I am almost scared to write this next article because I am pretty sure I cannot do justice to this extraordinary musician I picked as my next subject: Ronnie James Dio.
Up till last week I had not heard of Dio (or the band Rainbow for that matter) before in my life. When watching Metal Evolution by Sam Dunn I noticed that his name got dropped quite frequently and this peaked my interest, so I started to read up. And gosh was I surprised.
So, obviously, Dio is considered one of the greatest musicians in Heavy Metal, I guess this is undisputed. He was born 1942 in Portsmouth, New Hamphire and died of stomach cancer aged 67 in 2010 in Houston, Texas. This is the first band/singer I've come across in my journey of getting to know metal that I am honestly sad I missed the chance to see him live and performing.
Why? Well, as you know I am really new to metal and honestly I had not high hopes of me finding bands that I really, I mean REALLY, enjoyed listening to. I was rather sure that there might be some songs and bands that I could like but I did not expect to find someone that really did something for me.
And then I heard of Rainbow in Metal Evolution, picked their first album from 1975 on Spotify and played the first song Man On The Silver Mountain.
Rainbow was formed 1975 by Deep Purple-guitarist Ritchie Blackmore who recruited Ronnie James Dio. He had actually only planned to record two songs with Dio but as recording went so well they brought in the rest of Dio's band Elf and recorded the whole album Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. The style from this album is still very different from the next albums to come but I liked it instantly. It still has a lot of the 70s rock feeling which I enjoy. The melodies are very catchy and Dio's voice is so nice to listen to. Man On The Silver Mountain and The Temple Of The King are my favourite two songs from this album and already on my playlist.
Dio and Blackmore produced two more studio albums afterwards. The musicians from Elf were no longer part of those as Blackmore brought in severals other musicians. The album Rising from 1976 features the today famous cover work of the Rainbow being gripped by a fist in the sky and is considered one of the best hard rock albums. It is very easy to listen to as well and has so many catchy riffs. Dio's love for fantasy-themed lyrics became very clear with this album. Blackmore's guitar playing and the drum solos are absolutely fantastic. My absolute favourite is Stargazer, followed by Run With The Wolf.
Stargazer is over 8 minutes long and tells a whole story about a wizard wanting to fly, having himself built a tower by slaves. The story is not only perfectly told by Dio's lyrics but als musically with the support of the Munich Philharmonic Orchester. In this song you can get so caught up in Dio's emotions he is able to convey like no other.
If you've got a few minutes, check out The Charismatic Voice's analysis of the song, I really liked it and it was interesting to hear someone with actual knowledge of singing talking about Dio's voice.
I kind of skipped listending to Rainbow's third album Long Live Rock'n'Roll and completely omitted the whole Dio/BlackSabbath phase (Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath in 1997 and recorded three studio albums with Sabbath between 1980 and 1991) and went straight on to Dio and his first album Holy Diver from 1983. The song Holy Diver I actually knew but I hadn't associated it with Dio until now. And hell it is so fun to listen to! It is epic and it is over-the-top but it is so easy to get caught up in it.
Don't Talk to Strangers and Rainbow In The Dark are also very popular songs from this album that have been performed live frequently in the following years. Dio's lyrical style and his singing about dragons and knights and wizards and heroes have been a great influence on other musicians and was crucial in the development of the power metal subgenre. Dio is also known to have popularised the "throwing horns" sign, frequently using it in his live performances.
So, to come to an end for today - Ronny James Dio was a musician that influenced the metal genre and many other bands after him. He was performing for more than 50 years and was known for his fierce love for music and his uncompromising approach to it. His voice is known for it's range and strength and control and famous for conveying emotions.
And Dio is definitely the first metal musician to influence me and for that I feel very grateful.