Dio - Holy Diver, The Last In Line, Sacred Heart (Reissue Album Review)
Monday, 19 March 2012
Written by Steven James
Legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio sadly passed away last year from stomach cancer and to celebrate his life and work his first three solo albums, 'Holy Diver' (small pic), 'The Last in Line' and 'Sacred Heart' are being re-released this month. Before his expansive solo career Dio became famous for replacing Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath and being one of the main singers who sang with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow over the years. These CDs are all endorsed by Ronnie's widow, Wendy Dio and they all come with a whole extra disc of bonus tracks and B-sides along with the remastered version of the original album.
'Holy Diver', the first of the three albums, was originally released in 1983 and has been hailed as not only Dio's best work, but also an essential album for any heavy metal fan. The second, 'The Last in Line', came out in 1984 and was the first Dio album to reach platinum. 'Sacred Heart' was then released in '85 and was arguably the point where, after the departure of guitarist Viviuan Campbell, Dio's music took a turn for the worst. That's not to say it isn't a good album, these albums are all classics, it was just the last really great Dio album and a perfect stopping point for these reissues.
The sound on all three albums has been improved quite a lot and it's really noticeable, the tones are a lot crisper and it sounds excellent. Classic tracks like 'Rainbow in the Dark', 'We Rock', 'Holy Diver' and 'Rock 'N' Roll Children' sound better than ever before. The music too has definitely stood the test of time, Dio was a heavy metal pioneer with an incredible voice and there are still very little who compare to him. He's left himself quite a legacy.
A lot of the additional tracks are B-sides to singles and should be nothing new to seasoned Dio fans, but anyone who hasn't delved too deep into Ronnie's back catalogue will be pleasantly surprised. The rest of the recordings on the second discs are live recordings, either from various festivals, the King Biscuit Flower hour (which was an American radio show that sported live performances from a lot of classic rock bands) or the Live Intermission EP, which is included on the second disc of 'Sacred Heart'. As with the original albums these tracks have been touched up a little, but not quite to the same extent. Although even the live recordings that have been dug up from the Ronnie James Dio archives do have an impressively full sound to them.
As with most reissues, there probably isn't a lot of point in getting these CDs if you already own the originals, however if you're a hardcore Dio nut then these will probably be the finishing touches to your Dio collection. If, however, you're new to Dio then there's no better way to hear his first three albums than with these excellent reissues that collect together not only the classic albums, but also B-sides and live performances from Dio in his prime.
‘Holy Diver’, ‘The Last in Line’ and ‘Sacred Heart’, are reissued as special Deluxe Editions today, Monday 19th March.
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'Holy Diver', the first of the three albums, was originally released in 1983 and has been hailed as not only Dio's best work, but also an essential album for any heavy metal fan. The second, 'The Last in Line', came out in 1984 and was the first Dio album to reach platinum. 'Sacred Heart' was then released in '85 and was arguably the point where, after the departure of guitarist Viviuan Campbell, Dio's music took a turn for the worst. That's not to say it isn't a good album, these albums are all classics, it was just the last really great Dio album and a perfect stopping point for these reissues.
