The Dio Years

Tracks 1-5 from Heaven and Hell Tracks 6-9 from Mob Rules Tracks 10-12 from Dehumanizer Track 13 from Live Evil Tracks 14-16 new recordings Tony Iommi: guitars Ronnie James Dio: vocals Geezer Butler: bass Vinny Appice: drums (6-16) Bill Ward: drums (1-5) Geoff Nicholls: keyboards (1-13) Tracks 1-5, 13 written by Butler/Dio/Iommi/Ward Tracks 6-12 written by Butler/Dio/Iommi Tracks 14-16 written by Dio/Iommi There exists a UK Tour Edition with a bonus disc that includes 4 live tracks: Neon Knights (Live) The Mob Rules (Live) Children of the Grave (Live) Voodoo (Live) All tracks are taken from the Live at Hammersmith limited edition live album recorded in 1981. iTunes version has 2 bonus tracks: 17. The Devil Cried (Radio Edit) - 4:22 18. Neon Knights (Live at Hammersmith) - 4:37 It's about time that they came out with a Dio-years greatest hits package; since they have 385 compilations of the Ozzy Osbourne years (give or take). I was nervous when I first heard that they were putting one out, as many greatest hits CD's of bands that didn't really have hit singles typically do a poor job of selecting the band's "best" tracks. Thankfully "The Dio Years" is nearly perfect in its selection of songs, they even included a song that I figured was one of their lesser-known songs, "Falling Off the Edge of the World." Despite not being as widely publicized as "Iron Man," or even Black Sabbath with Dio's "Children of the Sea," this is probably one of the best songs that the band has ever written, with Dio, Ozzy, or any other singer. Of course, that's not to say that this album is made up of all sleeper songs, and it's kind of hard to screw this up, considering that this basic lineup only did three albums together, but I digress. Classics from all three albums like "Heaven and Hell," "Voodoo," and "I" are incorperated; including a live-version of "Children of the Sea" from the amazing "Live Evil." The only two glaring omissions are "Sign of the Southern Cross" and "Computer God." The former isn't even such a bad thing because the album it came off of, "The Mob Rules," is so good that any self-respecting metalhead should own it, even if they get this best-of album. The exclusion of "Computer God" isn't so forgivable, however, because not only is it the opener off of "Dehumanizer," it's arguably the best song and by far one of the most diverse. Since "After All (The Dead)" and "I" were also included, "Computer God" would have made the purchase of "Dehumanizer" senseless, as the only worthwhile songs on that album would have been included here. Replacing "Computer God" is the throwaway "Time Machine," most likely added solely because it was a single off of the album. The new songs are fantastic. They were all recorded with the "Mob Rules" and "Dehumanizer" lineup, minus keyboardist Geoff Nichols. Actually, there aren't any keyboards at all, which makes Tony Iommi's heavy-as-f**k guitar sound all the more potent. "The Devil Cried" and "Shadow of the Wind" are slow and bludgeoning tracks with several classic riffs and some of Iommi's better leads. "Ear in the Wall" is more up-tempo, yet is just as memorable as its two slower counterparts, once again the leads are tremendous. Tony Iommi seemed to be leaning more towards a hard-rock direction with his last solo album with Glenn Hughes, but here he shows he can still destroy any modern guitarist. Compare the quality and heaviness of these riffs with anything Lamb of God or Chimaira are putting out and it is obvious that Tony Iommi, however many albums and countless riffs later, can still destroy any frauds out there with one smooth stroke on his guitar. What we have here is one of those rare instances where the greatest hits album is actually worth purchasing even if you own all of the studio albums from which most of the songs on here are taken from. Get it as something to pop into your car stereo when you want to impress your friends or something to put in your boom box when you're washing your car. Just get it, dammit.