Bought Heaven & Hell's The Devil You Know. It is not bad but not as good as some of Dio's better works. The 1st half of the CD features slow-medium tempo songs with Bible Black being my current favourite. The second half of the disc has the harder rocking songs.
My initial impression is there aren't alot of memorable riffs or solos - the songs and riffs are ok, but not the type that hooks you immediately like say anything on the Paranoid album or songs like Symptoms of the Universe of Dio era Sabbath stuff like Heaven and Hell or Neon Knights. It isn't bad, just not memorable. Doesn't measure up to the 1st Dio era Sabbath tunes in my opinion and not as "pop" as Holy Diver either. Still worth a listen as it does sound old school and that's a rarity these days.
I would rate the first 4 Sabbath albums as essential ... don't own any of the Dio era albums though I do have The Dio Years compilation which is an excellent set I highly recommend.
My initial impression is there aren't alot of memorable riffs or solos - the songs and riffs are ok, but not the type that hooks you immediately like say anything on the Paranoid album or songs like Symptoms of the Universe of Dio era Sabbath stuff like Heaven and Hell or Neon Knights. It isn't bad, just not memorable. Doesn't measure up to the 1st Dio era Sabbath tunes in my opinion and not as "pop" as Holy Diver either. Still worth a listen as it does sound old school and that's a rarity these days.
I would rate the first 4 Sabbath albums as essential ... don't own any of the Dio era albums though I do have The Dio Years compilation which is an excellent set I highly recommend.
