Kenny caught up with the enigma that is Chris Holmes just before he hit the stage on his recent performance in Crymlin as part of his UK Tour. Sit back relax and have a giggle its the one and only Chris Holmes.

Thanks so much for taking the time to have a chat with me Chris!

 ‘No problem’

 Welcome back to Wales. Can you remember the last time you were here?

‘I’m not sure if I’ve ever been here’

I saw you in Cardiff with W.A.S.P. back in the day.

Oh yeah, I’ve played there, is that in Wales?’

Yes, Cardiff is the capital city of Wales.

You learn something new every day, y’ know?’

How are you, Chris? You’ve had a rough few years.

Yeah, I’m good, I was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, going through the radiation and the chemo wasn’t fun. I finished treatment exactly a year ago. I’m still feeling the effects of the radiation, it was done in my neck, I can’t swallow too good. My voice is getting better, I sing now. For the last year on the road, the singer sang all of my songs, it was weird playing them without singing, but I’m gonna do them on this tour.’

So, your voice is much stronger now?

‘It hasn’t got any stronger, it’s just come back.’ I lost a lot of weight; I went from a hundred and twenty kilos down to eighty-eight. I’m back up to ninety-three kilos now.’

Tell me about lockdown Chris, were you productive? Were you writing music?

Yeah, I’ve got a bunch of music stored on a computer. In lockdown I recorded every song I ever wanted in my life from the internet. You can say that I bootlegged it, who cares about bootlegging? I never made any money from my publishing anyway. I sat for hours just getting every song and storing them on SD cards.’

Any new material from Mean Man?

Not right now, my computer went down. When I get that back up and running, I can record all the stuff and listen back and submit it to everyone else, depending on how I want to do the next album. Last album I did, it was actual people playing, the one before that I just programmed it all with Pro Tools.’

Have the rehearsals for the tour gone well?

Yeah, yeah, we did three days and we’re good.’

Tell us about your current band Chris.

‘I’ve got the same drummer I’ve had for about five or six years, Stephen Jackson, he’s from Carlisle, he plays in a band called Heartbreak Remedy, when Mean Man is in the UK, he plays for Mean Man. The bass player is a guy named Charles Lambert, he’s from Montreal and he speaks fluent French, I call him Chuck. We were going to tour together and then Covid hit, when Covid started dying down, Bam! I got cancer so we had to cancel everything. We did five shows in Canada together and I did a Q & A after a showing of my movie, the Mean Man documentary. I came out and I answered questions for around half an hour, and we played five songs. That was good. Florien plays guitar and sings back-up vocals.

So, it’s a stable line up?

‘Oh yeah, yeah. Usually, I have some guys from the Wicked Jackals, but they had some shows booked during this tour, so what can you do?’

Are you looking forward to this UK run of shows?

‘Yes! I haven’t really played properly for a long time.’

You live in France; can you speak much French?

‘No, my wife does all of the translating.’

Do you miss living in Los Angeles?

No, I was just there recently. In Cannes, the police are really nice, in LA they’re pricks. I got tired of it; I was bothered every time I got in a car by a cop. Good cop, bad cop, I don’t give a crap. I got sick and tired of it, it’s the way that I look. I understand what black people must go through; I don’t think it’s very nice. They think I look like a drug addict criminal; I choose the way I look. To most cops in LA I look like a criminal and I got tired of it. In the UK I don’t even see any cops! The cops in France are cool, they don’t look at me like I’m a criminal. I was just back in LA for two days because my father had passed away, I had to go and take care of everything.’

My condolences Chris.

It’s the way it is, this planet. In a hundred years from now, this planet will still be turning, who knows what shape it’s gonna be in? But we’ll all be gone. I don’t miss LA, the rock music scene, just aint happening, it kinda died out in the Nineties, a lot of the clubs are closed, it was a better decision to leave.’

I’ve always wanted to visit LA, see the Sunset Strip, Rainbow Bar & Grill etc.

If you’re not from there, it’s probably fun to check it out, I was born in LA so it’s a lot different. I’ve been going to that garbage all my life. I didn’t come from out of state to make it in a band, I was stuck there, so it’s a much different situation.’

Were you pleased with the reaction to the Mean Man: The Story of Chris Holmes film?

Yeah, yeah, I’m pleased with it, it just shows, a few of my friends have said, it shows a different side to you Chris. Instead of sitting in a pool drinking booze, a lot of people have a vision of the way I am. If that’s all I did in W.A.S.P. I wouldn’t have played in W.A.S.P., I did a lot more than drink alcohol. I actually made it onto a stage once or twice! (Laughs) That’s not what most people think though.

How is it, having your wife as your manager?

‘I couldn’t imagine, if I didn’t have her, I wouldn’t be doing this right now. I’d probably be sitting in LA, I’d either be in jail in LA, or I’d be sitting there playing with Pro Tools somewhere in a closet, doing nuthin’ trying to find some band in LA to play with me. I’ve tried and tried and tried, nobody will really play with me. When I did find people, they would want to be put on a salary, it’s all about money. I didn’t make any money in W.A.S.P., I never got my publishing, I didn’t understand how it worked when we signed the deal and all that stuff, I was taken advantage of by someone I considered at the time my best friend. I didn’t understand how the situation worked back then, nobody told me, nobody explained it to me. They knew that I didn’t understand it.’

Most musicians get into music to play music. Not to be an accountant.

‘You’re right, the accountants and the people that know what’s going on take advantage. It’s really sad, when I actually looked into what’s going on, it really jerks me wrong that I would actually be a friend to somebody like that. All these people say to me, God, you should be back in W.A.S.P., no, no. You screwed me once, you’re not gonna screw me twice. No way. I did go back to W.A.S.P. in ‘95, I was promised it was a whole different ball game, everything will be cool. No, it was the same crap as before, it was the same narcissism as before, I just hung out on my own and did my job.’

Who inspired you to pick up a guitar Chris?

‘Jimi Hendrix was my first. My second would be Johnny Winter, my Mom always listened to the Stones and the Beatles. I would like to say Eddie Van Halen, but I was already playing guitar by the time I met him. I met him way before he was in Van Halen when he was in Mammoth. He was probably a bigger inspiration than Hendrix because I was friends with him. Inspiration as in, using a Marshall, how to set your equipment up on stage, how to treat other people, very important. I was in a dressing room in 1987, Van Halen’s dressing room at the Omni theatre, snorting blow, guzzling down booze with Tony Iommi and Eddie Van Halen and who walks in? Blackie Lawless, thinks he’s our friend. Eddie looks at me and goes ‘Who in the fuck is this dickhead?’ and Blackie walks right out. Ed could see the bullshit with people, he could see who’s full of shit and who’s not full of shit. He knew David Lee Roth was the way Dave was, Dave was exceptional with his lyric writing and Ed knew it was worth having him around.

 I learned a lot from Ed, I’d see him play and just be envious, I wish I could play like that! One time we were at my house in Pasadena, I had just got this Marshall amp. This was before Sister and W.A.S.P. Ed was in the process of making the first Van Halen album. He was over, we were getting high on pot, some real good weed. I had my Marshall cranked and he was playing my guitar, he was doing some tricks and he goes ‘Chris, you’d better close your windows, your neighbours are gonna get mad and call the cops’ I was like fuck the neighbours! and I was hoping they would think it was me playing! He was so good. He knew the insides and out of his gear. I learned a lot of tricks from him. If it wasn’t for Ed, I wouldn’t have the sound I have today. He was a big inspiration. Hendrix was a killer entertainer though.’

You mentioned Tony Iommi, was he an influence?

‘I love Tony’s sound and the way he plays guitar, he’s killer. Those riffs. I can sit and play and come up with ideas easily though. I don’t like using an acoustic, it must be an electric guitar’.

What was your first guitar?

My sister had a flamenco guitar and I put some super slinky strings on it and bent the neck! (Laughs). So, you could say that was my first guitar, I then moved onto a Fender Jazzmaster, I didn’t have too many guitars, I got an Ibanez destroyer when I was sixteen or seventeen, Eddie Van Halen used it on the second Van Halen album, I had broken my back in a motorcycle accident, and I was laid up in hospital. Eddie came in and asked if he could borrow my guitar. I said well, I aint gonna be playing for a while, he goes ‘apparently not!’ Then I got an endorsement with Jackson, so I’ve never really bought many guitars.’

What was it like being a part of the LA backyard party scene back in the day? Did you ever play with other bands on the circuit like Van Halen etc?

‘Yeah, I met Eddie at a party when he was in Mammoth, he had a guy named Michael Stone on bass and Alex (Van Halen) was on drums, they were playing all covers. Sabbath, ZZ Top, Ed would sing. I used to play at parties too, that’s how it worked back then. If you were in a band, you would play at a party on a Friday and Saturday night. When we weren’t playing, we would go and see Mammoth a lot. That was fun, good old times. Do they have that here in the UK?’

No, we don’t have the weather or pools in our gardens!

‘Oh yeah, we definitely had the weather. Sometimes we would get a friend to go to a gas station and call the police. They would come and bust the party and we wouldn’t have to play too long, we could just party! (Laughs)’

What was your biggest achievement as a member of W.A.S.P.?

Probably just staying alive…that really is my biggest achievement. I really didn’t give a crap back then; I burned the candle at both ends. When I was young, there was no say no to drugs, if you didn’t do drugs and alcohol, you were an outcast. I’m from California, born and raised in Pasadena, all my friends did drugs. I don’t even want to get into it, I was really stupid. I’m still here, that’s my biggest achievement. How many records did W.A.S.P. sell? I don’t really care, I have some gold records, they’re in a box somewhere at my mom’s, I don’t really give a shit about it because I look at them as a reminder of getting ripped off, rather than I sold 250 million records or whatever. To me that’s a bunch of crap, because I didn’t get any of my publishing so I really couldn’t give a shit. It’s sad, it’s sad. That’s something that at the age of fifteen I would have died for, a gold record? That was my dream. When I got it, I didn’t get what’s supposed to come with it, a nice house, cars and all that stuff. I was always in the dark, that’s the way it is. It’s sad that that’s what that bands about, it’s all about just the money.’

What are your memories of the Ronnie James Dio charity project Hear N Aid?

It was horrible. I knew Jimmy Bain well, a year before he died, he said, Chris, we personally asked your management if you could come and play guitar and they said that you had other obligations and couldn’t. Did you see me playing guitar on there? You know why I didn’t? It’s because of one man’s jealousy, I went to sing on there, yes, I sang on there because I went with Rod (Smallwood) our manager and Blackie Lawless. Jimmy Bain asked FOUR times and they said I couldn’t play; I had other obligations. That came from Blackie Lawless himself, he was jealous, didn’t want me being seen better than him. That’s what happens when you work with a narcissist. That Hear N Aid thing is a crock of shit to me, a bunch of crap. It was nothing but a jealousy thing. I don’t care what people say about that, when Jimmy told me that, we were great friends, we hung out together, he said we asked your management four times, I said, why didn’t you just ask me personally Jimmy? He said, we didn’t know how to get hold of you.

 Do you know why I did the Decline of Western Civilisation? Penelope (Spheeris – Director) called me personally. That’s why I did it. She didn’t call the management, she talked to me personally. She knew somebody that knew me, if she had talked to management, of course they would have said no. You know how many times I’d be on the road, this is about 1998, I found a bicycle in Switzerland and before soundcheck, I’d wake up on the bus, we were staying on the bus instead of hotel rooms. I would ride the bike around, come back play the show and then at night we would do a meet and greet, I never got paid any money for them, but fans would have to pay to meet us. A photographer I knew says, Chris, where were you today? I said why? He said, we requested an interview for you personally and management said you got other obligations. I was like, I was off riding my bike, I could have done it. It sucks that somebody keeps you down, its sad. That’s why I hate that whole situation.’

You’ve been referred to as the American equivalent of Lemmy on numerous occasions, and you worked closely with Philthy Animal Taylor. Tell us about that.

Philthy is one of the reasons I sing. A lot of people hate my voice, but Phil was one of the reasons why, if it wasn’t for my wife and Phil I wouldn’t have done my solo albums. He was a big inspiration for me, he taught me how to use Pro Tools and how to put drum tracks down. Phil was one of the coolest musicians I ever met in my life. He was famous but had a heart of gold. He didn’t like fake people, he didn’t like assholes, he wouldn’t even talk to ‘em. Believe it or not, he was a very quiet person.’

When you left W.A.S.P. in 1991, you formed a band called Psycho Squad, do you think the grunge movement was instrumental in the band not taking off?

‘We all drank, you know, they weren’t signing bands like mine with the kind of music I did, they weren’t signing anybody at that time. Bands like mine couldn’t get a deal, grunge was happening, and I didn’t play grunge. It was a great band, if it was a few years before that it would have been good, but it was the wrong time.’

You seem to be happiest when you’re playing guitar, do you feel that playing is the most important thing to you?

‘Yeah, my first wife was pregnant, and I wanted to do music more that raise a kid, my mom told me that if I stay around then the kid would get in the way of your music and ruin your career. I made a lot of sacrifices. I just enjoy playing, watching people enjoying themselves and enjoying the music you know? Now, a lot of people see me, I’ve been doing this for forty years, I play a certain way, I’m the only guy on the planet that plays like I do. I got my own sound, and some people still enjoy watching me play. I’m not schooled at music at all, I’ve learned what a major and minor chord is (laughs) I play by feel.

 My guitar sound is a really clean guitar sound, it’s got distortion, there’s ways of overdriving your equipment without getting white and pink noise. If you ever went to a Motorhead concert, now there’s white and pink noise! So loud and distorted but that was Motorhead! Phil Campbell is coming down tonight, we’re old time LA birds of a feather. He’s always treated me with the utmost respect.

Chris, on behalf of RPM Online, thank you so much for your time. Have a great gig tonight and enjoy the rest of the tour!

‘Thanks man, appreciate it.’

Bandcamp

Released via BMG with full support and collaboration of Wendy Dio and Niji Entertainment Group Inc. the ‘The Studio Album Collection 1996 -2004’ presents expanded editions of Dio’s ‘Angry Machines’ (1996), ‘Magica’ (2000), ‘Killing The Dragon’ (2002), and ‘Master Of The Moon’ (2004) with each album remastered (by Wyn Davis) and presented in 2CD deluxe versions showcased in mediabook packaging and containing loads of rare and unleased bonus material.

For the Dio fan who prefers their music on old school vinyl each title also comes pressed on 180gram black vinyl with just the original track listing (so none of the bonus tracks I’m about to go into) but for collectors the first run does also include LP-sized lenticular album art prints. Plus, as a special bonus, the ‘Magica’ double LP also contains a bonus 7” single featuring the track ‘Electra’, the only known completed track from the planned ‘Magica 2’ album.

So, lets take a trip back to 1996 and a time when metal was all about downtuning and being nu and Ronnie James Dio was looking to follow up his much maligned (well by much of the music press anyway) ‘Strange Highways’ album with his seventh studio album ‘Angry Machines’ the first (and only album) to feature Tracy G on guitar alongside drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Jeff Pilson and long-time keyboard player Scott Warren. This is a record that almost a quarter of a century on that (the up-tempo ‘Don’t Tell The Kids’ aside) pretty much sounds like a doom-laden template for what Dio would go on to do when reuniting with his old Sabbath bandmates Iommi, Butler and Appice just under a decade later under the Heaven & Hell banner, albeit the tunes are still tinged with some influences from the by then fast fading grunge movement (I mean ‘Black’ could very easily be an Alice In Chains track).

With an additional twelve track bonus live CD recorded in 1997 on the Angry Machines tour, it’s interesting to see that only two tracks from the studio album make the set list (the broody ‘Hunter Of The Heart’ and the punchy ‘Double Monday’) the other ten songs captured relying very much on the rich Dio back catalogue and of course its always great to hear the likes of ‘Heaven & Hell’ and ‘Holy Diver’ played with RJD’s heart very much on his trademark cheesecloth shirt sleeve, making this perhaps the hidden gem within these reissues.

Moving into the new century and 2000’s ‘Magica’ and this was the first in what was originally intended to be a trio of concept albums (telling the tale of a fantasy netherworld called Blessing which  is invaded by dark forces that vapourise people into pure, evil energy) and sees the return of bassist Jimmy Bain and guitarist Craig Goldy to the Dio band alongside ex AC/DC drummer Simon Wright taking up his position behind the kit. This is an album very much viewed as a return to form by many long term Dio fans and I can imagine why they would be excited by the likes of ‘Fever Dreams’ and ‘Turn To Stone’, for me however listening to these songs in 2020 they really do lack that extra spark that burned so brightly on those early classic Dio albums. It’s good stuff, it’s just not that remarkable. Something that is sadly also reinforced by the second CD which contains an eight song live selection from the ‘Magica’ album recorded during 2001 and here they sound like a band simply going through the motions, not unlike Judas Priest did on the ‘Nostradamus’ tour a few years later. The aforementioned additional studio track ‘Electra’ and an eighteen minute spoken word ‘Magica Story’ finish off this expanded version of ‘Magica’, and as I said previously whilst many rave about this record its one I won’t be rushing back to any time soon.

Much more what I would call a proper return to form is 2002’s ‘Killing The Dragon’, an album that sees Doug Aldrich picking up the guitar duties from Goldy and joining the remaining ‘Magica’ line up members and in the process seemingly making the band sound enthused and youthful once more. The opening one-two of ‘Killing The Dragon’ and ‘Along Comes A Spider’ are thunderous slabs of dungeons and dragons metal that have a bluesy undercurrent thanks to Aldrich’s playing.  Of the four albums I’m reviewing here, this is easily my favourite simply because the band sound like they are enjoying themselves playing rock ‘n’ roll once again, which is kind of ironic really as the track going by that title on ‘Killing The Dragon’ is perhaps the most un-rock ‘n’ roll you’ll ever hear.

The second CD adds a six track live set recorded during the 2002/3 on the Killing The Dragon tour which is well worth delving into just for the exhilarating four to the floor rendition of ‘I Speed At Night’.

For Dio’s final studio album ‘Master Of The Moon’ released in 2004 we see the return of bassist Jeff Pilson and guitarist Craig Goldy and thankfully a continuation of the more upbeat straight ahead brand of songwriting the band had adopted for its predecessor. Opener ‘One More For The Road’ sounds oddly prophetic given the personal circumstances the singer would face in the years to come whilst the likes of ‘Shiver’ and the majestic ‘The Eyes’ proved that the Dio brand of metal still had a bunch of cool new musical ideas to offer the world. Which is something they took out on the road during 2004/5 and is captured here via a four song live set on the additional CD which also boasts the previously Japanese only bonus studio track ‘Prisoner Of Paradise’.

If the whispers within metal circles are to be believed then this is just the beginning of a more extensive Dio reissue campaign that BMG and Niji Entertainment Group Inc. have in store for us, and of course I’m sure just like me you’ll be looking forward to seeing those early classics in expanded form sometime soon, for now though these four albums are well worth investigating for a multitude of different reasons, not least the small fact that some of them you may not have heard for some time or if you’re a younger headbanger this might be the closest you’ll ever get to experiencing the legend that was Ronnie James Dio live.

\m/ \m/

Author: Johnny Hayward

 

 

 

POP CULTURE SCHLOCK at RPM: Exhibit H – Murder Falcon

Greetings, RPM-people! Thanks for checking out my latest Pop Culture Schlock column for RPMonline; a cool collectibles catchment area if ever there was one… and now in its second year!

With the mention of years comes a slightly belated Happy New Year wish from yours truly. 2020, eh? Proper science fiction that number is, right? But we got here when many didn’t so for that we have to raise a horned salute and treat every day like it harbours the opportunity for awesomeness.

It’s been over two decades since the day I got my first (now archaic) DVD player – multi-region, of course; I’m no savage – and that is further away from the present than when I got my first VCR was from that day: a scary thought if you can even make sense of it! The future of our past threatened us with tales of Moonbase Alpha being knocked out of orbit by a nuclear waste explosion and of blade runners tracking down replicants: the reality today is of a space force decked out in woodland camouflage and repulsive cunts, so escapism remains the ultimate luxury.

 

You all know about escapism, though, right? Your sanctuary, whether it be at a sweaty club gig losing yourself to the righteous sounds of a band never heard of by a listener of Planet Rock, or melting into a corner of your world surrounded by physical media? That’s reason for living right there, bruthas and sistas.

 

As you have probably figured out if you have checked out any of my previous seven columns for RPM, I have a physical media obsession. Streaming is basically Skynet in my world so, if you saw that shitty Terminator sequel at the tail-end of last year, you know how badly that is gonna end. And reading comic books on an app? Go and stand in the corner and re-evaluate your wannabe-cool life, ya monster! I still buy comics every week; still crack open the pages, flare open my nostrils, and smell that fucking glorious art on every page. It’s an addiction, I know. A money pit (sadly not the 1986 Tom Hanks movie that featured White Lion). But it is still one of the easiest and most rewarding collecting experiences. You get new, über-cool entertainment every week of the year that is instantly collectible, and, as stated previously, it smells frigging great. Also, it is metal… as proven below.

 

If you’re reading RPM then you’re already cool, I know this. You know your music, but you also strive to find new music that echoes the cool shit that is already in and will never leave your collection. With that in mind, this month’s featured Pop Culture Schlock item (I had to get there eventually!) is relatively new, but with a foot, a talon maybe, in the past…

Daniel Warren Johnson is a Chicago-based comic book writer and artist who created the Eisner-nominated Extremity series, the web comic Space-Mullet, and, the subject of this month’s column, Murder Falcon.

 

Released by Image Comics/Skybound (with the first issue dated October 2018), Murder Falcon is an eight-part comic book series that fuses the worlds of heavy metal and monsters – it’s fantastical… and it shreds!

 

Jake is a metal guitarist in a downward spiral. With a heartbreaker of a back story, the long-haired axe-wielder is without band and seemingly without hope. That six string hasn’t been picked up in a long time. Meanwhile, his city is being ravaged by monsters!

 

Magnum Khaos is the king of all hatred and fear who has fashioned a portal into another dimension; negative energy from human cruelty and anxiety is sucked into his dark world via the monstrous attacks that he has been planning for centuries. All hope, it would seem, is lost. But…

Jake’s guitar, gathering dust, is suddenly transformed and Murder Falcon, a monster-killing machine (with feathers) has travelled from The Heavy to the city to take down the Khaos creatures. He can only do so, however, when Jake plays his forgotten axe! Man, when he shreds Murder Falcon shreds… monster bodies! By getting the old band back together – the other members’ instruments similarly invoking badass battle mofos – maybe the Earth as we know it can be saved.

 

With similarities in serious content to I Kill Giants (and if you know that comic or subsequent spin-off movie then you’ll have a clue as to where the heartbreak comes into play here), Murder Falcon adds melancholy to the metal to great effect and, with superb artwork from Johnson coupled with eye-popping colours from Mike Spicer, this book comes highly recommended by my good self.

There is more to this than meets the eye, however. Y’see, every one of Murder Falcon’s eight issues came with a “Heavy Metal” variant cover by guest artists paying homage to classic album artwork. I have every one, of course and, to be honest, these are the reasons that I wanted to feature the comic in my collectables column.

 

Issue 1 came with a variant cover paying homage (via artwork and Murder Falcon logo) to Judas Priest’s ‘Painkiller’. Issue 2 took on Iron Maiden’s ‘Somewhere In Time’, while issue 3 went a little more left field with a homage to Bolt Thrower’s ‘War Master’. Pantera’s ‘Vulgar Display Of Power’ was the basis for issue 4’s variant, while it was all about the shred for issue 5 with Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s ‘Trilogy’ honoured. Issue 6 saw Megadeth’s ‘Rust In Peace’ feature, followed by issue 7 and its Dio – ‘Holy Diver’ tribute. The final issue, number 8, was a real ‘Shout At The Devil’, based on the second album from Mötley Crüe (yes, when they were still good), complete with logo umlauts.

If those “Heavy Metal” variant covers aren’t reason enough to have your digits scurrying to your secondary market seller of choice than I don’t know what else I can do for you. This is cool new shit based on cool old shit, and I know you guys love cool shit. If you don’t fancy searching for eight individual comic books but still think that Murder Falcon is for you, have no fear because a trade paperback/graphic novel that collects all eight issues was released last year and Amazon will deliver it to you TOMORROW… but they’ll probably leave it outside in the rain.

 

So, keep doing what you do, keep liking what you like, and I’ll catch you all again next month, possibly with less mention of Yngwie J. Malmsteen. Possibly.

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THE STUDIO ALBUM COLLECTION: 1996 – 2004
 OUT FEBRUARY 21ST, 2020

RARE LIVE TRACKS AVAILABLE NOW

DELUXE NEWLY REMASTERED EDITIONS OF DIO’S 4 STUDIO ALBUMS FROM 1996-2004

LIMITED EDITION 1ST RUN OF VINYL FEATURES LENTICULAR LP-SIZED ALBUM ART PRINT

2CD AND STREAMING/DIGITAL VERSIONS FEATURE RARE AND UNRELEASED BONUS TRACKS

BMG and Niji Entertainment Group Inc. have partnered to reissue DIO’s 1996 – 2004 studio albums: Angry Machines (1996), Magica (2000), Killing The Dragon (2002), and Master Of The Moon (2004). These newly remastered versions feature rare and never before released live and studio bonus tracks, and were remastered by longtime DIO collaborator Wyn Davis with updated artwork from frequent DIO designer Marc Sasso.

Long out of print on vinyl, the 180gram black vinyl includes the original tracklistings and is available as a Limited Edition first run with and LP-sized Lenticular album art print. As a special bonus, the Magica 2LP also contains a 7” single featuring ‘Electra’, the only known completed track from the planned Magica 2 album.

The CD versions of each album have also been long out of print globally. These newly remastered deluxe versions are showcased in mediabook packaging along with a second disc featuring rare and unreleased bonus material. In addition to rare studio tracks ‘Electra’ (included on Magica), and ‘Prisoner Of Paradise’ (included on Master Of The Moon), each bonus disc includes a selection of both rare or never before released live tracks from the accompanying tour for each studio release.

All bonus tracks are also available on the streaming/digital versions. Check the links below to hear rare live tracks from across DIO’s legendary career:

Wendy Dio says, “I am very excited to be working with BMG, a label that still has a passion for rock music. They will be making the complete DIO catalogue available again with some interesting surprises.”
Angry Machines
Originally released in 1996 and featuring the line-up of Ronnie James Dio (Vocals), Tracy G (Guitars), Jeff Pilson (Bass), Vinny Appice (Drums) & Scott Warren (Keyboards) the CD/digital version features 12 bonus tracks recorded live on the Angry Machines tour in 1997.Disc 1 & LP Tracklist
1.    Institutional Man
2.    Don’t Tell The Kids
3.    Black
4.    Hunter Of The Heart
5.    Stay Out Of My Mind
6.    Big Sister
7.    Double Monday
8.    Golden Rules
9.    Dying In America
10.    This Is Your LifeDisc 2 – BONUS / LIVE on Angry Machines Tour 1997
1.    Jesus Mary and The Holy Ghost – Straight Through The Heart
2.    Don’t Talk To Strangers
3.    Double Monday
4.    Hunter Of The Heart
5.    Holy Diver
6.    Heaven and Hell
7.    Long Live Rock and Roll
8.    Man On The Silver Mountain
9.    Rainbow In The Dark
10.    The Last In Line
11.    The Mob Rules
12.    We Rock

Magica
Originally released in 2000 and featuring the line-up of Ronnie James Dio (Vocals), Craig Goldy (Guitars), Jimmy Bain (Bass), & Simon Wright (Drums) the 2LP set includes a bonus 7” of studio track ‘Electra’ and the CD/digital version features 10 never released before Magica tracks performed on tour in 2001.

Disc 1 & LP 1 Tracklist (LP 2 includes Magica Story + bonus 7”)
1.    Discovery
2.    Magica Theme
3.    Lord Of The Last Day
4.    Fever Dreams
5.    Turn To Stone
6.    Feed My Head
7.    Eriel
8.    Chalis
9.    As Long As It’s Not About Love
10.    Losing My Insanity
11.    Otherworld
12.    Magica (Reprise)
13.    Lord Of the Last Day (Reprise)

Disc 2 – BONUS / Live on Magica Tour 2001
1.    Discovery
2.    Magica
3.    Lord Of The Last Day
4.    Fever Dreams
5.    Eriel
6.    Chalis
7.    Losing My Insanity
8.    Otherworld
9.    Electra – Studio Track
10.    Magica Story – Studio/Spoken Word 18:26

Killing The Dragon
Originally released in 2002 and featuring the line-up of Ronnie James Dio (Vocals), Doug Aldrich (Guitars), Jimmy Bain (Bass), & Simon Wright (Drums) the CD/digital version includes 6 tracks recorded live on the Killing The Dragon tour in 2002/2003.

Disc 1 & LP Tracklist
1.    Killing The Dragon
2.    Along Comes A Spider
3.    Scream
4.    Better In The Dark
5.    Rock and Roll
6.    Push
7.    Guilty
8.    Throw Away Children
9.    Before The Fall
10.    Cold Feet

Disc 2 – BONUS / LIVE on Killing The Dragon Tour 2002/2003
1.    Holy Diver
2.    Heaven and Hell
3.    Rock and Roll
4.    I Speed At Night
5.    Killing The Dragon
6.    Stand Up And Shout

Master Of The Moon
Originally released in 2004, Master Of The Moon was the final studio album under the DIO band name and featured the line-up of Ronnie James Dio (Vocals), Craig Goldy (Guitar), Jeff Pilson (Bass), & Simon Wright (Drums). The CD/digital version includes 5 bonus tracks recorded live on the Master Of The Moon tour in 2004/2005.

Disc 1 & LP Tracklist
1.    One More For The Road
2.    Master Of The Moon
3.    The End Of The World
4.    Shivers
5.    The Man Who Would Be King
6.    The Eyes
7.    Living The Lie
8.    I Am
9.    Death By Love
10.    In Dreams

Disc 2 – Bonus / Live on Master Of The Moon Tour 2004/2005
1.    Heaven and Hell
2.    Rainbow In The Dark
3.    Rock and Roll Children
4.    The Eyes
5.    Prisoner Of Paradise – Studio Track