Dehumanizer

《Dehumanizer》，Dio再次来到BS后的首次出击。Tony—Geezer—Dio，没有比这还完美的阵容了。1992年，他们没有创造出以往的冲击的和震撼，有的只是用自己手中的乐器来表达自己质朴的感情，当然也不乏激情。这就足够了，足够我们细细品味了。 唱片中的音乐让人欣慰不已，如果不是Dio的嗓音，真像回到了Ozzy时代。70年代的riff+BS特有的沉重。其实我想说加上Dio的嗓音就更完美了，Dio的嗓子很适合BS，不知道这个观点有多少人同意。Ozzy扭曲的声线加上BS沉重压抑的音乐给人黑暗邪恶的效果，这样的整体音乐氛围很适合Black Sabbath这个名字。Dio时期的BS的确不适合再叫Black Sabbath了，但是他们在一起也搞出了很棒的音乐。 Dio不像Rob,天生好嗓子，怎么唱都好听。但是他很有自己的特点，音域不算广，甚至有时听他唱歌很费劲，像憋着气在唱。这跟BS的音乐很合拍：Dio跟着缓慢沉重的音乐把自己的嗓音收的很紧，又时不时在riff中爆发......这种感觉Dio掌握的很到位，不多也不少。偶尔的爆破音让人感觉很爽！ "Too Late"是这张专辑中我最喜欢的歌，Dio在感情的把握上是最好的:"It's too late for tears.Too late and no one hears you ......"绝望中的无奈，无奈中的愤怒，化为无限的凄凉..... 因为我对Dio的偏爱,这张专辑Dio的唱说的多了些，其它那两位大师（Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi）当然也不是配角，有他们在就是经典音乐的保证。第9首"I"中加入的乡村小曲让人眼前一亮:"I am anger.Under pressure.Lost it cages...."再配合这样的词作，眼前马上呈现出一个失败者走在荒野上的画面。这不就正是我自己么?"Computer God.it's the new religion"， BS在这首歌就提出了骇客帝国的问题，但这张专辑已经是10几年前的事了。 拿到今天来看，丧失人性这个名字对于这张专辑来说是最好不过了，我们这一代人正好可以通过自己的经历来重新理解旧时的经典。 by Bradley Torreano Sabbath and Dio were dealing with a dwindling fan base, unsuccessful albums, and a longstanding creative rut when they decided to reunite the Mob Rules lineup. In a perfect world, they would have created a monster of an album and shot back into the limelight with a vengeance. But with ten-year-old internal tensions still gnawing away at the band, they hastily created Dehumanizer, a weird side note in their long history. Ronnie James Dio delivers his strongest performance since the early '80s, and hearing Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi play together after nine years is inspiring. But they cannot seem to overcome the challenge of crafting classic Sabbath material, and it is this issue that haunts the recording from moment one. "Sins of the Father" is a good example; they attempt a "Children of the Sea"-type slow jam with the same ringing guitar and up-tempo vocals, but the hook is just not there and the band sounds like its creative wheels are spinning in place. The bandmembers do craft enough good riffs to make songs like "Time Machine" and "After All (The Dead)" at least sound interesting, but they don't deliver a "Heaven and Hell" or "E5150" like they could have. And instead of Butler's classic doom-laden lyrics making their triumphant return, Dio takes on the writing duties and manages to pen some true stinkers. "Computer God," "TV Crimes," and "Master of Insanity" are all decent songs that are tanked by his cheesy "contempt for humanity" lyrics. At least he doesn't sing about dragons, but it wouldn't be that much worse than what is here. Dehumanizer isn't terrible, but it should have been the sign for the band to call it a career. Instead, Dio split when he refused to open shows for Ozzy Osbourne's retirement tour; they used Judas Priest singer Rob Halford for a few shows, and then everyone left but Iommi and Butler, who stayed on to paste a new lineup back together for the marginally better Cross Purposes.