DIO — Holy Diver (review)

DIO — Holy Diver album cover Album · 1983 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
rushfan4
"HOLY DIVER BATMAN!!!!"

Holy Diver is the debut "solo" album from former Elf/Black Sabbath/Rainbow frontman Ronnie James Dio. Technically, it wasn't a solo album but a band project using his last name. However, over the years he remained the one constant member throughout, thus the "solo" label. This album, possibly single-handedly, established the heavy metal sound of the 80's to be used by an untold number of followers. Holy Diver, along with the follow-up album, The Last in Line, are the two essential releases from Dio that all metal fans must have. This debut deserving the masterpiece status with The Last In Line being just a touch below.

This album is strong from top to bottom. The album starts out with the great heavy metal anthem Stand Up And Shout, which is what heavy metal is all about. The highlights of this album include its two hit songs Holy Diver and Rainbow In The Dark, which is one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all times. The remainder of the album is also quite strong with great tracks such as Don't Talk to Strangers, Straight Through The Heart, and Invisible.

Ronnie James Dio has one of the top 5 voices in heavy metal and this album displays this voices at its finest. The drumming from fellow Black Sabbath refugee Vinny Appice is exquisite throughout. Whereas fellow Rainbow refugee, Jimmy Bain's bass playing completes the hard hitting rhythm section. Relatively unknown guitarist Vivian Campbell shines with his playing filling the album with a number of excellent riffs and quickly established himself as one of my favorite guitarists.

One of the keys to my enjoyment of this album is the band's glorious use of tempo changes. Songs starting out soft and beautiful turning quickly into hard-hitting metal bombardments of drums, bass, and guitar riffs. These tempo changes would be somewhat perfected by Metallica in the near future.

This album truly is a masterpiece and belongs in the collection of all fans of heavy metal. Dio went on to create 9 additional albums, but none of them, including the Last In Line managed to reach the heights of Holy Diver.
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