REVIEW: Dio – Intermission (1986 EP)

IMG_20150129_173910DIO – Intermission (1986 Warner EP)

Intermission was Dio’s live EP, bridging the gap between Sacred Heart and Dream Evil. At the time it came out, Dio was very busy with the Hear N’ Aid project as well as replacing Vivian Campbell on guitar. Maybe that’s why he opted for just a Dio EP to tide fans over.  For a long time this unavailable on CD; it has recently been reissued in its completion as bonus tracks on the deluxe edition of Sacred Heart.  Good news, I’m sure, for those fans without the equipment to play vinyl.

The band was in a transitional period.  They had recorded the five live tracks with Vivian, but replaced him with Craig Goldy in the middle of the tour.  For years, fans were wondering who played on Intermission.  Goldy’s picture is on the back, but the solos are clearly Vivian.  There were no credits either, but today we know that Vivian is indeed the guitar player on the live tracks.  And so is Craig!  They overdubbed Goldy over Campbell on the live rhythm guitar parts!  Why he decided to do this, aside from spite, I have no idea, but I strongly dislike tampering with live recordings. (Yes, that makes me a hypocrite since I rated Kiss Alive! a 6/5!)

Goldy plays all guitars on the soul newbie, “Time To Burn”.  This new studio cut was a really excellent one; a mid-tempo burner (no pun intended).  He co-wrote it, probably contributing that cool riff.  The song has melody to spare and is definitely a diamond among Dio’s early solo material. It sounds similar to the Sacred Heart era, but with a higher level of songwriting quality.

As far as I’m concerned, they may call it an EP, but this is essentially an album, clocking in at 32 minutes.  That makes it slightly longer than Van Halen’s Diver Down.   It may only have six tracks, but one is a 10 minute medley of Dio and Rainbow classics.  “Man on the Silver Mountain” sounds incredible; Ronnie was singing powerfully on this tour, and despite the tampering the band does sound great.

The Dio songs sampled here include obvious choices like “We Rock” and “Rainbow in the Dark”, but the two biggest hits (“Holy Diver” and “Last in Line”) are absent.  Diligent fans already had live versions of those two on the last Dio single B-sides. The more puzzling inclusion is “King of Rock and Roll” which was already released live on the last album!  Ultimately though I’m satisfied with the songs selected on this EP.  The vinyl used to be frequently played around these parts, though it has no been collecting dust since the reissue of the songs on the deluxe Sacred Heart.  It remains a great sounding mini-album, if you will!

4/5 stars

42 comments

    1. Vivian called it that? Sonically it could have been a lot better, but I wouldn’t call it a steaming pile if I were also responsible for such Def Leppard classics as “X”…

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      1. Haha exactly. Yeah he did. I think he probably just wasn’t enjoying being in the band at that point and it’s coloured his perception of it. I think it sounds great and he plays great on it too. Considering he did such commercial stuff with Leppard I can’t see why he would have a problem with that album.

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        1. I think it’s sad that they never reconciled. I remember one of the last things I saw Dio say about Viv was in a video recorded. A fan said “I met Vivian the other day,” and Ronnie responded, “You poor son of a bitch.” LOL

          I’ll take Dream Evil over Sacred Heart, personally. But I would take either of them over Lock up the Wolves!!!

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        4. Yes! I really want to but I can never quite decide what version to get. The deluxe would be nice cause I’ve got the first three but it’s got a crap bonus disc and its always expensive. Hmm… if I saw a decent vinyl copy that would do as well.

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        6. The first three were all good bonus discs for me. The Dream Evil is, apart from about two songs, just the Donington set that was already released a few years ago. So it’s a bit crap in that it’s predominantly previously released material. Definitely the worst of the Dio deluxes from that point of view.

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        7. OK my bad, I thought you were talking about Sacred Heart. I lost the thread.

          Yeah agreed. I was very disappointed with the Dream Evil deluxe. I believe I sent my original to Aaron.

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        8. Haha, I did wonder when you said “first two”! Yeah, the first three were all great. I think I’ll probably still get the Dream Evil deluxe just to complete the set though even though it’s disappointing. I’ve got it on my Amazon wishlist. I keep checking it in case the price drops but it never does! And I still don’t have the Magica one either.

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  2. And I wouldn’t say that makes you a hypocrite – more a fascinating series of contradictions!
    Excellent question on when an EP becomes an album.
    Until today, I only really considered quantity of songs (6 or less = EP) but the 30-ish minute rule might be a better measurement

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    1. I may have to check my collection, but I think I have a Nine Inch Nails single that is somewhere around an hour in length!

      I like that — a fascinating series of contradictions. Imma stealing that. Thanks!

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  3. Ummm I bought this back upon its release on cassette and I dunno was the mix of the live stuff muddy? I didn’t spin it too much, I mean it’s only been 30 years since I heard it ..haha…
    This was my last Dio purchase until Lock Up The Wolves with that 12 year old kid on guitar….
    Scared Heart did not register with me at the time as much as the first 2 Dio solo albums did….maybe a return visit To Sacred Heart is due at some point…..
    Great indepth read and love the Diver Down reference!
    Hahahaha

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  5. I have Sacred Heart and Dream Evil on CD (thamks to the Mighty Lebrain!) so I’m unliekyl to buy the deluxe just to get this. Do you think they’ll ever release it as a stand-alone, or should I be seeking the vinyl?

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  6. I remember reading an interview with Ronnie about Intermission and he said that he was under pressure to put out a live album. He wanted to wait and put out a double live album. I saw them on tour with the EP and the Rainbow medley was great to hear live.

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  9. I never got this. I really don’t do EPs. Especially live EPs – those pisses me off. I even have a problem with single live albums. I want a double live album that comes as close to the live show as it can. Four songs don’t do that. Overdubs don’t bother me, though,as long as you can’t spot ’em. But Paul Stanley singing both lead and back-ups at the same time on Love Gun on Alive II is a bit overmuch…

    I always wondered what really happened to Dio The Band after their first three brilliant records. Nothing was the same musically after Sacred Heart. The reason it all went downhill is, of course, spelled Vivian Campbell. I think he was a huge reason for a lot of the good stuff on Dio’s first three records. Dream Evil had like three really good songs on it, the rest were mediocre, I think. And sonically, it’s hard to listgen to that album, it sounds like a rushed demo with Claude Schnell’s carnival sounding keyboards all over the place. Dio never made a great album again, even though I liked Lock Up The Wolves a lot better now than I did when it came out.

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    1. Interesting Jon. You and a few other people commenting here have said the same thing about live EPs.

      I don’t know why I don’t care if it’s a live EP or LP or double live so much as you guys. My first Live EP was probably…Maiden Japan? Probably that was it. I guess I just didn’t think about it.

      “Claude Schnell’s carnival keyboards” — well said my friend. I’ve never heard it put better.

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        2. I don’t know if I’m getting the thread here mixed up or not but… the length doesn’t bother me with live releases. If it’s one track or a box set of them, I don’t mind. As long as they’re good versions! I just like hearing live versions.

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  10. Not to be a bother, but King of Rock and Roll wasn’t live on Sacred Heart, if you listen specifically to the crowd you can hear the same two samples looping throughout the beginning of the song. They just mixed it to sound live because they figured it made it sound more energetic, the guitars are also double tracked which gives it away. Also, I’d recommend getting the German original CD of this album. It’s cheap, and more dynamic than the re-master!
    https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/5209460?ev=rb

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