HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Holy Diver – Dio
Ronnie James Dio. A name that needs no introduction. Undoubtedly one of the most distinct, revered and powerful voices in metal and a man with an incredible talent. He cemented his status in the rock and metal world in RAINBOW and BLACK SABBATH, but he cemented his legend status in his own band DIO. The band’s seminal debut album Holy Diver was released in 1983 and was instantly hailed as Dio’s best work and as a result of being highly acclaimed the album is a staple in the heavy metal genre. Forty years on Holy Diver still has a mystical allure, it has endured the test of time and still sounds as powerful as it did on the day of its release.
DIO was formed in 1982 in the aftermath of Ronnie leaving BLACK SABBATH over disagreements in how Live Evil (1983) was mixed. Ronnie and former BLACK SABBATH drummer Vinny Appice wanted to continue working together so the duo began work on forming DIO. In October 1982 they were joined by former RAINBOW bandmate and Jimmy Bain (bass) and guitarist Jake E. Lee (better known as OZZY OSBOURNE’s guitarist from 1982 to 1987). However this initial lineup didn’t last long, Lee was replaced after a month in the band by young guitarist Vivian Campbell of the NWOBHM band SWEET SAVAGE. These carefully picked band mates would put Ronnie and DIO on route for international success.
Around the time the album was being written, heroic adventure and fantasy stories was starting to gain significant ground in popular culture. The main protagonists of this movement being J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary work of literature The Lord Of The Rings and the pioneering fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Ronnie, having read Arthurian tales and science fiction in his youth, he saw an opportunity and capitalised on this. Along with his philosophy to do what no one else was doing, which was singing songs about fantasy, he decided to use this imagery for DIO. In the 2003 book, Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal by Ian Christie, Ronnie stated; “When I became a songwriter, I thought what better thing to do than do what no one else is doing, to tell fantasy tales. Smartest thing I ever did.” Even during his time with BLACK SABBATH, Ronnie was bringing in these fantasy concepts into the band’s music, which is why the Ronnie era was relatively successful for the most part. So, it could be argued that Ronnie laid the foundations for Holy Diver long before DIO came to fruition.
As a result of Ronnie’s acute cultural awareness, Holy Diver captured the imaginations of all those who listened to it. This is down to Ronnie’s simplification of his musical stories. In his previous work with ELF, RAINBOW and BLACK SABBATH he tended to create ambiguous moral landscapes that weren’t always accessible. On Holy Diver, he stripped it back to the good-versus-evil conflicts to discuss the deceit and hypocrisy in romance and religion alongside the emotions that feed adolescent rebellion. This drew the attention of younger metal audience and Holy Diver received a plethora of plaudits from the likes of Kerrang!, Pitchfork, and Mojo.
Musically, Holy Diver is an exemplary melodic metal album and was hailed as “quintessential traditional metal” by Canadian music journalist Martin Popoff. Its mix of strong hooks underpinned by classical music devices makes it a truly captivating album. Delicately balanced between storming rock rages and luscious atmospheric ballad-esque songs. The duality between songs such as Stand Up And Shout and Rainbow In The Dark is what has given this album lasting appeal, and the songwriting gives added weight to Ronnie’s lyrical themes. Ultimately it is classical, delicate acoustic intertwined with bouts of rage. The melodramatic, poetic nature of the album as a whole creates vivid and fantastical imagery in your imagination, Ronnie’s intensely passionate vocals gave him the unofficial role of rock and metal’s most illustrious bard.
With all four members pooling their songwriting experience from their previous rock and metal and creating an album so strong and consistent that many failed to find a fault with it is truly remarkable. This supergroup level of musical power is the main cause of Holy Diver being such an epic album. As a result, Holy Diver has often been hailed as Ronnie’s career best, a defining album that cemented his legacy. Holy Diver has had a significant cultural impact in the world of rock and metal, this album has touched so many people and given them so many memories. Looking through the paragraphs of Classic Rock Magazine’s Dio: Holy Diver – Album Of The Week Club Review, you can see how impactful the album was on impressionable young listeners, forging their taste for decades to come. In turn these people would play it to future generations, giving Ronnie and DIO a legendary status that is reverently preserved by thousands, if not millions of fervent fans.
Currently the only thing to mark this momentous 40 year anniversary is a Record Store Day double red vinyl of DIO: Live in Fresno 1983, which was originally included as an unreleased live from the Holy Diver tour disc on the 4CD Holy Diver box set. Even so, Holy Diver will live in the hearts of metalheads around the world for decades to come, Ronnie’s most defining moment is still standing tall as one of the best and strongest metal albums ever to be released.
Holy Diver was originally released on May 25th, 1983 via Warner Records.
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