Siamo nel 1987 e la formazione dei "Dio" si appresta a rilasciare al pubblico la sua ultima fatica: "Dream Evil".
E' questo il loro quarto album, e fino ad ora non hanno mai deluso, sfornando capolavori come "Holy Diver", "Last In Line" e "Sacred Heart". La formazione è variata rispetto al passato, ed ora alle chitarre troviamo Craig Goldie, con questo album di certo non delude le aspettative.
La copertina dell'album rispecchia appieno il disco, cupo, malefico, ma anche divertente (notare la mano demoniaca che fa le corna sotto il letto). Il satanasso nero, ancora presente, e questa volta andrà ad inquietare una povera bimbetta, che dorme tranquilla nel suo letto ignara dei pericoli.

Eccoci quindi  alla tracklist dell'album:

  1. "Night people"
  2. "Dream evil"
  3. "Sunset superman"
  4. "All the fools is sailed away"
  5. "Naked in the rain"
  6. "Overlove"
  7. "I could have been a dreamer"
  8. "Faces in the windows"
  9. "When a woman cries"

L'album si apre con "Night people", che ci proietta in un'atmosfera di luci al neon lampeggianti fin dalle prime tre note; Dio fa subito capire che la sua prestazione sarà al livello delle precedenti, tecnicamente ineceppibile, dalle cadenze e il timbro aggressivi. Vinny Appice riesce a dare la carica a una canzone che altrimenti si sarebbe basata quasi esclusivamente sul cantato, ma che alla fine risulta piacevole.
Si procede all'insegna della Title Track, "Dream Evil", un ottimo pezzo, forse musicalmente più curato del precedente, dal ritornello accattivante, che, abbinato a un bellissimo riff chitarristico lo rende uno dei migliori brani dell'album.
La terza traccia, "Sunset Superman", parte alla grande, risultando un pezzo veloce e dalla carica quasi disperata, ma poi si perde i uno stupido ritornello, ripetuto all'infinito nell'ultimo minuto della canzone.Peccato.
Ed eccoci arrivati al pezzo che a mio avviso rappresenta il culmine dell'album: "All The Fools Sailed Away", ovvero un tripudio di sensazioni che spaziano dalla rabbia alla malinconia per tutti i 7 minuti in cui Dio e compagni ci tengono isolati dal mondo con le loro note. Tra i musicisti c'è grande intesa, e tutti, nessuno in maniera maggiore rispetto agli altri, contribuisce a fare di questo brano il capolavoro di "Dream Evil".
Segue "Naked In The Rain", un buon pezzo, relativamente lento, che stupisce ancora con un ritornello e un riff che raramente si trovano altrove. Eh già, perchè i riff di Craig Goldie saranno pure semplici se paragonati a quelli di altri chitarristi, ma,mi permetto di dire, preferisco mille volte i suoi a quelli freddi e puramente tecnici di molti altri.
Ancora una scarica di adrenalina ci viene iniettata da "Overlove", veloce e cattiva in pieno stile Hard&Heavy; ancora una volta un'ottima prestazione della formazione dell'elfo.
Le tre tracce che chiudono l'album, "I could have been a dreamer", "Faces At The Window" e "When A Woman Cries" sono anch'esse buone canzoni, benchè, fatta eccezione di "Faces At The Window" sono risultate, almeno per me, un gradino sotto le precedenti, una sorta di riempimento di un album che altrimenti avrebbe rasentato il livello di "Holy Diver".
Particolarmente degna di nota la strutturazione dei ritornelli, che è simile in molte canzoni, così come l'immancabile riff di metà canzone e il discreto utilizzo delle tastiere di Claude Schnell, che contribuiscono alla creazione di ottime atmosfere.

In definitiva "Dream Evil" è un buonissimo album, di poco inferiore ai predecessori, ma che comincia a far venir a galla la successiva carenza creativa che il gruppo dovrà affrontare nella composizione di "Lock Up The Wolves".

Elenco tracce testi samples e video

01   Night People (04:08)

02   Dream Evil (04:28)

All's well at the midnight hour
You're ready to fly
Don't think about the darkness
Or the rumbling in the sky

Somewhere on the morning road
Just waiting for you
Somethings that just could never be
Are calling up a spell so you can see, yeah!

Dream evil
The dark that you find in the back of your mind
Dream evil - Dream evil

Don't go to the edge of rainbows
Don't close your eyes
Like things that can't be real
The truth is really lies

Don't wish on a rising star you should
Open up the door
Where things that just should never be
Are calling up a spell so you can see, yeah!

Dream evil
The dark that you find
Can come out of your mind
Dream evil
Take you away

Oh no it's the midnight hour
Don't leave me alone

Those things that just should never be
Are calling up a spell so you can see

Dream evil
Dream evil
Dream evil
Dream evil
Dream evil

Oh no it's the midnight hour
Don't open the door
Don't go to the edge of rainbows
Don't sleep any more
You'll dream evil
You'll dream evil
You'll dream evil
Dream evil

03   Sunset Superman (05:47)

The night has a thousand eyes
But he moves in only places
Where the eyes can never be

The night tells a thousand lies
And when you wake up in the morning
Were you dreaming
Screaming
Tryin to hide your burnin' heart
Before somebody cuts it all away

Sunset superman
Sunset superman
Sunset superman

Somebody start the game
And the dark will just get louder
As it shouts away the light

A shadow without a name
But when he wakes up in the morning
He just won't know
Was he a hero
Trying to hide his burning heart
Before somebody cuts it all away

Sunset superman
Sunset superman
Sunset superman
Anybody can
Sunset superman

The night has a thousand eyes
But he moves in only places
Where the eyes can never be

The night tells a thousand lies
And when you wake up in the morning
Were you dreaming
Screaming
Tryin to hide your broken heart
Before somebody cuts it all away

Sunset superman
Sunset superman
Sunset superman

Sunset superman
Sunset superman
Superman - ooh

Sunset superman
Sunset superman
Sunset superman - ooh

Anybody can
Anybody can

Sunset superman - ooh
Sunset superman
...

04   All the Fools Sailed Away (07:12)

There's perfect harmony
In the rising and the falling of the sea
And as we sail along
I never fail to be astounded by
The things we'll do for promises
And a song

We are the innocent
We are the damned
We were caught in the middle of the madness
Hunted by the lion and the lamb
Ooh - Ooh

We bring you fantasy
We bring you pain
It's your one great chance for a miracle
Or we will disappear
Never to be seen again

And all the fools sailed away
All the fools sailed away
Sailed away

We bring you beautiful
We teach you sin
We can give you a piece of the universe
Or we will disappear
Never to return again

And all the fools sailed away
All the fools sailed away
All the fools sailed away
They sailed away
Sailed away

And as we drift along
I never fail to be astounded
By the things we'll do for promises
And a song

We are the innocent
We cut we bleed
We're your one great chance for a miracle
And a miracle is something you need

They'll take your diamonds
And then give you steel
You'll be caught in the middle of the madness
Just lost like them
And part of all the pain that they feel, yeah

And all the fools sailed away
All the fools sailed away
All the fools sailed away
Leaving nothing, nothing more to say
All the fools sailed away

They say you're beautiful
And they'll always let you in
But doors are never open
To the child without a trace of sin

Sail away

05   Naked in the Rain (05:11)

06   Overlove (03:49)

Seems like heard this song
At least a thousand times before
He just wanted her but she wants more
So build a wall
Keep it all to herself, ooh

Always never seemed to be too much
Reaching out became a spider's touch
Wrapped in chains
Sad remains
Another victim of

Overlove
Overlove

He was just the devil in a thing disquise
Jealousy behind the greenest eyes
Turn the page
Close the cage
On another victim of

Overlove
Overlove, yeah
Overlove
Overlove
Overlove
Overlove

Mamma never left her baby all alone
Baby never knew when she was grown
Now mamma's gone
And come the dawn
You got another victim of

Overlove
Overlove
Overlove
Overlove, love, love, love, love
Overlove

07   I Could Have Been a Dreamer (04:45)

Running with the wolf pack
Feel like I'm never coming back
And everytime there's sunshine
I'm blind, yeah

I am everybody
And everyone that I know is me
Everyone that I know won't see

I could have been a dreamer
I could have been a shooting star
I could have been a dreamer, yeah

I'm another number
And you know the numbers must agree
But everytime the wind blows
I can't fly - why?

We take away tomorrow
And never see the end of today
Lock it up and send it away - forever

I could have been a dreamer
I could have been a shooting star
I could have been a dreamer
Cause dreams are what we are
I could have been a dreamer

Running with the wolf pack
Feel like I'm never coming back
But maybe that was sunshine
That I saw

I've heard about a rainbow
I've heard it makes you crazy
I think I'm goin' crazy
Crazy cause I see

I could have been a dreamer
I could have been a shooting star
I could have been a dreamer
Cause dreams are what we are

I could have been a dreamer
I could have been the one to fly
I always could have been a dreamer
Cause dreamers never die, no!

I could have been a dreamer
Dreamer
I could have been a dreamer
Dreamer
I could have been a dreamer
Dreamer
I could have been a dreamer

08   Faces in the Window (03:52)

Give me - shelter - shelter
I can face the day
Then I'll just fade away
Give me shelter
Give me shelter

Sleep comes - slowly
The fire starts to die
You open up your eyes

Faces in the window
Noises in the night
Faces in the window
Hiding from the light
Faces in the window

We are - evil
And we are all divine
Creations of the mind
We are pleasure

I see - clearly
Who's behind the wall
Yes, I can see us all

We're faces in the window
Noises in the night
Faces in the window
Hiding from the light
Faces in the window

Give me shelter - shelter - shelter
Give me shelter - shelter - shelter

Faces in the window
Noices in the night
Faces in the window
Hiding from the light

Faces in the window
Faces in the window
Faces in the window
Faces in the window

When the fire starts to die
And you open up your eyes
There they are in the window
Faces in the window

We are evil and divine
Just creations of the mind
And faces in the window
Faces in the window

Faces in the window
Faces in the window
Faces in the window
Faces in the window

09   When a Woman Cries (04:42)

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