Description

2020 Record Store Day picture disc. Limited 3000 copies

Dio’s rock-solid 2000 concept album Magica would have better fit the musical climate 15-25 years beforehand, but a good album is a good album. Ronnie James Dio’s band’s previous studio effort, 1996’s Angry Machines, admirably addressed modern, non-traditional heavy metal topics. But the musically superior Magica is rooted in the dark, mystical themes he perfected on Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and early Dio albums. One important factor is the solid line-up, particularly the return of Craig Goldy, the best guitarist Dio’s had in his band besides Vivian Campbell. Bassist Jimmy Bain and drummer Simon Wright also return. Dio seems inspired, and his vocals are more textured than usual. Magica is a detailed fantasy epic about the struggle between good and evil. Several elements are similar to J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved Lord Of The Rings novels, which themselves rely on traditional literary archetypes such as heroes, villains, and mythic quests. This rare and limited picture disc features the track Annica that only were available on the deluxe edition of the album. This release also features a studio and a live version of Lord Of The Last Day, a track that builds slowly with Goldy’s dirge-like guitar and Dio’s menacing vocals augmented by strings. The B-side features the Magica Story, a 18 1/2-minute spoken narrative

Track list:
1. Annica
2. Lord Of The Last Day-studio version
3. Lord Of The Last Day-live version
4. The Magica Story