Although understandably celebrated for his Black Sabbath contributions and his stand out solo masterpieces; there is more to Dio than ‘Heaven and Hell’ and ‘Holy Diver’. Ronnie James Dio was beavering away at this Heavy Metal lark for decades and his loss was so hard hitting for one reason: he was bloody good at it.

Needless to say there are a few hidden gems in the back catalogue. None more than ‘Magica’. Largely unavailable recently due to a lack of reissue but about to be put right; ‘Magica’ may not be the go to album for Dio material but is certainly an essential follow up after the aforementioned classics. Those who already own it will be pleased to find out that it has been re-issued with plenty of bells and whistles included to make it worth an upgrade.

Most impressively, Disc 2 starts off with the ‘Story of Magica’. Narrated by Ronnie himself, it’s a spoken word track telling the story about the concept album. It sends a shiver down your spine the first time you hear it and it’s every bit as epic as it sounds!

Also on the extras list are two new tracks to the set. ‘Annica’ doesn’t particularly fit the whole feel of ‘Magica’ but never-the-less; it’s a cracking straight ahead heavy metal track. ‘Electra’ was recorded with ‘Magica’ in mind and is a welcome addition to the line-up. Just to complete the disc you get some live tracks from ‘Magica’) too!

The album itself, a concept album, is a slow-burner. No runaway isolated hits to speak of but more a piece of work. The album did spawn some hits though; ‘Fever Dreams’ has been a staple Dio song ever since this albums release and ‘Losing my Insanity’ is just fantastic. It’s best listened to as one however, as most concept albums are.

It’s great that this album has been released alone rather than lumped in with a few more as it deserves the attention. It’s a little more leftfield than your average Dio album, but well worth the investment of time and effort. A true hidden gem.

All in all, the bonus disc is worth the price alone. That’s before you factor in the swanky packaging!

9/10

Out June 25^th

Rob W