 "The Best Dio Has Ever Done" | 2008-09-07 |
| - Reviewed By kinglerxst |
| This is the best album Dio has ever put out, with or without Sabbath. A lot of the credit has to go to Vivian Campbell who came up with some truly memorable riffs on this album. Pretty much every song is a classic and if you don't have this in your collection, what are you waiting for? |
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| "A Metal Classic!!!" | 2008-05-27 |
| - Reviewed By phins2dright |
Funny how Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio have a similar career parallel. Both were vocalists for Black Sabbath. Both were kicked out of Sabbath. Both found young guitar geniuses (Ozzy/Randy Rhoades, Dio/Vivian Campbell)who played on their first two albums post Sabbath. Rhoades was killed in a plane crash after Ozzy's second album. Campbell left Dio after his third album though trouble started brewing during the recording of that album between the two. And uncoincidentally both Ozzy and Dio's best albums were there first two.
I just listened to this for the first time in awhile this evening. I remember as a teenager sitting back with my buddies trying to decipher Dio's cryptic lyrics, trying to figure out what he was really saying. I'm not sure if there was some really deep meaning to his lyrics or if they just sounded so damn cool (ie. listen to the first verse of "Invisible" after the intro.) I give "Holy Diver" a slight edge over Dio's second album, "The Last In Line". "Rainbow in The Dark" is the most well know song on here but IMHO there are a number of tunes on here that I consider superior. "Holy Diver", "Gypsy", and my fav "Don't Talk To Strangers". Any true metal fan should go out and get this if they don't have it. And remember "Don't Write in Starlight, cause the words may turn out real" LOL! |
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| "80's Heavy Metal Classic" | 2008-05-15 |
| - Reviewed By themetalbeast |
This album is without question the best Dio album ever, and it's also the first solo album released by legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio (who also fronted such great bands like Elf, Rainbow, and Black Sabbath) as well. Released in 1983 (the same year I was born in) "Holy Diver" is just a classic heavy metal album, no questions asked, and not to mention, that this is also one of the all-time greatest heavy metal albums of the 80's as well. I mean seriously, with a classic lineup consisting of the legendary Ronnie James Dio on vocals of course, Vivian Campbell on guitar, Jimmy Bain on bass, and Vinny Appice on drums, how can any true metalhead not enjoy such a classic metal album like this. Ronnie's vocals are just amazing, powerul, melodic, and absolutely god-like. This guy is definately one of heavy metal's all-time greatest singers, no questions asked. Vivian Campbell's guitarwork on here is just superb, full of killer, heavy, ferocious riffs and awesome shredding solos. Jimmy Bain's basslines are great and hearable, yes I said hearable, and of course Vinny Appice does an all around solid, superb job on the drums. As far as the songs on this album go, they're all great, but here's a look at my favorites anyway. "Stand up and Shout" is a classic fist-pumping, headbanging opener that features heavy speeding riffs, fast headbanging drum beats, a great catchy chorus, and a fierce, powerful rocking vocal performance by Ronnie as well. Next up, we have the classic title track "Holy Diver" which starts off with a moody keyboard intro, and then at 1:20 it goes into it's crushingly addicting main riff. This song also features more great vocals from Ronnie as well a great rocking guitar solo from Vivian. Track four "Caught in the Middle" is a solid, catchy, driving melodic rocker and another favorite of mine, that is highlighted by soaring melodic vocals from Ronnie, a great rocking chorus, and another great guitar solo. The fifth track "Don't Talk to Strangers" is another favorite of mine that starts off with a nice accoustic guitar melody and some soft vocals from Ronnie, and then the song thrusts into a barrage of nasty, thundering riffs and solid hard rocking drums, and Ronnie's fierce, powerful vocals come into play. There's also another great wild shredding solo by Vivian as well. "Straight Through the Heart" is an excellent heavy, mid-tempo number that features more great heavy riffs and great soloing, hefty drum beats, and a great chorus. The best song on here, and I DO MEAN the best song on here is without question "Rainbow in the Dark" which is truly one of Dio's most popular songs, as well as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time. This song is highlighted by a catchy keyboard melody, powerful riffing and another superb solo by Vivian, as well as another amazing melodic vocal performance by Ronnie. Man, words just cannot even describe how much I love this song, I mean it's a true classic, no questions asked.
Jeremy's song ratings:
1. Stand up and Shout (3:18) - 5/5
2. Holy Diver (5:55) - 5/5
3. Gypsy (3:40) - 5/5
4. Caught in the Middle (4:17) - 5/5
5. Don't Talk to Strangers (4:54) - 5/5
6. Straight Through the Heart (4:34) - 5/5
7. Invisible (5:26) - 5/5
8. Rainbow in the Dark (4:14) 10/5 Best song on here!!
9. Shame on the Night (5:18) - 5/5
Overall, "Holy Diver" is a true 80's heavy metal classic that I highly recommend to any true metalhead that enjoys classic heavy metal like I do. Get this album now, play it, crank up the volume, bang your head, and most importantly raise those devil horns. LONG LIVE HEAVY METAL!!
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| "Great Vocals and Guitar with Same Old Lyrics" | 2008-04-07 |
| - Reviewed By rivalax |
Great start for a solo album by Dio with good lead guitar by Vivian Campbell. Dio is a great vocalist and frontman. 'Stand Up and Shout', 'Holy Diver' and 'Don't Talk to Strangers' are good songs in terms of vocals and instruments but Dio's mystery lyrics get old after a while. I'm sure Dio himself doesn't know what the hell he's singing about half the time!
Holy Diver,
You've been down too long in the midnight sea
Oh don't you see what I mean
No, I really don't see what he means! Lyrics aside, 'Holy Diver' and 'Last In Line' have mostly good songs and are worth buying: avoid Sacred Heart and everything released afterwards as it just doesn't measure up in music and the 'magic' lyrics just get cheesier and cheesier. Dio's best stuff is with Sabbath and Rainbow really. He also did two great tracks with Kerry Livgren on 'Seeds of Change': 'Living for the King' and 'Mask of the Great Deceiver.' That's something you wont hear anywhere else, Dio singing Christian rock! |
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 "Solid" | 2008-03-31 |
| - Reviewed By louvox |
I have heard that this CD is considered a "Classic" I wouldn't go that far, but I would say that it's a solid heavy rock effort. There is not a bad song on the entire CD.
Stand out tracks for me would include "Gypsy", Rainbow in the dark" & Straight through the heart". Ronnie James Dio vocals are strong. Vivian Campbell guitar play is good, although sometimes he tends to sound a bit cliché. I prefer Ronnie James Dio's work with Black Sabbath or Rainbow. I am not knocking his solo efforts. I am just not that familiar with his solo catalog. I am working on it. Over all, it's good CD. Certainly a lot better than some of the tripe that's out there they are calling heavy rock or metal.
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| "Three Letters That Define Heavy Metal : D-I-O!" | 2008-03-23 |
| - Reviewed By kissthebest |
After increasing tensions with Black Sabbath,then vocalist of the band Ronnie James Dio quits the band and brings Vinnie Appice with him to start working on his solo project which would be simply titled "Dio".After recruiting bassist Jimmy Bain and guitarist Vivian Campbell the band made the songs that would become part of "Holy Diver" released in 1983.With mere reflection I think the albums Dio did with Sabbath were good but I am certainly glad that he left to have a solo career,if he had stayed we would not have gotten "Holy Diver","Dream Evil" and that other great stuff he did.This is his first solo album and he produced it himself,it might sound crazy but not for Dio the guy was already a veteran of the rock scene by that time having played with Rainbow,Elf and Sabbath.He also recorded a few albums prior and knows what's good.There are many fan favourite songs here and some of Dio's best material ever.The musicians reunited for the album did their job very well and there is absolutely nothing to complain about on that point,the guitars are excellent,so is the bass,Vinnie does a solid performance on drums and Dio as usual is the ultimate vocalist.
Holy Diver is full of classics,the album itself is a classic and one of my personnal favourite albums of all time.Not a bad track to be found here,everything top notch.Dio really did what he wanted to do and proved he was right by doing so."Stand Up And Shout" as the opening track is killer and is fast-paced with great vocals.You know that its going to be heavy(more than his Sabbath stuff to say the least)and it keeps getting better."Holy Diver"(it was featured in an episode of South Park in the third season,just tought I'd add that in),the title track,the song that made me buy this album in first place.Slow,heavy and its got a killer riff.One of the best songs in metal for sure,its deserved its place there."Gypsy" follows up.It is considerably weaker but still a very good song definatly not horrible,has its moments."Caught In The Middle" is said to have a pop feel to it but I don't think so.The song is pure metal and once the riff starts you're in for quite a ride,quite a catchy chorus and one of my favourite Dio songs."Don't Talk To Strangers" is amazing.It starts very slow like a ballad with Dio singing in a very soft voice and then,BOOM!It suprises you with a heavy part,then goes into a powerfull metal song and it has another ballad part for great harmonies,very good songs not much to say about it,very solid."Straight To The Heart",kinda like caught in the middle,quite catchy and a great song."Invisible" has thoughtfull lyrics,but it is overshadowed by the rest of the album."Rainbow In The Dark" is simple yet so good!Its is definatly one of the greatests metal songs ever done.The harmonies and the metal at the same time is incredible,one of the fans most loved songs and a classic,it was a single also.The album closes with "Shame On The Night",with its group chanting.Good,but a weaker song,not much to add.
One of Dio's best albums if not THE best he ever made.Its everything Rock,Metal and Heavy-Metal fans could possibly want : great riffs and guitars,terrific songs,great writting,awesome singing and all.It ain't exactly a various album but all song sounds different from each other while staying in the same style.Ronnie ain't real tall at 5'4 but that doesn't prevent him from having this amazing voice,once of the best in all of rock'n'roll in my opinion and you can bet that he makes full use of it.
Not much left to say except you should really do yourself a favor and buy this album.It is essential to your collection and you will be glad you got it.Dio has been amazing once more,he was great in all those other bands he's played in and hasn't disapointed anyone at all.In fact this first solo effort focused him to make even more solo albums(which are also recommended checking out if you liked this one,"Last In The Line","Dream Evil" and a few others are also very good!).This is one of the crowning achievements in the career of Ronnie James Dio,the musicians who played on it were very good too!Highly recommanded I give the highest rating possible(trust me if there were a zillions stars it would still getn it),5 stars.Metal is not about being perfect but these guys pretty much were! |
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 "Warning !!!" | 2007-10-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3GSO9L3TVFSH6 |
| They did a very bad job of remixing when they put Holy Diver on CD. The guitars and keys are so low the album is wasted. This is Dio singing over drums ! Nothing else. This was one of the great guitar albums of the 80's and what a waste it became on CD... Didn't Dio overview this ? What was he thinking ? Was it because of an argument with Vivian Campbell ? Maybe he was mad 'cos Vivian joined Def leppard and made crap with them, which he would be right, but on this album the guitars NEED TO BE UP FRONT !!!! |
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| "Holy Grail!!!!" | 2007-08-15 |
| - Reviewed By ob1bertin |
This HAS GOT to be one of the greatest heavy metal albums EVER!!!
As far as I'm concerned, this record is on par with Paranoid, Blizzard of Ozz, British Steel, Back in Black, Machine Head, Number of the Beast, or any other hard rock/ heavy metal classic that you might care to mention.
Indeed, after increasingly high profile gigs with Elf, Rainbow and Black Sabbath, singer and frontman extraordinaire Ronnie James Dio finally took the plunge as a solo artist (long overdue, to the eyes of many). In doing so, he split the then current incarnation of Black Sabbath, taking drummer Vinny Appice with him. And although this development was a crying shame (as it basically marked the beginning of a downward spiral for Sabbath) in and by itself, the truth is that Dio (the man) himself and heavy metal in general gained a great deal because of it.
Once he found himself out of Sabbath, Ronnie contacted former Rainbow/Wild Horses bassist Jimmy Bain for advice on musicians for a new venture. Bain jumped in (without ever being formally asked to!) and brought along a young, hungry, up-and-coming Irish guitarist named Vivian Campbell and before long, a new band had been formed and was rehearsing the material for their first album, which they soon recorded. With Ronnie's voice as the center piece, the band constructed a solid album through and through, where the vocal melodies are on par with the guitar riffs and placed upon a rock solid rhythmic foundation.
Without being explicitly conceptual, the album dealt with the eternal struggle between good and evil (a recurring subject matter for Ronnie James Dio), while also offering a few detours along the way. I still remember the first time I listened to this album in full (I was already a Sabbath and Rainbow fan, and I had already heard Dio songs such as "We Rock", "Holy Diver" and "Rainbow in the Dark"): it was the perfect marriage of Rainbow's melodic (and symphonic) approach with the monster riffery of Sabbath. I was immediately hooked!
"Holy Diver" opens up with the furious bite of "Stand up and Shout", a vicious, 3 minute ride that allows little time for rationalizing and serves as the perfect intro for the band, almost as a manifest of intention. The sound is monstrous, with Ronnie's voice right in the middle of the action, with Campbell's guitar prowess immediately evident, and the power of the rhythm section is also obvious. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why I love this record so much: the mix is perfect, with all the instruments and the voice clearly present, and not just one of those records where you have to imagine what the bass player is doing. To this day, I think this is one of the better mixed hard rock/metal records ever.
Next is the record's title song: epic, powerful, empowering, grandiose, and yet deceivingly simple and catchy. There are few words to describe it. Its powerful riff is accentuated by the drums and dramatic pauses, which in turn emphasize the power of Ronnie's voice and truly majestic lyrics. And once again, Vivian really displays some earth shattering playing and soloing, a constant throughout the whole album.
"Gipsy" follows, picking up the pace and hitting fast and hard; "Caught in the Middle" is next, and I must say that it is my personal favorite of the album: don't ask me why, I honestly don't know; it is a departure, for sure, since its melodies are somewhat more "cheerful" than the rest, but I absolutely love it, as it also showcases a different side of Vivian's playing, proving that there's more to him than just shredding for the sake of shredding (as was the custom back in the 80's).
"Don't Talk to Strangers" was a surprise the first time I heard it, and it still remains a perennial favorite in live performances to this day: unlike the previous songs that for the most part started with a heavy guitar riff, this one opens with a delicate, soft guitar arpeggio and slowly builds momentum as the bass and the drums come in, only to rip into a nasty riff midway through and morph into a heavy rocker! And to top it all, the song crashes back to its soft beginning before the outro. Awesome!
"Straight through the heart" is another heavy, mid tempo tune that is introduced with a drum break and features another great guitar riff and some more of the dramatic pauses that were used to great effect on the title song. I love the song (in fact, I love the whole album), but I've never understood why (or how), when releasing Dio compilations, this song has outdone "Don't talk..." more than once...not that it isn't good enough for a compilation, but I think "Don't..." is the obvious choice...anyway, the next tune, "Invisible" seemed to repeat, at least at the start, the formula of the "Slow intro, change of pace, heavy riff in the middle" that was used for "Don't...", but ultimately the arrangement is totally different and the song packs quite some punch.
The classic "Rainbow in the Dark" hardly needs any further introduction: without a doubt, one of the forerunners of the "80's heavy metal sound", a perfect marriage of melody and heaviness. As if the proven formula of Dio's melodic vocals meshed with Vivian's guitar ferocity and the rhythm section's powerful pummeling wasn't enough, the song features a prominent synth riff that predates by at least 1 year other similar efforts by countless hard rock/heavy metal bands (Van Halen, anyone?). This song is arguably one of the biggest classics of its era.
And to wrap up, a slow, sinister number called "Shame on the Night". I'll be 100% honest with you: the first time I heard this song, I didn't like it AT ALL. I thought it was totally out of place in an otherwise perfect record. For quite some time, I just couldn't figure it out: it is slow, dark, with no guitar solo and quite plain, really. But that's precisely the beauty of it!!! There was a period when I would listen to this album everyday, but as it often happens, I started listening to other things; then, one day, out of the blue I picked it up again and lo and behold, the song really got to me!!! I still don't know how or why, but it did, and now it is one of my absolute favorites of the Dio catalog.
Bottom Line: This record must be heralded as one of the undisputed classics of the genre, the first of a long line of releases from the master of the dungeons and dragons, and possibly his best (as a solo artist, I mean). Ronnie James Dio himself acknowledges this fact, placing this record on the same pedestal as "Heaven & Hell" and "Rising", the other 2 crown jewels of his career (again, those are his words, not mine). All of that being said, I feel compelled to make an observation here: this records needs an URGENT remastering!!! NOW!!!! I mean, I got the CD to replace my good old tape from back in the day, only to be appalled by its total lack of punch. My tape sounds louder and fuller, for god's sake!!! Now, hold the death threats for a moment, will ya: this is a TECHNICAL issue, it has NOTHING, I REPEAT, NOTHING to do with the music, the band, Ronnie or anything/anybody else for that matter!!! It simply means that after all these years of making the transfer from the master tapes to the CD, the album has lost its high fidelity sound and its punch, that's it!!! So Rhino, the ball is in your court. My advice: that we start a petition for the remastering (I hear that the album has in fact been remastered by Vertigo outside of the US). But in the meantime, if you choose to pick this one up, I guarantee you this: you'll be getting more.
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| "Music With MEANING" | 2007-07-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: A32KE5I1G97Y11 |
I read a couple of the 1-star reviews just to amuse myself (because I loved this album) and was surprised to find someone that disliked the "fourth grader lyrics" about "dragons and wizards..." First of all, I do not believe the word 'wizard' or anything in relation to a wizard appears in the album, and secondly, you must understand that the music contains uses of something known as metaphor.
And also, someone quoted the song "Rainbow in the Dark," commenting on how un-heavy the lyrics are... You cannot judge whether the lyrics are heavy by showing ONE line from ONE song-- ironically, however, the line he chose did contain meaning, it wasn't just filler.
Great album, heavy lyrics, I'm more of a jazz person --not so much metal-- but I loved this-- I'm surprised it doesn't have a five-star average rating. |
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| "duh dee-do-duh dee-do-duh do-dee duh dee-do-deh dee-do-dee-duh" | 2007-05-30 |
| - Reviewed By otherkcin |
Ah, "Holy Diver" is a friggin metal classic, and you gotta get it if you don't have it. Dio's two albums with Black Sabbath were quite excellent, and "Holy Diver" is a nice follow up to them. Course, it's a different band, but it's not overwhelmingly different from a musical standpoint. It's mostly just a bit faster and more energetic, particularly since Campbell is a much sharper, piercing guitarist than the great Iommi, and the rhythm section tends to be a bit more frantic this time around. Still, I assume Dio was courting precisely the same audience when he put out this album, and no doubt he won it over. Dio himself is in top form, and I think he benefits from the more consistently energetic setting.
"Holy Diver" isn't overloaded with musical variety, but it's short on filler and mixes up the tempos pretty well. The two openning tracks are total classics and severely archetypal metal songs, with "Stand Up and Shout" being one of the ultimate fist-pumping, speed-metal anthem and "Holy Diver" working the crushing, mid-paced groove to perfection. Two completely great songs, though "Holy Diver" could do w/o the intro.
"Holy Diver" can't top those openers, but it's got plenty of other cool tracks. ("Invisible" is definitely the weakest track, but it's still not weak enough that it needs to be cut. It's just not as good as everything else.) "Caught in the Middle" is perhaps the best of them, and one of the more overtly poppy songs on the album. There's nothing wrong with that if you can pull it off and still be metal, which is precisely what "Caught in the Middle" does. Damn it's catchy. "Straight through the Heart" is another particularly anthemic track and another stand out, as is "Rainbow in the Dark", which has another tour de force vocal performance from Dio and some delightfully basic keyboard work. "Shame on the Night" didn't make too big of an impression on me initially, but it's definitely grown on me over time. It's a bit slower and atmospheric than some of the other tracks, which allow to Dio to get even more theatrical than usual. Cool stuff, and it manages to be an appropriately epic closer.
Anyway, "Holy Diver" is pretty thoroughly representative of the good side of commerical 80's metal. Get it. |
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