How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Outstanding
Value for Money
Advantages:
more melodic and faster than his previous efforts, amazing vocals
Disadvantages:
few weaker links
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Ronnie James Dio has delivired us heavy metal for over 30 years and was the man behind such huge bands such as Black Sabbath, Rainbow and Elf! Since 1983 he has gone solo and his first two solo albums, "Holy Diver" and "Last in Line" were very beloved and were high in the charts at their time, unfortunately since then it has only been a downhill...
Dio apparently started to give that popularity decline some thought and this indesputable led him going for the same musical direction as his first 2 very popular albums. In fact it does sound so similar to them that you could think this would be his third release. If this would have been made in the mid 80s and released as his third album, I would have no doubt that this would have been very successful. However, even released in 2002, it reached Top40 charts in a few European countries, reaching as high as #10 in the Finnish charts.
"Along Came A Spider" is straight forward rocker abou a guy who believe he has gotten out of a relationship just to be pulled back in(female spiders are known for eating male spiders). "Throw away the children" is a sad song about children getting pimped, getting addicted to drugs and dying in aids. It's catchy chorus done with a child choir makes it a track you will not easily forget. "Before the fall" is a track you would bet would be an unreleased Rainbow track with a nice and long Organ keyboard solo! "Scream" is a track were Dio sings over drums and bass and just later some guitars are thrown in the mix. This track is the false perception about celebrities "glorious" life, when behind the smiles and the curtain the only thing they do is scream.
If you were a fan of his two first solo albums and (Ritchie Blackmore's) Rainbow then you can blindly buy this album and be sure that you will get an album that you will enjoy for long! If you like dark hard rock, then give this album a shot!
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How does it rate alongside the competition
Good
Cover / Inlay Design and Content
Good
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