Dio Album: “Sacred Heart”

Sure, you could argue that Dio's style has remained fairly constant and he does not have a tendency to "grow" stylistically. But I know one thing for sure: this is one guy who knows how to make metal. On Sacred Heart, he cranks out 9 great metal tunes, and he makes it seem easy. The truth is, while these songs do not shock you with stunning originality, they still rock you to the core. This music is not emotionally moving, but that's not the point!! The point is that it is hard rock, and it does just that: it rocks hard.

The best song on the album is definitely the title track, "Sacred Heart." It is in the vein of the title tracks of his last two albums, "Holy Diver" and "Last in Line." It is a slower, more epic composition, and it dominates!!! Other highlights are "King of Rock and Roll" and "Another Lie." However, there is not one bad track on here.

The band is in top form, as usual. The new keyboardist, Claude Schnell, is pretty cool; his sounds add a whole new element to the band's music. Sometimes they sound downright evil: check out the main riff to "Like the Beat of a Heart." And of course, Vivian Campbell tears it up on guitar.

Dio is one of the great voices of metal. His music, his lyrics, and his voice are almost definitive of the entire genre. Although he has better albums (Holy Diver, Killing the Dragon), it still seems that he can do no wrong.

This is a review for the new Deluxe Edition remaster of Dio's Sacred Heart. This remaster is outstanding. I always felt the production on the original version of this album was sub par. This one is crystal clear. I listened to it with audiophile headphones, and almost had tears in my eyes as i listened to it. Every instrument sounds clear and beautiful. Dio's vocals sound amazing. This blows away the Japan remaster from a few years ago. I have both, and the sound on this one is far superior to the Japan remaster. The bonus disc and overall packaging is great as well. I recommend this if you are a true Dio fan.

Let me start things off by saying that this review is not by some music expert. I am an 80's metal fan, so maybe my opinion is biased by that fact. But take it from me, a 15 year old dude who hates so called "nu metal" and the other [stuff] they pass of for music these days...this albums rocks. If you are into real metal like me (Dokken, Ratt, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dio, Yngwie Malmsteen, WASP, Stryper, Accept, Twisted Sister, Queensryche, Dio, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, ect...) then you will love this record. And of course, if you are Dio fan you SHOULD already own this CD. If not, go buy it immedietely if you like the Holy Diver/Last in Line style because this CD is just a continuation of that sound. It rocks!

Many metal fans (besides Dio's hardcore fans) don't seem to know what happened to Dio after 'Last in Line' was released. Many Dio albums after the exceptional Holy Diver and Last in Line were quickly forgotten. You don't hear too much about Dio after his first 2 albums, which is unfortunate because he had some really great albums after those 2. This is one of them.

Sacred Heart picks up right where Last in Line left off...a crushing rhythm section to back up Vivian Campbells monsterous riff and leads and Ronnie James Dio's emotional and intense vocals. On top of all this, lush keyboards add a sense of depth to the sound of the band. Speaking of the keyboards, the reason alot of people don't like this album is because there are more keyboards on this album than on the 2 previous albums. There's nothing wrong with this. I guess it's a matter of opinion. But this albums still rocks...and rocks hard.

Things kick off with 'King of Rock and Roll', which is the "anthemic" track. The 1st track on Holy Diver and Last in Line were those kind of tracks (stand up and shout....we rock). Great track. Next, following the pattern of HD and LIL, comes the title track, "Sacred Heart". This is a slower, crunchy metal tune that sounds similar to 'Holy Diver' but has a unique "mystical" sound to it. After this, Dio and crew rock through 7 more melodic heavy metal tunes. All complete with memorable melodies, pounding drums, solid bass, crushing guitar riffs and shreddin' solos. Sound good? Well, this description should be no suprise if you have listened to Dio before.

Alot of people think "Holy Diver" was the band's greatest album and it all went downhill from there. I only half agree with that. "Holy Diver" was and is their greatest album, but the albums that's followed weren't worse than...they continued making great albums that were of the same quality as "Holy Diver". The only difference was the sound of the band changed a bit. They added more keyboards, more songs were faster, more melodies, ect...I really don't understand the bad reviews this album has recieved from reviewers on this site. They claim "Holy Diver" is the best and this album [disappoints]. Well, despite adding more keyboards the style of the band has remained the same. Strong songwriting, awesome riffs, good solos, memorable melodies, ect...those things were very evident on Holy Diver, Last in Line, and they are still very evident on Sacred Heart.

If you into REAL (aka: 80's) metal, then I can't recommend this CD enough. It's just a good, solid piece of mid 80's heavy metal. If you are a Dio fan and you don't own this record I'd highly recommend you buy it. If you are not into 80's metal or Dio, I'd recommend a psychiatrist because there is something seriously wrong with you.

Bottom line: it rocks...buy it

Originally released in 1985, Sacred Heart was the third album from Dio, the band led by former Rainbow and Black Sabbath frontman (and all-around metal legend) Ronnie James Dio (R.I.P.). Sacred Heart was the third album in three years from the band, and the last to feature the classic lineup of Ronnie James Dio, Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain, Vivian Campbell and Claude Schnell.

Coming after such iconic albums as

and

, you'd think Sacred Heart would be a letdown, but Dio and company were still very driven and very inspired to blaze their trail in the new heavy metal landscape. There was a slight shift lyrically, so the songs started to reflect social issues as well as the typical fantasy subjects, but for the most part this is a typical (typical in this case being completely awesome) Dio album. You get the epic sounds of "Sacred Heart" and "Rock n' Roll Children," melodic metal anthems "Hungry for Heaven" and "King of Rock and Roll" and a nice overall mix of the hard and heavy sounds of the era. Vivian Campbell lays down some really impressive guitar work here, and Ronnie James Dio is, as always, in top form, rallying the metal children of the world with every line he delivers.

Sacred Heart is arguably a less essential Dio release than the two that preceded it, but not by much. This is a total classic both in the Dio catalog and the American heavy metal scene in the `80s in general. It's an album no Dio fan should be without, and the serious fans will definitely want to upgrade to the new Deluxe Edition of Sacred Heart.

Edition Notes: Universal's 2012 reissue of Sacred Heart follows the same basic format as their other Deluxe Edition reissues. It's a 2-disc reissue in a nice double-gatefold digipack. The first disc has the main album, newly remastered. The remastering is a noticeable improvement over the original sound, and doesn't just jack up the volume. You're going to pick up on subtle touches that you may have missed even if you've spun this record a thousand times. Keeping the first disc with just the album and no extras is another nice touch. You get the full album experience and nothing else. There are bonus tracks though, ten in total, taking up the second disc. You get the studio song "Hide in the Rainbow" (from the Dio EP and Iron Eagle soundtrack), live versions of "We Rock" and "Last in Line" (from the Rock n' Roll Children single), a live version of "Like the Beat of a Heart" (from the Hungry for Heaven single) and the full six-song Intermission live EP from 1986. The set is topped off by a gorgeous booklet that is loaded with rare photos and an essay by Classic Rock's Malcolm Dome. It's a fantastic reissue all around, and the perfect way to celebrate such a powerful heavy metal album. Yes, it's a bit pricy, but it's worth every penny. Universal reissued Holy Diver and The Last in Line as well. Hopefully they'll get to Dream Evil before too long.

I guess this is typical Dio, but apparently does not really break new ground for him. If I'm accusing him of pulling an AC/DC, at least with them, they still have memorable songs even if they sound the same from album to album. I can't blame Mr. Dio for not wanting to fix something that isn't broke, but I wish he could have come up with some better songs.

When I first got this album, it was a gift from a friend when I was stationed in Turkey in the 80's. Though the album cover was great, the music just didn't seem to live up to the graphics.

As I just recently burned this to CD to play on my long commute to work, I find that a few careful listens reveal the songs to be much better than I first remembered. They are all good, but even after several listens, not all that memorable.

There is no one cut that really stands out for me, though overall, I could listen to it over and over again without too much grief. It's just missing a certain spark.

Still, recommended for Dio fans.