Schnell, Bain, and Appice were replaced, respectively, with , Teddy Cook, and former drummer . The new band released the album in the spring of 1990. During the tour, Dio had a chance meeting with former bandmate which led to that band's short-lived reunion, producing one album, . After this, Dio reassembled Dio once again, bringing back Appice on the drums, but discarding everyone else. By early 1993, guitarist , keyboardist of Warrant and bassist of Dokken had all joined. During this era, the band abandoned fantasy themed songs and focused on modern issues. As a result, some fans regard the albums made during this period—1993's , 1996's and the live album —as the worst in Dio's catalogue, while others view them positively as a step away from the outdated sound of the 1980s. With disappointing record sales for , management wanted the band to go back to their earlier style prompting the departure of Tracy G to be replaced by the returning Craig Goldy. In addition, Appice left Dio once again.
Dio released their tenth studio album, on August 30, 2004, in Europe through and on September 7, 2004, in the United States through . The album features multi-instrumentalist (formerly of ) on bass duties; however, because of prior obligations with , he was only available for the recording sessions, and so was replaced by (formerly of , , , among others) on the tour.
