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DIO
The Very Beast Of Dio Vol. 2

Niji Entertainment (2012)
Rating: 8.5/10

While a lot of attention has been focused on the posthumous release of much Dio material, this compilation is spotlighting the lesser known Dio material. That’s a good thing, and that’s precisely what I love about The Very Beast of Dio Vol. 2. The band made some great albums after Strange Highways (1993), and this compilation highlights them. It pulls material from Angry Machines (1996), Magica (2000), Killing The Dragon (2002), and the final studio album Master Of The Moon (2004). Additionally, it offers three bonus tracks of sorts. ‘The Prisoner Of Paradise’ was a Japanese release exclusive to Master Of The Moon, ‘Metal Will Never Die’ is performed alongside David ‘Rock’ Feinstein (and originally from 2010 Feinstein solo album Bitten By The Beast), and ‘Electra’ was intended for the Magica II album that we will sadly never hear.

While I won’t claim the final four albums were Dio’s finest hours, this compilation proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that there were many classic Dio moments throughout those years. ‘Killing The Dragon’ gets to the very heart of Dio’s legacy, both musically and lyrically. Of the four, that album is my least favourite in the catalogue, but hearing the title track, ‘Better In The Dark’ and ‘Push’ are firm reminders that there were some absolutely great moments on it. I’ll forget ‘Along Comes A Spider’ is represented here.

Other highlights include the piano / vocal rarity of ‘This is Your Life’ from Angry Machines. While some fans hate this song to this day, I love that it stands as a testament to the fact that Ronnie James Dio tried really hard to branch out and break the monotony in the 90s with his work with Tracy G. ‘Feed My Head’ and ‘Fever Dreams’ are included here as well, bringing us back to that classic Dio sound, that any heavy metal bastard from the 80s instantly recognises and respects.

The two previously released bonus tracks are nice to have here. For those who are not collectors, it’s really cool to hear them and have them on a reasonably priced compilation. ‘Electra’ is the track everyone was waiting for however. It’s hard to say how it stacks up really without any context. Also, with the passing of the legend, can we really be objective about it? The bottom line is that it’s a solid song that any Dio fan will enjoy. It definitely feels like it falls in line with the material from the first Magica album, so you may want to use that as your measuring stick.

While I’m not, in general, a fan of compilations, this is a very, very good one. It highlights a much overlooked part of this legend’s contribution to heavy metal. Best of all, it only gives you the good parts. If he had saved all these songs and they would have been released as one album posthumously, this would’ve likely been hailed as a true return to form.

Mark Fisher

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