Ronnie James Dio . . . Underrated?

[tobinentinc]

What do you guys think of Ronnie James Dio? I personally think he isn't given enough credit for his contributions to Heavy Metal. I am a Dio fan and becoming a Dio Fanatic by the day. So what do DLR fans think of this Metal Great??

[DR CHIP]

Ronnie is awesome as a singer and as a person

[Panamark]

I saw him Live back in the late 80's. Was a fantastic show, I actually think his voice sounded stronger live, than on record. (And thats saying a lot) Holy Diver is a classic album. Has anyone ever heard him sing "Love is all" (At the Butterfly Ball).. Or am the only person on earth ? Its not a metal song at all, I remember there was a cartoon clip that went along with it, I think there was a singing frog singing along with DIO's vocals.

[ashstralia]

yeah, mark i remember that.
the a.b.c.
used to play it.
i've got his best of, it fkn rox.

[Panamark]

Ash ! Thats right, they used to play it on the ABC now and then. Many moons ago. You must be as old as me ya bugger !
Did you catch him when he was in Oz 87 I think ? (Offthe top of my head). I saw him in Melbourne. It was a great gig..

[Panamark]

Just looked it up, it was 16.09.1986 Festival Hall Melbourne.
My memory wasnt far off. Thats disappointing.

I better drink more beer. My memory is still working far too good..

[Mr Badguy]

How many others have recorded three bona fide classic metal albums with three different bands?

Rainbow "Rising"
Black Sabbath "Heaven and hell" (better than anything with Ozzy)
Dio "Holy Diver"

I`m sure there aren`t many.

[High Life Man]

Originally posted by Mr Badguy
Black Sabbath "Heaven and hell" (better than anything with Ozzy)

This will probably start a jack-off-fest, but I agree with you on this Badguy. I love that album.

[Panamark]

NO!

Im a big DIO fan and yes, Heaven and Hell was fantastic, but nothing beats the original Black Sabbath. Thats like saying 5150 was better than the original Van Halen albums...
Original Sabbath was the best !!!

[Jano]

HOLY DIVER BABY!!!!
Ronnie is great!!!

[Seshmeister]

He's a horrible little dwarf, the Hagar of Sabbath.

He also looks exactly like Carla from

Cheers!

[GAR]

Ronnie "Poison Dwarf" Dio.

Perfectly heavy shit. Dio's the shit I tell you.

Rainbow "Rising" is a trip, one of my faves.. if you are into Dio its a must-have disc.

[Mr Badguy]

Originally posted by Panamark
NO!

Im a big DIO fan and yes, Heaven and Hell was fantastic, but nothing beats the original Black Sabbath.

Sorry Panamark, but I can`t agree.

Yes the original line up`s albums were highly influential but in terms of songs, production, performance and energy, it`s (in my opinion) their best LP.

I don`t think it`s fair to compare to 5150 as it was shit compared to Dave-era VH.

"Heaven and hell" was a total reinvention as Sabbath hadn`t made a decent LP since "Sabotage" where as VH had made one of their best in "1984".

Without Dio, I don`t think Sabbath would have made it past 1980.

One of the reasons why people have so much respect for Sabbath is that they`ve been around so long, longer without Ozzy than with and they made more consistantly good albums with Dio.

"Heaven and hell", "Mob rules" and "Dehumanizer" were all great.

"Technical ecstacy" and "Never say die" showed that Ozzy era Sabbath had nothing more to offer after their original cement mixer styled HM well ran dry.

Dio was the man who proved that there was life after Ozzy, the right guy at the right time.

Maybe the only guy that could have done it.

Dio era Sabbath should get more respect than it does.

[tobinentinc]

The DIO era Sabbath gets no respect nor credit. It's a shame. Dio should be given more credit for what he's done to heavy metal.

[alexpgrimes]

I loved his first couple of cds. I don't think he's been the same since Vivian Campbell left his band.