Dio - "Holy Diver"

This is in memory of Ronnie James Dio, one of the masters of Metal, who passed away on Sunday from his battle with stomach cancer.  While I know the impact that Dio has had on the world of Metal, I have to say that I honestly never gave his music a chance when I first got into Metal.  As a new metalhead in my college years, I thought metal had to be brutal, fast, and screaming.  The "old" stuff like Dio, Metallica, and Iron Maiden never appealed to me until my tastes matured and I wanted to learn more about the history and gain a greater appreciation of Metal.  I am very glad that I found the "old" stuff and embraced it as the foundations of the music I love.

*WARNING: SHORT HISTORY LESSON*
Ronnie James Dio (or has he was born, Ronald James Padavona) started his musical career as most young people do, in the classic musical training.  He played French Horn and Trumpet and even recorded some music with rockabilly bands back in the '50's.  He had a few bands, well the same band with multiple name changes, adopted the monkier Dio from mafia member Johnny Dio, joined a band that toured with Deep Purple, and later joined Rainbow with Ritchie Blackmore (from Deep Purple).

Dio has an amazing career already before Black Sabbath came knocking on his door to replace Ozzy Osborne in 1979.  Many metal heads started listening to Metal around that time and only really know Black Sabbath as led by Dio, claiming Dio as the better of the two.  That debate will last forever.  My opinion, they are two separate bands and you really should not compare them.  They just kept the name.

It was during his first time with Black Sabbath when Dio "invented" the universal Metal symbol, the Devil Horns. As most metal heads know, it was a sign to give/protect from the evil eye that his Italian grandmother used a lot. The symbol stuck and is now an immortal symbol for all things Metal.

1982 came around and Dio decided to go solo.  He made a number of classic Metal albums with many well known songs like Holy Diver, Rainbow in the Dark, Dream Evil, and The Man Who Would Be King.  Dio did a short reunion with Black Sabbath in 1992, but returned to his solo project later.  His last project was the band Heaven and Hell, a reunion of Dio era Sabbath.  The band took the name Heaven and Hell to differentiate them from the Ozzy led Sabbath.  The name is from the titular track from Dio's first Sabbath album, Heaven and Hell.
*END OF HISTORY LESSON*

Now for the song post.  "Holy Diver" is a title track from his first album (click the title link to hear the song on You Tube).  It is a great representation of everything Dio stood for in Metal.  His songs spoke of the eternal battle of Good and Evil, and occasionally of the mystical/mythical realm.  For all those wanting to get into Metal, I would highly recommend the "Holy Diver" album as a great place to start.

The Metal community is suffering its first significant loss in its 40 year history.  We who are die hard metal heads will hold Dio is the highest regard as one of the founding fathers of a very misunderstood and under appreciated form of art.

R.I.P. Dio, we will miss you.  (6/10/42 - 5/16/10)