Two Albums to Avoid ! Holy Dio A Tribute to Ronnie James Dio (2000) Status Quo In Search of the Fourth Chord (2007)

I bought two albums this week, both of which were duds; both of which seemed to hold much promise and both were really dreadful

First, Holy Dio: A Tribute to Ronnie James Dio (2000)



This held so much promise, some of the best contemporary prog metal bands (Blind Guardian, Fates Warning, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius, Hammerfall) covering the best metal vocalist of all time. What could go wrong ! This album simply proves that few can reach the heights of Dio, with the vocals falling short of pretty much every track. There are some fantastic metal covers out there (Sebastian Bach Black in Back is great, Demons and Wizards the Immigrant Song), but these are not included

Secondly, Status Quo In Search of the Fourth Chord (2007)

It entered the Uk Charts at #18, produced by Quo veteran Pip Williams, tantalising title........you only have to play the first track however to realise that it's a complete waste of time. The lyrics are amateurish at best, the vocals on track one sound stilted, like Rossi has never made an album before. I could only bring myself to flick through the rest. Time to retire boys !

Images: Century Media/Fourth Chord

Rock Revival's Classic Albums: Dio Holy Diver (1983)

What an INCREDIBLE album this was in an era where so much of rock was going bad ! A must have classic for any fan of metal. (From the man whose name appropriately means God in Italian !)

Holy Diver, Rainbow in the Dark, and the mind blowing Dont Talk to Strangers; each song was perfectly crafted to capture Ronnie James Dio's phenomenal voice (well, he could probably make a Billy Joel song sound pretty good if he had to)

His partners in Dio were impressive too: Vinnie Appice from Black Babbath on drums, Jimmy Bain from Rainbow on bass ( he also worked with Phil Lynott), Vivian Campbell on guitar who went on to Whitesnake and Deff Leppard, and Ronnie himself on keyboards.

Here's a review from the AllMusicGuide

"Dio struck gold once again by injecting catchy melodies into the classic metal riffery of his previous groups. Besides Dio's inspired songwriting, the album's consistency owes a lot to his carefully chosen bandmates, including veteran bassist Jimmy Bain and drummer Vinny Appice, and a phenomenal find in young guitarist Vivian Campbell, whose creativity and technique are quite astounding. The album opens in full-tilt metal mode with the frenetic "Stand Up and Shout", which segues into the epic title track, an album highlight thanks to it's hypnotic, mid-paced riff. Dio himself plays keyboards on the hit single "Rainbow in the Dark," and the remaining cuts range from further stabs at pop-metal ("Gypsy," "Caught in the Middle") to blatant metal anthems ("Straight Through the Heart", "Invisible"). These two facets find a perfect balance on the excellent "Don't Talk to Strangers," arguably the album's high point."



Image: Courtesy Vertigo

DIO Announces UK and Scandinavian Tour

Is Ronnie James Dio the best ever rock vocalist ? The lead singer of HEAVEN AND HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW and ELF is back on the road again with his band DIO, after last year's heroic Heaven and Hell Tour.(Heaven and Hell played the final show of its U.S. tour with ALICE COOPER and QUEENSRŸCHE on October 6, 2007).

DIO's last album was 'Holy Diver Live" (2005) a complete live set of this great album, plis "Heaven & Hell", "Sign of the Southern Cross","Mob Rules", "Man on the Silver Mountain" and "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll".

They have scheduled the following dates:

May 27 - Academy – Birmingham, UK (w/ GIRLSCHOOL)
May 28 - Astoria – London, UK (w/ GIRLSCHOOL)
May 30 - Sentrum Scene – Oslo, NOR
May 31 - Kopervik Festival – Karmoy, NOR
Jun. 02 - KB Halle – Malmö, SWE (w/ FATAL SMILE)
Jun. 03 - Amager Bio – Copenhagen, DEN (w/ FATAL SMILE)
Jun. 04 - Debaser – Stockholm, SWE (w/ FATAL SMILE)
Jun. 06 - Teatria – Oulu, FIN
Jun. 07 - Water & Rock Festival – Lahti, FIN

Image: Courtesy

Sabbath and Dio to Record New Heaven and Hell Album

In 1979 Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Tomy Iommi asked Ozzy Osbourne to leave Black Sabbath, due to internal conflict that had alot to do with drugs. This was a pretty incredible move given how critical Ozzy's personality and voice were to the band. Little did they know about the brilliance that was to come, with Ronnie James Dio guaranteeing the bands continued success. In 1980 Heaven and Hell was released, an album containing the brilliant "Neon Nights ,"Children of the Sea" and "Die Young"and the one from which the current reincarnation of Sabbath take their name.

Dio and the boys havent released an album since the Platinum selling Dehumanizer in 1992. Last year, however, they reunited for a world tour and recently released the DVD Live from Radio City Music Hall

Metal Hammer and ultimate-guitar.com have also just reported that Heaven and Hell's new drummer, Vinnie Appice has conformed rumours that a new album is in development. The band are also curretly speaking with record companies about who will release it.

Vinnie also said:

"Those guys are, like, I mean it doesn't get much heavier than playing with Tony and Geezer," he said. "Tony on this side and Geezer on this side, it's just a wall of sound. And then you got Dio, who manages to sing over all that, it's just totally incredible. I'm in heaven...and hell"

The album should be released at the end of the year.

Image: Courtesy Warner Bros Records