Dio - 'Magica'

Released on Spitfire Records in 2000


THE BAND:
Ronnie James Dio - vocals
Jimmy Bain - bass
Craig Goldy - guitars, keyboards
Simon Wright – drums

 

TRACK FRAGMENTS:

  1. "Discovery"- A computers voice talking about turning flesh into stone.
  2. "Magica Theme" -This song kicks off with a very haunting intro of keyboards drums and bass with a very laid back guitar scale.
  3. "Lord Of The Last Day" -The guitar pattern on this intro was very influenced by Black Sabbath. The way Dio stretches out the vocal lines of the first pre verse gives the song a chilling effect. Already through this first song Simon has already played more drum fills than he ever did with AC/DC. After the verse there is a small breakdown and then a rhythm change through the chorus. There is a choir section at the very end that leads into "Fever Dreams".
  4. "Fever Dreams" - The guitar pattern Craig chose for this track just blew me away. The rhythm section is set on a twelve bar triplet pattern, which falls back to a lot of the stuff Dio did on "Holy Diver". They turned the guitar solo down but it gives you a good chance to hear the great fill-in guitar patterns within the background.
  5. "Turn To Stone" - This track opens with a keyboard and a huge guitar lead scale. The guitar rhythm for this one is just plain mean! There is a break in the pattern right before the bridge.
  6. "Feed Your Head" - This track open with a computer voice along with the lead guitar sounding like a alarm. From the vocal lines you can tell this is vintage Dio. During the bridge there is a very clean guitar pattern along with Ronnie's vocals. The pattern used sounds a lot like Rhoades with Ozzy on "Diary of a Madman".
  7. "Erial" -The intro here has a very classical keyboard pattern along with a choir. Before really kicking it in with a heavy drum pattern. They use another twelve not pattern here and for some reason it really suits Dio's voice well. During the verse the change the pattern to a standard metal pattern.
  8. "Challis" -The guitar pattern here sounds a lot like Ted Nugent. The pre chorus has a lot of hooks. Craig played his sole out here and really made his fingers bleed on the solo.
  9. "As Long As It's Not About Love"- This ballad opens with a computer asking question about love. The acoustic pattern Craig plays here just blew me away. The main guitar pattern is done with a clean electric. The vocal lines are like a lot of Dio's ballads very haunting and mystical sounding.
  10. "Losing My Insanity"-This track opens with a minstrel medieval type intro with flutes and acoustic guitars. The lead guitar kicks the song in with the same type pattern as the intro. Simon Wright really kicks the song in with very powerful drum fills. This track alone has to have some of the best drum work I've heard Simon play. During the bridge before the solo Craig incorporates a different guitar pattern, so you actually hear two different patterns at once. Which really has a nice effect on the song.
  11. "Otherworld" - This track opens with a huge drum fill. The bass line is very abstract and really suits the song well. The guitar arrangement is just a simple picking pattern. With all the abstract patterns along with Dio's haunting vocals this makes for a great closing of the story line.
  12. "Magica-reprise"- **see track 2**
  13. "Lord of the Last Day - **see track 3**
  14. "Magica" - Dio tells the story of Magica

 

 

Every hard rock and metal fan should have a copy of this CD. It has to be just about one of the best concept CD's to ever be released.