As great as RONNIE JAMES DIO was at conceptualizing things, it’s surprising that he came up with only one thematically cohesive album during his life. 2000’s "Magica", arguably the last great record by DIO the band, told an interesting story and was originally planned as a trilogy, but that wasn’t to be. More so, its first installment has been largely unavailable for some years; the more welcome, then, is its deluxe edition, an expanded reissue scheduled for June 25th and accumulating anticipation for a couple of days now.
Following the line of DIO’s re-releases, this one comprises two discs, the first spanning the whole of original “Magica”, minus its story, narrated by Dio, which is moved to the second one, that is full of bonuses, yet none of these is really rare. “Annica” could be heard on the Japanese version of the record once it came out, while “Electra”, slated for inclusion on one of the later chapters of “Magica”, saw the light of day on the “Tournado” box set shortly before Ron’s untimely passing; the rest is concert versions of some of the album’s songs.
Still, a great addition to any collection – with all the inserts, including that with the story, restored, and the music as great as it gets.
Disc 1
Deluxe Edition
- Discovery
- Magica Theme
- Lord Of The Last Day
- Fever Dreams
- Turn To Stone
- Feed My Head
- Eriel
- Challis
- As Long As It’s Not About Love
- Losing My Insanity
- Otherworld
- Magica – Reprise
- Lord Of The Last Day – Reprise
Disc 2
- The Magica Story
- Annica
- Electra
- Feed My Head (live)
- Fever Dreams (live)
- Turn To Stone (live)
- Lord Of The Last Day (live)
- As Long as It’s Not about Love (live)
- Losing My Insanity (live)
