Customer Reviews

The Very Beast of Dio

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Released October 3rd, 2000, The Beast of Dio was the first domestically available compilation for Dio, second if you count the German Import Diamonds.

Ronnie James Dio. That name has been in music for over 40 years, When Dio got his start in a local band called the Electric Elves, later changed to Elf. After doing to albums with Elf, R. J. Dio left Elf to concentrate on harder rock, instead of the folky stuff he was doing, so joining up with Ritchie Blackmore, guitarist of Deep Purple, Dio and Blackmore formed Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, better known as Rainbow. Dio's popularity rose enormously as a vocalist while in Rainbow, and after only four albums with Rainbow, Dio joined the legendary Black Sabbath. There he recorded Heaven And Hell and Mob Rules, often praised as some of Black Sabbath's best records. After a dispute over the live album Live Evil, R. J. Dio left the band to begin a solo band. With Dio on vocals, ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain and ex-Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice, in addition to ex-Sweet Savage guitar shredder Vivian Campbell, Dio was set to rock the world! As the 80's went by, Dio released such critically acclaimed albums such as Holy Diver, The Last in Line, Sacred Heart, and Dream Evil, and as the new millennium came, Dio is still making music to this day! So how does The Beast of Dio, a compilation of the Mercury/Reprise label years, hold up? Read on to find out!

PROS-
-IN CHRONILOGICAL ORDER- Unlike most compilations, The Beast of Dio is in order so you can see the growth and changes of Dio.
-YOU GET ALL THE BIG HITS IF YOU'RE A CASUAL FAN- When you get the Beast of Dio, you can be expecting such radio hits as "Holy Diver", "Rainbow in the Dark", and "The Last In Line".
-MANY UNDERRATED MASTERPIECES ARE HERE!- Arguably some of Dio's best songs are the non-hits, and underrated songs such as "Stand Up And Shout", "Straight Through the Heart", "We Rock", "Dream Evil", and many others prove that theory right.
-THE BEAST OF DIO CONTAINS TWO AWESOME 90'S SONGS!- Although most compilations tend to overlook a bands less popular era, The Beast of Dio contains "Lock Up The Wolves" and "Strange Highways", some of Dio's best and darkest songs.
-CHEAP- Unlike other Dio compilations, The Beast of Dio is cheap and easy to find in any CD Store, including Best Buy and Circuit City.
-THE BEAST OF DIO HAS TWO AWESOME LIVE TRACKS- Although the label says there is only one live track, "King Of Rock N Roll" is also a live track along with Dio's cover of Rainbow's "Man On the Silver Mountain". Both these tracks rock and show Dio live and in their prime.
-GREAT LINER NOTES-Inside the CD Booklet, you'll find page after page of a Dio Bio, which documents their history and every album. Very informative and interesting read!

Cons-
-ALMOST NO MATERIAL FROM THE 90'S!- Although tracks like "Lock Up The Wolves" and "Strange Highways" are from the 90's, that is minimal at best. Albums such as Angry Machines, Magica, and Killing the Dragon get NO representation here, and that is disappointing!

Overall, this is one great compilation, and a great review of Dio's Glory Days. Although there is almost no material for the 90's, I won't deduct a star because there are at least TWO songs instead of none. I wish they would have done a Double-Set, but Oh Well, you don't always get what you want. Great for casual fans, but if you already own most of Dio's albums, there is really no reason to get this as there is nothing new here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! IF YOU ARE A CASUAL FAN OF DIO OR ARE INTERESTED IN HIM, PICK THE BEAST OF DIO OR STAND UP AND SHOUT: THE DIO ANTHOLOGY(MORE EXPENSIVE) TO START YOUR COLLECTION, AS THEY ARE EXCELLENT RETROSPECTIVES! WE ROCK!

Also Recommended:

Holy Diver-Dio
Diary of a Madman- Ozzy Osbourne
Powerslave- Iron Maiden

Thanks For Reading!

I bought this album at a local music store at a low price. At first I really did'nt like it, but after a while I grew to love it enough to give it 5 stars. I think Ronnie James Dio is one of the most telented guys on earth. The songs are power metal meets classic metal like Black Sabbath and Rainbow. I plan to buy many more Dio CDs. This band can really put the heavy in heavy metal, as the sticker suggests. I would highly reccomend this album for metal newbies, since in pretty much sums up every meaning of the word metal in every moment on headbanging.

Only missing 1 awesome song from R.J.D's band Dio Gypsy which can be found on the Holy Diver album and I would have also liked to have heard the album version of Man on the Silver Mountain by Rainbow anotof Dio's bands that rocks ass

Tired of boring music that makes you yearn for the sweet caress of a nailgun after just a few listens? Like a good dose of the magical and mystical (unicorns, trolls, shadows, incomprehensible evil, etc.) with amazing hooks and Satan-rising riffs in your rock? Want all this from a 60-inch, gap-toothed arachnophobe?
Then this is your album, brother! When there's Dio, ya know it never brings me down!!

Pretty evenly spead out between the Holy Diver through Dream Evil Era, which covers 12-13 tracks. A good investment for casual fans,

This is my first Dio album. And it freakin' rockses my sockses offs! I've heard a few of the songs (ie: Holy Diver, Rainbow in the Dark) on the radio before and liked them. This is an excellent mix for new Dio fans such as myself and I would assume longtime fans such ass people who have listened to them for a long time (Spluh!)

Seriously, with songs like Holy Diver, Rainbow in the Dark, Dream Evil, WE Rock, and (my favorite) The Last in Line, you can't go wrong with this hardrocken classic rock band that rocks unlike Numetal.

This disk contains most of Dio's best songs. Most songs on this disk are good, but not all of them. My favourites are Rainbow In The Dark, Dream Evil, and Holy Diver. If you're a Dio fan, you must own this disk, unless you have all the previous Dio albums.

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE DIO COMPILIATION...NUFF SAID

[Rating is four and a half stars, not just four.]

For well over three decades, Ronnie James Dio has been one of the strongest forces in power rock. Not long ago, this compilation of his solo years was released. How does it measure up? Read on and see.

First of all, this is the most definitive single-disc overview of Dio's years as a solo artist. And this compilation covers mostly the late eighties and early nineties, Dio's golden years. In addition to the big hits (Holy Diver, Rainbow In The Dark, The Last In Line,) you get several non-hit tracks that are also excellent (including Stand Up And Shout and Straight Through The Heart, neither of which can be found on the earlier "Diamonds" compilation.) Plus, there is a live version of Man On The Silver Mountain, a track Dio originally did with Rainbow (but here he does it with his band.)

This is a great compilation, but certainly not a perfect one. Even though it's close to perfect, there are two big flaws. First of all, it overemphasizes the Holy Diver album. It's a great album, but still, this is overkill. Likewise, it suffers from the same problem every other Dio hits compilation suffers from - IT ONLY COVERS HIS SOLO YEARS! There are no Elf, Rainbow, or Black Sabbath tracks here. That's a shame, because he did some great songs with them too.

Even though this compilation isn't quite perfect, it is still worthy of four and a half stars, and is, without question, the best single-disc Dio hits compilation out there today. This is REAL rock and roll, not that junk that people call rock in the modern age.

This is compilation of some of Dio's best songs. Although Dio does have many more great songs. If you have never heard of Dio then maybe you should buy this cd or holy diver. Ronnie James Dio has a powerfully soulful voice and a lot of passion. He is often compared to the late Freddy Mercury, except Ronnie James Dio has a much more powerful and brutal voice. This cd contains most of the radio friendly songs and some less popular music.

Dio will tour with Iron Maiden on their biggest tour to date in the summer of 2003. Also Dio's DVD comes out in July 2003. It will be so very awesome.