Lock Up the Wolves Review

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(More customer reviews)This album is as good as Holy Diver, Last In Line, Dream Evil and Sacred Heart. The slow songs are great and the faster power metal songs are great too. Ronnie's voice has never been better and Rowan Robertson is as good if not better than any other Dio guitarist. Robertson was only 16 but his riffs and solos are amazing. The best songs are Born On The Sun, Lock Up The Wolves, Walk On water, Why Are They Watching Me and My Eyes. Every song on this album is worth listening too. If you like Dio's other albums or good metal music in general than buy this album.

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Out-of-print in the US. For the '90s, Ronnie James Dio retired his entire band and put together a brand new Dio line-up for 1990's LOCK UP THE WOLVES. While some new members were already familiar to longtime heavy metal fans (drummer Simon Wright was a brief member of AC/DC in the mid-80's, while keyboardist Jens Johansson did time in Yngwie Malmsteen's band), the biggest story of the new line-up was newcomer Rowen Robertson on guitar.Like Dio's previous guitarists (Vivian Campbell and Craig Goldie), Robertson's heavy riffs and technically accomplished soloing skills complemented Dio's mediaeval storytelling perfectly. The young guitarist, who was barely in his 20s, reinvigorated Dio's desire to rock, as evidenced by such tracks as the vicious album opening "Wild One", as well as the title track and "Walk on Water".--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Shine Eyed Mister Zen Review

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(More customer reviews)Compliments of my parents, I grew up listening to delta and country blues-- Robert Johnson, Son House, Charley Patton, Bukka White, well, you get the point. As the years went by, I found myself less and less interested in pure blues. Look at the greats-- half of Blind Willie Johnson's songs have exactly the same melody, and he wasn't even the worst offender. Formulaic lyrics and repetitive song structures just didn't do it for me anymore. I turned to jazz, blues-influenced folk such as John Fahey, and the occasional blues-based rock of modern geniuses like Chris Whitley and Ben Harper, and jam bands like Widespread Panic and the Allman Brothers. Until a few days ago, the only pure blues that held my attention came from the odd-balls like Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James. Then I heard Kelly Joe Phelps-- this album in particular. OK, so he's only one man, but he writes and plays with such soul and technical skill, and more importantly, originality that I no longer believe the form to be a lost cause. Unlike Corey Harris or Ben Harper (mentioned by another reviewer), Phelps does not attempt to simply infuse his blues with cajun and occasionally carribean sounds (like Harris), or infuse rock with folk, blues and reggae (like Harper, one of my personal favorites) in order to revamp the blues. Phelps just plays the blues. However, the difference between Phelps and someone like Dave Van Ronk (part of the 60's blues revival) is that Phelps writes songs with complex structure, melodies and rhythms rather than just rehashing Robert Johnson. Like Chris Whitley on 'Dirt Floor,' Phelps shows that the form is not a lost cause. There is still room for creativity in the blues.

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