VLOG140 - Just Another Week Of Selling Lego Full-Time, More Lego Modulars Move On, Listing Heads etc 

Hope you’re feeling better (some nasty cold bugs floating around at the moment…) Good idea about the local Lego clubs! Right, KDDK music channel time 😀. As promised, I revisited the first three (solo) Dio albums (and two live, one from the same era, and a latter recording where he performed Holy Diver in its entirety). So, Holy Diver. I remember buying this one in HMV in 83. Stand Up and Shout kicking off the album, Rainbow in the Dark (apparently about depression?), Don’t Talk to Strangers, the title track itself… what can one say? Classic album with melodies, a guitarist with a distinctive sound, solid rhythm section, and of course the vocals. If you’re into hard rock / heavy metal and you don’t have this album in your collection, you are missing out. Did have for many years Dio’s live performance from Donnington on cassette tape (ah the Friday Night Rock Show with the still missed Tommy Vance) but it got lost, so very glad when it was re-issued a couple of years back (Starstruck by Rainbow, Heaven and Hell, short but powerful set). Then we have the follow up, Last in Line. I could do without one track (and to his credit, Dio himself alluded that it was the record company that wanted it included…..) and We Rock is a bit silly (I did count once how many times he sings “We Rock….26 if memory serves me correctly) but still a fantastic album. And then we come to Sacred Heart. Yes. Umm. I know a lot of people rave about this album (and I did see the tour - not sure the laser sword beam being swept across the audience would meet H&S legislation these days - in fact I know it wouldn’t as one of my colleagues is a Laser Safety Officer…..) but I do wonder if it’s more they remember the single Rock and Roll Children more than the album. Campbell was gone, Craig Goldy was his replacement (and he is a fine guitarist but didn’t have the same distinctive style as his predecessor), and apart from the title track the rest of the album just doesn’t do anything for me. It’s well produced, competent, but it, IMHO, just lacks that spark / vitality of the previous two releases. I really gave this album a good listen just to see if I was just not in the right frame of mind, but nearly 40 years later (how can it be that long ago?😀) it just feels (I don’t want to use the word “boring” so let’s just go with “not memorable”?). Anyway, didn’t want to end on a low note, so then played the live album where they recreated Holy Diver, and felt happy again 😀.