Dio
Strange Highways

Talking about R.J. DIO in 2007 means retracing the entire history of hard and heavy metal music from its beginnings. The now over-sixty (should be 65, but a thick mystery has always lingered around his birth date, and how could it not, given the character) has ridden the wave of heavy music, still producing records of decent craftsmanship today.

This "Strange Highways" in 1993, the year of its release, made most people frown, but when listened to again today, 14 years later, it turns out to be DIO's heaviest and most Sabbath-like album.

The singer of Italian origin had just come out of the brief reunion with Black Sabbath, which lasted only as long as the release of one album, that "Dehumanizer" which I consider the only album worthy of the first Sabbath or better, the only post-Ozzy album that can musically approach the very first albums. A heavy and doom record just like this "Strange Highways," which came out only two years later.

Iommi's influence in the songwriting is noticeable, and the album is a concentration of heavy and dark mid-tempo songs, miles away from Dio's major hits of the eighties. So if you're looking for a Holy Diver, a We Rock or an Evil Eyes, you won't find it here. The lineup accompanying Dio on this album is once again different. On drums is Vinnie Appice, on bass Jeff Pilson, and on guitar Tracy G. There's even a keyboardist Scott Warren, but his presence goes unnoticed as this is Dio's least keyboard-oriented album.

It's an album hard to digest, perhaps the most challenging ever composed by Dio. The songs move slowly like monoliths, but Dio's voice remains the same, and at times he explores new paths, as in the opener JESUS MARY & THE HOLY GHOST, where it's distorted by effects. The title track STRANGE HIGHWAYS seems to come from an early Black Sabbath album or seems to have been left out of Dehumanizer. Thus, between the doom metal of songs like EVILUTION, ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE, and BRING DOWN THE RAIN, appears the only up-tempo of the album, HERE'S TO YOU, which is close to the faster works of Dio from the eighties. Special mention then for GIVE HER THE GUN, a semi-ballad with Dio in great form, evocative as only he can be.

I invite you to rediscover this album to listen to a different Ronnie James than usual, while awaiting to see him again this year at the Gods of metal with the reunion of Black Sabbath or rather 'HEAVEN & HELL', as they will call themselves, who knows why? Since it's the same lineup as "Dehumanizer".