DIO Holy Diver
Mercury, 1983
Producer: Ronnie James Dio
Line up: Ronnie James Dio (vocals, keyboards); Vivian Campbell (guitar); Jimmy Bain (bass, keyboards); Vinnie Appice (drums).
Stand Up and Shout / Holy Diver / Gypsy / Caught in the Middle / Don't Talk to Strangers / Straight Through the Heart / Invisible / Rainbow in the Dark / Shame on the Night
By 1983, it must be have been all too apparent to Ronnie James Dio that being at the whim of others' control was not allowing him freedom of expression, or even guaranteed employment. His first band proper, Elf, had been adopted by former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore to form Rainbow, only to be dismissed shortly after the release of their patchy debut; Dio himself was ejected after helping write and record two genuine classic albums in Rising and Long Live Rock n' Roll, in which his swords n' sorcery lyrics were given free reign, albeit briefly. He then helped revitalise the flagging fortunes of Black Sabbath as Ozzy Osborne's replacement; disputes with Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi over the mixing of Live Evil saw Dio - and drummer Vinnie Appice - leaving amidst not a little acrimony.
Holy Diver - with Dio's former Rainbow bandmate Jimmy Bain, and hotshot guitarist Vivian Campbell, fresh from NWOBHM wannabes Sweet Savage - still bristles with energy, two decades on. Of all the key NWOBHM albums of this period (and there weren't many, in fairness) Iron Maiden's self-titled debut owed a lot to punk, while Def Leppard were never shy of flaunting their pop influences; Holy Diver thereby stands as the definitve metal album of this short lived movement, overlooking for a moment the atrocious keyboards on 'Rainbow in the Dark.'
Dio, the band, would last a further two albums with this lineup - the identikit Last in Line and the mediocre Sacred Heart - before fragmenting; Bain and Appice would float in and out of the ever-changing personell, while Campbell would go on to play - in Dio's words - "second banana" in Whitesnake, and now in Def Leppard.