Dio - Holy Diver

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

Vocals/Keyboards: Ronnie James Dio
Guitars: Vivian Patrick Campbell
Bass Guitar: Jimmy Bain
Drums: Vinny Appice

One of the few people to be able to claim to have performed in over 5 different decades, Ronnie James Dio maybe small, but he's a heavy metal legend! Widely known as the person who made the
devil horns into the symbol of rock, he's sung for the heavy metal giants Black Sabbath, as well as Ritchie Blackmoores Rainbow and his own creation Elf, and organised and run a star studded charity record.

Holy Diver brings a 3rd iconic album to Dio's name. Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath 1980), Rising (Rainbow 1976) and now this offering from his own band 'Dio'. The band delivers a fantastic record, unsurprising when the band consists of ex-Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice, ex-rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain and Ronnie himself! Once again proving his well deserved legendary status with his song writing capabilities.

Capable of reaching phenomenal tones with his voice, this album displays a magnificent range of vocals throughout; all backed up by a heavy hitting rhythm section and raunchy guitar riffs, with keyboard melodies to boot.

The overall feel of the album is fast, heavy and packed with time changes. I can't find a weak track on here. There are some slower songs (the title track 'Holy Diver' for instance), some quicker (Stand up and shout), and some neither and both. My favourite track is "Don't Talk to Strangers", commencing with a slow beat, acoustic guitar and some quite operatic vocals, all kicking off into a quick riff and astonishingly fast solo from Campbell.

The albums true gem though, is "Rainbow in the Dark". Being one of those highly influential breakthroughs in the genre by its heavy use of keyboards. The keyboards are brought to the front of the song where they take centre stage, unlike other songs that focus on keyboards however (such as Europe’s "The Final Countdown") the guitars are not left hidden in the background, they mimic the keyboard line, each in turn adding their own distinct part to the song.

There's many hints of his previous bands on this record, some of the songs possibly affected by the way he split from Sabbath. Whatever inspired him to write this album, it certainly made for a masterpiece.

An amazing record from an amazing singer, one of my favourite albums of all time.