Ronnie James Dio

     It's official. I'm on a Dio jag. After my heavy metal post, I broke out Heaven and Hell, which I've had since 1980. Then I went out and got Live Evil, a compilation called Black Sabbath: The Dio Years and I replaced Holy Diver. There are many iconic singers in hard rock and heavy metal. Robert Plant. Rob Halford. Bruce Dickinson. Ozzy. Geoff Tate. Geddy Lee. For me, Dio was the quintessential heavy metal front man. Granted, he couldn't scream like Halford and Dickinson, nor was he a golden god like Plant, but he really personified metal. His vocals were deep and powerful and had the requisite gravitas to sing about rainbows and demons without sounding preposterous. His trademark was writing fantasy lyrics, but he always managed to make the themes relevant to modern times. And he actually looked like a dark elf or a gnome.
     What he did with Black Sabbath was truly remarkable. First, he replaced the legendary Ozzy Osbourne, who went on to record two brilliant solo albums, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. It may be hard for some of you to believe, but that doddering, mumbling old man from reality TV used to be The Prince Of Darkness. He sang songs like "Iron Man", "Paranoid", "War Pigs" and "Children of the Grave". Dio waltzed in with his fantasy lyrics and that amazing voice and transformed Sabbath. The rhythm section of Geezer Butler and Bill Ward became a runaway locomotive. Ward, in particular, abandoned his jazz drumming style for a more straight forward rock style. And Tony Iommi continued to be a wizard on lead guitar. His solo on the title track to Heaven and Hell is one of the best solos of all time. I think it could be argued that Heaven and Hell is Black Sabbath's best album. It came out when I was in high school and had my whole life ahead of me. So, it's strange that I was drawn to it, because one of the central themes was carpe diem, or seize the day. Everything is messed up and everyone is a liar, so just live for today because you may not have a tomorrow. I internalized the part about the world being a hopeless mess, but instead of seizing the day I just became cynical and depressed. "Heaven and Hell" has two of my favorite Dio lines:

* The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.

* The closer you get to the meaning, the sooner you know that you're dreaming.

     During the tour that produced Live Evil, Dio had had it with Sabbath and decided to go solo. The result was Holy Diver. I wore that tape out. My favorite song was "Rainbow In The Dark". I think Dio used the word "rainbow" on every album he recorded:) Anyhow, it begins with the lines: "When there's lightning, you know it always brings me down. "Cause it's free and I see that it's me who's lost and never found". That was pretty deep stuff to a teenager from the sticks. I also loved the title track. It is funny, though, when he sings "Ride the tiger. You can see his stripes, but you know he's clean. Oh don't you see what I mean?" No...no I don't know what you mean Ronnie James. I'm still trying to figure out "You've got to bleed for the dancer" from Heaven and Hell:) Peace.