A man's tribute to the Legend
Nikiforos V. Skoumas | Athens Greece, Cambridge UK | 08/02/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It would be fair to say that by 2010 Jorn Lande is a well established presence in the rock/metal genres both as a band member and solo artist. Throughout his solo career his admiration for classic hard rock led him to covering songs of `Deep Purple', `Black Sabbath', `Thin lizzy' and `Whitesnake' amongst others both on record and on stage.
`Dio' is Jorn's tribute to the legend and his music featuring the original brand new track `Song for Ronnie James' plus twelve cover versions of the giant's songs. It really comes as no surprise that Jorn performs the songs impeccably to the letter; what perhaps is unexpected is the performance of his band which is somewhat superior to their previous studio performances, as they are indeed on fire. To his credit `Jorn' does not concentrate on the legend's hits but actually builds a compilation of his own favorite `Dio' songs; therefore you get trademarks such as `Stand up and shout', `Don't talk to strangers' and `Sacred heart' but you also find more obscure material such as `Night people', `Lord of the last day' and `Push'.
Even though I do not want to, I have to address theories of `Cashing in'; But for anyone who is willing to see the bigger picture, would realize that this choice is actually a bold move of Jorn definite to bring him a fair share of negative heat while financial rewards are very uncertain. (One could claim that it is rather naïve to speak of cashing in from CD sales at this day and age.)
Beyond this there is not much left to analyze regarding this album; simply it's one man's tribute to one of the greatest musical personalities of our time. It is not to say goodbye, it is to keep him alive.
"
Ghost
ghost | 08/01/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"all that i can tell you is to buy it. if you are a jorn fan jorn dio and sprit black are two great cds. the voice the music and the all around sounds are magical . the words to all the songs are very powerful that we can all relate to . another great cd from jorn .."
Finally....A Tribute worthy of Dio
Lance Stranahan | 08/07/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have listened to several Dio Tribute CD's over the years and for the most part,I have never been too impressed. Sometimes the bands will do some cool versions of a song, but rarely will the songs work because the vocals are usually way inferior to the originals. I had never heard of Jorn before I listened to this Dio tribute and I can honestly say this CD is fantastic!I think even Ronnie, were he still alive today, would be impressed with this. The song choices are definitely for the true Dio fan and cover tunes spanning from his Black Sabbath days, his hits and some lesser known solo work. Jorn sings all of them with great power and conviction and it is obvious that he truly loves this material. Anyone who has gone to a Dio show will remember how Ronnie used to take parts of a few songs and create a medley out of them. On the track Lonely is the Word (one of my favorite songs from the Heaven and Hell album), Jorn fuses together a medley of great Sabbath songs. You'll hear it mixed with Letters from Earth and Children of the Sea...and some other surprises I won't give away. An awesome version of "Sunset Superman" from the Dream Evil album shows up on this CD. I realized Jorn's voice was not just a product of studio technology upon listening to the live version of "Straight Through the Heart". Truly amazing. One of my all time favorite Dio songs, "Don't talk to Strangers" gets a great rendition here as well. The band sounds excellent and the guitar work is superb. All in all, for longtime Dio fans that want to hear these songs given new life from worthy musicians, this is for you."
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1
