Dio's Holy Diver

Released in 1983 on the warner brothers record label this album is considered by most to be the seminal work of the both the band and the man himself.

The Band Ronnie James Dio - Vocals, Keyboards Vivian Campbell - Guitars Jimmy Bain - Bass Guitars Vinny Appice - Drums

The Songs 1) Stand up and shout 2) Holy Diver 3) Gypsy 4) Caught in the middle 5) Don't talk to strangers 6) Straight through the heart 7) Invisible 8) Rainbow in the dark 9) Shame on the night

The history After leaving Black Sabbath Ronnie James Dio looked for a new project, after receiving no job offers of any real significance he decided to take his own direction and form Dio. Vinny Appice followed him out of Black Sabbath and the pair remained together. The drum stool was filled but more musicians were still required. Having decided that he wanted a british guitarist for the project (the reasoning being that they played with more feeling) Ronnie called his good friend Jimmy Bain to ask him if he knew anybody suitable. Bain gave Ronnie three demo tapes, one of which was the work of a young Vivian Campbell who was at the time playing with the sweet savages. Having heard the demo and attended a couple of concerts Ronnie decided that this was indeed his man.

At this point Ronnie (who had a couple of songs written for the album already) set up a practice session with Vinny Appice and Vivian Campbell, Jimmy Bain turned up with his bass guitar and the rest is history.

The album was well recieved by both the music press and music fans alike. To this day it is still considered by many to be one of the greatest metal albums ever concieved of and by a great many more to be the greatest metal album released in the 1980s.

The Significance To this day the influence of Holy Diver can be felt through the music of artists as diverse as Metallica, Tenacious D and The Darkness.

More recently... In 2005 the album was re-mastered and re-released, the current line-up of the band ran a UK tour playing the album in full for the first time live.

Off the back of this tour a live album has been released, imaginatively titled "Holy Diver Live".

Both the 1983 studio album and the 2006 live album are available from all good record stores at a reasonable price.

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