Strange Highways

About

"Strange Highways" is the sixth studio album by the American heavy metal band Dio. It was released on 25 October 1993 through Vertigo Records in Europe and on 26 January 1994 through Reprise Records in the United State. The album was the band's first release following Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice's reunion with Black Sabbath, and the first to feature guitarist Tracy Grijalva and bassist Jeff Pilson. It was recorded at Rumbo Recorders in Los Angele, California, and was produced, mixed, and engineered by Mike Fraiser. The cover artwork was designed by Wil Ree. The album reached number 142 on the Billboard 200. It continued the band's commercial decline during the 1990, before the release of "Magica" in 2000. In 1992, Black Sabbath released "Dehumanizer", the first album to feature Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice since "Mob Rules" (1981). The album's production involved multiple song rewrite. Following its release, Black Sabbath embarked on a tour, but Dio left the band for a second time after the group agreed to perform on Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tours" tour. After leaving Black Sabbath, Dio and Appice returned to Dio's band, recruiting Tracy Grijalva as guitarist. Former bassist Jimmy Bain was initially expected to rejoin the group but was replaced by Jeff Pilson. Parts of "Hollywood Black" were first demoed during the "Dehumanizer" recording session. Before hearing Dio's completed version, Tony Iommi stated that he did not know whether it was the same song, but suggested it might retain the original lyrics while using different music. .

via Last.fm

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