Dio's 90s output

To be honest, I have never owned a single album Dio recorded in the 90s (not counting Dehumanizer, you know).

I've purchased all of the 80s albums. And I also had Magicia and Killing the Dragon, though I didn't get heavily into them.

I just always skipped over the 90s stuff though. I even remember having Angry Machines in my hand once, from the used bin, but putting it down and getting something else.

Recently, I have been listing to Lock Up the Wolves, Strange Highways and Angry Machines. A lot. These are so good. I honestly cannot understand why I never bought the CDs.

This stuff is so good!

Love Strange Highways & Angry Machines. I love the heaviness of those two.

I need to invest in some of these Dio albums. I used to have "lock up the wolves" and remember it being decent. The only ones I have currently (not counting rainbow or sabbath) are "holy diver," "the last in line," and "dream evil."  

I love Stange Highways and Angry Machines. They are HEAVY records and that is just the way I like it. Probably the Dio solo albums I return to the most often.

I also really dig the live album that lineup released:

Inferno: The Last In Live

I just don't like Angry Machines at all. It's trying too hard to be relevant sounding to mid-90's alternative metal/grunge fans. The songs are so and so, the sound is dull and sounds really corny listening to it now. At least for me. Maybe I'm just prejudiced against the sound. I'm happy for anyone who finds enjoyment out of this.

Strange Highways is better but still lacks the magic that made earlier Dio records great. Songs are actually quite good though. Not great, but good. Just a wrong time to put out a heavy metal album. Come to think of it, no wonder they went towards the Angry Machines sound afterwards.

Lock up the Wolves is somewhat in vein of the "classic" Dio albums. But clearly the worst of them all. Not that it's bad, but the first four are just on another level. There's a couple of forgettable songs and the highlights aren't awesome either. I like the sound and the guitars are sweet, too. I play this sometimes.

Most of this 90s output was garbage. Slow and ponderous or just creatively bankrupt. Strange Highways and Angry Machines were lame attempts to be "relevant" to the popular music of the times. Both albums failed spectacularly as a result. I saw the Angry Machines tour and Tracy G was awful. He butchered Viv's, Iommi's and Blackmore's solos in the live setting. Lock Up The Wolves was a weak attempt to recreate the magic of the first 3 albums and it failed as well.

For me, Dio stopped being great in his solo career with Dream Evil. Everything after that was middling to terrible. The only bright spot was Killing The Dragon, which at least was peppy, but even that is not that memorable.

I'm not a huge fan of Tracy G. Apart from having a letter for a last name, he's underwhelming and uninteresting. Otherwise, I actually do enjoy the songwriting of the 90's albums. Strange Highways was pretty heavy stuff, and Angry Machines had a very moody vibe that I dig. Lock Up the Wolves was the one weak spot that somewhat bored me. Killing the Dragon and Magica were masterpieces, hands down, and even better than his first two records.

Solid albums. Not amazing by any means, but surely not the turdfests so many claim they are. It's a matter of tastes, really, because they're nothing like the first couple albums.

Why anyone has an issue with Magica and Killing the Dragon is beyond me. Much of those albums rival the best stuff Dio ever did. Songs like "Killing the Dragon," "Guilty," "Feed My Head," "Along Comes a Spider," "Scream," "Fever Dreams," all outstanding tunes. And the Master of the Moon album is quite good as well.

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Recently, I have been listing to Lock Up the Wolves, Strange Highways and Angry Machines.

Those are my 3 favorite Dio albums. I prefer his darker stuff.

Magica is great, Killing the Dragon is very good and I actually like Lock Up the Wolves. Angry Machines and to a lesser degree Strange Highways aren't how I want Dio to sound. Just me, if you like them it's all good.

I think all of his 90s outputs were decent releases. Killing The Dragon is phenomenal all the way through and stands up to anything he put out in his earlier career. Angry Machines was just ok (and the weakest of all of his releases) and Strange Highways is one of his best songs.

I love Strange Highways! One of my favorite Dio albums.

"Strange Highways" is a great lp!  

I liked his 90's albums, 'Strange Highways' is still a favorite Dio platter for me. 'Angry Machines' took me a while to get into, but still a good album. 'Magica' other then that silly story at the end of the disc is still a solid album.

manny wrote:

I liked his 90's albums, 'Strange Highways' is still a favorite Dio platter for me. 'Angry Machines' took me a while to get into, but still a good album. 'Magica' other then that silly story at the end of the disc is still a solid album.

You know, I've been listening to that album forever, and I still have yet to hear the story or even understand it!  

Although that goes with any concept album for me.

corplhicks wrote:

manny wrote:

I liked his 90's albums, 'Strange Highways' is still a favorite Dio platter for me. 'Angry Machines' took me a while to get into, but still a good album. 'Magica' other then that silly story at the end of the disc is still a solid album.

You know, I've been listening to that album forever, and I still have yet to hear the story or even understand it!  

Although that goes with any concept album for me.

I am with you on that, I have no idea what the story is about. Hell til I read Fat Freddy's blog I had no idea what KISS was going on about on 'Music from the Elder'

I had a listen to Angry Machines after seeing this thread because I didn't really listen to much metal in the Nineties. Got bored after a few songs and ended up listening to Elf instead.

Boris2008 wrote:

I had a listen to Angry Machines after seeing this thread because I didn't really listen to much metal in the Nineties. Got bored after a few songs and ended up listening to Elf instead.

That album took me a long while to get into, now I really enjoy it but I did not always find it so enjoyable.

corplhicks wrote:

manny wrote:

I liked his 90's albums, 'Strange Highways' is still a favorite Dio platter for me. 'Angry Machines' took me a while to get into, but still a good album. 'Magica' other then that silly story at the end of the disc is still a solid album.

You know, I've been listening to that album forever, and I still have yet to hear the story or even understand it!

Same with me. I never bothered with it and never plan to.

I've never owned Strange Highways but the title track is on the Very Beast of Dio comp and it's a cool song, for whatever that's worth. I've been meaning to pick that one up for a while now but have never come across it in my travels.

Angry Machines and Last in Live did nothin' for me. I traded them off ages ago.

From front to back, "Strange Highways" is the only DIO solo album I can listen to all the way through. I'd probably have to say it is my favorite for that reason. I think he did a good job of keeping his own style and making it more "modern" on this one. Great production too.

"Holy Diver" and "The Last in Line" both start out very strong but the second half descends into pedestrian songwriting.

Overall, I think Dio was actually better collaborating with Iommi and Blackmore than he was on his own though.

Temple of Blood wrote:

"Holy Diver" and "The Last in Line" both start out very strong but the second half descends into pedestrian songwriting.

Overall, I think Dio was actually better collaborating with Iommi and Blackmore than he was on his own though.

Agreed.

corplhicks wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

"Holy Diver" and "The Last in Line" both start out very strong but the second half descends into pedestrian songwriting.

Agreed.

Vehemently disagree!!!!!!!  

Temple of Blood wrote:

"Holy Diver" and "The Last in Line" both start out very strong but the second half descends into pedestrian songwriting.

Overall, I think Dio was actually better collaborating with Iommi and Blackmore than he was on his own though.

Yep.

Temple of Blood wrote:

From front to back, "Strange Highways" is the only DIO solo album I can listen to all the way through.  I'd probably have to say it is my favorite for that reason.  I think he did a good job of keeping his own style and making it more "modern" on this one.  Great production too.

"Holy Diver" and "The Last in Line" both start out very strong but the second half descends into pedestrian songwriting.

Overall, I think Dio was actually better collaborating with Iommi and Blackmore than he was on his own though.

I disagree with part of this statement, I do not think the second half of those discs descend into pedestrian songwriting but I do agree he was a better collaborater with Iommi and Blackmore.