Dio
Strange Highways

The sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Dio. "This album is about anger. It's about people who don't have a way to express their anger about what's going on in the world," Dio on "Strange Highways."

This is one of those underrated albums from metal's greatest vocalist. The band is tight, the songs are exceptional, and the sound is metal. What more can you ask for?

After the release of this album, most of Dio's fans turned their backs on him. The reason is quite understandable - not everyone will like the band's new sound, heavy, dark and with a clear industrial flavor. But one should not be surprised, because Lock Up The Wolves already suggested a transition to the "dark side of power", and Ronnie's short-term return to Black Sabbath gave rise to the most difficult and depressing disc in the entire long history of the band. The new line-up of Dio, in addition to "veteran" Vinnie Appice at the drum kit, includes keyboardist Scott Warren (although with the current sound there are even more doubts about his need), bassist Jeff Pilson and guitarist Tracy Gee. From the fans, all the bumps and stupid accusations of mediocrity and "spoilage" of the sound fell on the latter. Although if the so-called fans listened to Strange Highways well, they would have noticed something. For example, very high quality material, even if played hard and unusual, but very, very catchy. I would like to highlight several clear creative successes. First, of course, the opening song of the album Jesus, Mary & The Holy Ghost, which contains, in addition to the most interesting rhythm and structure, a very talented text on a religious theme. I would also like to note the epic title track, the powerful action movie Hollywood Black with mocking text about the world of the film industry, the gloomy and depressive Evilution, and the surprisingly gentle semi-ballad Give Her The Gun, exploding in the chorus with powerful energy. The rest of the material stands out less, but there are almost no gaps in it. It must be said that, despite the innovations in the band's sound, it is quite possible to get used to and understand the new sound. But, at least, you can't blame Dio for senile insanity, because the songs here are quite high-quality. So the answer to the question whether to buy this disc or not depends entirely on your attitude towards experiments with a heavy and dark sound.