Black Sabbath - Dio Years
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CD Details
Artist: Black SabbathBrand: WARNER
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2007-04-03
Music Label: Rhino
Product features:
- Black Sabbath - The Dio Years Brazil Import
- Neon Knights
- Lady Evil
- Heaven & Hell
- Die Young
- Lonely Is The Word
- The Mob Rules
- Turn Up The Night
- Voodoo
- Falling Off The Edge Of The World
- After All (The Dead)
- TV Crimes
- I
- Children Of The Sea (Live)
- The Devil Cried
- Shadow Of the Wind
- Ear In The Wall
Music reviews of Dio Years
Music Review: I've seen an Ear in the Wall!
Rating: 4 Stars
BLACK SABBATH: The DIO Years is a greatest hits compilation covering material from all three of the studio albums that Ronnie James Dio created with Sabbath, the 1982 "Live Evil" live album, plus three new songs that Ronnie, Tony, Geezer, and Vinnie put out (mainly to promote the new cd and their world wide Heaven and Hell tour). To my knowledge, this is Sabbath's 5th greatest hits album (correct me if I'm wrong), after "We Sold Our Souls", "The Sabbath Stones", "Symptom of the Universe", and 1970-1978 Greatest Hits". While I usually choose not to bother with greatest hits, because A:} greatest hit's cds usually do not represent the band accurately and B:} because I most likely own all the albums that the hit's contain, this collection of 16 gems caught my eye (really I was just interested in the three newbies and the remastered sound). Dio Years is a good hits collection, easily not a great one. I mean, most die-hards probably already own Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, and Dehumanizer, which is 13/17 songs right there. The only songs that may be new are obviously the 3 new recordings and maybe Children of the Sea (live), if some fans side-stepped "Live Evil". Still, if you're one of those people that needs EVERY CD that a band puts out (studio, live, and greatest hits), then this won't be disappointing to you rare breeds.
SOUND:} Incredible, powerful, very much appreciated, and amped-up sound quality! Some don't seem to think so, but the select few songs on this CD have definitely been remastered, in some way, shape, or form. Now, I haven't heard the versions on the '87, '96, or '00 remasters of...oh...let's say Heaven and Hell, but going by the 1990 release (which is also the most common), the songs on here have more volume and power. For an example, I'm a drummer, so the first thing I listened for were the drums; and let me tell you, Ward's and Vinnie's drum sound has without-a-doubt been remastered. The bass drum is a lot thicker and gives a more OMPH!, so who can complain about that. Geezer's bass is also more dominant and audible than before, but it doesn't overlay the guitar or vocals so that's good. Lastly, Tony's guitar and Ronnie's iron pipes haven't really been touched, to my ears anyways, but the volume has definitely been cranked up. In short, the sound of this disc is a huge improvement over the original versions, but the remastering doesn't ruin the authenticity of the songs or anything. Don't expect to be blown away, just know that the songs have been changed a bit.
NEW SONGS:} The Devil Cried, Shadow of the Wind, and Ear in the Wall are the three new tracks off this disc. "Devil Cried" is a medium-paced song, that contains a mid-tempo, catchy riff from Tony, and a sweet, driving drum section from Vinnie all the way through. Dio's voice, to me, is fantastic and phenomenal, reminding me of his "Master of the Moon" voice, menacing, dark, and ever so heavy. This song is the worst out of the three, but still very enjoyable. Iommi naturally dishes out a kick-butt solo that rocks hard, and Geezer keeps plucking on his bass, as well. Next up is "Shadow of the Wind", which is the slowwww new song more reminiscent of material off...again, "Master of the Moon" than anything else. Still, very haunting complete with that creeping riff that Tony can do so well and Dio's amazing n powerful voice (especially at the chorus) carrying the song along. My personal second favorite that is a gem to be treasured. Last, but not least, "Ear in the Wall" closes off this disc. This rocker is easily the best of the three. Headbangin' opening riff that reminds me a lot of their earlier stuff from the early 80's complementing Ronnie's well-ranged pipes, creating humorous images about...you guessed it...an ear in the wall! Great way to end off the album and a great addition to the compilation. Really, the songs won't leave you awestruck and they're far from groundbreaking (so don't get your hopes up), but like I said, they rock a lot harder than most crap out there these days.
PACKAGING:} One disc containing 16 songs (5 from Heaven and Hell, 4 songs from Mob Rules, 1 live cut from Live Evil, and 3 never-before-released songs) in a jewel case with a shiny paper sleeve. Worthwhile, lengthy booklet giving a descriptive account of the band from 1980-present. Noteworthy, classic and new alike artwork, also.
SET LIST:} For a greatest hit's, the song listing on here is pretty good. Most compilations fail miserably in representing the band featured, but DIO YEARS did ok. Now Dio only had three studio albums with the band, so it was probably easier to choose songs, but there are definitely some problems with the set list. For one thing, where in God's holy name is "Sign of the Southern Cross"? That's easily my second favorite Dio Sabbath song and a fan fav, so why the omission? I don't have the answer, my guess would either be they wanted to "surprise" the fans with a silly new twist or maybe the band chose not to have it for personal reasons. Don't ask me. Also, I would have omitted Lonely is the Word for almost any other song from their albums. Other than those HUGE, HUGE mess-ups it's pretty good. However, my set list, if you're interested, would have gone like so...
>Neon Knights, Children of the Sea (live), Lady Evil, Heaven and Hell, Wishing Well, and Die Young > the six best songs off Heaven and Hell, plus a great live representation of the band, and all the fan favorites.
>Turn Up the Night, Voodoo (live), Sign of the Southern Cross, Mob Rules, Country Girl, and Falling Off the Edge of the World > Also the six best songs off the album, and again another live representative for them.
>Computer God (where the heck was that gem), After All (the Dead), TV Crimes, and I (also it would be sweet if one of those songs were a live rarity from the vault or something; that'd be amazing).
>Finally, the three new songs to close off the album and to make it 20 songs, maybe a rare or never-before-released bonus track from an early session. How cool would that be?
I know this review was lengthy, but I have tons of time on my hands, and I just wanted to talk about this album, so you can know more about it. I realize every hardcore Sabbath fan probably has all of these songs already, but the three new ones are great (no, not worth the price alone like some people said...geesh), and the remastering couldn't be better. Also, it's cool if you're old-fashioned like me and still lug around a cd-player when you wanna just listen to the goods on one compact disc. My final say would be to get this used (like new) and keep listening to the biggest band in metal!
p.s. check out joe's review above. It's also very good and descriptive
Description of Dio Years
Honoring the time Ronnie Dio spent with the band, Black Sabbath's hits "Neon Knights," "Lady Evil," and "Die Young" are featured on this compilation spanning 1980-2006. David Ling contributes liner notes and live versions of "Children of the Sea" and "Country Girl" are showcased.The idea of Black Sabbath without Ozzy Osbourne was a form of metal sacrilege in 1980, at least until people heard Ronnie James Dio belt out "Oh no, here it comes again..." to open the reformed band's Heaven and Hell. Dio's low-growl had a yowl, squaring frightfully with Tony Iommi's more reined-in crunch. And Sabbath was reborn, playing faster than they had with Ozzy and drawing crowds. Five tracks from Heaven make it to this set, where four from successor, Mob Rules, show up. The winners from each: "Neon Nights" and "Turn Up the Night," both quick, hefty wailers, steamrolling on sheer riffing tonnage. Dehumanizer rekindled the Sabbath/Dio marriage in 1992, showing speed metal's intervening influence--and the band holds up well, racing atop Vinnie Appice's iron-armed drums and Iommi's relentless, intentionally range-limited riffs. Then there are the three new tracks, all benefiting from 2006's richer low-end production and metal's return to a slower grind--where Iommi is more thrilling doling out sludge, as on "Shadow of the Wind," where chords sound slo-mo and blessedly narrow in range. Yes, "Ear on the Wall" closes the set in a hurried, fast- (not speed-) metal vibe, but at best the band is deliberately mid-tempo, making a raucous noise you're happy for after all these years. --Andrew Bartlett
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