Track Listing

1. Night People
2. Dream Evil
3. Sunset Superman
4. All the Fools Sailed Away
5. Naked in the Rain
6. Over Love
7. I Could Have Been a Dreamer
8. Faces in the Window
9. When a Woman Cries

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5160 in Music
• Released on: 2008-07-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Customer Reviews

"the dark that you find in the back of your mind"
I became a metalhead in the late 1980s and immediately became a fan of Ronnie James Dio. Dream Evil (1987) was the first Dio album I bought and it was and remains one of my favorite metal albums of all-time. In fact, it is definitely in my top 3. I went on to buy Dio's back catalog of albums, but Dream Evil is still the best. Dio's previous albums are great, of course, but there are at least one of two weak tracks on them: "Mystery" and "Eat Your Heart Out" on The Last in Line, maybe "Shame on the Night" off Holy Diver, and, let's face it, several tracks off Sacred Heart. Dream Evil is absolutely solid! Every track is awesome! When I make Dio compilation tapes, it is difficult to decide which Dream Evil tracks to leave off.

The best of the best are the powerful title track, the adrenaline-driving "Faces in the Window" and the beautiful epic track "All the Fools Sailed Away." The latter was a single with a cool, dark, nautical video complete with bon fires, spooky sailing ship, skeletons in a lifeboat, and Ronnie and the boys looking great in their classic frilly shirts and jackets. "I Could Have Been a Dreamer," another excellent track, also offered a rarely-seen video. "Naked in the Rain" is another favorite of mine. The line: "Two children, guns loaded, take aim and blow all the dreams away" is my favorite part of the track. It is musically, and lyrically very powerful. The use of keyboards in "When a Woman Cries" really makes the last track unique. So I do not sound like a sycophant, I will give one criticism: "Sunset Superman" is extremely repetitive at the end. Other than this one gripe, Dream Evil is just about perfect. If you only have Dio's first two more well-known releases, and somehow missed out on Dream Evil, get it now! It will not disappoint!

A great Dio classic
Dream Evil is one of the best Dio albums - his songwriting is arguably at its peak on this record. Several of the songs, including "Night People", "Overlove", and the title track "Dream Evil", are among Dio's best ever. The best song by far, however, is "All the Fools Sailed Away". This song is amazing! The synths in the chorus are so powerful, it is such a good hook. I would buy this album just for that one song.

There are a couple things that could be better, though: one is the obvious absence of Vivian Campbell. Although the great Dio guitarist is not on the record, his replacement, Craig Goldie, is not half-bad. He actually tears it up pretty well. And the other two original members, Jimmy Bain and the awesome Vinny Appice, are still here of course! The other thing that is not too hot about the album is the production. Unlike the clean, sharp production of his earlier albums like Holy Diver and Last In Line, this one tries to go for a "heavier" type sound. Unfortunately, it is more muddled, and the bass at times is almost completely lost. Also, his voice sounds strange and distorted; that is one of the first things I noticed when I got it.

But, all in all, Dream Evil is a very strong record, with some amazing material. Even the filler is saved by a good hook here and there, and ALWAYS a great guitar solo!

Dio - 'Dream Evil' (Warner Brothers) 3 1/2 stars
This was Dio's fourth lp as I have never had any doubt that Dio would last THIS long as he continues to release decent CD's every couple of years.'Dream Evil' appears to be more melodic than his previous three albums.The playing,arrangements and song writing are pretty well done as I've always enjoyed listening to this disc.Tracks that did it for me were the title cut "Dream Evil","Sunset Superman",the metal ballad "All The Fools Sailed Away" and "I Could Have Been A Dreamer"(love the video for this song).Line-up:Ronnie James Dio-vocals,Jimmy Bain-bass,Claude Schnell-keyboards,Craig Goldie-guitar and Vinnie Appice-drums.LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL!!