I don’t think anyone can argue that Ronnie James Dio has a spot on the Mount Rushmore of metal vocalists. The guy could sing the phone book and make it sound good. Vocal prowess aside there has always been questions concerning the quality of his solo material and his selection of band members. The vast majority of his fans love the first 3 albums, maybe include Dream Evil at a stretch. Then it gets difficult as we get 3 albums that plod along to various degrees, Lock Up The Wolves bores me to death, Strange Highways is a classic, even Ronnie thinks Angry Machines was shit. So where does that leave this?
We all know that Magica was a labour of love for Ronnie who wanted to do a concept piece for a long time. The problem is the fans didn’t share his feelings after it’s release. Out goes the unfairly maligned Tracy G and in comes Craig Goldy for another shot. Blink and you’ll miss him Jimmy Bain was there too although he did hang around longer this time then he did for Strange Highways. No Vinny Appice who I think is sorely missed.
The songs although well written for the most part are too one dimensional and anyone looking for uptempo stuff like We Rock or Stand Up And Shout would be advised to move on. The thing sounds a little stiff too. Maybe an outside producer would have shaken it up a little more, maybe Ronnie couldn’t look objectively at the thing as he was architect, material supplier and builder of the thing. Fever Dreams- cracking song, As Long As It’s Not About Love- another cracking song. The rest- good/in parts really good/average. Take your pick. Those robot voices grate too.
So what does the deluxe version have that the original didn’t:
For starters the thing is now easier to get as it’s been out of print for a while. Isn’t it odd how a much loved vocalist like Ronnie has studio albums that are hard to find, normally record companies try to make a quick buck after someone’s passing. There’s a couple of pics of Ronnie and some live shots but where’s the promo band shot if there was one. There were none in the original so I suppose that’s a plus. Liner notes by Mick Wall, sorry Mick not one of his finest. Lyrics and the story too although my original copy has the story as a separate booklet that opens up.
Over on disc 2 we get Ronnie narrating the Magica story, I didn’t listen then and I’m not listening now. Then we get two studio tracks: Annica which was originally a Japanese only release and doesn’t have Ronnie on it at all. Electra which was recorded for a proposed future Magica album and was also on the recently released The Very Beast Of Dio Volume 2 that doesn’t shake my tree at all, it’s ok I suppose in the samey dirgey tempo of the original.
Finally there’s 5 live bootleg recordings of Magica material from the tour. The sound quality isn’t great but surely that’s the point. What is great is Ronnie’s singing on these. The vocals in the breakdown section in Feed My Head put goosebumps on my arms.
Get it if you don’t have the original and want to complete your Dio collection. It’s a good package. But for god’s sake don’t start with this one. What a fucking voice though.
Richie.
