Ronnie James Dio - an untarnished legacy

Ronnie James Dio. Even the name sounds eternal.

To think of all the great music he recorded with Rainbow and Sabbath, Elf and his solo albums...the guy has a recorded legacy like few others. And it's an honorable legacy. He had a natural voice that was unlike anyone else who ever sang, I bet he could have played Madison Square Garden and be heard in the back row without a microphone.

Sure, maybe there are a few duds scattered throughout the catalog...but when you look at the sum total of really KILLER albums, he had one seriously fucking amazing track record. Album after album of music that actually helped transport you OUT of this miserable fucking existence for 45 minutes...and let you bask in an imaginary world of demons and wizards and knights and rainbows. Sure, to some that's some pretty silly shit, but damn it felt good!

And he ended on a super high note with The Devil You Know, Ronnie went out with style and class.

Yes he did and may he rest in peace

Dio rules!!!! The Devil You Know is such an awesome album!!!!

I'm still in mourning, been listening to his stuff from the 50's-present day over and over, pardon the pun.

me too man. I downloaded copies of Strange Highways & Angry Machines from emusic (legally), been jamming those along with a little bit of everything else.

I haven't dug into the Rainbow material yet, but I really don't own those albums anymore. Sounds like the new Deluxe Edition releases will be a required purchase.

I really like Angry Machines, it gets a lot of shit but I like it a lot. Been jamming that and Master of The Moon a lot.

I did not care for 'Angry Machines' much when it was first released, maybe because I was not expecting such a dry and sow prodding album after 'Strange Highways'

I now like the album and revisit it every so often but still not one of my favorite Dio albums

I think both those albums with that guitarist (whose name I can never remember) are really good...as is the live album they recorded together.

Angry Machines is definitely the weaker of the two albums, but there are some really standout tracks on there I think:

Stay Out Of My Mind - really cool track, different in feel for Dio, but that's what makes it interesting.

Dying In America - Another slight stylistic departure, but again I think a very memorable song.

Don't Tell The Kids, Hunter Of The Heart & Double Monday are also good straight-ahead ass kicker tracks.

RIP Dio...

I too like Angry Machines...it was the stuff after that failed to get me...but he still sounded amazing singing it...he would have sounded killer singing the phone book.

was jamming the new studio tracks on the first disc, which inspired me to pop in the H&H DVD.

I truly love that concert, it's so nice to see those guys playing in a beautiful place like Radio City Music Hall and playing a really wide selection of songs, including some deep cuts like "Lonely Is The Word" and "Falling Off The Edge Of The World".

The live versions of Shadow Of The Wind and The Devil Cried absolutely SMOKE the studio counterparts, Geezer's bass is much more prominent in the live mix and there's an extra spark of attitude to these tracks here. I like both versions, but the live tracks definitely get the edge.

Speaking of Dio, I watched his performance w/ Queensryche on the Mindcrime At The Moore DVD over the weekend...it was so cool watching him and Tate singing live with each other...

I saw Black Sabbath with Queensryche and Alice Cooper a few years ago, and Dio sounded amazing, and my friend who was not a huge Dio fan became one that night, it was great perfomance and was surprised at the set list.

I am glad got to see my favorite line up of Black Sabbath and Dio rules.

I was really hoping to catch H&H on the next tour...that's my fave Sab line up as well...at least I have the RCMH DVD...

Sadly, I never got to see Dio perform.

I got to see Dio a few years back when he opened for Iron Maiden at Fiddler's Green in Denver. He was fantastic ..... Bruce Dickinson had nothing on him. he's one of the best singers I've ever heard live.

RIP RJD

Man...a year to the day. I still haven't gotten over this...Sail on Ronnie, sail on...