Published on Dec 15, 1998
When I was a teenager growing up in the Chicagoland area, the
traditional rite of passage for males was discovering the only
heavy metal radio station in the area. When I first heard the metal
show after discarding my previous favorite radio station (I called
it “B-Ninety-sucks”), I fell in love with the intensity of the
music that I heard pounding out of my cheap plastic stereo. (I also
didn’t know the show was on a bartered-airtime station; imagine my
surprise when I turned it on the next morning and heard a foreign
language program!)
One of the artists I discovered at this time was Ronnie James
Dio. His first album fronting his self-named band, 1983’s
Holy Diver, featured some incredible music that got my
adrenalin pumping. The guitar work of then-unknown Vivian Campbell
(who later staked his claim to fame with Def Leppard), the bass
thumping of Jimmy Bain, and the drumwork extraordinaire of Vinny
Appice – all wrapped around Dio’s ominous-sounding vocals – was a
touch of evil that a clean-cut product of Catholic high school
needed.
Even now, 15 years after this album came out, it stands out as a
solid album for its time – possibly even ahead of its time, in some
ways. And while there are some signs of aging on this album, it
remains a high-water mark of Dio’s career.
The songs that got airplay that we young, hormone-driven
adolescents thought was significant have held their worth well over
the years. “Rainbow In The Dark” has become a song that has defined
Dio’s career, and also highlighted the fact he was an early member
of Rainbow in the mid-’70s. Likewise, the title track still sounds
like a Texas stomp through a garden of idealism; it has a dark
feeling to it, though it leaves you feeling good in the end.
Somehow, Dio’s music has always seemed to be able to do this.
The one thing I do notice after the passing of over a decade is
Appice’s drumming. While he remains one of rock’s most
underappreciated drummers, his rhythmic beats (especially heard in
choruses) is a tad simplistic, relying on quarter-note beats a
little too much. It leaves me feeling like I’m occasionally
listening to a metronome.
And I’d be lying if I said that I like every track on
Holy Diver. “Gypsy” has never been a favorite of mine – it
always seemed a little corny to be following “Holy Diver” – and
“Caught In The Middle” almost seems like a nod toward trying to get
radio play; it’s the most commercial-sounding track on the album.
(I also would have preferred a little more bass in the mix; Dio’s
production has always seemed to be a little treble-heavy.)
But the unheralded classic on this album is “Don’t Talk To
Strangers,” a song that is well-known among Dio’s fans. This one
track merges the light and dark streaks of Dio and his music into a
song that should have been a hit. Building from a simple acoustic
guitar line from Campbell into a softer approach from the whole
band (an idea that lasts only a few precious seconds)before kicking
into the power riffs.
Campbell’s presence on this band is not lost on me; he truly was
an incredibly hot talent at the time, and one whose light just
didn’t seem to burn bright enough with this band. It does surprise
me that he would leave the band after one more album; he did seem
to be the best fit with Dio.
Holy Diver is still an album that was a defining moment for
heavy metal’s dominance in the mid- to late-’80s. And while there
are a few moments I could live without, there are still many
moments that are incredible – even 15 years after it was
released.