Lock Up the Wolves is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Dio, released on May 15, 1990. It displayed a complete change of musician line-up over the previous album, Dream Evil, including 18-year-old guitarist Rowan Robertson and Simon Wright on drums who had played with AC/DC from 1983 to 1989 as well as bassist Teddy Cook who was in the band Hotshot that morphed into Danger Danger. Rod Simpkins from the Hollywood bands Riken and Jungle Alley also filled in on bass for several tour dates in 1990.
| Lock Up the Wolves | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 15, 1990 | |||
| Recorded | Granny's House (Reno, Nevada) | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 60:43 | |||
| Label | Reprise (North America) Vertigo (rest of the world) | |||
| Producer | Tony Platt, Ronnie James Dio | |||
| Dio chronology | ||||
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| Ronnie James Dio chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Lock Up the Wolves | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 5/10[3] |
Ronnie James Dio stated that the reason for the change was that it became apparent that the former band members had "lost interest" when compared to Robertson who was the first member of the new line-up.[4] Robertson states that he was playing with the original band for around ten months while the album was being written, Jimmy Bain and Claude Schnell were replaced "along the way" and Vinny Appice was in the band until two weeks before entering the studio to record the album.[5] Vinny Appice confirms that he was there until the album was written and left because he felt "This is not Dio" with "all these young guys in the band".
The song "Evil on Queen Street" takes its title from a deli in Toronto which had a sandwich with that name—per Dio on Much Music in 1990.[citation needed] Two videos were released from the album, for the songs "Hey Angel" and "Wild One".
Guitarist Rowan Robertson stated that two more songs were written and demoed for the album but left off at the decision of their manager Wendy Dio: "Hell Wouldn't Take Her" and "The River Between Us".[6]
The album marked a drop-off in Dio's popularity, charting lower than the previous four studio albums. Los Angeles Times stated in September 1990 that the album "died a quick death on the charts" and "half-empty houses are not uncommon" on the ongoing tour.[7]
Track listing
editAll lyrics and melodies by Ronnie James Dio, music as stated
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wild One" | Dio, Rowan Robertson | 4:05 |
| 2. | "Born on the Sun" (track 8 between "Walk on Water" and "Twisted" on cassette and vinyl versions) | Dio, Robertson, Jimmy Bain, Vinny Appice | 5:36 |
| 3. | "Hey Angel" | Dio, Robertson | 5:00 |
| 4. | "Between Two Hearts" | Dio, Robertson | 6:30 |
| 5. | "Night Music" | Dio, Robertson, Bain | 5:05 |
| 6. | "Lock Up the Wolves" | Dio, Robertson, Bain | 8:33 |
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Evil on Queen Street" | Dio, Robertson, Teddy Cook | 6:04 |
| 8. | "Walk on Water" | Dio, Robertson, Jens Johansson | 3:44 |
| 9. | "Twisted" | Dio, Robertson, Bain, Appice | 4:45 |
| 10. | "Why Are They Watching Me" (omitted from cassette and vinyl releases) | Dio, Robertson | 5:04 |
| 11. | "My Eyes" | Dio, Robertson, Johansson | 6:36 |
Personnel
edit- Dio
- Ronnie James Dio – vocals
- Rowan Robertson – rhythm, lead and acoustic guitars
- Jens Johansson – keyboards
- Teddy Cook – bass
- Simon Wright – drums, percussion
- Production
- Executive producer – Ronnie James Dio
- Arranged by Dio
- Produced by Tony Platt and Ronnie James Dio
- Recorded by Tony Platt (at Granny's House in Reno, Nevada); assisted by Don Evans
- Mixed by Tony Platt and Nigel Green (at Battery Studios in London)
- Originally mastered by George Marino
Charts
edit
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References
edit- ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 27.
- ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Lock up the Wolves - Dio". AllMusic. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- ^ "Hard Road Back to Top : Rock: Dio struggles to regain popularity among the heavy metal set". Los Angeles Times. September 21, 1990.
- ^ "Ulv på rømmen". May 13, 2020.
- ^ bravewords.com. "ROWAN ROBERTSON - "Unreleased RONNIE JAMES DIO Songs Might Not See The Light Of Day"". bravewords.com. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ "Hard Road Back to Top : Rock: Dio struggles to regain popularity among the heavy metal set". Los Angeles Times. September 21, 1990.
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 82.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Dio – Lock Up the Wolves" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Dio – Lock Up the Wolves" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Dio – Lock Up the Wolves". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Dio – Lock Up the Wolves". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ^ "Dio Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ^ ロニー・ジェームス・ディオのアルバム (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved October 28, 2013.