Dio - Holy Diver - 1982
Opening with "Stand Up and Shout" A shredtastic offering that uses all the things that I've come to adore in metal (exceptional energetic playing) and none of the things I don't (fantasy mythology), Dio's first solo record is a call to arms from the great midget of rock. This is a song that could fit on Screaming for Vengeance nicely. But I'm not sure I get the big todo behind the title track. In my opinion Survivor is owed royalties for ripping this off from "Eye of the Tiger". Am I wrong? It's good, though. Not the greatest thing I've ever heard....
The album is a great listen top to bottom, perhaps due to the fact that it's loaded with great players and Dio has been waiting his whole life to make it.
"Don't talk to Stranger" might play at being a ballad, but make no mistake this is all cock rock. It lures you in with some nice beatific opening strains but after that minute it gives way to the sword of the master. The false balladeering continues later where the "chalice of the soul" lies in "the palace of the virgin on "Invisible". And seriously, how can you not love "Rainbow in the Dark"? I just read on Wikipedia that the song is about Dio's dissatisfaction with his experiences in Sabbath (And, I imagine, Rainbow given the title). Maybe that's why the song sounds so bloody and superbly desperate. And that synth is just cheesily great.
Holy Diver lives up to its reputation.
Grade: A
ASide: Stand Up and Shout, Rainbow in the Dark
BlindSide: Caught in the Middle, Don't Talk to Strangers, Invisible
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