Dio - Dream Evil [Blue]

Dio's Dream Evil spreads across two blue LPs here, giving one of Ronnie James Dio's most atmospheric records a striking new look for the shelf.

The band's fourth album, cut in 1987, brought a new face into the fold, with guitarist Craig Goldy stepping in alongside the formidable rhythm section of Jimmy Bain and Vinny Appice, plus Claude Schnell on keyboards. Dio produced it himself at the Village Recorder in Los Angeles, and the songs lean hard into the shadowy fantasy that always fuelled his writing, full of nightmares and night creatures.

"Night People" opens with a galloping riff and a sly grin, setting the tone for a record that balances muscle and melody from start to finish. The title track stomps with gothic menace, while "I Could Have Been a Dreamer" offers a big, keyboard-lit chorus built for arena singalongs. The centrepiece is "All the Fools Sailed Away," a seven-minute epic featuring a boys' choir that pushes Dio's storytelling into grand, almost operatic territory.

Throughout, that voice remains the main event, soaring over every riff with total command and a showman's flair.

Metal collectors get a handsome way to revisit a classic from the genre's golden decade, and a reminder of just how much drama one singer could summon.