Andy Law
Rainbows, Dragons and of course legendary hard rock – it could only mean one man. Ronnie James Dio, of course, is rightfully regarded as one of the best crooners on the Planet after his much loved output with Rainbow and Black Sabbath.
His days with Blackmore et al long gone, Dio is back with new album Killing The Dragon, fresh after his last concept album, Magica. Generally speaking, it’s a fine return.
The man doesn’t seem to be putting as much emphasis on his upper vocal range nowadays (being there, done that syndrome maybe?) although there’s none of that philosophy when it comes to solos. Former House Of Lords guitarist Doug Alrich shreds and riffs with the best of ‘em, and style wise it’s vintage sounding hard rock all the way.
The title track (no mercy as the beast gets slaughtered again), the pompous but thrilling anthem that is Rock ‘n’ Roll and other gems such as Along Comes A Spider, Better In The Dark and Scream all show that Dio as a songwriter is still a class act.
However, the press releases’ bold claims that ‘Dio has delivered a guitar heavy classic rock album to equal and exceed many of rocks archetypal gems’ is extravagantly OTT. For all the great moments on Killing The Dragon, it’s still a division below something such as the Dio-era Sabbath disc Heaven And Hell. Classique it ain’t, but as far as good, driving and admittedly cliched hard rock music goes, a solid buy.
Verdict - @@@
