Dio

In the build up to the 16th of May, the anniversary of the day heavy metal lost one of its finest, if not thee finest vocalist, we remember the achievements of this incredible frontman who fronted some of the finest heavy metal bands of all time, including Rainbow, Dio, Heaven and hell, and Black Sabbath. Born Ronald James Padavona, but commonly known to heavy metal fans as Ronnie James Dio, or Just Dio, was an incredible heavy metal front man with a rare and incredible singing ability. Dio’s work has inspired countless heavy metal front men and is the most celebrated of all heavy metal front men. He may have lost his life to stomach cancer, but his contribution to heavy metal and rock music will never be forgotten.

There is but no pure heavy metal fan that doesn’t know of the Holy diver, the man on the silver mountain or as he's commonly known, Dio. His soaring vocals were a thing of heavy metal greatness, and lets not forget that he brought to the forefront the “Devil horns” hand sign, yes this incredible man is the reason it's so popular among the heavy metal community and rock community as whole. Dio kept flashing this hand sign during his live performances and it soon stuck and became the go to symbol for heavy metal fans around the world.

The number of times of Dio’s songs have been covered by famous heavy metal bands is unbelievable. Great artists like slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Anthrax, Killswitch engage, Motorhead, Halestorm, Gamma ray, Metallica, Yngwie Malmasteen, the scorpions, Doro, Rob Halford, Kiss, and many others have paid tribute to this heavy metal icon, many tribute albums were made to celebrate Dio's life and musical achievements, albums like “Ronnie James Dio-This is your life,” “Holy Dio - tribute to Ronnie James Dio.” 

Heavy metal has had many incredible vocalists, from Iron maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, Judas priest’s Rob Halford,and the overly eccentric  Ozzy Osbourne, but none of the a fore mentioned heavy metal icons have Dio’s singing ability. Dio could sing as beautifully as an opera singer but also as beastly and as wildly as he wants, just listen to him sing on Rainbow’s “Rainbow eyes,” its just incredible. Dio’s singing ability gave us numerous heavy metal anthems, such as “Heaven and hell,” “Holy Diver,” "we rock,” and countless others. For those of you heavy metal fans who haven’t had the chance to give your ears the pleasure of listening to the incredible Dio, you haven’t yet found heavy metal enlightenment.
 With an Arsenal of incredible solo albums like Holy Diver and The last line, Dio proved to the heavy metal world that he could do it on his own with out big names like Toni Iommi or Ritchie Blackmore and as such cemented his immortality in the heavy metal community as one of its finest artists. 

Whatever band Dio  fronted, he stood out because of his incredible singing and energy during live performances, a clear example of how good he was, is when he was called in by black sabbath to replace the Prince of darkness, OZZY Osbourne, he made Sabbaths fans forget Ozzy.  Dio  gave sabbath a new lease on their music. I’m sure that if Dio had been present during the time Toni Iommi made incredible riffs for songs like paranoid, Iron man, War pigs, Sabbra Cadabra, Sabbath Bloody sabbath and others, Dio wouldve made those songs slightly better. Don’t get me wrong, Ozzy did an incredible Job on all those songs, but i’m sure Dio would’ve done better.

These are my Top 10 Dio songs

10. Mob rules-Black sabbath

This is one from Dio’s time with black sabbath, from Sabbath’s album titled “Mob rules.” its starts with Tonni Iommi’s incredible riffing, before Dio comes in and owns the song with his immense vocals.

9. We rock-Dio

Now this is one off his own album, "The last in line," where he had the incredible Vivian Campbell on guitar, and yes Campbell did good with this song's riff, but the song’s anthemic nature is mainly due to Dio’s lyrics and vocals. How can you listen to it and  not want to shout along to the chorus like, “ we’ll sail on, sing our song, carry on,  coz we rock, we rock, we rock.”

8.children of the sea-Black sabbath

Another one from Dio’s exploits with Black sabbath, is Children of the sea, i love this song just because of Dio’s singing. His voice and opening guitar give this song that medieval times feel. His soaring voice on the verses and chorus is just beautiful. And lets not forget that Toni Iommi solo in the middle, it may not be his finest but its really nice.

7. The man on the silver mountain-Rainbow

This is one from Dio’s earlier time with Rainbow. This monstrous hit starts off with an incredible Ritchie Blackmore riff, and i have to say, i've come to expect nothing less from such an accomplished guitarist. The riff sets the stage, and when Dio delivers the first lines, the song kicks into gear and boy does it rock! Every time i listen to it i can’t hold my self back from singing along to its surrealist lyrics, i always break out into song like, “Im the man on the silver mountain...” in short, this song always get me going.

6.  Neon Nights-Black sabbath

This one starts off with a Toni Iommi riff, and then Dio’s  takes over. From there on, i just become a witness to how great singing and great guitar work combine to produce heavy metal gold. I can not stress how much Dio’s singing ability complimented black sabbath’s sound. This song here is a good example of that.

5. The last in line-Dio

This song is from Dio’s album with the same name, and Yes Tencious D may have ruined this song for me, and won grammy for doing so but the original song is still a heavy metal classic. Some Dio songs dont need to be talked up, one just needs to listen to them to experience their greatness. 

4. Heaven and hell-black sabbath

If you were looking for a go to Sabbath song from the Dio era song, this one should do the trick. If the title and opening don’t tell you what’s about to happen, then surely Dio’s opening lines will show you. Dio's voice brings out the apocalyptic nature of the song, and my oh my did Dio know how to use his voice to set the scene for an apocalypse.

3. Rainbow in the dark-Dio

The vocals on this one speak volumes about Dio’s ability, i personally can’t think of another Dio song that has better vocals. On this song, Dio is just simply incredible.

2. Stargazer-Rainbow

This is the ultimate rainbow song, its showcases Dio’s vocal prowess better than any other rainbow song, the way Dio’s voice soars as he deliver the chorus is nothing short of incredible. The song is littered with great vocals. Its one really great song. 

1. Holy diver - Dio

If you really love heavy metal, then yes you’ve listened to this song. Holy Diver, the song’s riff by itself is a thing of beauty, and yes, that riff is probably Vivian Campbell's finest piece of guitar work. The riff coupled with Dio’s incredible singing makes this song my finest Ronnie James Dio song and also one of my finest heavy metal songs of all time.

You can share with us your favorite Dio songs and facts below in the comments area.