Magica (album)
Magica is the eighth studio album by the American heavy metal band Dio. It is a concept album and it was released on March 21, 2000, through Spitfire Records.
Magica marks the return of guitarist Craig Goldy, who also has performed on Dio's album Dream Evil and in the later release Master of the Moon. Magica also features Jimmy Bain on bass and Simon Wright on drums. Band leader Ronnie James Dio produced this concept album. The album was originally planned to be the first part of a trilogy of concept albums, and shortly before beginning his tour with Heaven & Hell, Dio announced his intention to start the Magica II & III album after the tour's end, but he died shortly after of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010. The only song released from Magica II & III was titled "Electra".
Concept
Said Dio: "Magica is the saga of Blessing, a netherworld invaded by dark forces that vaporise people into pure, evil energy. The planet’s saviours are master, apprentice heroes Eriel and Challis, who must recite a spell from the sacred book of Magica to defeat their foe, Shadowcast. The album is written from the villain’s viewpoint. (...) I took on the evil perspective because I’ve always written from the anti-perspective. Most people don’t think in those terms so you are freer to create. I left the ending ambivalent because evil always exists, good doesn’t always triumph and that’s the universal balance."
Victory (Running Wild album)
Victory is the eleventh album by German band Running Wild. It is the third in a trilogy of a theme of good versus evil, started with Masquerade and continued with The Rivalry, and is the only album in their discography not to include any pirate-themed songs/topics. The album has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide.
Track listing
The Final Waltz: strings arranged and produced by Ralf Nowy.
The song "Tsar" is about the Russian Emperor Nikolai II.
Members
Victory (Puff Daddy song)
"Victory" is a song recorded by American hip hop recording artist Puff Daddy. The song was originally written by Christopher Wallace, Trevor Smith, Jason Phillips and Steven Jordan for his debut studio album No Way Out (1997). It features heavy use of mafioso-style lyrics, as was popular at the time. It features The Notorious B.I.G., who raps two verses, and Busta Rhymes, who raps the song's chorus. The song also heavily sampled the Bill Conti song "Going the Distance", which featured on the soundtrack to the movie Rocky making it a darker start to a rap album that featured many (at the time) club-standard singles. The song was released as a single in 1998, peaking at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song featured the very last verses recorded by The Notorious B.I.G. before his 1997 death.
Music video
The music video for the song was directed by Marcus Nispel on March 31, 1998 (although he was supposed to remain anonymous at the time of premiere) and is an homage to The Running Man. The almost eight-minute-long video featured cameos from Dennis Hopper as a New World Order dictator ("President Victor Castiglione") and Danny DeVito as a live action reporter. Tamara Beckwith was also in the video. Hopper and Devito reportedly appeared in the video pro bono as a favor to Combs.
Youthanasia
Youthanasia is the sixth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on November 1, 1994 through Capitol Records. The album is not a large stylistic departure from the band's earlier recordings; however it marked the continuing evolution of Megadeth, following the footsteps of the previous album Countdown to Extinction (1992). The album's title is a play on words, implying that society is euthanizing its youth. The cover art features an elderly woman hanging babies by their feet on a seemingly endless clothesline; the artwork concept was directly inspired from a line of the title track.
Youthanasia received positive reviews upon its release. It was commercially successful, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, and was certified platinum for shipping one million copies in the United States—a distinction achieved in 1995. A remixed and remastered edition featuring several bonus tracks and detailed liner notes was reissued on July 27, 2004.
Background and recording
Podcasts:
