Its been a bad combination of work and my band plus the fact its hard to comment on the later albums because I haven't listened to them much. I'm taking the next few to work with me tonight, expect my next one by tommorow.

DIO RULES!!! DIO!!!





OOOO WWOOAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!

Inferno: Last In Live

Pretty good live album. This was his first full length live album I believe?

Sounds more natural than the Intermission EP. I'm not sure if thats because it was overdubbed or what, but I found myself enjoying this one alot. Tracy G sounds very excited to be playing these songs and i've seen alot of people say hes a weird guitar player, but I think that ads to his charisma, it doesn't always work though as I talk about later.

Sometime though i've heard alot of live stuff where the guitar player sounds very on autopilot, but I can tell without even seeing the videos that his musicians are having alot of fun.

The first two songs sound fantastic. I loved the original studio version of Jesus, Mary, Ect and theres even more energy in this version. The transition to the next song Straight Through the Heart was very cool, I think this song first his "weird" guitar style very well. He made it his own but didn't stray too much either. Great live take. After the song the crowd sounded very awesome.

Two more off Holy Diver after this, the band still sounds very energetic and genuinely thrilled to be playing this material. Again, with the songs he put his own guitar style on old songs and made them fresh again, gotta give him points for that. I gotta say, the way he played the opening of Holy Diver caught me off guard, going down and then stopping was interesting, I liked that, sound more evil and menacing.

I skip the drum solo. Drum solos on live albums never interest me, same with stand alone guitar solos really, although his Unplugged joke was very funny.

Heaven and Hell. Well since Black Sabbath is my favourite band, i'm just gonna say no one can play this one as good as Iommi and Geezer. (Warning; Biased opinion ). The keyboards were really out front in this one, which was actually kinda cool, I liked that. It wasn't bad and was just as energetic as the songs before it, but not as good as Sabbath themselves.

Didn't enjoy Double Monday too much, sounded a little too chaotic, kinda the same for Stand Up and Shout, a little too chaotic and disorderly.

The next disc is mostly covers from his previous bands, Mistreated didn't suit his guitar style at all. I skip the guitar solo.

For me it picked back up with Last in Line and Rainbow in the Dark, I didn't like them as much as the studio versions, but they were good performances.

The Mob Rules and the two Rainbow songs were pretty cool, I liked the harmonies on Man on the Silver Mountain, Long Live Rock and Roll brought back the energy I thought was missing since disk one, that's a really fun song no matter who does it!

Then I have to say it ends strong with We Rock, his solo sounded really cool in this one. So overall its a pretty good live disc. Dio and the band sound excited to be performing these songs, However I think in the middle some of the energy they had at the start was missing, but I can't really blame them, playing music is no simple task. I guess I would of cut out the middle and made it a single disc if it were up to me.

One of the few Dio albums I am missing. Hmmm ... I must solve that problem sometime.

I don't always collect live albums though. I'm a completist, but only with studio albums and EPs. Not necessarily live albums or remix albums.

Though with my favorite bands - I do make exceptions. And Dio is a favorite, so...

I agree with the Chairman of the Board's review, it is very good album and even if Tracy G's style is miles apart from Campbell and Goldy he does an excellent job on those earlier Dio classics, playing the songs in his own style.

I really did not expect to enjoy a live album from Dio at this point in his career, I am glad I was proved wrong. The band sounds inspired and while no one and I mean no one can duplicate the feel of the original version of 'Heaven and Hell' it is still very good version.

Good live album that I've recently re-captured, yet for some reaon I just haven't been in a live album mode so it and Holy Diver Live have just been collecting dust so far (got both used at a great price).

This was the first Dio live album I ever bought, and I liked it a whole lot. A few reasons are that Tracy G put his own spin on the music, when the other 3 guitarists all kinda either stuck with their own material, or tried to mimic the sound from before (I'm basing this more on live performances than just CDs, as there was only this and Intermission at this time). I also liked that on many of the songs, Dio, Tracy, and Vinny all put a new kind of sound on the song (especially with some of the older songs).

Overall, I really like this album, especially the songs Jesus, Mary, and the Holy Ghost; Hunter of the Heart; and The Last in Line.

So, yeah, there's my short review.

Excellent live album. Dio was relegated to playing small halls and clubs at this time. Some people see that as a bad thing, but I always seem to enjoy the intimate settings moreso than the big concert halls. I saw Dio several times in a club setting during these years and this live album is a great reminder and memento of those shows.

When I saw Dio on his final tour with Tracy G, we gave him a copy of Ultimatum's latest CD, at least, we gave it to Tracy G. Not sure if it ever made it to Dio or not. During his time with Dio, Tracy was also involved in a Christian band called 8 Ball Cholos and put out a CD called Satan's smurf-for-hire.

Maybe it's cuz I'm not a big live album fan, but INFERNO did nothin' for me. I got it at the same time as the ANGRY MACHINES album and though I liked it slightly better than ANGRY (which isn't hard to do) it still pretty much sat on my shelf collecting dust till I traded it away a couple of years ago.

2000's Magica is a mixed bag for me. Honestly I find the story to be kinda of absent of thought. I don't really know why Dio is so proud of it, Magica? Evilsyde? These seem like names a 6th grader could come up with. I do think the idea of aliens examining the whole situation is really cool though. But what lacks in story he makes up for in music. I don't like it as much as Strange Highways, but I do like it better than Angry Machines. Its worth mentioning that Craig Goldy returned for this release and some elements that were present on Dream Evil have made a return here.

There first song opens up with an alien's confusion of the situation then the theme song before aliens ask to continue. Lord of the Last Day is a pretty cool doomy romp which wouldn't be out of place on the new Heaven & Hell album. Fever Dreams is right up there with the classic Dio songs, definatley the first big standout track for me.

Turn To Stone opens up with an almost Pink Floyd style intro, I guess the studied they epitome of concept albums, The Wall because the intro is very Gilmour like until it goes into a cool mid paced romp.

Feed My Head is a really weird song title and I think it has some elements from the Tracy G era.

Ebeil opens up with some mystical sounding keyboards into a pretty epic intro. This one again reminded me a bit of the Tracy G era, barring the soloing of course.

Chalis has a very classic sounding tone to it, which reminded me of the 80s Dio released but updated to sound modern, very cool track.

The aliens return on As Long as It's Not About Love, they don't seem to understand the story (neither do I really), this one is a slow ballad.

Losing My Insanity has a Blackmore inspired intro, this was a pretty cool song, sounds very Rainbow influenced.

Otherworld sounds like another Tracy G. era inspired song, which some of you might not like but I enjoyed Tracy's time with the band and although hes not there anymore I think he made a bit of an influence on the band. He doesn't have any writing credits on the album though so I don't know if it was intentional or not.

After a couple of reprises theres a 18 minute track where Dio recites the entire Magica story spoken word. I listened to it one time, but it don't find the story that interesting anyway.

So in conclusion, while I don't find the story to be all that interesting the songs themselves can stand by themselves, I think they're all good songs I didn't feel like they dragged on or anything. This was a good Dio album and although when I'm in the mood for his work I don't usually reach for this one, this review did make me appreciate it a bit more.

Love this CD. I don't think I've ever once made it through the story at the end, but the music is fantastic!

Saw this tour live and Dio and his band played the entire Magica album from start to finish. It was quite cool. I knew the band were doing this, so I really familiarized myself with the album before the show, which really enhanced the experience. Best of all, it was in a small club, so it was a very intimate show, even though the the club was packed.

I love this album also but I have to confess unit I read the Chairman of the Board's post I had no idea what the story was about. Like ULT I have never made it all the way thru dio's reading of the story.

This album sounds alot like vintage Dio. The songs are strong, melodic songs in the best Dio tradition. The songs stand on their own which is a good thing since I understood what the album was about. Craig Goldy sounds right at home, the whole band acting like the 90's never happened.

I really loved this when it first came out. I played it lots. I think I've grown bored of it a little, but it's still a very good album. I think I should play it again. It's been too long.

That track with Ronnie reading the story... I know it's nothing away from anything, but... WTF?!

Anyway, an enjoyable album. Fever Dreams is one of the best Dio tracks. I think they only played that and Lord of the Last Day when I saw them on the Magica tour. I bought a long sleeve shirt from the show. I wore it at least once a week for six months after I got it. Totally wore out it out.

The story read by Dio is incredibly boring and I don't even have it ripped on my computer but apart from that this is one of my favorite Dio albums. This contains some of his best material IMO and I'd rank it along with Holy Diver and Last In Line (I'm probably a minority on this but it's the honest truth). Every song is top notch to me but the three tracks that stand out most are Fever Dreams, As Long As It's Not About Love, and Magica Theme (and Magica Theme reprise-the lyrics are some of Dio's best).

I like Magica alot. Pretty good songs on it,especially Turn To Stone,Feed My Head and As long As It's Not About Love. I've never even listened to the story and don't really feel inclined to.

I completely love Magica; it's by far my favorite concept album of all time.

Killing the Dragon tonight, I'm putting the CD in my player now.

Crap, I posted a whole big long review and I guess I forgot the press enter before shutting off my computer

Okay, raincheck!

I'll be honest, I could care less about the concept of the MAGICA album; it's just a collection of damn good songs. I especially like "Feed My Head," "Losing My Insanity" and "Turn To Stone." This was Ronnie's best album in quite a few years.

I think I've only listened to the last track (the spoken-word "Story of Magica") once since I bought the CD.

Haven't posted but have been following along. Good reviews, i've agreed with most of what you said.

I think Killing the Dragon is my favorite Dio album, Long Live Rock n Roll is my fave with Rainbow, and Mob Rules is my fave with Sabbath.

Chairman Smith your thread has turned into a tribute to the great man, continue please.

Maybe fate made me put off these last few reviews cause of his passing. Before I start I have to say that his death has affected me more than I thought it would for someone i've never met. It makes me sad that I never got a chance to see him live and possible never see my favourite band Black Sabbath live either.

He was my favourite singer and lyricist, one of THE biggest influences on Rock and Metal and I will miss him greatly. It almost makes me tear up to know that we will never get another album from him again.



Killing The Dragon

This one was one hell of an album. The first half of this sounds like his classic sound updated. I think every song on here is great, so much energy compared to the last few. The first 4 are very high energy rock.

The first song it slows down on it Rock & Roll which is a doomy romp, which reminds me of Magica (musically) or the next album Master of The Moon. Actually the next few songs have Craig Goldy's wring credit on them and even though hes not playing on them (that I know of) his style is very noticeable.

I liked the video for Push which featured Tenacious D. Their "cover" of Heaven & Hell was hilarious!

Guilty and Throw Away Children are songs that remind me of either Magica or Master of The Moon. I wonder if these were left over from the Magica sessions? Since Goldy was on both of those albums it makes sense.

Before The Fall and Cold Feet return to the style that started out on the album.

Over all this was a great album, every song on it was interesting, my favourites being Killing The Dragon, Push and Better in The Dark.