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Rating:
After a fantastic tour supporting the album "Dream Evil" (a tour that went down in hard'n'heavy history for its stage design), DIO returned to the scene in '90 (albeit with a drastically changed lineup) with this new studio album: "Lock Up The Wolves" produced by the record label "Reprise." Unfortunately, during that period, metal sales were decidedly declining and Dio's career suffered heavily from it. The album, therefore, was not well-received neither by critics, nor by metalheads, nor by the elf's own fans but, personally, I consider this an excellent piece of work even though I must admit it is inferior to the previous ones ("Holy Diver", "The Last In Line", "Sacred Heart", "Dream Evil").
The album opens with "Wild One", an extremely fast, frantic, and very "wild" track for which there's a video worthy of it, recorded on a stage with a very "Medieval" theme that I suggest watching (www.youtube.com). The next track, "Born On The Sun", can easily be skipped, unlike "Hey Angel", which is melodic in the first part but quite hard in the second. This too has a video recorded directly in the Reprise studios, decidedly inferior to that of "Wild One".
It's time for the fourth track, "Between Two Hearts", good but nothing remarkable. Skippable without any regret is "Night Music" which, personally, has never excited me. The title-track deserves a few more words, which will be included in various official anthologies of the Italian-American elf and with rhythms that are very close to those of the Australians AC/DC. An eight and a half minute long track, one of the first Dio songs I heard and which I remember liking from the very beginning. The album continues with "Evil On Queen Street", written to become the soundtrack for a film of the same name that was never released in theaters and which, unfortunately, I never had the chance to see.
Passable are "Walk On Water" and "Twisted", unlike the wonderful (wonderful in the true sense of the word) "Why Are They Watching Me?" (editor's note: the notes of this are currently playing in my stereo), a very fast track that slightly recalls "Wild One" but often overlooked by Ronnie James Dio himself, who decided to include it in only one best-of and rarely performed it live (there are no live albums where tracks from "Lock Up The Wolves" are included).
The CD closes with "My Eyes", with very "curious" and sad lyrics. Autobiographical lyrics that turn out to be a promise to the fans… in fact, through a series of metaphors, Ronnie James Dio promises that he will manage to revive his unfortunately declining career. In the lyrics, a series of elf's songs with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and in his solo career are mentioned. The songs mentioned are "Falling Off The Edge Of The World" from "The Mob Rules" (Black Sabbath), "Man On The Silver Mountain" from the first of Blackmore's Rainbow, "Heaven And Hell" by Black Sabbath, "Stargazer" from "Rising" by Rainbow, "Invisible" from "Holy Diver" and, finally, "I Could Have Been A Dreamer" from "Dream Evil". The lyrics are quite explicit:
"I've fallen off the edge of the world, I've fallen from the top of the mountain, to rise again. I've seen it from heaven ad hell, I've seen it from the eyes of a stargazer! I want to be invisible, Just get me out of here, Could the dreamer be turning to stone, oh!".From these lyrics emerge everything I previously mentioned.
Excellent work by sixteen-year-old guitarist Rowan Robertson, who will remain with the band just for this album and then leave, and who will be included in a ranking of the 5,000 best guitarists in the world.
Overall the album turns out to be well-played and well-structured but inferior to the previous works.
Track List:
Wild One / Born On The Sun / Hey Angel / Between Two Hearts / Night Music / Lock Up The Wolves / Evil On Queen Street / Walk On Water / Twisted / Why Are They Watching Me / My Eyes
Line-up:
Ronnie James Dio: vocals
Rowan Robertson: Guitar
Jens Johansson: Keyboards
Simon Wright: Drums
Teddy Cook: Bass
Discography:
Dio with Rainbow:
Blackmore’s Rainbow / Rising / On Stage / Live in Germany / Long Live Rock’n’Roll
Dio with Black Sabbath:
Heaven And Hell / The Mob Rules / On Stage / Dehumanizer
Dio:
Holy Diver / The Last In Line / Sacred Heart / Intermission (live)EP / Sacred Heart “The Dvd” (live dvd) / Dream Evil / Lock Up The Wolves / Diamonds: The Best Of Dio (comp.) / Strange Highways / Angry Machines / Anthology (comp.) / Master Series (comp.) / Inferno: Last In Live (live) / Magica / The Very Beast Of Dio (comp) / Anthology vol. Two (comp.) / Killing The Dragon / Stand Up And Shout- The Dio Anthology (comp) / Evil Or Divine (live dvd) / The Collection (comp.) / Master Of The Moon / Evil Or Divine-Live in New York City (live) / We Rock (dvd) / Holy Diver Live (live) / Holy Diver Live (live dvd)
Special thanks: Jettojet for suggesting I review this album and everyone who gave me constructive criticism on reviews prior to this one, like, for instance, trying to be more objective.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Wild One (04:06)
You say you've never seen the light before
Does anyone believe you
Don't let them hear you say anymore
Nothing's really safe around here
We are an imitation of the crown
We never turn the pages
They cannot let your spirit touch the ground
And nothing's gonna change around here, no
Crack in the ceiling
Hole in the wall
They bend you over
But you won't crawl away
You've got two in the bushes
One in the hand
They'd make you over
But they can't understand you
You're always gonna be the wild one
Pretend that all you really feel is pain
Just hide behind some sorrow
How sad
But you'd do it all again
(I guess that) Nobody changes 'round here
Cat in the cradle
Man in the moon
They'd make you over
But it's too soon to know, no
Smoke in the kitchen
Fire in the hall
The train is coming
And you can hear it calling
You're always gonna be the wild one
Crack in the ceiling
Hole in the wall
They bend you over
But you won't crawl away
You've got two in the bushes
One in the hand
They'd make you over
But they can't understand you
You're always gonna be the Wild One
02 Born on the Sun (05:35)
There's a crack in the rainbow
There's a hole in the sky
You believed in something
Now it's just a lie, yeah
No jokes from the jester
Not a laugh from the clown
And your world is upside down, yeah
You can hide in a circle
It's a way to survive
Be another number
At least you'd be alive
Or you can ride with the gypsy
He can take you to hell
And the answers screaming
In a voice you know so well
You - you're made of fire
Never higher
You were made to run
You - you're burning higher
You've got the fire
You were born on the sun
So take a walk with a wild one
It's the way that I've found
You can turn it upside down
03 Hey Angel (05:00)
How do you feel right now
How does it feel to be alone
How do you feel right now
Tell me
Hey angel - what's your situation
Hey angel - oh, oh
Where would you be right now
Waiting to taste your next tomorrow
Where would you be right now
Tell me
Was the pain too strong to take it anymore
So you turned off all the lights and shut the door
Hey angel - what's your destination
Hey angel
Hey angel - we got a complication
Hey angel - oh, oh - you're my angel, my angel
How do you feel right now
How does it feel to be alone, oh
How do you feel right now
How do you feel right now
Oh angel - you're my angel, oh my angel,...
06 Lock Up the Wolves (08:32)
In the houses of the holy
To the middle of the mystic sea
At the cradle of the world
There's a black cat screaming
And it's not even midnight, no
At the cradle of the world
They're screaming for sanctuary
They're screaming at you
Lock up the wolves
Lock up the wolves, yeah, yeah, yeah
Now there's a cloud over heaven
And a pain out of paradise
In your corner of the world
Turn your back on the children
Does it feel like it's colder
In your corner of the world
They're screaming for sanctuary
They're screaming at you
Lock up the wolves
Lock up the wolves,...
Don't you let'em get away
Lock up the wolves before you play
Or it's over
Lock up the wolves
Don't you let'em get away
Don't you let'em get away
There's no back door to heaven
Just a front door to hell, oh
In this corner of the world
Now if you turn your back on the children
Don't you feel it getting colder
In your corner of the world
They're screaming for sanctuary
They're screaming at you
Lock up the wolves
Lock up the wolves,...
08 Walk on Water (03:44)
He's just an ordinary man
Never gonna live forever
So he takes it where he can
Too many nights without a day
For the sake of being clever
He almost lost his way
He always thought that he could fly
Till he was shot down from the sky
You can't walk on water - don't try
You can't walk on water - my my my
They say there's ice inside his veins
He's the man of a thousand faces
Silver spoons and golden chains
He thought his heart was made of steel
But it never started pounding
Till they strapped him to the wheel
He always thought that he could fly
Till he was shot down from the sky
No matter what you try
You can't walk on water - my my
Can't walk on water - don't let me try
Somebody said we'll make him strong
He can give us all the answers
Tell us right and show us wrong
If you believe it, it's no lie
And there is an end to summer
'Cause the winter makes it die
We never looked above his head
And so he missed the things that they said, yeah
He always thought that he could fly
Until they shot him from the sky
No matter how you try
You can't walk on water
Can't burn the sun
You can't walk on water
Not anyone
You can't, you can't, you can't
You can't, you can't, walk on water
09 Twisted (04:45)
It's just a matter of time
He was the victim and he never saw the crime
He had invisible eyes
He told you truth but you were sure of it, lies
'Cause he was twisted (you could see it)
He was twisted, all right
He was the fortunate one
He could have pulled the trigger
But he couldn't get the gun
They told him that he was blind
He didn't understand
'Cause he could see them inside
They were twisted, oh
So Twisted
You could feel it they were
Twisted
Twisted up inside
Look inside any window
Come on and see the show
It's the same generation
They set you free
But they just won't let you go - no
It was a matter of time
They told me I was guilty
So I thought I did the crime
I never learned how to cry
And when I told the truth
They were sure it was a lie
Sure that I would cry
Sure of it
Sure of it 'cause I'm so
Twisted
She's twisted up inside
They're twisted
We're twisted
And when you're twisted
There's just no place to hide away
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