This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Heavy metal mini-me Ronnie James Dio introduced his big voice to the black masses back in Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow circa ’75.
Well, it’s taken him nearly 30 years, but the evil elf has finally found his way back to where he once belonged. The fire-breathing Killing the Dragon is a classic ’70s-rock metalfest, with smoking Deep Purple-style guitar riffs, Van Halen neck-bending solos and propulsive four-on-the-floor rhythms anchoring the demonic dwarf’s leather-lunged bellow on old-school barnburners like Along Comes a Spider, Better in the Dark and Before the Fall. After the silly, self-indulgent sci-fi crud of his last album Magica, this superior, back-to-basics album is exactly what Dio — and his fans — need and deserve. This Dragon is no drag.
