School me on Dio

[MirrorProfiles]

Heard the obvious songs and a smattering of others, but would love some recommendations of his best work or some underrated gems. Can be for any reason (songwriting/vocal performance/musical input from the band etc).

 

[JiveTurkey]

Excellent voice but 1000/1000 I would pick any Halford/Dickenson/Kiske material over his by an absolute landslide. Way too plodding.


For context; my Dio favorites are the Hear N' Aid song, Hungry For Heaven and Turn Up the Night by Sabbath.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

absolute comedy gold in this, Ive read it before but every time I go over it there’s stuff I’ve forgotten about. Must be so much that happened off the record that is beyond belief, legit funnier than Spinal Tap.

Black Sabbath - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[deathbyguitar]

This one is a gem. I remember hearing this on Pandora in college and it blew me away. Never particularly liked 80's rock (shoot me) but this man's voice blew me away, even in his old age.

 

[JiveTurkey]

This one is a gem. I remember hearing this on Pandora in college and it blew me away. Never particularly liked 80's rock (shoot me) but this man's voice blew me away, even in his old age.

I've never really paid attention to Doug Aldrich but dude is a good player!

 

[MTB1973]

I have always loved this album.

 

[mbenigni]

If you want to hear his voice at its absolute best, you have to go back to the Blackmore-era stuff (and honestly, I'm not all that familiar.) As for underrated material, Mob Rules is often overlooked in favor of Heaven & Hell, but I think Mob Rules is Dio's best album. Sign of the Southern Cross, Falling Off the Edge of the World, Voodoo, Country Girl... so many amazing songs.

 

[Progressive_disclosure]

absolute comedy gold in this, Ive read it before but every time I go over it there’s stuff I’ve forgotten about. Must be so much that happened off the record that is beyond belief, legit funnier than Spinal Tap.

Black Sabbath - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Ha, you made me read through it again as well. It’s basically grown ass men unable to communicate basically ANYTHING properly. So def Spinal Tap vibes!

 

[2112]

IMO essentials are
- Rainbow Rising
- Mob Rules (@mbenigni knows)
- Holy Diver

Although I'd happily pick anything he did between Rising and Last in Line.

Rainbow On Stage is a good showcase of his live chops, Lock Up the Wolves has some good riffs (18 year old Rowan Robertson kills it on guitar), Dehumanizer is VERY underappreciated and Killing the Dragon has some good moments thanks to Doug Aldrich who nails the Viv meets Syles vibe. Not a big fan of Craig Goldy's stuff

The Elf album is fun if you want to hear Dio doing boogie-woogie rock'n'roll too.

My favourite deep cut is this song from Kerry Livgren's solo album - basically Dio singing a Kansas song. Absolute pomp rock.

 

[volkan]

 

[2112]

It also blows me away how good his voice held up as he aged - he was 41 when Holy Diver was released in 1983 and he was performing up until 2009, about 9 months before he passed away.