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DIO -
Master of the Moon 

DIO - Master of the Moon

Since the formation of Elf in 1970, Ronnie James Dio has proven himself as probably hands down the best Heavy Metal Vocalist, EVER!!! This is not to say that other vocalists such as Bruce Dickinson aren't good, but few have actually had the stamina and singleness of vision that Ronnie James Dio has had, and continues to prove on a regular basis. DIO, from a band standpoint sound as good taday as they did in the 1983 Incarnation for Holy Diver. The guitar work alone from Craig Goldy is as good, with a twist, as the work of Vivian Campbell. This time around, on Master of the Moon, Dio has put together a CD that the metal Icon's fans have been yearning form, and I have to include myself in the fan category. If you are a true fan of Metal, not just certain bands, then you already probably have Holy Diver, Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell, and at least one Rainbow CD in your collection, and Master of the Moon should be added to the list and to your collection, this is by far the best DIO CD since The Last In Line.

From the opening licks of "One More For The Road" you know you are on to classic DIO. Although the lyrics on Master Of The Moon are as dark as anything else DIO has recorded in the past, you have to also give the musical macabre master his props as he hasn't had to, at any time in his career, lower his lyrical craft to shock value, or the "let's see how many times we can say the F word" mentality. Not that there aren't groups that use the word that aren't lyrically as good, it's just DIO has a way of crafting his lyrics without having to do this. Both lyrically and musically, DIO offers up ten solid tracks that are as good as anything including 'Holy Diver", "Rainbow in the Dark" or "The Last In Line".

The line-up on Master of the Moon brings the solid sound of DIO to the forefront again, complimenting rather than burying the patented vocals of the Metal Icon. Ronnie James Dio produces some of the best work of his more recent career on his solid earth-shattering vocal assault. Craig Goldy offers up some incredible axe-grinding work, the thundering bass lines of Jeff Pilson are quaking, the skins from Simon Wright are massively intense, and keeping with the tradition that keyboards ARE cool in metal music, Scott Warren does some great work, with some help from guitarist Goldy. 

Here's the bottom line folks, if you are into the classic metal attack of the past, DIO's Master of the Moon is a prescription for you to get out of the metal blues. Nu-metal and modern day hard rockers, or metal maniacs are good in their own right, but the awesome sound of Ronnie James Dio and his band, well simply, this is as good as it gets. RJD shows why he is still one of the true vocal gods of metal, sounding as good as ever, and the rest of the band pay tribute to his vocal prowess by playing masterfully. Metal fans, and DIO supporters will both agree this is a true metal offering. Pay special attention to "Master of the Moon", "The Man Who Would Be King", "The Eyes" and "In Dreams". A great CD for a year that offered up not so many memorable true metal works, a must have......

  ( 5.5 Axes out of 6 )

   Play MP3 sample of "Master of the Moon"

   Play MP3 sample of "In Dreams"

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