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DIO – KILLING THE DRAGON
2002 Spitfire
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I was happy to see Dio moving so quickly to make another album after the success of MAGICA, the band's 2000 release. Although they didn't release an album last year, they did tour and prepare for KILLING THE DRAGON. Exit guitarist Craig Goldie after returning for one album, reportedly to manage his limo company. He had appeared previously on 1987's DREAM EVIL, one of my favorite Dio albums. I liked MAGICA enough to name it one of my top 30 albums of 2000. It was a concept album with a different Dio sound, and seeing the band perform the entire album live from beginning to end also showed me how good the album was. I'll be the first to admit it wasn't as good as HOLY DIVER or DREAM EVIL, but it was a solid and entertaining album with a good story.

Enter veteran guitarist Doug Aldrich (formerly of Lion, Hurricane and Bad Moon Rising, etc.) to take Craig's place. I'm a pretty big Aldrich fan, owning a lot of the albums he's played on. I remember reading that he re-recorded Craig's guitar parts for the album. None of his guitar playing really reaches out and grabs me, but he is a technically great guitarist and his work is pretty flawless. His playing does sound a little contained and hopefully he'll be allowed to write more and stretch out on the next album. I know Dio is a band that is based around the vocals, but I often wonder what they would sound like with two guitarists. It would be interesting.

Overall, KILLING THE DRAGON is a better album than MAGICA. It's only ten songs compared to MAGICA's fourteen, but this isn't a concept album. They could have thrown in some filler songs, but why do that? One reason I like it more than MAGICA is that it's got faster paced songs. MAGICA was a bit slow and plodding at times, but KILLING THE DRAGON picks up the pace. The first song is the title track and it's a fast rocker. It's followed by "Along Comes A Spider," "Scream" and "Better In The Dark," all of which are classic Dio! Next is "Rock and Roll," a slower song I wasn't blown away by at first, but my suggestion is to crank this song up LOUD. Pure power Metal chords with great vocals by RJD. Some other standout tracks include "Guilty" and "Push." Some of the song topics on KILLING THE DRAGON are classic Dio, such as morals, music, women and children. The band is one of the best Ronnie has put together, with Simon Wright on drums, Jimmy Bain still on bass, Scott Warren on keyboards and Doug Aldrich on guitar. The packaging and album cover are great as well. But bring back Murray!

How can you not be a fan of Ronnie James Dio, the best singer in the history of Heavy Metal? He kicks ass again on KILLING THE DRAGON. This album is pretty good...recommended!

DISCOGRAPHY:

HOLY DIVER (1983) Warner Bros.
THE LAST IN LINE (1984) Warner Bros.
SACRED HEART (1985) Warner Bros.
INTERMISSION (Live) (1986) Warner Bros.
DREAM EVIL (1987) Warner Bros.
LOCK UP THE WOLVES (1990) Reprise
STRANGE HIGHWAYS (1994) Reprise
ANGRY MACHINES (1996) Mayhem
INFERNO/LAST IN LIVE (1998) Spitfire
MAGICA (2000) Spitfire
KILLING THE DRAGON (2002) Spitfire
Click here for link to DIO Real Audio Samples!
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