Yesterday marked one year that we lost Ronnie James Dio, the finest heavy metal singer that ever was or will ever be. I am mindful that there have been several compilations of Ronnie’s music, to include Catch the Rainbow, Stand Up and Shout, and Black Sabbath: The Dio Years. Stand Up and Shout came the closest to capturing the essence of Ronnie’s entire career, but for me two discs aren’t enough to commemorate the man’s achievements. So I thought if I was a record executive for a day, what would a four-disc box set of Ronnie James Dio’s career look like? This is what I came up with. People will take issue that I didn’t include anything from Elf. While that music was pretty good, I didn’t think it had that “metal” aesthetic, so I arbitrarily picked Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow [1975] as my starting point.
Disc 1 includes the Rainbow years and material from Ronnie’s first album with Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell. There is a “sameness” to the production of these songs since Martin Birch produced [or co-produced] all of them. The Rainbow albums sound more like hard rock than heavy metal, and I believe Heaven and Hell fit into that category. Black Sabbath hadn’t been heavy since Sabotage [1975], so I don’t think I’m being too terribly blasphemous here. Not only that, but Bill Ward’s drumming has a lighter touch, especially compared to the man who followed him, Vinny Appice.
Disc 2 includes songs done by Ronnie’s own band Dio between his two stints with Black Sabbath. I like the Holy Diver album very much. I often wonder what Rainbow in the Dark would sound like if he had remained with Sabbath and done that song with them…I don’t have any songs from Lock Up the Wolves. I tried hard to like that album, I just didn’t have it in me. What surprised me as I was compiling my list was that I like Dream Evil now more than I did when I first bought it in 1987.
Disc 3 picks up the Dio journey after Ronnie left Black Sabbath the second time in 1992. Strange Highways gets a lot of love here because in my mind [and to my ears] it sounds like it could be Dehumanizer Part II. Ronnie was still in his “angry” phase that began with Sabbath’s Dehumanizer, and Strange Highways has a production sheen on it unlike any other Dio album. Equal love was given to Magica and Killing the Dragon. Some Dio fans don’t like those albums, but I do. I found one song from Angry Machines that I liked [Hunter Of The Heart], hence its inclusion here.
Disc 4 is the Heaven & Hell period. It is true that both Mob Rules and Dehumanizer are credited to Black Sabbath, and The Devil You Know is credited to Heaven & Hell. The bottom line for me is that all the music on Disc 4 was created by the same four guys – Vinny Appice, Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio, and Tony Iommi. So in the interests of continuity, and to show that despite the years separating those albums, there’s a good body of work there. Finishing my box set is Shadow of the Wind. It’s one of three new tracks recorded especially for Black Sabbath: The Dio Years. It’s my favorite of the three then-new tracks [The Devil Cried and Ear in the Wall being the other two].
I’m sure that I left off somebody’s favorite, but these are my favorites from Ronnie James Dio. He had quite a career, and it’s not for nothing that he became such a revered figure in the metal world. One year gone and I still miss him.
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Disc 1
Man on the Silver Mountain/Neon Knights/Lady of the Lake/Children of the Sea/Lady Evil/Catch the Rainbow/Kill the King/The Shed [Subtle]/Die Young/Lonely Is The Word/Stargazer/Gates of Babylon/Tarot Woman/Heaven and Hell
Disc 2
Stand Up And Shout/Holy Diver/Don’t Talk To Strangers/Rainbow in the Dark/Shame on the Night/We Rock/The Last In Line/Egypt [The Chains Are On]/King of Rock And Roll/Sacred Heart/Rock ‘N’ Roll Children/Hungry For Heaven/Night People/Dream Evil/Naked in the Rain/I Could Have Been a Dreamer
Disc 3
Jesus, Mary & The Holy Ghost/Strange Highways/Evilution/Bring Down The Rain/Hunter Of The Heart/Fever Dreams/Turn To Stone/Eriel/Challis/Losing My Insanity/Killing the Dragon/Scream/Push/Cold Feet/Master of the Moon/In Dreams
Disc 4
Turn Up the Night/Voodoo/The Sign of the Southern Cross/The Mob Rules/Falling Off the Edge of the World/Computer God/After All [The Dead]/TV Crimes/Master of Insanity/Time Machine/I/Bible Black/Fear/Follow the Tears/Shadow of the Wind
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