DIO — Dream Evil (review)

DIO — Dream Evil album cover Album · 1987 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Kingcrimsonprog
Dio’s fourth album Dream Evil is the last studio album to feature Claude Schnell and the first to feature gutiarist Craig Goldy (previously of Rough Cutt, but not at the same time as Claude.) Craig ably and deftly handles guitar duties and although his style is slightly different to previous guitarist Vivian Campbell, fits into the overall Dio sound perfectly.

Dream Evil is a bit of an interesting one, in that some fans say it isn’t as good as the first three (or two in some cases) albums and some say that it is great and the last good Dio album. Personally I find Dream Evil to be everything I want in a Dio album, I think it is strong and well written, I like the general style and the majority of the songs are up there with the best Dio has to offer.

I will admit that there are one or two songs that seem a tad weak or generic when listening to the album from beginning to end, but which are fine in isolation. Still, the album contains tracks like ‘Sunset Superman,’ ‘Dream Evil,’ and ‘All The Fools Sailed Away,’ that no right minded Dio fan could ignore, some of the best material the band put out and essential for any best of compilation.

The only real problem I can find with Dream Evil is that the production (largely because of the keyboard sound) has dated somewhat, which may be a problem for some fans who only like Dio’s harder and heavier material… but the band slowly introduced keyboards more and more over the previous three albums and it just feels like the logical progression here.

Another thing that needs pointing out is that Dream Evil isn’t some weird departure; with the exception of the scope of keyboard usage, and the introduction of an almost-power-ballad, Dream Evil is stylistically bang on the trademark Dio formula, riffy fast songs mixed with mid paced melodic numbers, soaked in Dio’s great voice and guitar solos all over.

Guitar solos have always played a big part of Dio’s sound and even with a new guitarist on board, Dream Evil does not disappoint in this department. And while guitarist Vivian Campbell was gone, at least spokes-daemon “Murray” returned for the album’s front cover, shame he never took off in quite the same way as Vic Rattlehead, Snaggletooth or Eddie.

To summarise; as an album, Dream Evil is worth a place in your collection, it is up there with the best Dio albums, if just shy of being able to be called a contender for best Dio album. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to get into Dio and who has already bought and enjoyed Holy Diver.
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