I have been waiting for this album for a good while, as a metal head when you see the list of bands and names...you can't not be anxious, but when you're a DIO fan, you're just waiting to see who butchers the shit out of his great songs... Surprisingly, the majority of the covers are awesomely done and sound great. There are a few here and there that are just kind of ok or you find yourself asking yourself why? Let me break it down for you...
Anthrax – “Neon Knights”: A complete assault of the classic Dio/Black Sabbath jam. Joey Belladonna's vocals are absolutely dead on and the musical thunder of Scott, Charlie, Frankie, and Jon Donais is pure fist pumpingly ferocious.
Tenacious D – “The Last in Line”: Starts out just as you would expect a song by the D would sound like, acoustic guitars melodically accompanying J.B's vocals, but then the guitars kick into overdrive and unleash a cover that is nothing short of epic.
Adrenaline Mob – “The Mob Rules”: Another Dio/Black Sabbath jam that was originally a fun song to start with, Adrenaline Mob took none of that fun away and kept it very classic sounding.
Corey Taylor and Satchel (Steel Panther) – “Rainbow In The Dark”: This cover to me was the most surprising. You've got Corey Taylor from Slipknot teaming up with Satchel from Steel Panther for a great cover of Rainbow in The Dark. The vocals were clean and the guitar work was pure magic.
Halestorm – “Straight through the Heart”: Lzzy Hale's vocals are always great, but when she adds it to a Dio song, it is definitely something special. Heavy and very Raw... Loved it.
Motorhead with Biff Byford- “Starstruck”: Classic Motorhead redux and a great Biff Byford vocal. If you're a Motorhead fan, you can really appreciate what they do with any song... even a Dio song.
Scorpions – “The Temple Of The King”: This no longer sounds like a Dio song... It completely sounds like old school Scorpions jam... not that that is a bad thing. Klaus' vocals are superb.
Doro - “Egypt” (The Chains Are On): Always one of my favorite songs from the Last in Line album....it's dark and has a level of epic creepiness. Doro's cover is very well done and maintains everything that I loved about the original.
Killswitch Engage - “Holy Diver”: Just fucking shoot me, I never liked Killswitch Engage, I still don't... and this is one of the reasons why. Butchers!
Glenn Hughes (w/ Dio All Stars) – “Catch the Rainbow”: Glenn Hughes, a great vocalist, but this time he just couldn't measure up. The music is still great though.
Jimmy Bain (w/ Oni Logan, Brian Tichy, and Rowan Robertson) – “I”: Great jam - heavy and definitely worth the listen.
Rob Halford – “Man on the Silver Mountain”: This was one that I was very excited to hear and expected to be amazing, and boy was I let down. Halford just seems like he doesn't even care or want to try - huge let down.
Metallica – “Ronnie Rising Medley” (A Light in the Black, Tarot Woman, Stargazer, and Kill The King): A great mini collection of songs covered by Metallica.... I gotta’ say one of the best things about this album. Now if only Metallica could make great albums again themselves instead of the crap they've been releasing.....that would change it around for me. But this is great.
Helsing Thirteen Thirteen, HMS
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