~STRANGE HIGHWAYS~Discussion

Holymagica · Guest

Released 1994
Cd Track listing

1."Jesus, Mary & the Holy Ghost"
2."Firehead"
3."Strange Highways"
4."Hollywood Black"
5."Evilution"
6."Pain"
7."One Foot in the Grave"
8."Give Her the Gun"
9."Blood from a Stone"
10."Here's to You"
11."Bring Down the Rain"

Band
Ronnie James Dio – vocals
Tracy G – guitars
Jeff Pilson – bass, keyboards
Vinny Appice – drums

Metal2767 · Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 10:43 am Post subject:

It is different, almost too "modern" for me, but I do love the title track and "Give her the gun" on it...
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Holymagica · Guest

I like this cd alot, the guitar is bloody amazing and just how good is Ronnie James Dio singing on this cd.I like that DIO has a different lyrical theme on this cd.
One thing I like is the production, the mix is good.
And its not dated, nothing 80s about this...I think this cd really stands the test of time. Its hard and heavy and every Doom metal fan has this cd in their collection becoz of that.
Number 1 rule to listening to this cd is make it bloody loud!

olivious the drummer · Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 6:19 am Post subject:

Agree with Holymagica on this one.......A great heavy album, very dark and perfectly mixed. I play this one a lot - Ronnies Vocal is so angry on this one......fav tracks, Give her the gun and Evilution.
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DioInfinitum · Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 262 Location: Denver, CO

Totally great album.

I loved Tracy G on here. His harmonics and crunchy riffs are amazing.

Jesus, Mary and the Holy Ghost is a classic. Evilution is wild, heavy and mean. Give her the Gun is beautiful.

I enjoyed the more modern theme of this album as well. Tracy G fits with it.

If you rated degrees of 'mean' in the sound of Dio's guitarists, Tracy G had the meanest sound, and I do say this in a good way. Strange Highways was totally worth the buy for me.

fiddlequeen07 · Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 12:47 pm Post subject:

I have to agree with the previous posts...great album with great sound, and not "dated". Tracy G is not my favorite guitarist, but I do really like his sound.

I love all the songs on this one, but my favorites are Strange Highways, One Foot in the Grave, and Here's to You.

A guy at the store where I bought this told me this was really the only great album DIO ever had. He was half wrong, of course, but this IS a great album.
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Angelic Storm · Joined: 20 May 2010 Posts: 19

Seeing as ''Dehumanizer" is one of my fave albums of all time, it should come as a surprise to no-one that I absolutely love this album. As it could almost be a follow up to that immensely underrated album. "Jesus, Mary, & The Holy Ghost" could have been written by the riff master Mr. Iommi himself! Its a monstrous and classic opener, and the rest of the album is pretty good too. "Evilution" and "Pain" are thoroughly evil sounding, and another 2 of my faves.

"Angry Machines" was a real mess of an album, but "Strange Highways" is definitely the hidden, underrated gem of the Dio catalogue, and definitely is in my top 5 albums from the band. xD

Jeffrey · Killing The Dragon Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 324

I forgot about this and Angry Machines. They came out in a bad time for Heavy Metal in USA. Witih Vivian gone, Craig Goldy gone, I had given up on Dio. Loved Dehumanizer, though.

I went back to amazon and gave it a listen. It does have a Dehumanizer feel on it. Ronnie and Vinnie are on both products.

On the bright side, since I have not heard these songs before, I now have some new Dio to listen to. And at a time when I thought the days of new Dio were over. Thank the Lord for blessings of Dio I have found.

Thanks guys for the tip. Is Angry Machines like this?

Jeffrey
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Angelic Storm · Joined: 20 May 2010 Posts: 19

the last diver · Joined: 04 Jun 2010 Posts: 12

not my favourite Ronnie's album, but some songs are great, for example Jesus, Mary & The Holy Ghost, Strange Highways, Hollywood Black, Give Her The Gun.

Opaque0ne · Joined: 22 Sep 2006 Posts: 16

Not too into this one. It is better than Angry Machines, but Tracy G's tones were too bitter and cranky, in my opinion, to fit with Dio's style. Some might say this was the intent here, but to me Mr. G is missing something.

DioInfinitum · Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 262 Location: Denver, CO

I love Tracy's stint with Dio.

However, just in terms of the tone of his guitar, I could imagine how it might be too harsh for some.

In any case, I love the way he makes it squeal.

richierich · Joined: 30 May 2010 Posts: 20

Great album, and as people have already pointed out, it's kind of a natural continuation from "Dehumanizer". I read an interview with Ronnie where he said that this was the last album he owed Warner Bros under the terms of his contract, and the band were given free reign to make the album they wanrted, whereas on "Angry machines" there was more pressure to do something more quote-unquote "contemporary".

I personally love the Tracy G era. I can see why some fans don't, and repect that, but the guy can really play, and given the musical climate at the time of his stint in the band, I think ROnnie made a shrewd choice in picking him for the band - in the middle of the grunge era, a lot of the popular bands cited Sabbath as an influence, and Sabbath themselves opted for a heavier approach than the polished sound of their last few 80s / early 90s albums with "Dehumanizer". In the Tracy G era, I think the band were able to adapt to the times by focussing on the heavier aspects of their sound, without jumping on the grunge bandwagon.

I have a great memory of hearing Ronnie on Alan "Fluff" Freeman's (legendary UK DJ) Rock Show in 1994 talking about his most recent spell in Sabbath, and then talking about the "Strange Highways" album. I didn't know he was going to be on the show, I just happened to turn the radio on half way through, and I was so glad to hear that Ronnie was back in action! It was a very bleak time for metal in the UK at that point, so to hear him come back with such strong material was like an oasis in a very barren desert! Very Happy

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adiszul · Holy Diver Joined: 12 Nov 2009 Posts: 185 Location: Poland

this is so heavy, so dommy I love this album, pain,evilution and those lyrics....90's classic imo
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Lady of Armageddon · Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:24 pm Post subject:

Strange Highways was my first true formal introduction to all things Dio. I was aware of Dio beforehand, but that's when I truly latched on to Dio.

There used to be this one heavy metal show on the radio, and they played "I Speed at Night" and "Strange Highways" during the course of the show. Naturally, "I Speed At Night" lived up to the name, and was very impressive, but "Strange Highways" really stepped it up for me. "Strange Highways" just had that heaviness that I was really craving at the time, and when I went to go out and get the album proper, it just had it all.

Extremely catchy, for starters, but aren't all Dio songs? And the very voice of Dio really made me pay attention. Before that, I primarily listened to a lot of death metal, and I was in the mood for something new, and Dio was just what the doctor ordered. For starters, you could understand what Dio was saying! XD Plus, it also taught me that you didn't have to play at a hundred light years an hour to be heavy.

After Strange Highways, I made it my mission to personally explore all that is Dio. And did I ever enjoy where those "Strange Highways" took me! ^_^
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