Various Artists

Ronnie James Dio: This is Your Life

Rhino Records

When I first heard about this album, I immediately thought about the myriad of “tribute” albums that Deadline Records did in the early 00’s. Very few of them were even close to mediocre despite the fact that they were loaded with A and B list musical heroes.

 Fortunately, we are treated hear to mostly full band versions of DIO and DIO era Black Sabbath tunes. Artists as varied as Tenacious D. Anthrax, Scorpions, Doro, KSE, and Metallica all appear here as do a few collaborations that feature artists like Corey Taylor and Glenn Hughes alongside many of the previous DIO band members. Basically, only Vivian Campbell is absent here, but that was to be expected right?

Most of these songs are solid and that surprised me quite a bit. Some we have heard before like Adrenaline Mob’s amazing cover of “The Mob Rules” and KSE’s “Holy Diver,” which turned the heads of quite a few younger metalheads towards DIO. Both are highlights here for sure, which is why they stood out originally as well. The Corey Taylor/Ray Mayorga/Satchel/Christian Martucci/Jason Christopher take on my favorite DIO song, “Rainbow in the Dark” is a blood pumper as well. Why can’t Taylor sing like that in Slipknot?!

Meanwhile, collaborations on “I,” “Catch the Rainbow,” and “Man On the Silver Mountain” don’t fare quite as well. Many former DIO members are featured on them but it just lacks the spark of the originals. The same goes for the Metallica’s “Ronnie Rising Medley” unfortunately, although what it lacks in spark and builds back with sheer energy. For me, the best moment comes from Ronnie James Dio’s longtime friend Doro. Her heartfelt version of “Egypt (The Chains Are On)” is beautiful, epic, and haunting, just the way RJD would have liked it I’m sure.

The album ends with a stunning moment by DIO, which doubles as the title track for the album. It’s a perfect ending but I’m not going to go into why here as it’s something every fan should experience for themselves. While this is a solid tribute album, it’s still a tribute album that will leave fans wanting to dig out their old DIO albums. 

Cyndi Lauper

She’s So Unusual: A 30^th Anniversary Celebration

Legacy Recordings/Sony Entertainment

It’s hard to believe that it was three decades ago when Cyndi Lauper hit the scene. While labeled a bubbly pop sensation at the time, here lyrics rang even more true in the decades that followed. She’s So Unusual was Lauper’s debut and to date has sold over 16 million albums worldwide. The album features the smash hits “She Bop,” “All Through the Night,” “Money Changes Everything,” “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” and “Time After Time.” The imagery may be distinctly eighties but the music has stood the test of time.

This special edition includes two discs. The first features the entire album (one of the few from the eighties to play perfectly from start to finish) as well as a remix of “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” from Yolanda Be Cool and remixes of “Time After Time” from Nervo and Bent Collective. Disc two features demo tracks, rehearsal footage, a couple of remixes, a live track of “Witness,” and the non-LP B-side “Right Track Wrong Train.”

I’m not going to spend a lot of time here on disc one. She’s So Unusual was a great album when it was released and it still is. The sentiment remains unchanged, be yourself, don’t be selfish, and love recklessly. “Money Changes Everything,” “Time After Time,” and “When You Were Mine” are still the highlights for me and “She Bop” and “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” still make me smile. The latter also makes me miss Capt. Lou Albano and the Rock N’ Wrestling movement that I loved as a kid.

The remixes on this set are interesting but, unless you really enjoy collecting remixes, they aren’t much to write home about. This is kind of a niche thing and, admittedly, I’m not much into it. That said, the Nervo remix of “Time After Time” is more memorable than the others.

For fans of the album and Ms. Lauper, it’s the demos here that will bring you to the table. Vocally, the show a more vulnerable side of Lauper that is well hidden on her albums. Her voice cracks and strains at times, but it’s also a lot more soulful. The best example of this is the early guitar demo for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Part of me wishes they would have recorded it this way. It wouldn’t have fit into the early eighties pop scene but the guitar lead lack really gives the song a whole different feel. “Money Changes Everything” simply sounds stripped down, but again, thirty years later it feels like it fits my life a little tighter this way than it did with all the hairspray and synthesizers. The B-side “Right Track Wrong Train” is a gem as well, boasting an almost Blondie style new wave/punk rock flavor.

Overall, if you don’t have this album then you should have this version. If you already have it (on vinyl, eight-track, cassette, and CD more than likely) then the extras make it totally worth purchasing it again.