From BW&BK (#37 Jan Feb 2000):
Ronnie James Dio and entourage have taken over Total Access Studios in
Redondo Beach, nearly an hour outside of L.A., barring any traffic
conflicts, which in this locale is a given nightmare. And as we
enter, we're greeted with open arms by Ronnie and Wendy, engineer Wyn
Davis and two old friends, guitarist Craig Goldy and bass legend Jimmy
Bain.
Having just finished a quick bite, Dio sits complacent and quite
relieved that another Dio offspring has been born. Shall we say a
proud father?
"I'm very proud of it," he smiles. "But whenever I listen to things I
hear things that could still be changed. That is definitely the
hardest part for me. There will be people that won't care about it as
well and that bothers me. But this was important to me to do this
kind of thing. An album that was reminiscent of what Dio started
with, influenced from early Sabbath and Rainbow."
Concept Magica, a ballsy move to say the least, but this album isn't
for the fast-food generation. Revolving around a book of spells,
Magica is a fully intertwined conceptual piece of grand proportions,
and Dio is quite aware that such an undertaking will be addressed to a
distinctive audience.
"I think it can be broken up into the individual things that people
like," he confidently believes "The way that this album is constructed
is not timely. It's like a Readers Digest album. I didn't have the
luxury of having two years to play with it. It's not a full-blown
operatic sort of thing and I don't want people to treat it that way.
It is a concept album because I neede to do this again. Without it
being a concept album, I would've just written 9 or 10 songs that
would've been just that - songs. I enjoy creating a story. That
really works for me. But they still can be taken out as a single song
and still be good, there's just more to it."
Can't help but think that such a comment indicates Dio is growing a
little tired in his years. Not true. The music is the fuel and the
magic in Dio's mind isn't fading.
"I just think that you should have something that ties everything
together in a project that you do. You can't just write a song for a
song. There is too much competition out there to do that. You have
to thread it all together. It has changed so much over the last
while. I am known for having a good tight band, writing good songs
and singing well. And this band does it again; they're talented. I
lost sight of where music was going. I was contemplating whether
there was still room out there for us. The last album went over ok,
but I don't want people to expect just one thing from Dio. Whether it
be a fantasy or sci-fi take on things, I just wanted to do something
that would generate some thought within people's minds. It's not that
they haven't had a story in the past, they were just smaller clips.
Now it's drawn out. What I think I did before was just create a
concept in one song. We didn't have that much time to do it before
and now with this one we have. Who knows, we may have more time for
the next one and come up with something a little more grand."
And the line-up that Dio is referring to is stellar: Dream Evil
guitarist Craig Goldy, bass legend Jimmy Bain, wee former AC/Dc & Dio
skinsman Simon Wright and keyboardist Scott Warren.
Expected this past fall, Magica grew into a monster that time couldn't
put a leash on, hence the 2000 street date.
"I think that I was being too conscious of what was going on around
me, especially when I started playing with Sabbath, I was thinking in
a different way, a lot heavier and darker. Strange Highways was a
great album. It was like the last Sabbath album (Dehumanizer) and
after that we really began to sway. We were confused in choosing this
modern approach, which would've been breaking out of 4/4 time and
changing into 5/4 time or 7/4 time. It became confusing. Again, the
concept album was a way to regain my positive outlook. I'm so happy
with this album and the people I'm playing with. I think we all need
a reinforcement of things that we had. It's great playing with Jimmy
again. We have been friends for 25 years and it's nice to see him
doing so well. It has been really positive."
Admittedly, the demons and wizards fantasy world that Dio fans and the
man have been accustomed to in the past have taken a ridiculed
beating, especially in North America, with Spinal Tap jokes following
many 70s/80s era metalheads. But if George Lucas and Stephen
Spielberg can continue successfully to entertain us visually with
fantasy, why can't musicions play their part with fascinating tales?
"It's because stereotypes are really stamped into people's brains.
This is an album about people who are good and evil. The same story
that everybody tells with different characters and a different slant.
I wrote the story first with the idea of 'Magica' and what it would be
and how it would revolve around the book. As I wrote the first four
songs, it led me to where I wonted to go and Craig came in and we
started writing together and things started to meld. Each day I would
write another paragraph or two to the story with each song that came
along. A song would be done about a character in the story. I
finished the story just before the last song. This way the music led
the story. I thought it was going to be a 2 CD set, but it didn't end
up that long; there was no need for it. It finished properly as
one."
And Dio says that he'd love to perform the entire spectacle in "the
theater". As plain as day, Dio's unmistakable lungs fail to take a
beating over time. Whether it's the epic cruncher "Feed My Head"
(with the lines: 'Hope is lost, All is dead, Fill my mind, Feed my
head') or the sure-fire single "Fever Dreams" to survive physically
and mentally 30 years in this business is a concept in itself that
most fail to endure.
"Singing is very easy for me, I'm lucky. I've been blessed with the
talent and the brains to know what to do with it. You really have to
look after your voice because it's all technique. If you believe in
what you do the people will see that and that feeling hasn't changed.
I'm in it for the music and the fans; they are really important to
me. I love playing live. That's what I do it for. That what I look
forward to at the end of it all."
END