Revisiting: Alice Cooper's "Raise Your Fist And Yell"

Welcome to the first post in a whole new series I've decided to do. I've done a bunch of different reviews series by now but nothing quite like this. You see, I've decided to dig up old albums which I used to crank on a regular basis, but have kind of "forgotten" about in more recent years. I guess you could also call it nostalgia reviews, of sorts.

I will also review each album in this series differently to previous reviews. Instead of writing the review more like a summary of everything, I'm gonna do detailed commenting on each track as well as the albums' productions and overall sounds. What am I waiting for, let's get started!

Band/artist: Alice Cooper
Album: Raise Your Fist And Yell
Release year: 1987
Style: Heavy Metal 

Quick introduction: Alice Cooper goes far back with me. As a child I really enjoyed his music, although it was mostly some of his 70's hits. I always loved old school metal and hard rock music as a kid, having young metalhead parents and all, but when I got my own interest in the subject there wasn't much love for Alice Cooper. Apart from Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and AC/DC there wasn't really much 70's stuff that I liked. Being an 80's metal fanatic, however, I somehow stumbled upon this album around 2007 and it was my key into Alice Cooper, but I haven't really listened much to it since cirka 2009, though.

1. Freedom

Unlike any other AC album prior to this one, this album starts off with this king of raging metal statement. A statement against the infamous PMRC - metal music's number one enemy in the 1980's. It's an anthem, a call to arms against the censorist cunts who tried to ban what we all love. Killer drums and overall a very memorable and heavy tune. It really put Alice on the 80's metal map, that's for sure.

2. Lock Me Up

This was always somewhat of a favorite track on the album, at least back in the day. Very anthemic, melodic and super 80's style heavy metal. Some people will probably think it's dated and cheesy as hell, but that's one of the many things I love about 80's metal - lots of reverb, anthemic sing-along melodies and immense power in sound and spirit. The cameo by Freddy Krueger is a great touch as well.

3. Give The Radio Back

This is one of the tracks I remember best from ten years ago. Great riff, quite catchy although not as powerful chorus as the previous tracks, but overall a cool song. Not one of my favorites on the album but it's decent enough not to feel like filler material.

4. Step On You

Very cool track and one of my favorites. Super catchy melodies and memorable instrumentation. Glam Rambo a.k.a. Kane Roberts really busts out some chops on this one, from playful noisy stuff to showcasing his skill and finesse.

5. Not That Kind Of Love

Probably my least favorite track on the album yet still a decent track. It's just not as engaging as the others.

6. Prince Of Darkness

Probably the catchiest and possibly also the most memorable song on the entire album. This has got everything that makes for a classic 80's heavy metal tune. I also can't help but to feel like they took this one somewhat more seriously than the other tracks. Maybe it's because it was in the John Carpenter movie with the same name.

7. Time To Kill

Another killer track with some great guitar work. Probably my favorite track if judged by the guitars only, but the chorus is very catchy as well. A very competent and musically thought through song. Kane Roberts also shaped one of his finest solos in this one.

8. Chop Chop Chop

Part one in what's considered something of a "trilogy" on this album, namely the album's last three tracks. Great riff and song overall but I feel the chorus is perhaps a bit lazy. It's just like that Dio song "Shoot Shoot". I just don't like it when the chorus turns into a one word "mantra" for some reason.

9. Gail

This is as classic Alice Cooper as it gets. Very atmospheric. It could've also been something straight from a King Diamond album. Very ghastly sounding.

10. Roses On White Lace

Another favorite of mine, as well as for many other fans it seems. It's a very heavy and engaging track with a faster tempo. Great riffing, powerful solo, cuper catchy chorus, and the mid section is a slightly blissful moment amidst all the chaos. I bet this was a rippin' track during the live tour.

Overall impression:

This is a very good album with some real standout tracks. A few tracks are definitely not as strong but I never feel like the album truly dips into mediocrity. It keeps a good balance throughout its entire duration and I also find it catchy and revisitable. The production is also pretty crisp and clear enough. It's not polished like the Trash album and not as cheesy sounding as Constrictor. It's got a pretty organic feel, I'd say. It seems like the production was definitely made with the songs' sound and character in mind.

I really liked this album back when I first heard it over ten years ago. Having not listened to it much, if at all, since the very end of the last decade, I still find this album highly enjoyable not to mention extremely underrated. It might be a bit on the heavy side for an Alice Cooper album, but I for one am really happy he decided to embrace a heavier side as well. Hell, after hearing the Brutal Planet album this one is pretty tame in comparison. That is, by the way, another underrated but totally killer album from AC.

Being more of an Alice Cooper fan for these past ten years than I was during my first five as a metalhead, I can happily say that Raise Your Fist And Yell is one of my top-3 favorite albums of his. It really is a great album, if you can look past a few moments of extreme 80's cheese. If you're like me, however, it will probably just make you like it even more.

My TOP-10 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Vocalists - Male Edition

One thing that's always been kind of strange for me is how huge my love is for the vocals in my music collection, yet I've never cared much for the lyrics of most bands. You see, a band's singer is super important to me since I'm mostly bored by instrumental music (often with lots of guitar wankery), but for some reason I'm always passive to the words. Instead the vocals are essentially just another instrument in the band's blend to me, giving the songs additional melody or perhaps even most of it.

Another thing about my preference is that I'm, like a true Swede/Scandinavian, prefer things to be "lagom" (meaning "just enough" in Swedish). I'm actually not that huge on some vocalists' styles like a lot of people tend to be. I don't like things to feel or sound overcooked. If a singer is in some way "overpowering" a band, then I'd like the band to be more overpowered as well. An example of this is a band like DragonForce - they simply take everything to the extremes. That's how I like it. Either do it extremely or do it stripped down, like AC/DC, but don't mix 'em.

So now you have a good idea about how I like and listen to singers in hard rock and heavy metal music. I might come across as picky but that's how I am. This list is not made to satisfy any of your tastes. It's my personal taste and I'm just sharing because the discussion is always interesting to me.

Let's dive into it!

10. Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend Project, solo)

Devin has one of the most dedicated fanbases in the world but it seems like his vocals are somewhat underrated to me. If you speak with fellow fans of Devin they tend to praise his music, which certainly is great and very unique, but his vocal work plays such a huge part in what he does. With one of the most versatile voices in the business, he pretty much masters anything he tries on. Most of all, however, he does it exactly where it works and enhances the music.


9. Dave Meniketti (Y&T, solo)

One of the most powerful rock voices there are. Dave and his main band Y&T are both criminally underrated. Ever heard "Summertime Girls"? Forget that, it was a one-time thing. Y&T is so much rawer and rocking than that. Try stuff like "Black Tiger" and "Mean Streak" instead and hear for yourself. Not only is the music great but Dave outmatches any similar vocalists from bands of their scene back in the day. Radio played a lot of lighter stuff like Night Ranger, Journey and whatnot, when in reality they should've cranked Y&T up to ten.


8. Mark Osegueda (Death Angel, Metal Allegiance)

I used to think that Joey Belladonna of Anthrax was thrash metal's finest vocalist, but in recent years after three excellent Death Angel records I've changed my mind. Mark Osegueda has done what most vocalists do opposite - he became much better with age. The guy was never bad by any means. I think his early vocals on masterpieces like "The Ultra-Violence" was some great thrash vocals, but he's simply become more than a thrash screamer - now he's a singer. His voice sounds better than ever these days while still maintaining those essential thrash barks. Simply the best voice in thrash.


7. Rob Halford (Judas Priest, Fight, Halford, 2wo)

Rob Halford needs no introduction. Anyone who doesn't know him or Judas Priest is basically wearing a large sign over their face that says "poser". But what is it that makes Rob such a badass vocalist? His extreme range? Yes, and no. While he had an insane range and high octave in his youth, it was always the way he executed them that made me love his style. He uses what fits the music right and nothing else. His almost talkative style in "Electric Eye" is so fitting it's just killer, but his non-stop screaming in "Screaming For Vengenace" works just as perfectly for that one song. But best of all is how his voice has aged - with grace and great maturity, even if it's not as powerful anymore.


6. Joey Tempest (Europe, solo)

I was a massive Europe fan back in my teens and it was all because of Joey Tempest's voice and John Norum's killer guitar playing. "The Final Countdown" is a decent enough record but the band's first two are great hard rock albums. The band's latest three records or so are great as well, even if they sound a lot closer to Deep Purple and Rainbow these days. But Joey's voice is simply one of the best to come out of the Swedish scene. Perhaps he's not that versatile with it, but instead his voice suits anything the band ever played, from their early heavy metal days to their most AOR-ish sound.


5. Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath, solo)

If you've read posts on this blog before, chances are good you've seen how big a fan I am of Ozzy's. The man and his music, solo as with Black Sabbath, is my dearest number one of all time. There's just something about him. But what about his voice? His voice has perhaps never been a technically "good" voice in that matter, but it's certainly unique. Well, you obviously should know this already regardless of being a fan or not. For me, however, that uniqueness is just that great. What makes his voice even greater is that he's great at coming up with memorable melodies, as well as always having killer musicians to back him up.


4. Bob Catley (Magnum, Avantasia, solo)

Another terribly underrated vocalist from an underrated band. Magnum is simply one of the finest hard rock/AOR bands ever to grace this earth. Guitarist Tony Clarkin might be the band's chief songwriter and creative force, but Bob Catley's melodically powerful voice is what makes the songs sound magic. He's just that kind of singer that makes your listening experience blissful. If you're not familiar with him, or if you've only heard him in Avantasia (which is not really my cup of tea tbh), then you should definitely check out Magnum. Particularly the 80's and more recent stuff.


3. Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahawk)

This man should need no further introduction to anyone who's not living beneath a rock. Much like Devin Townsend, Mike Patton is a multitasker and mad creative force. Apart from Devin, however, Mike is much more oriented in the vocal department above all else. While he creates music of all kinds with all kinds of instruments and gear, it's always his voice that is the main focus. He's even done music exclusively made with his voice. His work with Faith No More and Mr. Bungle are my personal favorites and to be widely recommended. You'd definitely be in for a crazy treat.


2. Ronnie James Dio (Dio, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Elf)

There only one word for this man: legendary. What he lacked in physical height he made up for a hundred times in vocal prowess. In my opinion there's just no one else that can match him. His voice was not only powerful but also extremely melodic, elegant and full of emotion. It was like an epic storyteller's voice. The bands and music he got to sing over was also a perfect match. He's just one of those vocalists who could front any heavy metal band and make it sound awesome. Inferior to none when it comes to metal music.


1. Freddie Mercury (Queen, solo)

What can I say? If Ronnie James Dio was untouchable in heavy metal, then Freddie Mercury was the equivalent in possibly all other musical styles. Queen played a lot of different styles and Freddie mastered them all. I'm not a huge fan of Queen itself but when I do listen to them, I listen to the amazing voice of the great, late Freddie Mercury.

Black Sabbath: All Albums Ranked Worst To Best

Black Sabbath might just be the most important band of all time to me. My parents grew up listening to Sabbath, Ozzy, Dio and all that stuff during the 80's, then I got to grow up with all that stuff during the 90's and early 2000's. By 2002, I had become interested in music myself and metal was, of course, the best shit in the world.

So where did I start off? It was Ozzy and his solo stuff that really got me into music as a whole, but with him Sabbath obviously followed. From there I discovered Dio (the band) and his previous works with Rainbow. I also kept an open mind towards the post-Dio eras of Sabbath and thus discovered that both Ian Gillan and Glenn Hughes used to be in Deep Purple. You know, the list just goes on and on.

With Black Sabbath essentially being the centerpiece of my entire musical world, I just had to make one of these lists for their albums. That is all of their albums, i.e. anything labeled "Black Sabbath" which have guitars performed by Tony Iommi. So, let's begin!

Classic Sabbath: Geezer, Ozzy, Tony, Bill

19: Forbidden (1995)

 Last place and thus the worst album of Black Sabbath's career is none other than, surprise surprise, 1995's Forbidden. It's definitely the most disliked album of their career by the fan-base in general, and for quite obvious reasons in my opinion. I don't really find the album particularly bad like many others do. For instance, I don't really have a problem with the album's mix which tend to be a real earsore to some fans. I just think it lacks a lot of the essential things that make a Sabbath album being Black Sabbath. It sounds like one of those typically dated mid-90's metal records which tried too hard to be up-to-date at the time.

Favorite track: Kiss of Death


18. Born Again (1983)

The sole album featuring then former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan on vocals. This was where Sabbath kind of started to fall away from the public eye and it's quite easy to hear why. There's nothing wrong with Ian Gillan and his vocals at all, but he belongs in Deep Purple and not Black Sabbath. With that said, the bulk of the album itself was kind of lackluster and its horrible mix didn't help any of it one bit. It's still got a few great tunes, though.

Favorite track: The Dark/Zero The Hero

1983-'84: Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, (touring drummer) Bev Bevan, Geezer Butler

17. 13 (2013)

Sabbath's first Ozzy-fronted album in 35 years just didn't quite fare all too well with me. If I'm being completely honest, then I think it's actually a really boring album. It does nothing for me. On top of that there is no Bill Ward playing drums. Yes, I am the super-biased kind of fan. After all, if anything without Ozzy no longer is "Black Sabbath", then how can it be without Bill Ward? It was always Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill. That was Black Sabbath. This isn't. Whatever. Then we have Rick Rubin's awful production. It just sounds raw in the most plastic way and, of course, it's also brick-walled to high heaven. I hate the guy's production work. Ultimately I could've just lived without this "reunion album".

Favorite track: Methademic


16. Cross Purposes (1994)

At this point it already starts to get difficult to chose where to rank a few of the lesser great albums which remain. I'd say that everything from this one and below is pretty effin' great and only gets better and better, but you know, I decided to do this so I've got to make up my mind. This album, which really is quite cool, gets the 17th place for sounding a bit too dated. It's a good heavy metal record but it also sounds like a typical product of its time.

Favorite track: Cross of Thorns


15. Never Say Die! (1978)

Another album that's been quite bashed throughout the years. Initially I wasn't too fond of it either, but it has really grown with me in recent years. It sure is different from the earlier stuff with Ozzy but I for one welcome the evolving change of their sound at the time. There are some seriously overlooked gems on this record.

Favorite track: Junior's Eyes


14. Tyr (1990)

This is quite an interesting and unusual Sabbath release. First off, it's with the most excellent (and majorly underrated) Tony Martin on vocals, but it's also the only Black Sabbath to rely more on viking themes rather than christian ones. As a Swede I find these lyrical themes quite interesting and Tony Martin was also a good writer of lyrics. The one thing that makes it a less awesome Sabbath record, however, is how it tends to sound more like a power metal band rather than Black Sabbath. It's not really anything wrong with it. I mean, they pull it off masterfully, but it's not what I want or expect(ed) from a Sabbath record.

Favorite track: Anno Mundi

1990: Tony Martin, Tony Iommi, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray

13. Vol. 4 (1972)

I know this one has a very dedicated fan-base who believes that it's Sabbath's very finest hour. I on the other hand always felt like it was lacking something. It was their fourth album in the span of two years and I think that it shows to some extent. Less memorable songs and the mix sounds more  primitive in a rushed kind of way. It's still a great record, don't get me wrong, but just not one of my favorites.

Favorite track: Snowblind


12. Dehumanizer (1992)

Sabbath's reunion album with Ronnie James Dio, at the time, and it's the heaviest shit they've cranked out since the mid 70's. The album itself, however, falls somewhat short in comparison to the earlier Sabbath records with Dio on vocals, as well as Dio's own solo material at the time. It's doomy and heavy as all fuck, but it just doesn't quite cut it anyway. It's one of those scenarios where you are just left like you expected something more.

Favorite track: Master of Reality


11. Seventh Star (1986)

It's up for debate whether this one should really be regarded as a Sabbath album or not. It was initially intended as Tony Iommi's first solo album, but record labels tend to be money hungry cunts without any respect for integrity. Still, seeing as Tony was the sole original member for most of the time after 1984, I view this as a Sabbath release anyway. It is quite different compared to most of the band's other albums, though. It's got a very melodic heavy metal sound which is quite typical of its time, but it's the exact kind of 80's sound I fucking love. Besides, Tony's rocking a mean guitar tone on this one.

Favorite track: Danger Zone

1986: Dave Spitz, Glenn Hughes, Tony Iommi, Eric Singer, Geoff Nicholls

10. Technical Ecstasy (1976)

I always thought this album was unfairly underrated for an Ozzy-Sabbath record. I love the bulk of this one, with a few exceptions. To me this is just another great Sabbath record, albeit a bit experimental but in a good way. Some moments on this one reminds me of Queen, in a good way. Some other stuff sounds like the typical riff-heavy Sabbath we all love. Bill Ward also proved to be a great singer on this record.

Favorite track: You Won't Change Me


9. Heaven And Hell (1980)

At this point it's become really hard to decide where to place the remaining albums. As classic and great as this record is, and I truly love it, it's got a few moments which don't hold up quite as well as the others. Regardless, it's more or less a flawless record and the band performs exceptionally. Bill Ward hits those drums like a beast and Dio's vocals are just as amazing as ever.

Favorite track: Die Young

1980: Bill Ward, Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iomii, Geezer Butler

8. Headless Cross (1989)

Another album with the excellent Tony Martin on vocals. Sadly I don't think this album would made it as far up in ranks on most other fans' lists. I am a fan of Black Sabbath regardless of what era we're talking. Tony Martin's voice is one of my favorites of all time as well. This album is yet another slightly different kind of record for Sab, as it features some typical AOR-esque influences which were popular at the time. I guess one way to describe it would be a "satanic Whitesnake and/or Blue Murder". There certainly are some traits of those kinda bands on this record, while still sounding like Sabbath of course. Tony Iommi also brings out some of his greatest guitar work on this one.

Favorite track: When Death Calls


7. Black Sabbath (1970)

Black Sabbath's debut album is as classic as it gets. It also marks something of the "official" birth of heavy metal. It's without doubt one of the greatest records of all time, still it ends up on 7th place on my list. I really think that says something about it, the band and the overall quality and impact of their music. The title-track, as well as the first Sabbath track, amazed me in a way no other song has ever done when I first heard it. I didn't really know any metal at that point, nor any other "extreme music" for that matter. I was 12 in 2002 and heard it for the first time. It could've been 1970 for all I know. To me it was so dark and sinister in a really uncomforting way, yet so chilling and amazing.

Favorite track: Black Sabbath


6. Paranoid (1970)

"How come you place this as low as 6th?! It's the best!!" Well, first off, I am a Black Sabbath fan. I listen to everything they ever put out, not just this one album. Unfortunately, it seems like this is the only album a large majority of listeners go for. Looking at Last.fm, for instace, confirms this as well. I dunno. It's their "hit record" for sure, but these songs were never their "hits" to me personally. I always liked a lot of other songs more. As fuckin' great as this record is, it's just not that extra ordinary special to me.

Favorite track: Electric Funeral


5. The Eternal Idol (1987)

"Watt fockin' album's thiz?!" You see the title above. It's also the first album with Tony Martin. Inititially this was going to feature the late Ray Gillen on vocals but I'm glad they ended up with Tony Martin instead, seeing as I like his voice slightly more. Possibly the most underrated album of Sab's entire catalogue. It's not perfect but it's a damn good record. Powerful vocals, riffs and solos. Some more notable background keyboards as well. The mix is pretty much the only downside about this one. It sounds more like a rough mix rather than a finished product. I dunno. It works but it could've sounded better. The songs, however, are really good in my opinion. I just love this album!

Favorite song: Ancient Warrior


4. Mob Rules (1981)

My favorite Sab album with Dio on vocals. Just a great heavy metal record. Unfortunately it's a somewhat underrated/overlooked one as well. The band themselves, as well as fans, seem to think lesser of this compared to Heaven And Hell. I always thought this was a better record and the songs are really fuckin' good. Some more doom and groove on this one. I guess that appeals to me more. Vinny Appice is also one of my favorite drummers. The best drummer Sabbath ever had after Bill Ward.

Favorite track: Voodoo


3. Master of Reality (1971)

For a long time this used to be my favorite Sab album. I guess I wore it out to a slight extent while the top two grew on me more. Nonetheless this is still an amazing album to my ears. The songs with their heavy riffs, Ozzy's trademark vocals and the excellent rhythm section with Bill and Geezer is just a perfect combination. Definitely one of the most classic metal albums of all time.

Favorite track: Children of the Grave


2. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)

This one also used to be my favorite for a while. This one had more variety than the previous records without going into the quite experimental routes which later Ozzy-Sabbath records did. It's just an amazingly mastercrafted piece of music. Ozzy also reached his vocal peak around this period of time and I always loved his nasally ways of singing.

Favorite track: Spiral Architect


1. Sabotage (1975)

And the winner is none other than this masterpiece right here. Initially it wasn't made favorite, as I've already pointed out, but it has grown and grown and grown on me over the years and it's just grandeur. Every single note is nothing but perfection. It's just the perfect Sabbath album in all ways imaginable. It's got great songs, a great flow and all the members are really peaking performance-wise. It's just a perfect mix of everything Sabbath was with Ozzy during the 70's.

Favorite song: Megalomania

That's a wrap, folks! I hope you enjoyed my list! And remember, it's just my personal opinions. Nothing to get butthurt over if they don't agree with your own.

Black Sabbath might be over now but their music and legacy will live on. Whereas their run has ended, my has merely begun. But at least I know that they will run with me until the day my own run ends, and hopefully beyond as well!

Top-10 Favorite Hard Rock & Metal Drummers

If you've been reading older posts in this blog you'll know I'm a drummer myself. I started drumming in early 2004 by joining my first band, which lasted for ten years before changing its name (and further continues to this day). We were all around 13-14 at the time and our first year was mostly spent learning our instruments by studying and learning different cover songs.

I always found it as interesting to know the players as much as the band's music. When I had just started playing drums I found it particularly interesting to study the drumming in the bands which I fancied. I googled the drummers and got to learn a lot of their setups, styles, influences and all that stuff. It really inspired me to become a drummer myself and it also made my aspiration more fun.

As a drummer I always listened to other drummers with critical ears. The more I learnt and developed myself, the more picky I became with other drummers' styles and whether I thought good of them or not. A little judging perhaps. Even arrogant, maybe. But I always found many drummers to miss a good groove, or feeling if you will.

With that said, let's go through my top-10 favorite drummers of hard rock and metal music (in no particular order):

• Chuck Biscuits

Chuck Biscuits is probably most known for his work with Danzig (the band). He also played in a bunch of punk rock bands including D.O.A. before that, but I never had a lot of interest in those bands to be honest.

Danzig, however, is another story. I love Danzig! I'm definitely one of those fans who prefer the early days and the first four albums (all featuring Chuck on drums), but I never gave up on (Glenn) Danzig and I enjoy their other, more recent stuff as well.

So what's so special about Chuck's drumming? First off, the man is an animal behind the kit. He's got a hard-hitting playing style with lots of dynamics and a good, loose groove (many o:s there). He always kept his setup rather small and made great use of everything at his disposal.

To me personally, Chuck could be the greatest influence in drumming. If you look at the photo of him above and study his rig, then you'll have a good idea of how my rig looked like throughout the years. I will not say that I copied his setup, at least not intentionally, but I pretty much did. His style also undoubtedly influenced me to become a hard-hitting drummer and opting for a loose groove.

• Fred Estby

Fred is most (but not exclusively) known as the drummer of Dismember, one of Sweden's most classic old school death metal bands, and my personal favorite death metal band of all time. Fred was the band's drummer live and in the studio, but he's also a guitarist and therefore he was somewhat of a chief songwriter for the band as well.

Fred's drumming is/was a mix between extreme metal and punk beats, filled with a kind of groove which I really dig. He's a very loose player, always sounding live on studio recordings and that's how I like it in most cases. It just adds a whole new depth and life into the drumming which makes the music as a whole more organic.

Fred is perhaps not what most metalheads would consider a "great drummer", but his style and groove influened me a lot more than most others throughout the years. Particularly his groovy bass drum work shaped my own style. He also had a way of finding good tones and sounds on Dismember's studio recordings.

• Vinny Appice

Vinny is well-known for have provided drums for many names throughout his career, but most known (and dear to me personally) is argubly his work with Dio (the band).

Vinny was part of Dio's original line-up and did the drums on more than half of Dio's entire catalogue. His style is kind of laid back with great groove and power. He definitely has his own unique vibe and style to his playing.

While Vinny always was a great influence for me, I would not say that my personal style sounds very influenced by him. So why is that? Well, first and foremost: I never learned to play like the man. Secondly: I wouldn't wanna copy the man's style and become a B-rate version of him anyway. But the man's drumming always catches my attention when listening to stuff like Dio and Black Sabbath.

• Gene Hoglan

Also known as "The Atomic Clock", or simply the human drum machine, Gene Hoglan is possibly the world's fastest drummer while also being overly technical much of the time. Like that's not enough, the guy also used to be big as a house, but he's lost a lot of weight in recent years (good to see, Gene).

Out of the drummers I fancy the most, Gene is definitely the most technical and fast one. I generally don't like machine-like drummers but I still feel like Gene's got a very unique touch to his style. Sure, he is indeed playing like a monstrous machine, but he's got a trademark that's always there.

Despite having done records for bands like Death, Testament, Forbidden, Zimmers Hole and many, many more, you can always listen to the drum work and you'll know it's Gene. That's exactly what I love about his playing, and it's also interesting to hear him do all the crazy stuff seemingly like it's a real piece of cake.

My personal favorite bands featuring Gene are Strapping Young Lad and Dark Angel. SYL is simply awesome in a very crazy, heavy and brutal way. Dark Angel was his first band (in the public eye anyway) and that was back in the 80's. "Darkness Descends", legendary thrash record which even put Slayer and "Reign In Blood" to shame in 1986. Back then Gene wasn't as consistent in his playing yet. Techincal and lightning fast, but a bit more "human". I really liked that.

• Stefan Kaufmann

Stefan is one of the most underrated drummers of all time in my opinion. Playing with Accept during their entire 80's run, as well as a few albums in the 90's, I always found much inspiration in his drumming style.

Stefan always adapted his style to whatever kind of tune Accept was playing, doing some real solid double bass drumming before it had really become a standard in metal music, as well as playing groovy beats to fit the slower and/or mid-paced songs. Versatile to say the least.

During the 90's Stefan suffered from great back pain and had to stop drumming in Accept. He later joined Udo's solo band as a guitarist, but a few years ago his back still caused too much trouble, effectively forcing him to quit Udo's band as well. His drum work will always continue to inspire my drumming.

• John Boecklin

Say what you will about the New Wave of American Metal or metalcore: whether you're a fan of the bands or not, you can't deny a lot of them are great musicians. In a way I find that drummers, in particular, have all trained techniques too much, essentially making it not-so-special anymore.

Despite that fact, a few drummers (in this case) still stick out from the masses. I know a lot of people praise Chris Adler (Lamb of God) and Andols Herrick (Chimaira) and they're great. People rarely talk about DevilDriver's John Boecklin, however, which to my surprise is really sad.

John's got some real cool chops in his playing style. He's techincal, fast, precise and has a great groove. I find his work with toms and percussion to be particularly cool and it's also been an influence for me in latter years since discovering DevilDriver (I never listened to them 5-10 years ago).

• Dave Lombardo

I think it's safe to say that Dave Lombardo's something of a living legend in the metal world. Having made a great name for himself during has many former years with Slayer, the man's given more influence than most other drummers within the genre (and subgenres).

But Dave's popularity is not just all talk. He's actually a fucking beast behind the kit. He's probably most known for his quick thrashbeating, but in my book it's his groove which makes his drumming sound so awesome. He's also got great tones and sounds.

Personally I am a huge fan of Dave's style. Not for his ability to play thrash beats or fast in genreal but because his style is so distinctive and versatile. The way he just comes raging down of his drums is ferocious, like a beast tearing human bodies apart. I'm not familiar with quite all of his several projects throughout the years, but my favorites are Slayer (of course), Grip Inc. and Fantomas, all of which are really cool bands with great drumming.

• Scott Asheton

The late Scott Asheton is unargubly most famous for being the drummer of The Stooges, the so called proto-punk band which launched the charismatic singer Iggy Pop into the public eye.

The Stooges did three fan acclaimed albums during the late 60's and early 70's which would come to prove a great influence on both punk rock and later grunge. Their style was hard and relatively raw, with rather simplistic compositions which were powerful and effective for rebelling against society. I believe they put out some of the hardest rock music ever made.

What I like about Scott's drumming is his powerful style. He had a firm groove which maintained an organic feeling and kept things rather simple yet interesting. I'm personally very influenced by his style as I like the "rainy-day-in-the-rehearsal-place" feel of it.

• Bill Ward

Bill is undoubtedly most famous for his work with Black Sabbath, and for very good reason. Playing on all the classic Sab records including all the 70's records featuring Ozzy Osbourne, as well as 1980's "Heaven And Hell" with Ronnie James Dio, Bill Ward helped creating Black Sab's great legacy.

Since Black Sab was the start of the entire metal movement, essentially anyways, Bill's drumming style was not exactly very metal oriented. His style was more rooted in blues and jazz and in my opinion, that helped a lot in creating the sound of some heavy and experimental drumming for the metal sound. He's just got a very nice swing to his playing, very organic and dynamic.

I'm personally a fan of all Sabbath albums, regardless of backing musicians or singers, so with that said I'm a fan of every album featuring Bill. I think it's hard to just chose one album or so where he really shined the most, but I do think "Technical Ecstasy" is a criminally underrated Sab album. Bill also sings on one track on that album (and does it great), but his drumming is also very versatile. Otherwise, I think just about any Sab will do.

• Tony Niemistö

Also known as Tony Reno. He was the original drummer for the Swedish band Europe, you know the one which made "The Final Countdown"? Anyway, he played in the band before they made that album and while they still were a lot heavier, ultimately appearing on the band's first two albums only.

While this may seem like an odd and/or random choice, it's really not. Europe was already a relatively huge band in Sweden from their get-go and thus we don't only listen to their more commercial late 80's stuff, but everything they made.

Personally I think Europe peaked with "Wings of Tomorrow" in 1984, the second and last album to feature Tony on drums. I listened a lot to the band's first two albums around the time when I was first practicing drums, and I always found Tony's drumming to be very heavy and powerful, like I thought and imagined that real heavy metal drumming was like. His style and sound influened me a lot during the first two years or so and looking back on it, I completely understand why. I wish the band would've kept him. His style went so well with John Norum's excellent guitar playing.

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I hope you enjoyed my list! Keep in mind that these are my personal favorites and greatest influences throughout the years. While there are of course a bunch of other drummers that influenced me as well, these ten are simply the greatest in my book.

Bonus:

 Here you've got a 16-y-o me with my "Chuck Biscuits setup" back in 2006.

Recommendation of the year: Sumerlands

So I wanted to do a little bit of a fan promotion right now. There's a relatively new band out there right now called Sumerlands featuring names such as vocalist Phil Swanson (Hour of 13, etc.) and musicion/producer Arthur Rizk (Eternal Champion, War Hungry, Power Trip, etc.). They come from Philly (Philadelphia), Pensylvania and they play some good old school-influenced American heavy metal.

If I were to describe their sound, I'd say they sound a lot like (80's) solo-era Ozzy Osbourne and also post-Ozzy Black Sabbath. Particularly the vocals are very reminiscent to that of Ozzy's, albeit a lot more cleaner and greater in vocal ranges. Phil Swanson simply sounds amazing! But then again, Ozzy and Sabbath are my very great musical idols, I love that kind of sound.

The guitar work is also very much in the same vein as Ozzy's solo stuff, particularly that of Randy Rhoads and maybe slightly more from Jake E. Lee. Influences of other bands such as Savatage, Queensrÿche and maybe even some Mercyful Fate are to be found here. But I think the band manage just fine to still make the music their own and with a unique touch to it.

Overall the sound is very organic as well as dynamic. The guitars are filled with details and a bit playful in their approach, kinda like Van Halen if you know what I mean? The drums are also very hard-hitting and provides a ferocious stampede throughout the album's run. They're also produced with a heavy 80's sound which I just love.

If you're a fan of Ozzy's "The Ultimate Sin" album and Sabbath's albums with Dio, Tony Martin and the others in between, then this will most likely appeal to you. Fans of other US heavy/power metal bands will likely also like this, as there are some influences of Manilla Road and the other bands which I mentioned before.

To give the album a try, simply use YouTube, Bandcamp or Spotify down below:

YouTube

Spotify

Bandcamp

To purchase the album you can go to Relapse Records or Bandcamp. I ordered the black vinyl edition from Relapse myself.

Sumerlands shop @ Relapse Records

Top-15 Best Songs: Judas Priest

Welcome to a new series I'm starting here, right now! A top-15 best songs list, because 10 is simply not enough most of the times. Debuting this new series will be the almighty Judas Priest. I will base the list on my personal preference rather than the general one, or which songs are hits or not. Screw that! No further description is really needed so let's get started!

15. Blood Red Skies (1988)

Powerful and epic. Rob Halford vocally in top shape. The productions sucks but it doesn't ruin the song's awesomeness. The song also sounds very good and heavy live on Epitaph (2013).

14. Dissident Aggressor (1977)

The song itself isn't anything special, I think. It's the riff and drums that totally do it for me. One of Priest's finest "harder" metal moments.

13. Diamonds And Rust (1977)

Amazing cover of the Joan Baez song. One of the finest covers of all time, as well. Just listen and feel it for yourself. Outstanding vocal performance from Rob.

12. Out In The Cold (1986)

Another one of Priest's more emotional semi-ballad tracks. I guess I'm just a sucker for those. This live version is also very nice. It says a lot about the song when the band opened up with this in 1986.

11. Victim Of Changes (1975)

The studio version is awesome. Live it's even better. My favortie official release of the song is from the Unleashed In The East live album (1979). This live clip is from the US Festival 1983.

10. You've Got Another Thing Comin' (1982)

This is the closest I get to a "given hit" on this list. Love the biker-esque sound, my kinda shit. Also GTA: Vice City back in 2002. It was the first Priest song I ever loved.

9. Turbo Lover (1986)

In one way this song is actually kind of bad, but in other ways (plural!) it's just fucking awesome! 80's cheesy, guitar synths and an infectiously good chorus. Very driving song. Great solo section.

8. Freewheel Burning (1984)

I had a crazy dream many years ago where I witnessed a cops-and-crooks car chase while I heard this song blast all over the world. High energy, great guitars. The production could be rawer, though.

7. Exiled (2008)

Many fans really disliked the Nostradamus (2008) album, but I loved it from day one. It's actually my favorite Priest record. This song is very powerful, very beautiful. I especially love the last two minutes - great build-up and conclussion.

6. Prophecy (2008)

The opening track from Nostradamus. Just listen to that riff, so heavy. It's like riding a great chopper-style motorcycle while waving around a nasty sledgehammer at people. Fuck! Yeah, that's how I feel when I hear this.

5. The Sentinel (1984)

The guitars! The intro always sounded like you stood staring against a giant concrete wall, just to have the Metallian burst through it when the song kicks off. Such a huge song.

4. Hellrider (2005)

One of those truly perfect Priest songs. Simple but most effective riffing, great dual soloing, driving drums and a catchy chorus. A modern classic from Priest.

3. Beyond The Realms Of Death (1978)

Perfection. I actually almost stole the song title once. My old band made a song back in 2006 and we needed a title. I named it "Beyond Reality Of Death" (no "the", I'm Swedish and that's our own grammatic logic! I was really bad at English back then, as well). I always felt like the title was too familiar, though. Then I realized... haha!

2. Rock Hard, Ride Free (1984)

Another metal biker anthem, just the way I like my Judas Priest. This song never stuck with during the first few years as a fan. It wasn't before a guitarist we used to have in my old band, who loved this song, played it for me and I was instantly sold. Just like that!

1. Desert Plains (1981)

A very mellow track from Priest. Yet another biker anthem, and my favorite one at that. Very emotional, powerful and with an almost dramatic chorus. It sounds like the album cover, I guess. I always imagine myself riding a chopper (motorcycle, of course) on Route 68 or something when I hear this. Anyway, it's my favorite Priest song of all time.

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OK, so that's a wrap! Some people are probably surprised or even disappointed (maybe pissed?!) that I didn't include anything from Painkiller (1990) or British Steel (1980). Don't get me wrong for that, I love those albums. Just not enough, I guess. It was really hard coming up with 15 songs. I'm a huge fan of Priest, even the Ripper albums, so there's really a whole lot to choose from. But this was a fair and honest try, and I hope you enjoyed it.

My Top-10 Best Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time [2016]

On December 13, two years ago, I did my first list consisting of my ten (10) favorite heavy metal albums of all time. I'll tell you; it's fuckin' hard coming up with only ten albums which are supposedly the ten best. I have 3300-something played artists on my Last.fm, with the majority of the artists being some kind of metal. Then have in mind most of them did at least a few to many albums each, as well. That's quite a lot to choose from.

Another thing I did which I found rather weird was how I chose one album to represent the artists respectively as a whole. Looking back on it now, it's more like a "best heavy metal artist and their best albums respectively"-list. With that said, I decided to re-make a list and actually keep true to the list's purpose. Besides, my opinions have changed a bit during the last two years. So here ... we ... go!

Extra note: Only classic heavy and traditional metal, and NWoBHM will be included in this list. Not the "general understanding" that heavy metal means "all" metal.

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10. Saxon - Innocence Is No Excuse (1985)

Saxon is one of the greatest, hardest working and long-lived classic NWoBHM bands ever. They have made a large amount of records and still to this day they put out a record every two years. Another great feature of theirs is that they never put out a bad album. Some albums were obviously not-as-good as others, but I never disliked or got truly disappointed by a Saxon album. I feel secure when I say they're the only band on this list to have that feature.

Speaking of this particular choice of album. It's probably what you'd call their "second most commercial" release. The winner being Destiny (1988), of course. This was an attempt to break into the American market, which ultimately didn't succeed. I think it's still very much British heavy metal here, with a few touches of American influences. It's mostly the production that sounds American - huge arena-like soundscape, but that's exactly one of the features I love about 80's metal - lots of reverb all around. The songs just sound so huge on this record.

9. Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time (1986)

My first favorite band for a few years when I first started listening to heavy metal. I'll love Iron Maiden to death, but I do think the massive hype around them is overrated. I mean, in the long run their stuff just tends to be somewhat repetitive, especially Steve's songs although his the master at writing epic songs. But Maiden still deserves a lot of credit for what they've done throughout their career.

I'm one of those fans who prefer the old stuff. Mostly because I love the actual 80's sound so much, and I also think Bruce's voice was in much better shape back in his younger day. But one thing that was so great about Maiden in the 80's was how they constantly evolved into something better, in my opinion. This album was where they truly reached their peek in my book. I just love the sci-fi themed Blade Runner-esque setting from the cover art to the guitar-synths gracing the musical landscape.

8. Madison - Diamond Mistress (1984)

One of those more "odd" or "unheard" choices on this list, I imagine. Madison was an old Swedish band much in the vein of Priest, Maiden and speed metal. They only did two records with this being the first one. Their second album, unfortunately, followed the band Europe's success and did a glam metal album, which was rather bad.

This album was a great heavy metal. From the fast guitars and drums to the young and somewhat naive, but still great vocals from Göran Edman (later in John Norum and Yngwie Malmsteen's bands respectively, and more). Like many other Swedish bands in the 80's, there are also hints of ABBA influences in the bands music. As a Swede, you can kind of here that as you largely grow up with ABBA here (for reasons I'll leave obvious). It's just an amazing record!


7. Accept - Balls To The Wall (1983)

Accept is probably my favorite band coming from Germany, and there are a lot to chose from. They had a really great run in the 80's, not so much in the 90's, but then again in the 2010's (or currently). Just like with many other bands in this list, they've had such great records it's rather hard choosing one as the better. This has got to be it for me, however, as I just love the heavy sound of it. The drums in particular are real heavy and kick-ass.

The songs on this album are all great. Perhaps there isn't a real "hit", if you want to call it that, but as an album in its whole I think it's one of the strongest ones ever made. The guitars are heavy and loud, drums pounding, bass deep and Udo's vocals are in great shape. Udo even manages to do the album's ballad "Winter Dream" without sounding out of place, despite his unique vocal style.


6. Enforcer - From Beyond (2015)

I would suppose a lot of you are familiar with the Swedish band Enforcer which is currently very active and rocking throughout the world. They're a young band taking on the very best of old school metal. The recipes are all available today and Enforcer just takes that opportunity to re-do and refine the recipes, in my opinion. For not being one of the "old originals", I think they're very competent in what they're doing. Without a doubt the best band among the "revival/retro bands" these days, because they simply make it sound original again. #makeheavymetalgreatagain






5. Judas Priest - Nostradamus (2008)

I'm a huge Priest fan and love most of their catalogue except for the Tim "Ripper" records. I've got nothing against the fact that it's Ripper who sings on the two albums in question, I just didn't like the actual music on them. Other than that, I love everthing from Priest's 70's stuff to their modern stuff.

So here I come and present a rather strange choice in most fans' eyes, I suppose? The truth is, when I bought this album soon after its release, I've been amazed by it ever since. I've always thought that keyboards add a lot more to records, if done properly of course, but who can deny the quality work from a master such as Don Airey (Ozzy, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Priest, etc.)? This two-disc release is just an epic musical journey which I love to experience. It's like all the greatest JP ingredients being enhanced. Master craftmanship.


4. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)

The almighty (Black) Sabbath, the "start of it all", as we say. Tony Iommi a.k.a. the riff maker no. 1 has driven this band to great heights throughout its career, whether it being musical or commercial heights. It doesn't matter, I love all eras of Sab and I'm a fan of all their records, even though some are not up-to-par with some others, like with most bands.

I had a really hard time choosing a favorite from Sabbath, because I love so many of them dearly, but I always keep going back to this particular one. I honestly can't say why that is exactly, but the music is just great and perhaps there are one or two extra special songs which are dear to me. It's hard to say. Nonetheless, it's an amzing record from an amazing band and it's a great record to experience the band through.



3. Dio - Holy Diver (1983)

Dio (the band) is one of my favorites of all time, and so is Ronnie's amazing voice. Everything from the raw guitar riffs, live-feel drumming, stellar bass and keyboard soundscapes. It's a band that really managed to make their music sound like "pictures", if you know what I mean? It's impossible to just listen to the music itself. You hear it and it's like making up your own fantasy movie with Dio's music as its soundtrack, and that's exactly what I love about their music.

There are many great records done by this band and I've been going back and forth throughout the years about which one is my favorite. Right now, it's this one, but at some points I favored other albums (note, plural). They were such an amazing band and RJD is actually my very favorite vocalist. The man had such an emotional and powerful voice, and it truly saddens me that we'll never hear his voice grace some new wonderful heavy metal again.

2. Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath (1984)

The most sinister and evil heavy metal album ever made. This is one of those few gems that are just flawless. Everything from King Diamond's ghostly falsetto to his darker and twisted screams. All that in company with some amazing and Judas Priest-esque twin guitars, courtesy of Hank Shermann and Michael Denner. I just simply love their style and sound, and I've never heard any more evil-sounding guitars on a heavy metal album than those found here. The ultra-distorted guitar sound is just mindblowing and most unique, as I've never heard any other band using this particular sound before or after (some black metal bands have come close, though).

This one is one of the most definitive, perfect and most amazing metal albums of all time, no matter what sub-genre we're talking. It's got all of the essential ingredients of what defines a great heavy metal record. From the classic and powerful cover art, which just suits the musical content perfectly, to every band members' creative efforts and skills. This is one of those truly immortal classics, and also one of my true holy grails in my vinyl collection.

1. Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman (1981)

And number one ...*drum roll*...*tss!*... Ozzy Osbourne! The Godfather of heavy metal, and the one and only who made my interest for heavy metal explode back in 2002. I owe so much to Ozzy, his music and the countless hours I've been enjoying his legacy, from Sabbath to his most recent solo stuff. However, my favorite work of his lies in his 80's solo career, or more specifically up till the No More Tears album. Most of his records up till that point was awesome, with the exception of Bark At The Moon (whose title-track is still kick-ass as fuck).

This album is the perfect example of what I love about Ozzy's music: his unique voice (in awesome shape on this record, just listen to "You Can't Kill Rock 'n' Roll"), his musicians (particularly the amazing Randy Rhoads) and the songs themselves. This is truly the man's finest hour, especially with his own singing efforts in mind. This is the one album I'd chose to have with me on a deserted island.

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Honorable mentions (bands) which were ultimately rejected for not quite meeting the list's criteria or simply outdone:

Motörhead - (Several)
Danzig - Danzig (1988)
Twisted Sister - Come Out And Play (1985)
Tygers Of Pan Tang - Spellbound (1981)
Thin Lizzy - Thunder And Lightning (1983)
Ozzy, Sabbath, Dio, Priest, Saxon, Maiden, Enforcer - (More choices)

In retrospect: Ronnie James Dio

Hi and welcome back to a new round of "In retrospect:". This time I'm tackling the career of Ronnie James Dio, although not all of his career. This might sound weird, but truth be told - the man's legacy started way before Elf, which is kind of the first band people usually know him from. Back in the 1950's and 1960's, Ronnie James Dio was already an active singer, but since this was in a time long-before hard rock and heavy metal, the music was more what you could imagine from that time.

Judging by the fact that Dio's pre-Elf career is too hard to fully trace, not to mention having an interest and patience in hearing it all, leaves me determined to not include his early, mostly unknown career in music. Actually, the same goes for his first little-to-fairly-known band Elf, which I simply haven't heard enough from, and what little I've heard didn't really interest me that much either, I'm afraid.

What I will cover is Ronnie's well-known career and legacy, from Rainbow to Black Sabbath to his solo act Dio. The only releases I will exclude from these bands are live and compilation albums, since they rarely interest me anyway.

A small shoutout before I begin, however, for Rainbow's "On Stage" album which in fact is a good one. Nonetheless, I will not include it in the list, but it's very worth checking out.

Here we go...

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Rainbow


1975 - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

Ronnie James Dio's first well-known album, and his first mainstream introduction to the public, is quite a landmark. Though this album was a major factor in Dio's career, it was also important for band leader and legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who had left Deep Purple to form his own band. The release itself, however, is not quite as good to my ears as many other people think. Truth be told, I always found Deep Purple and Rainbow to be somewhat of a hit-or-miss kind of bands. It's solid and got some great tracks, but nothing awesome as a whole.


1976 - (Rainbow) Rising

Now this is a lot better than the band's previous effort, I believe. If anything, it's certainly heavier and more to my taste. While it's got a shorter amount of songs (six in total), half of the album is made-up of eight-minute songs. Back in my early teens many years ago, I was often bored of lenghty songs, but as I grew older I really started to appreciate those musical-journey style songs many bands do. This album really has got that, with music just as epic as the most classic album cover art. One mighty fine hour in Dio's career, not to mention in the rest of the band members' careers as well.


1978 - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll

Dio's last album with Rainbow has got quite an ironic title, doesn't it? Not because rock 'n' roll died, at least not as early as 1978, but because it was the last album of Dio-Rainbow. It doesn't quite matter that Rainbow switched members from every record to record (at least up until "Difficult To Cure", after that I'm not sure), the Dio-Blackmore collaboration was all that counted, really. The album itself is a good closure for Dio's tenure in Rainbow with some of both Dio's and Blackmore's best songs ever.


Black Sabbath (take 1)


1980 - Heaven And Hell

Starting off his career in a band like Rainbow, only to then go on and replace Ozzy Osbourne in the mighty Sabbath. That is one hell of a career move, right? Well, Dio had the chops to did, and he bloody well did. As a major fan of Sabbath I love every album they did with Ozzy except for "Never Say Die!", which is a bit bland. I can understand why some people didn't like a few more of their last Ozzy-fronted albums, though. Anyway, with Dio in the fold, they put themselves back on the map - big time. This album is one of the best albums of all time, particularly within the metal community. Anyone denying its mastercrafted heavy metal sound of grandeur is an idiot. Dio himself stated at several times that this was his very favorite album, as well.


1981 - Mob Rules

While it doesn't really seem like an unknown album, it's certainly underrated and overlooked in comparison to its predecessor. I sometimes wonder if I don't even like this one slighty more, but it's a close call any way. Where this album perhaps went by more quietly, however, it was an important career step for Dio, who met his future long-time drummer Vinnie Appice who plays drums on this album. This would also be the last Dio-fronted Sabbath album in ten years to come, but what a great closure of Dio-Sabbath (mark one) it was. Very heavy and powerful album!


Dio


1983 - Holy Diver

One of the most legendary metal albums of all time. The debut of Dio's solo band really showed the world that the little man with the big voice could make it on his own. An album that surely helped out a lot with putting American heavy metal on the map, because after all, Ronnie James Dio was American. While Dio himself was American, however, his new and sensational young talen Vivian Campbell came from Ireland. Viv Campbell is today more known as one of the guitarists in Def Leppard, something that is quite far away from the style of Dio. Anyway, this album showed everyone that the Dio band was just as good, if not better, than both Rainbow and Black Sabbath had been with Dio. Most worthy of mentioning is also Dio's classic rhythm section with Jimmy Bain on bass and Vinnie Appice on drums. Just one of the great rhythm sections of all time, what a band!


1984 - The Last In Line

For a long time this was my favorite Dio album. I don't know if it still is, but it's one damn good album to say the least. Coming from "Holy Diver" which largely lacked keyboards, something which was pretty crucial and prominent in the soundscapes of Dio's former bands, this one saw keyboardist Claude Schnell recruited and a lot of more keyboards being present in the music. I believe this really helped cementing the Dio band's sound, especially with Ronnie's fantasy-themed lyrics which fit the 1980's heavy metal scene very nicely. This album is a very heavy and atmospheric journey of heavy metal music that everyone should own. A great mix of heavy, speed, and poppy metal.


1985 - Sacred Heart

Somewhat unintentionally controversial, this album would prove to be the last album featuring the classic Dio line-up. Guitarist Vivian Campbell and Ronnie had clashed by this point, for whatever reasons (they are widely discussed throughout interviews if you're interested). It's a most typical Dio album in a musical sense, but it does perhaps feature a somewhat more commercial sound. The album's lead singles are quite poppy and the fans were largely split with opinions about this one. This fact along with the ultimate demise and departure of Vivian Campbell's tenure in the band made it somewhat of the controversy it is. But I am one of those fans who love this album. A few tracks do tend to sound a bit more filler than usual, but still - it's a pretty fucking good album anyway.


1987 - Dream Evil

Marking the first album without guitarist Viv Campbell, this was the first (and ultimately at the time the only) album to feature Craig Goldy. I've always been very fond of this album, especially considering it's Craig Goldy who plays on it. That might come across as I don't like the guy's playing, but I'll come back and explain that on later albums. What this album sounds like is a mix between Dio's previous three solo albums and his Rainbow albums. Goldy seemed to be very influenced by Ritchie Blackmore, and perhaps even a bit too much so. The guitar playing is just phenomenal but not really as original or interesting as on previous albums. At the end of the day, however, this release does feature some of Dio's most underrated songs, and for any fans who loved Dio in Rainbow, this one would surely be the album to check out from Dio's solo records.


1990 - Lock Up The Wolves

Dio's fifth album once again showed a change within the band, albeit a much larger one this time around. For this album, Dio had changed out his whole backing band. Some of the old guys got fired for whatever reasons and the rest felt uncomfortable playing with the replacing guys. I can only suppose it was inevitable and a much needed change at the time. But how does it affect the album then? Well, it sounds quite different (obviously). Compared to the previous albums, this one is way much more guitar-driven, with hardly any prominent keyboards at all. Perhaps a sign of the times as the 80's was over, I dunno. The guitarist here, Rowan Robertson, was infamously only seventeen years old at the time he joined the band, and boy was he full of great talent! Ultimately, it's not the strongest Dio release. It took me a few years to truly get into this, but when I finally did, it became a very good more hard-rock/glam metal-influenced record than its predecessors.


Black Sabbath (take 2)


1992 - Dehumanizer

Dio let-go of his solo band in favor of rejoining Sabbath during the early 90's. I suppose the reason was that both the Dio band as well as Black Sabbath had been struggling somewhat throughout the last few years, and while they assured everyone it wasn't about the money, well ... I beg to differ, especially considering how ill they spoke of each other during the 80's. But it all happened anyway, and the end result was one hell of a heavy album. Perhaps even the heaviest Sabbath album of all time, but in the end I always felt this album fell somewhat flat in comparison to Dio's previous Sabbath-albums. It's a solid album, but nothing too spectacular. Sabbath simply did better doom metal with Ozzy in the 70's (without disrespecting Ronnie's performance or place in the band). This reunion was, however, very short-lived.


Dio (take 2)


1993 - Strange Highways

Without a doubt this is the most overlooked and underrated album of Dio's career. I suppose the reasons for it were maybe not all that surprising, though. Seeing as how the 90's obviously changed the music market for this kind of metal, and Dio and his solo band were largely associated with "dragons and rainbows", I just guess nobody was interested anymore. Well, that sure as hell was their huge loss, because this album is fucking awesome. Once again, the old trademark-keyboards are almost completely gone on this one as well, and it's way heavier than any solo record Dio ever did. This one is a lot more like Sabbath's Dehumanizer, p. 2. The only difference is - I think this one turned out way better, to be honest. For this album, Dio used his new guitar player Tracy G. along with former Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson, and his former long-time drummer Vinnie Appice came back to the fold as well. Some fans ultimately disliked Tracy G. and his playing (strongly), but I guess it's mostly because the guy played his own solos on old Dio and Sabbath tracks when they played live. Otherwise, I think the guy had a great guitar tone and I love his "loose" riffing style.


1996 - Angry Machines

And without a doubt this is Dio's worst album of his (more well-known) career. I've tried to get into this but I just can't. It sounds like a further exploration within doom metal, this time taking an even heavier approach. The end result is just plain bad. The songs are boring, uninspired and most of all - it doesn't sound very much like a Dio album. I can only suppose that for those who disliked Tracy G., this album did nothing but further cement that opinion of theirs. This was ultimately the last album to feature Tracy G. (as well as Vinnie Appice), who left some years later due to even Ronnie getting tired of his solo-style during live performances. I liked the guy and his personal playing, but this album was pretty bad. Him not playing the older songs' solos properly either, well ... fans were obviously gonna be pissed.


2000 - Magica

This album marked four noteworthy things: the return of guitarist Craig Goldy, as well as drummer Simon Wright (who played on "Lock Up The Wolves") and the former classic and long-time bassist Jimmy Bain, and most of all: the return of Dio's trademark fantasy-style metal. The end result, however, is a bit hit-or-miss. Seeing as it was 2000, with new ways of making digital recording cheaper to use, as well as Dio having not had any greater success for almost ten years by this point, the album sounds rather cheaply recorded. The production is very flat-sounding. On top of this, Craig Goldy's return to the band is more of a disappointment than it is a success. The riffs just tend to sound very much the same over and over. His old Ritchie Blackmore-influenced style of riffing is long-gone on here, and while it was maybe Ronnie who wrote the riffs, it's still a pretty boring performane from Goldy. Simon Wright's stellar-rather-than-loose playing style (if compared to Vinnie Appice) just further makes this album stiff and a bit lifeless. It's sad because this album really had potential in its songs.


2002 - Killing The Dragon

Following much in the same vein as "Magica", this album is more of a success to my ears. It sounds more inspirated and more true to Dio's 80's albums than any Dio album has done post-80's. Maybe this was because of guitarist Doug Aldrich, who temporarily replaced Craig Goldy for a few years while the latter became a father. Still present, however, is the somewhat of the stiff sound from the previous album. It's not nearly as much, however, as the production is a bit more "full" and the guitars (especially) are more varied and alive on this one. Not really a superb album, but without a doubt the best album Dio did after "Strange Highways" in 1993.


2004 - Master Of The Moon

Ultimately what would become the last Dio album, this one once again sees the return of bassist Jeff Pilson as well as Craig Goldy(!), and along with him comes (once again) a more stiff performance like "Magica". Now these two albums have really left me wondering sometimes what this guy did to lose his amazing performance-style from "Dream Evil". It's just sad to see such a promising guitarist become so uninspiring and boring fifteen-to-twenty years down the line. This particular album itself, however, is not bad, but not very good either. Just like with "Magica", this is somewhat of a hit-or-miss kind of album. It's a bit more keyboard-oriented which is nice, but otherwise there's not really one single track that truly stands out as memorable.


Heaven & Hell (a.k.a. Black Sabbath, take 3)


2009 - The Devil You Know

Sometime soon after the mid-2000's, Ronnie once again reunited with his former Black Sabbath bandmates. Sabbath had not too long ago stopped playing with Ozzy Osbourne, whom they had reunited with in the late 1990's. Needless to say, Sabbath was most likely facing another rather unsuccessful bunch of years ahead of them, while Dio had already been working too hard for too little for several years at this point. The guys reunited once more, opting to change their name after the legendary "Heaven And Hell" album this time instead. They released their first and ultimately only full-length album in 2009, which I suppose was successful (judging by time of illegal downloads, etc). The album itself is also a very good one, being the best album by the Sabbath guys (Tony and Geezer) and Dio (with Vinnie Appice) in a long, long time. It's a very heavy doom metal album and a great way for Ronnie James Dio to (sadly) end his career.

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That was it for this time, guys. These are my reflections and presentations of Ronnie James Dio's albums in short. I hope you enjoyed and see you next time!

//J.