave out the excellent bonus discs found on those releases. As a result, the four-disc CD set is bare bones and of interest, really, only to those who did not pick up the previous editions.
Of more interest is the attractive LP set, which comes housed in a sideloading box with newly created art on five 180g colour LPs – Angry Machines on Halloween Orange w/ Black Marble, Killing the Dragon on transparent yellow w/black marble, Master of the Moon on electric blue w/milky clear marble, and finally, Magica, which is a double LP on transparent blood red & black smoke. Magika also comes with the only bonus cut in the set – the rare Electra single on cobalt blue 7″.
Angry Machines (1996)
Dio The Studio Album Collection: 1996 – 2004 kicks off with Angry Machines. Recorded in 1996, it was not brilliantly well-received at point of release and, to be fair, Angry Machines is a strange entry in the Dio canon, with the band seemingly unsure of how to proceed against the commercial onslaught of grunge. Although the album boasts a number of cracking tracks, it remains a divisive and somewhat scattershot record.
That said, Angry Machines starts very well indeed. Kicking off with the pummelling Institutional Man, Dio typically gives his all as his band lay down a series of punishing riffs. With a superlative performance from Vinnie Appice just as he was out the door, Institutional Man is a bruising start to an album that doesn’t quite manage to maintain such intensity. On the plus side, the first few tracks continue to impress. You have the rolling drum thunder of Don’t Tell The Kids, and the slow-paced Hunter Of The Heart, both tracks that suggest Angry Machines has a great deal to offer. In contrast, missteps like the elastic groove of Black (recalling Primus, of all things) upset the overall flow and, if the lengthy Stay Out Of Mind initially recalls early Soundgarden with its minor key guitars, the keyboard passage that haunts the mid section remains one of the album’s more questionable decisions. Of course, Dio is one of the few singers out there who could comfortably stand shoulder to shoulder with the late, great Chris Cornell, and the first four minutes of Stay Out Of Mind are classic Dio, but the track is in dire need of editing.
Thus, it goes with the album. For every Double Monday (short, sharp, and heavy), there’s a Big Sister (Dio does Helmet) waiting in the wings, making for an uneven listen. The eerie lullaby of Golden Rules may give way to nervy, riffing but the lengthy outro is a step too far; and, although the slow-paced, descending bass of Dying In America gets things back on track, Dio chooses to round the album off with the piano-led This Is Your Life, an anachronistic song that sounds remarkably out of place amidst all the down-tuned riffing.
Overall, while Angry Machines is not Dio’s finest hour, it is nowhere near as poor as some would have you believe. There are some great songs to be found here, but the overall album is poorly paced, making it the weakest of the four offerings presented here. 6.5
Magica (2000)
With a completely new line-up (including guitarist Craig Goldy, returning from Dream Evil), and licking his wounds in the wake of Angry machines, Dio unleashed Magica, a bold concept record that returned to the more mythical trappings of his early career. Written from the villain’s perspective, Magica was originally planned to be the first part of an epic trilogy (tragically cut short by Dio’s death in 2010), and the conceptual framework reinvigorated Dio, who delivers a performance of confidence and power.
Setting the scene, the short, spoken-word Discovery and the orchestral bombast of Magica Theme pave the way for the mid-tempo metal of Lord Of The Last Day, which gets the album proper underway. A decent, doom-laden start, it nevertheless pales in comparison to Fever Dreams. A cracking track in the vein of Holy Diver, it sees the band find their footing, marching in lockstep for the rest of the record. ext up, Turn To Stone sees Craig explore a bluesier side to his guitar playing, reminiscent of Gilmour’s work on Momentary Lapse Of Reason, before leading the band into the chugging main body of the song. It’s the sort of thing Dio could produce in his sleep, but it’s elevated by the voice of the man himself. A short, spoken-word intro paves the way for the dark, dirty Feed My Head, an album highlight that is, somehow, eclipsed by the symphonic majesty of Eriel, which features some glorious guitar work, cinematic strings and a structure reminiscent of Operation Mindcrime.
Kicking off the second half, Simon Wright’s gargantuan drums announce the slab of road rock that is Challis and, if obligatory ballad As Long As it’s Not About Love ultimately feels overegged, it still offers a wonderful opportunity to hear that voice set against a more stripped-down arrangement than found elsewhere on the album. Despite a ridiculous, renaissance intro, Losing My insanity proves to be classic Dio, as does the prowling Otherworld – one last dose of classic metal before Magica and Lord Of The Last Day are treated to short reprises, rounding out the album (the Magica Story proving absent here).
There is, however, the 7″ offering the set’s only bonus cut. Electra was the last song to be recorded by Dio’s band before his death and, although it’s a belting track, it’s also a painful reminder of what was lost on May 16th, 2010. It’s a worthy addition, but you can’t help but wish they’d been more generous with the extras given just how much material there is out there.
A significant step up from Angry Machines, Dio sounds invigorated by the conceptual framework and fantastic narrative, and his band more than step up to the plate to meet his demands. The resultant album is hugely enjoyable, with the only tragedy being that Dio never got to finish the proposed trilogy. 8
Killing The Dragon (2002)
Keeping Jimmy Bain (bass) and Simon Wright (drums) from the previous album, Dio appointed Doug Aldritch (Whitesnake) as the new guitarist for 2002’s Killing The Dragon.
With Magica having clearly refocused Dio and his band, Killing The Dragon has a tough, metallic sound that harks back to Holy Diver, and the title track gets the album off to a cracking start. Aldritch’s solo, rendered with great clarity within the mix, is something of a showstopper, announcing his presence with considerable, foot-on-the-monitor flourish. Keeping the pace taught, Along Came A Spider makes good use of Aldritch’s Whitesnake experience, with a bluesier touch augmenting the heavy metal thunder, whilst Dio delivers his vocal with all the power and authority he can muster. It’s a powerful opening that Killing The Dragon offers, make no mistake, and if such classic metal posturing was not entirely in vogue in 2002, it has certainly found its time now.
By the time the lengthy Scream comes into view, it’s clear that Dio and his band have hit their stride – it boasts a strong riff, a typically blistering vocal from Dio, and an addictive melody. The rather throwaway Better In The Dark passes quickly, which is as well, as it’s somewhat derivative. However, the monstrous ebb and flow of Rock And Roll, with its delicate acoustic introduction and echoes of Kashmir, more than makes up for it, as Dio pays tribute to his life-long muse. It’s an album highlight and, although Push, which came complete with a Tenacious-D-Featuring video clip, was the album’s hit, it’s neither as worthy as Rock And Roll nor Scream, suggesting that Spitfire were not entirely on the ball when it came to promoting the record.
Another fine track emerges next, with the slow-paced doom of Guilty, a song that serves as a precursor to the sound that Dio would craft with Heaven and Hell just a few years later. Next up, eerie synths and thunderous drums open the dark-hearted Throw Away Children, a suitably apocalyptic piece over which Dio provides a towering vocal. Even the addition of a children’s choir at the conclusion (usually a recipe for disaster) fails to derail things, the subtle mix meaning that it actually makes the track unnerving rather than syrupy. The pace picks up on the surging, Deep Purple-esque Before The Fall, and then Cold Feet rounds the album out. However, it’s not the most effective finale, with the band opting for a mid-paced plod that offers little to the overall flow of the record.
Killing The Dragon, as I recall, got something of a lukewarm reception upon its release, and it’s not without its faults. Where it hits its peak (Scream, Rock And Roll, Guilty and Throw Away The Children), it sees Dio at his bombastic best; but there are a few too many filler tracks that seem to pad out the album, and it’s certainly not as consistent as Magica. Nevertheless, it’s a worthy addition to any Dio collection. 7.5
Master Of The Moon (2004)
The final album in this set, Master Of The Moon sees another line-up shift with Craig Goldy (guitars) returning from the Magica line-up, and Jeff Pilson (bass) returning for his first album with Dio since Angry machines. The last studio album recorded under Dio’s own name, Masters Of The Moon is another album that seemed to suffer at the hands of the media, primarily because traditional heavy metal had fallen out of favour a touch back in 2004, but there’s a grit to the performance that deserved better.
Right from the start, with the whip-crack of One More For The Road, Dio and his band sound fired up and combative. Even better is the title track, a metallic beast with huge, doom-laden riffs and a typically compelling vocal. Built around a surprising, AC/DC-esque riff, The End Of The World, has a bluesy swagger to it, but it feels a little out of place and pales in comparison to the chugging Shivers, a track that hits a headbanger’s dream of a groove towards its conclusion, with only the decision to fade the track down a minor disappointment. Scott Warren (keyboards) comes into his own on The Man Who Would Be King, an initially mournful piece that goes on to recall Deep Purple at their heaviest by its conclusion.
An album highlight is the strange, keyboard-washed doom of The Eyes, a track that sees Dio experimenting with his core sound and delivering a strong piece in the process. The fast-paced Living The Lie is classic Dio, although I Am is rather more pedestrian, despite a convincing vocal performance. Death By Love, however, is a belter and Craig Goldy delivers one hell of a solo, more than making up for its lacklustre predecessor. The quality remains high to the very end and In Dreams concludes the album in fine style, bringing both it, and this box set to a strong close.
Master Of The Moon is an underrated album in Dio’s cannon and is ripe for reassessment. Although The End Of The World and I Am fill out the run time, the remaining eight tracks are pretty much classic Dio, with Shivers, The Eyes, and Death By Love all standing out as particular highlights. If you had lost your faith by 2004, head back and see what you missed, Dio was firing on all cylinders throughout this unsung period of his career. 8.5
Box Set
Honestly, this is a bit of a tough one. The bare bones CD set is basically only for those who have never encountered these four albums before, and who don’t want to shell out for the more expensive deluxe editions (which are still widely available). At £40 (at time of writing), you’re neither saving much, nor gaining anything, so it’s hard to recommend the set.
Of more interest is the vinyl edition, which boasts attractive coloured variants and the Electra single. It’s far from cheap, however, at £160, while the lack of extras make it very much a proposition for hardcore fans only.
Overall, this feels like a bit of a missed opportunity – had even one of the bonus discs (the absolutely stunning live disc from the Angry Machines reissue, for example) been included, it would have made the set an easier sell. As it is, it feels rather sparse a collection for so important an artist.
So, should you pick these up? If you’re really keen to have these four albums in a single package, then have at it; but if you’re a Dio fan looking to explore this period of his career, you’d be better placed (and probably better off), to track down the previously-released deluxe sets, especially for Angry Machines and Magica, both of which had generous live discs appended to them.
