Lock Up the Wolves

Lock Up the Wolves, Dio's fifth studio album, was made by Ronnie James Dio with a completely new band. In 1988 Rowan Robertson, an English teenager who had read that Craig Goldy was out, sent a home four-track demo to the band's fan club in Los Angeles, and months later Wendy Dio called him to an audition; the job, he was told, had first been offered to Doug Aldrich, who stayed with his band Lion. Dio said he had heard upwards of 5,000 tapes, and Robertson was 17 when he auditioned. The writing took ten months, during which Jimmy Bain, Vinny Appice and Claude Schnell all left, and Dio explained that the newcomer's enthusiasm had shown up how jaded the others had become. The new members were drummer Simon Wright, formerly of AC/DC, who was asked only to guest and joined for good during the sessions; keyboard player Jens Johansson, who grew up in Sweden and had played in Yngwie Malmsteen's band; and New York bassist Teddy Cook. The album was recorded at Granny's House in Reno, Nevada, and mixed at Battery Studios in London by Nigel Green and Tony Platt, who co-produced it with Ronnie James Dio. Songs grew from guitar riffs Dio picked out; Robertson supplied dozens, but the title track's main riff was Dio's, and because Dio wanted its solo closer to Tony Iommi, Robertson replayed the first half. The album came out in May 1990, on Reprise in the United States and Vertigo in Europe, with "Wild One" as the first single and "Hey Angel" to follow. It reached number 28 in the UK, number 61 on the Billboard 200 and number 70 on Japan's Oricon albums chart, and "Hey Angel" number 94 in Britain. That September the Los Angeles Times reported that the record had dropped quickly from the charts and that half-empty halls were not unusual on the American tour, while Ronnie James Dio said it did not matter to him that crowds had shrunk from 20,000 to 4,000. After the tour Dio returned to Black Sabbath for Dehumanizer; this line-up never worked together again, and the album remained Robertson's only one with the band.