Dio United States

""Dream Evil" by Dio is a mostly solid heavy metal album in the good ole traditional heavy metal style, containing mostly upbeat hard rocking tracks fronted by Ronnie James Dio's fantastic voice.

While I think that "Dream Evil" is a very good album, it's not specifically original or outstanding or groundbreaking in any way. The music contains a lot of klichés from hard rock and heavy metal, and a lot of the riffage can - in style - be traced back to Ronnie James Dio's days in Rainbow.

Now, is this a problem?

No.

"Dream Evil" is traditional heavy metal the way traditional heavy metal is supposed to be. And that is one of the things I really like this album for. No diggiddy, just rock 'n' roll (well, I must admit that I think that there are too many commercial moments in "I Could Have Been A Dreamer", which, for some reason, reminds me of 80s Eurovision music).

This albul should appeal to fans of traditional 80s heavy metal, and also fans of early Rainbow. I think that those who prefer hard rock to all out metal would like this album, too.

(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"

"Ronnie James Dio, heavy metal legend and all round good guy, passed away on May 16th, 2010, but he lives on in his music, and this album, the first album by his band Dio, certainly is a legendary heavy metal masterpiece, which, despite being first released back in 1983, and despite being traditional 80s heavy metal, still stands the test of time.

This owes in a large part to Ronnie James Dios amazing vocals, but also to his ability to compose solid hard rock songs, and "Holy Diver" contains nothing but solid hard rock and metal songs from the heavy title track (which has later been covered by Killswich Engage) over the uptempo opener "Stand Up And Shout" to the more commercial "Rainbow in the Dark". There is also some great guitar work by Viv Campbell on this masterpiece of a metal album.

This belongs in any heavy metal collection!

(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"

"This album has received a couple of bad reviews and low ratings over at the Metal Music Archives, the main point of criticism being that it lacks originality. I agree that the songs on this album are not always original or groundbreaking, but, for my money, that does not make it a bad album. In other genres, lack of originality would be a big problem (and one of my pet peeves in relation to original pop music is indeed that it lacks originality), but - for some reason - when it comes to 80s traditional heavy metal, lack of originality is forgivable.

While perhaps not original, I think that most of the tracks on this album are solid, with only a couple of the heavier tracks clumsily limping along. There is plenty of good classic riffage, and, of course, Dio's vocals are as impressive as ever. There are a lot of keyboard on this album, but they never become central, serving only to supplement the guitars.

I think that fans of traditional heavy metal and perhaps more commercial hard rock would like this album.

(review originally posted at metalmusicarchives.com)"

""Killing the Dragon" is, for my money, a very good album by Dio. Musically, this is primarily traditional heavy metal and hard rock, but in an updated version with some post 90s elements here and there - the main riff of "Rock & Roll" sounds a lot like a Rrage Against the Machine riff, and the usual hard rock power chords are supplemented with less usual ones.

As usual, the songs are mostly solid and they are generally characterized by loads of great classic riffage and fantastic vocals. Stand-out tracks are "Rock & Roll", "Killing the Dragon", "Along Comes A Spider" and "Throwaway Children". The slower and more melancholic "Guilty" is also quite good.

This album should appeal to fans of good ole traditional heavy metal.

(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"

"Similar to Dio's Rainbow "Holy Diver" is more Metal butr also more emotional and ambient. "Holy Diver" is the Dio's key album. Fundamental in 198 like today. In a certain sense another father of Revival Classic Metal! So it's true "Holy Diver is my Dio's definitive album!"

"Solidly performed heavy metal classics. Dio and the band perform "Holy Diver" in its entirety (!!!) as well as Rainbow and Sabbath classics such as "Tarot Woman", "Gates of Babylon", "Man on the Silver Mointain", "The Sign of the Southern Cross", and "Heaven and Hell"."