What's that thing on the cover? A guy without skin gets his brain spewed out through a Mayan calendar?

Strange Highways is actually one of the more interesting Dio albums from the era, the continuation of the Dehumanizer type vibe worked in their favor. I've never really understood the flak surrounding the album.

I haven't listened to Strange Highways or the follow-up Angry Machines in years, so I don't really have much to say.

Not a big fan obviously, especially Angry Machines was a misstep by Dio in my opinion.

I honestly don't even remember where or how I did hear Strange Highways, but I know the songs.

I know I borrowed Angry Machines from the library, of all places, way back when I was just getting more into metal. I gave it a few spins, didn't like it, and never gave it another chance.

Might be interesting to give it another shot now, my taste in music has changed a little after all. But seriously I already have enough albums I don't like....

Strange Highways isn't too bad of a disc,although I guess a bit of a letdown to what came prior. It has decent enough songs on it and I think the standouts are the title track,Here's To You,and Bring Down The Rain.

Listening to the album right now, i'll post my review in a few hours.

I'll be honest. I bought this one awhile back but never gave it a real listen. Just like Strange Highways and Dehumanizer before it, this album has a very dark, pessimistic tone. Honestly, I love this kind of stuff and this album is pretty good. I don't think its quite as memorable as Strange Highways and certainly not Dehumanizer, but I found myself enjoying this album quite a bit.

Again i'm in the minority here, but the creepy, dark music found on this album is my preference. I guess in the same way I enjoyed Iron Maiden's Blaze albums, different from what we all know and love but stand up on their own merits. I guess as a whole the songs certainly don't have the hooks that albums like Holy Diver had, but I've been listening to this album while playing video games and it makes great atmosphere music. I'd say Angry Machines is an album to be enjoyed in one sitting.

I avoided this one like the plague for the longest time due to what I've heard about it but I wanted to fulfill my Dio discography. When I finally did hear it I was glad to have waited. I should give this another listen because the first time I heard it, I hated it. The last four songs are the only ones I could listen to all the way through. Luckily Dio made up for this crapfest with the follow up-but that's later.

Possibly the weakest album of Dio's career. I still like it though (but I'm a major Dio fanboy). I even have the Dio logo tattooed on my left bun.

This IMO is the worst album in Dio's discography but I do like it, and this album is more natural follow up to 'Lock Up the Wolves' then 'Strange Highways' was . This dark almost gothic overtones penerate most of the grooves on this album.

Not an album I play alot but I do enjoy the album when I spin it and it features a another (as expected) excellent vocal performance by Dio.

As Chairman puts out, it does not hooks that earlier Dio albums have and it stands a fine line between the more modern metal of 'Strange Highways' and is almost a throw back darker earlier sound of metals past , Tracy G does an excellent job and his style compliments this songs very well.

Love the album cover. Like the music, though it's far from my favorite. 'Hunter of the Heart' and 'Double Monday' strike me as two of the better tracks, though I think I enjoy these tracks more primarily from hearing them over and over again on Dio's next release, a live album titled 'Inferno'. I honestly just think that Tracy G was the wrong guitarist for Dio.

Sadly, by this time, the mighty Dio was performing in clubs and wasn't even selling them out. He played in Albuquerque on this tour at a cowboy bar called Midnight Rodeo. Oddly enough, this club would occasionally get some great metal bands. I also saw Hammerfall, Judas Priest, King's X, Molly Hatchet and several other great bands there during slumps in their popularity.

I too avoided this because of the bad word of mouth about it. In fact,it was the last Dio I purchased to complete my collection. I found a nice cheap used copy and figured I'd take a chance on it.Turns out it was better than I expected (but I had the bar lowered pretty far and wasn't expecting much). I think my favorite tracks on it are Black and Golden Rules.

Where's Midnight Rodeo Ult? I've never heard of that place. Do they still get shows?

When it was first released, the universal bad press for ANGRY MACHINES made me decide to avoid it like the plague. I didn't finally hear the album till the early '00s when a co-worker of mine had been given a mountain of promotional CDs from a friend who worked in the music business and she let me pick thru the pile...after digging thru all kinds of then-current radio rock and pop slop I found this album (and the INFERNO live disc) so I snagged it. I took it home, listened to it a couple of times, thought it stunk, and traded it off as quickly as possible. My interest in Dio was pretty much at an all time low by this period and ANGRY MACHINES sure as hell was not the album that was going to re-ignite my interest in his work.

When's the next one?

Hey, Ult, where the heck is Midnight Rodeo? LOL - you must've missed my question. Don't you re-check threads you post in?

Anyone feel like taking over this thread, and finish it?

I'll do it if the Chairman is too busy, but he has been good about keeping up with the thread til about two weeks, he may just busy with work, school etc I want to wait til he responds before anyone takes over his thread. He has done an excellent job so far and hopefully he will be able to continue.

Sure, get an answer from him first.

I've come to the realization that I haven't heard a single Dio album since Strange Highways.....except for the Heaven & Hell recordings.

"Master of the Moon" is a phenominal album!!