Music Banter - View Single Post - Broken Rainbow: The Rise and Fall of Ronnie James Dio

Trollheart · 05-13-2022, 07:00 PM

Part III: Stand up and shout

After having parted ways with Black Sabbath, Ronnie and drummer Vinnie Appice, who left with him, sharing his misgivings, still wanted to work together, so they recruited a new young up and coming guitarist called Vivian Campbell, who had been working with Irish heavy metal band Sweet Savage, and keyboardist Jimmy Bain, whom Ronnie had known from his days with Rainbow. Together they formed the new band which would bear Ronnie's name, and gain him his most significant following and fame, and his biggest hits, up to his untimely death.

Holy Diver - Dio - 1983 (Vertigo)

I have already extensively reviewed this album, so I won't go too deeply into its guts here, but it is nevertheless important to mark its place as the beginning of the Dio phenomenon, Ronnie in effect stepping out from the shadow of people like Blackmore and Iommi, and facing the world on his own terms, as his own man. Probably most singers dream at some point of having a solo career; Ronnie not only worked towards and at it, but succeeded, possibly beyond his own wildest dreams.

The debut was a huge smash, at least among rockers, and instantly cemented the credentials Dio already had as a member of Sabbath and Rainbow, but having his own band elevated him to new heights, and the discovery of Campbell was looked upon as something of a master stroke. Not surprisingly, the album courted controversy from the beginning, with its unsettling imagery which could be seen as anti-religious (a claim Ronnie refuted during his life) and Ronnie's reputation of having “been in that Black Sabbath band”, but there was no denying the quality of the album.

Tracks like “Rainbow in the Dark”, “Don't Talk to Strangers” and the title track all vie for standout on this debut, with others like “Stand Up and Shout” (which would later lend its name to a charity Ronnie's wife Wendy would set up to fight cancer after the singer's death), “Gypsy” and “Invisible” ensure there is no filler on this excellent debut. Hitting number 13 on the UK album charts and even number 56 on the difficult-to-break-but-bloody-impossible-for-a-debut US Billboard charts, Holy Diver was a roar of intent from the man known as Ronnie James Dio, and a marker for further great albums to follow, though in fairness he would never again achieve the pure brilliance of this debut.

The Last in Line - Dio - 1984 (Vertigo)

No, he may not have reached the dizzy heights of Holy Diver, but by gum he came close with his second effort! Standing as two of the best Dio albums, these were the creative peak of the band, which is sad really, as there were another eight albums to follow, few if any of which attained the level of quality of Holy Diver and The Last in Line. This could perhaps be attributed to the core of the band leaving over the period 1985-1989, with by 1990 no-one left of the original lineup except Ronnie himself. On this album Jimmy Bain, who had played bass and keys on the debut, moves to just bass as Claude Schell is drafted in to take his place behind the keyboard.

Nevertheless, this was the heyday of Dio and the album contains some excellent tracks, starting off powerfully and forcefully with “We Rock” (and they do!), which charges along at breakneck speed, slowing down for the title track, which is a true metal cruncher, with a Black Sabbath-like rhythm, somewhat reminiscent of “Heaven and Hell”, in fact, and nodding of course back to Zep's “Kashmir” in the keyboard melody. “Breathless” and “I Speed at Night” kick the tempo back up, flying along in the fashion Dio fans had come to expect from songs like “Gypsy” and “Stand Up and Shout”, before things slow down (insofar as Dio ever slowed things down: ballads were not their forte!) with “One Night in the City”, with some pretty growly backing vocals!

Sadly, though three singles were released from this album, none really charted and Dio would never again repeat the commercial success they enjoyed with Holy Diver, but then, few metal bands ever break into the charts, bar the likes of Iron Maiden or Metallica. “Evil Eyes” revisits the opener in style, then “Mystery” is a keyboard-led almost AOR song, taking something of its style from “Rainbow in the Dark”, before the one track I see as sub-par, “Eat Your Heart Out”, spoils things, but then the album closes strongly in an eastern-flavoured cruncher, “Egypt (The Chains Are On)”, reimagining the arrival of aliens whom the ancient Egyptians took for gods. Original? No, but that doesn't stop the song from being a storming finale to a great album.

After this album relations between Ronnie and Vivian Campbell would be strained to breaking point, with Ronnie remarking that Campbell “wasn't there” for the recording of their third album, after which the guitarist would leave. Whether due to that, or just the general fall in quality that I personally perceived throughout much of the remaining catalogue, this album would be poorly received, and a general lack of interest would begin to pervade the casual Dio fan, though his hardcore fans would ensure his albums continued to sell, if not in the quantities they had from the start.

1985 saw Ronnie's first real foray into charity work, something that, with second wife Wendy, he would engage in a lot more vigorously throughout his life. When the leading lights of heavy metal banded together to form the metal version of Band Aid, Hear'n'Aid, it was Ronnie's bandmates Vivian Campbell and Jimmy Bain who were instrumental and pivotal in arranging and organising the effort, and of course Ronnie sang on the single they produced, “Stars”, and on the subsequent album, which garnered one million dollars for the charity in its first year.

Sacred Heart - Dio - 1985 (Vertigo)

You can immediately hear the cracks beginning to appear as this album gets underway. Dio's third, and the last one to feature both Campbell and Bain, it would mark a shift away from the quality metal of the first two albums into a sort of muddled no-mans-land through which Ronnie would release another five albums before finally returning to the level of Holy Diver with his 2002 effort, and indeed penultimate album, Killing the Dragon.

There are good tracks on this album, and in fairness it's not a total loss, but quality would definitely start to slide after this. Opener “The King of Rock and Roll” gets things going nicely, and like the start of the previous two albums it's a fast rocker, with this time some faux live performance effects, then the title track is a slow cruncher. In fact, looking at the albums, at least the first three, they do seem to follow a pattern of starting with a fast rocker, then slowing for a cruncher, then back up the gears for another few tracks before taking it back down again. Nothing wrong with that, though it does make the albums the smallest bit predictable perhaps. For all that, “Sacred Heart” is a great track, quite keyboard-driven, and so far the album is living up to the promise of its two powerful predecessors.

“Rock and Roll Children” is a great song, but lyrically it's just a rewriting of “One Night in the City” from the previous album. Doesn't make it any less excellent though, but a bit of originality I feel might have been more welcome here. Things just get better though with the storming “Hungry for Heaven”, with some great solos from Vivian Campbell. Unfortunately there's a sharp dip in quality from there on, with the only really decent track after this being “Just Another Day”, and the album ends weakly on “Shoot Shoot”.

Possibly one of the problems I've come to recognise with Dio's music - at least, with his own band - is that an awful lot of it was very similar. The opening track on this album is very close to that which opened The Last in Line, and as already mentioned, “One Night in the City” from that album adheres fairly closely to the style and lyrical content of “Rock and Roll Children” from this one. Similarly, “Like the Beat of a Heart” here is very much on the same lines as “Straight Through the Heart” from Holy Diver. That does not of course mean Dio's music is generic or formulaic always, but a lot of it does seem, on close analysis, built on the same ideas, themes, melodies and rhythms.

Things would go from bad to worse for Ronnie the next year, as Campbell left the band, citing musical differences and disappointment in the direction Dio was heading, often it would seem a familiar reason for bands splitting. Unfazed, Ronnie recruited a replacement and went on to release Dio's fourth album, but it does come across as largely quite flat, missing the spark that characterised the first two, even three albums.

Between this and the release of his fourth album, Ronnie put out a live album - well, more an EP really, as it only had a total of six tracks. One of these was a new song, included to introduce the new guitarist, Craig Goldy, who was to replace Vivian Campbell.

Intermission - Dio - 1986 (Vertigo)

As far as live efforts go, I feel it's kind of a case of rehashing stuff I have already written about particular tracks or albums, so rather than repeat myself (not to mention the fact that I don't have his live albums!) I will just give a quick overview of each as I come to them, pointing out any important tracks or points, such as above, where there was an extra track included, “Time to Burn”, and also the fact that this being so relatively early in the career of Dio the band, that there is a medley of two Rainbow songs mixed in with one of his own. Pretty unremarkable though really.

Dream Evil - Dio - 1987 (Vertigo)

Personally, this was the point at which I decided to stop buying Dio albums. I was very disappointed with this effort, and though it made a decent showing in the UK album charts, it did not do as well as Sacred Heart, and was in fact the last Dio album to trouble the upper echelons of the charts. As a matter of record, the highest any Dio album after Dream Evil would attain was 159, this being for their last album (although of course at that point no-one knew it was destined never to be followed up, with Ronnie dying six years later). Sacred Heart was in fact the last Dio album to be certified, going Gold in the USA. After that, there was a massive vote of non interest.

Dream Evil has its good tracks, though they are few and far between. It starts off well (and predictably) enough, with “Night People”, though this track is a little more keyboard than guitar-driven, and the strain of sparring with Campbell does seem to be telling on Ronnie; you can hear it in his voice. It's not as powerful, confident or brash as it used to be. At least the cycle is broken though, as the title (and second) track is a fast enough rocker, not a cruncher. Quite a lot of “Caught in the Middle” from Holy Diver on it I feel however.

Surprisingly, this is the very first Dio album to have a proper, assigned ballad, and I have to say, it's been worth waiting five years for! “All the Fools Sailed Away” is a fantastic, powerful, emotional and moving song which easily stands out as the best track on this album, and while in general that's unfortunately not saying a lot, it even stands quite easily shoulder to shoulder with Dio standards like “Rainbow in the Dark”, “Don't Talk to Strangers” and “Egypt” as one of the very best songs this band has produced. A pity it's not matched by the rest of the album, or indeed, Dio's output for the next few years following this. Nevertheless, while one song does not an album make, and you can't really make a case for buying an album for one track, if you were thinking of getting Dream Evil and just needed a reason, then this is it: it really is worth the price of purchase alone.

Other than that though, I can really only recommend “I Could Have Been a Dreamer”, with the rest of the songs just okay, but not I think up to the usual Dio standard. He does surprise at the end, because with a title like “When a Woman Cries”, you're definitely expecting a ballad and it's just, well, not. But as I say there's not too much to recommend this fourth album, and sadly that would not only continue to be the case, but worsen as the years wound on.

05-13-2022, 07:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Part III: Stand up and shout After having parted ways with Black Sabbath, Ronnie and drummer Vinnie Appice, who left with him, sharing his misgivings, still wanted to work together, so they recruited a new young up and coming guitarist called Vivian Campbell, who had been working with Irish heavy metal band Sweet Savage, and keyboardist Jimmy Bain, whom Ronnie had known from his days with Rainbow. Together they formed the new band which would bear Ronnie's name, and gain him his most significant following and fame, and his biggest hits, up to his untimely death. Holy Diver - Dio - 1983 (Vertigo) I have already extensively reviewed this album, so I won't go too deeply into its guts here, but it is nevertheless important to mark its place as the beginning of the Dio phenomenon, Ronnie in effect stepping out from the shadow of people like Blackmore and Iommi, and facing the world on his own terms, as his own man. Probably most singers dream at some point of having a solo career; Ronnie not only worked towards and at it, but succeeded, possibly beyond his own wildest dreams. The debut was a huge smash, at least among rockers, and instantly cemented the credentials Dio already had as a member of Sabbath and Rainbow, but having his own band elevated him to new heights, and the discovery of Campbell was looked upon as something of a master stroke. Not surprisingly, the album courted controversy from the beginning, with its unsettling imagery which could be seen as anti-religious (a claim Ronnie refuted during his life) and Ronnie's reputation of having “been in that Black Sabbath band”, but there was no denying the quality of the album. Tracks like “Rainbow in the Dark”, “Don't Talk to Strangers” and the title track all vie for standout on this debut, with others like “Stand Up and Shout” (which would later lend its name to a charity Ronnie's wife Wendy would set up to fight cancer after the singer's death), “Gypsy” and “Invisible” ensure there is no filler on this excellent debut. Hitting number 13 on the UK album charts and even number 56 on the difficult-to-break-but-bloody-impossible-for-a-debut US Billboard charts, Holy Diver was a roar of intent from the man known as Ronnie James Dio, and a marker for further great albums to follow, though in fairness he would never again achieve the pure brilliance of this debut. The Last in Line - Dio - 1984 (Vertigo) No, he may not have reached the dizzy heights of Holy Diver, but by gum he came close with his second effort! Standing as two of the best Dio albums, these were the creative peak of the band, which is sad really, as there were another eight albums to follow, few if any of which attained the level of quality of Holy Diver and The Last in Line. This could perhaps be attributed to the core of the band leaving over the period 1985-1989, with by 1990 no-one left of the original lineup except Ronnie himself. On this album Jimmy Bain, who had played bass and keys on the debut, moves to just bass as Claude Schell is drafted in to take his place behind the keyboard. Nevertheless, this was the heyday of Dio and the album contains some excellent tracks, starting off powerfully and forcefully with “We Rock” (and they do!), which charges along at breakneck speed, slowing down for the title track, which is a true metal cruncher, with a Black Sabbath-like rhythm, somewhat reminiscent of “Heaven and Hell”, in fact, and nodding of course back to Zep's “Kashmir” in the keyboard melody. “Breathless” and “I Speed at Night” kick the tempo back up, flying along in the fashion Dio fans had come to expect from songs like “Gypsy” and “Stand Up and Shout”, before things slow down (insofar as Dio ever slowed things down: ballads were not their forte!) with “One Night in the City”, with some pretty growly backing vocals! Sadly, though three singles were released from this album, none really charted and Dio would never again repeat the commercial success they enjoyed with Holy Diver, but then, few metal bands ever break into the charts, bar the likes of Iron Maiden or Metallica. “Evil Eyes” revisits the opener in style, then “Mystery” is a keyboard-led almost AOR song, taking something of its style from “Rainbow in the Dark”, before the one track I see as sub-par, “Eat Your Heart Out”, spoils things, but then the album closes strongly in an eastern-flavoured cruncher, “Egypt (The Chains Are On)”, reimagining the arrival of aliens whom the ancient Egyptians took for gods. Original? No, but that doesn't stop the song from being a storming finale to a great album. After this album relations between Ronnie and Vivian Campbell would be strained to breaking point, with Ronnie remarking that Campbell “wasn't there” for the recording of their third album, after which the guitarist would leave. Whether due to that, or just the general fall in quality that I personally perceived throughout much of the remaining catalogue, this album would be poorly received, and a general lack of interest would begin to pervade the casual Dio fan, though his hardcore fans would ensure his albums continued to sell, if not in the quantities they had from the start. 1985 saw Ronnie's first real foray into charity work, something that, with second wife Wendy, he would engage in a lot more vigorously throughout his life. When the leading lights of heavy metal banded together to form the metal version of Band Aid, Hear'n'Aid, it was Ronnie's bandmates Vivian Campbell and Jimmy Bain who were instrumental and pivotal in arranging and organising the effort, and of course Ronnie sang on the single they produced, “Stars”, and on the subsequent album, which garnered one million dollars for the charity in its first year. Sacred Heart - Dio - 1985 (Vertigo) You can immediately hear the cracks beginning to appear as this album gets underway. Dio's third, and the last one to feature both Campbell and Bain, it would mark a shift away from the quality metal of the first two albums into a sort of muddled no-mans-land through which Ronnie would release another five albums before finally returning to the level of Holy Diver with his 2002 effort, and indeed penultimate album, Killing the Dragon. There are good tracks on this album, and in fairness it's not a total loss, but quality would definitely start to slide after this. Opener “The King of Rock and Roll” gets things going nicely, and like the start of the previous two albums it's a fast rocker, with this time some faux live performance effects, then the title track is a slow cruncher. In fact, looking at the albums, at least the first three, they do seem to follow a pattern of starting with a fast rocker, then slowing for a cruncher, then back up the gears for another few tracks before taking it back down again. Nothing wrong with that, though it does make the albums the smallest bit predictable perhaps. For all that, “Sacred Heart” is a great track, quite keyboard-driven, and so far the album is living up to the promise of its two powerful predecessors. “Rock and Roll Children” is a great song, but lyrically it's just a rewriting of “One Night in the City” from the previous album. Doesn't make it any less excellent though, but a bit of originality I feel might have been more welcome here. Things just get better though with the storming “Hungry for Heaven”, with some great solos from Vivian Campbell. Unfortunately there's a sharp dip in quality from there on, with the only really decent track after this being “Just Another Day”, and the album ends weakly on “Shoot Shoot”. Possibly one of the problems I've come to recognise with Dio's music - at least, with his own band - is that an awful lot of it was very similar. The opening track on this album is very close to that which opened The Last in Line, and as already mentioned, “One Night in the City” from that album adheres fairly closely to the style and lyrical content of “Rock and Roll Children” from this one. Similarly, “Like the Beat of a Heart” here is very much on the same lines as “Straight Through the Heart” from Holy Diver. That does not of course mean Dio's music is generic or formulaic always, but a lot of it does seem, on close analysis, built on the same ideas, themes, melodies and rhythms. Things would go from bad to worse for Ronnie the next year, as Campbell left the band, citing musical differences and disappointment in the direction Dio was heading, often it would seem a familiar reason for bands splitting. Unfazed, Ronnie recruited a replacement and went on to release Dio's fourth album, but it does come across as largely quite flat, missing the spark that characterised the first two, even three albums. Between this and the release of his fourth album, Ronnie put out a live album - well, more an EP really, as it only had a total of six tracks. One of these was a new song, included to introduce the new guitarist, Craig Goldy, who was to replace Vivian Campbell. Intermission - Dio - 1986 (Vertigo) As far as live efforts go, I feel it's kind of a case of rehashing stuff I have already written about particular tracks or albums, so rather than repeat myself (not to mention the fact that I don't have his live albums!) I will just give a quick overview of each as I come to them, pointing out any important tracks or points, such as above, where there was an extra track included, “Time to Burn”, and also the fact that this being so relatively early in the career of Dio the band, that there is a medley of two Rainbow songs mixed in with one of his own. Pretty unremarkable though really. Dream Evil - Dio - 1987 (Vertigo) Personally, this was the point at which I decided to stop buying Dio albums. I was very disappointed with this effort, and though it made a decent showing in the UK album charts, it did not do as well as Sacred Heart, and was in fact the last Dio album to trouble the upper echelons of the charts. As a matter of record, the highest any Dio album after Dream Evil would attain was 159, this being for their last album (although of course at that point no-one knew it was destined never to be followed up, with Ronnie dying six years later). Sacred Heart was in fact the last Dio album to be certified, going Gold in the USA. After that, there was a massive vote of non interest. Dream Evil has its good tracks, though they are few and far between. It starts off well (and predictably) enough, with “Night People”, though this track is a little more keyboard than guitar-driven, and the strain of sparring with Campbell does seem to be telling on Ronnie; you can hear it in his voice. It's not as powerful, confident or brash as it used to be. At least the cycle is broken though, as the title (and second) track is a fast enough rocker, not a cruncher. Quite a lot of “Caught in the Middle” from Holy Diver on it I feel however. Surprisingly, this is the very first Dio album to have a proper, assigned ballad, and I have to say, it's been worth waiting five years for! “All the Fools Sailed Away” is a fantastic, powerful, emotional and moving song which easily stands out as the best track on this album, and while in general that's unfortunately not saying a lot, it even stands quite easily shoulder to shoulder with Dio standards like “Rainbow in the Dark”, “Don't Talk to Strangers” and “Egypt” as one of the very best songs this band has produced. A pity it's not matched by the rest of the album, or indeed, Dio's output for the next few years following this. Nevertheless, while one song does not an album make, and you can't really make a case for buying an album for one track, if you were thinking of getting Dream Evil and just needed a reason, then this is it: it really is worth the price of purchase alone. Other than that though, I can really only recommend “I Could Have Been a Dreamer”, with the rest of the songs just okay, but not I think up to the usual Dio standard. He does surprise at the end, because with a title like “When a Woman Cries”, you're definitely expecting a ballad and it's just, well, not. But as I say there's not too much to recommend this fourth album, and sadly that would not only continue to be the case, but worsen as the years wound on. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 05-13-2022 at 07:06 PM.