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Top 100 Heavy Metal and glam rock acts from the MTV era - it's still real to me (3 Viewers)

=Smackdown= said:
I’m a huge Zebra fan. Seen them at least 10x in smaller venues like Lamores Brooklyn and Lamores East. Randy Jackson great on guitar and has killer vocals.

Never understood why they were only popular on Long Island and New Orleans. Still go see them when they come around locally.

Not sure if they belong on this list but comparing them to Stryper is a travesty.

Bears
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They still tour these days. Last saw them about 5 or so years ago in NYC at B.B. King's. Randy can still shred, but his voice is shot.

During the pandemic, every week on his Facebook page he was doing an acoustic set of cover tunes and Zebra songs. 

 
J R said:
Illusion 1 & 2 could be trimmed to 1 really solid album except would everyone agree on the songs? It works great for the mp3 age, where everyone can cut it down to their own picks.
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I've suggested this for a lot of double albums, but as you said people are afraid their favorites might get axed.  Just save the extras in the vault until the day when they run out of new material.

 
Skipdog77 said:
Gotta admit I'm a bit surprised VH didn't even crack the top 10.  Intrigued to see how the rest of the rankings play out. 
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yeah, i felt that way at first, but then realized it was only (a very meh) Diver Down & 1984 that qualified for the Roth version ... had Fair Warning been in the mix, i think they had to have been top 5.

i base it on 1982 being the start of the EMP-TV era, FW was summer of '81, iirc. 

i have zero use for Van Hagar. 

 
5. Dio / Black Sabbath (Dio Years)

I love Ronnie James, but this is as high as I can get my eighties Dio, when looking at the top 4, (not to mention the subsequent 3) he doesn't quite get over the hump in the sales and impact departments..

I'm gonna reach all the way back for this one.  Not because I want to, but because I can!

1961 Ronnie Dio and the Red Caps
1963 Ronnie Dio and the Prophets
Love Potion #9   give em the business, Ronnie!

The Electric Elves

Just THE ELVES

Finally, ELF, you can start to hear it now

Never More
Do The Same Thing
Prentice Wood, this album cover, tattoo it on my face

Deep Purple is touring around with the band Elf.  They really like the band Elf.  Roger Glover does a solo album, tied into a kids book I guess?  RJD does some guest vocals.  

Ritchie Blackmore leaves Purple and hires the entire band Elf! except their guitarist is left in the lurch.  And that's early RAINBOW
"I left Deep Purple because I'd met up with Ronnie Dio, and he was so easy to work with. He was originally just going to do one track of a solo LP, but we ended up doing the whole LP in three weeks, which I was very excited about."

Man on the Silver Mountain

Stargazer

Rainbow Eyes

Tones change, a few years on.. 
"If they were good enough, they'd still be in the band. I'm not putting down the other members who were in the band, but no-one has ever left Rainbow. It's a fact. Not a confrontation just, well you didn't quite make it, you'll have to do other things."
"Ronnie is a very good singer- I still like him -but he was becoming very lackadaisical. I'm sure if he were here now he would argue the point, but the fact is, Ronnie was not contributing what he should have done, and he knows that. For the last two years I would put down the riff, the progressions, give him the basic melody and he would write the lyrics. I found that in the past year he wasn't really doing that. He was #####ing about the fact that it was Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. And I'm going, look, I've tried after three years to make it just Rainbow, not my Rainbow."
I'm sure if Ritchie Blackmore were here now he'd argue the point, but he sounds like an ax-hole to me.

Rainbow somehow coughs up a bona fide classic rock classic with the very non-Dioy Since You Been Gone.  Dio joins up with the freshly Ozzy-free Sabbath.

We're not even to 1980 yet.

Heaven and Hell

Neon Nights
Children of the Sea

Mob Rules was Stevie Nicks heavy metal, Heavy Metal??
 (I know, it wasn't a music mag)

Slipping Away

Things don't seem to end super great between Dio and Sabbath either, but they would kiss and make up a decade later for another decent effort.  Black Sabbath does Born Again with the old Purp singer. Small world.

Dio takes drummer Vinny Appice with him from Black Sabbath, and Dio is born.  At first his guitarist is Jake E. Lee, until he's hired away by Ozzy.  Small world.  Gets Vivian Campbell from a Northern Ireland group called Sweet Savage (this song is covered ten years later by .. somebody)

Anyway, Holy Diver is legitimately awesome
Rainbow In The Dark
Don't Talk To Strangers
Straight Through The Heart
Invisible
how are those remasters?

Last In Line is good too, just not as
The Last In Line
Evil Eyes

Sacred Heart, not even that good but the title track must be seen live

This is around the time they put together HEAR 'N AID - STARS also

But he'd dump Viv Campbell here, unceremoniously, after Sacred Heart didn't do much, brought in Craig Goldy from Giuffria, and Dream Evil was a nice recovery musically, anyway..

All The Fools Sailed Away
Sunset Superman

Wild One - Lock Up The Wolves, 1990

TV Crimes - Black Sabbath Dehumanizer, 1992

The public interest in these old farts had gotten pretty low at this particular point. But Dio kept at it, putting out Dio records and still another Sabbath record, this time as Heaven and Hell..

I saw Heaven and Hell, got pit tickets and it was crazy special to be that up close.

(Megadeth opened too)

####### cancer though, got him, RIP king we love ya

 
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Ronnie James Dio IMO had the best voice in the business - ever. Hands down.

Was so happy to have had the chance to see him in NYC a few years before he passed. They played the entire Heaven and Hell album and it was awesome.

And Dio/Black Sabbath  >>>>>>> Ozzy/Black Sabbath.

Not a week goes by where I'm not blasting some DIO song (Neon Knights, Heaven & Hell, too many to list, etc) in my backyard before the wife tells me to turn that **** off.

OFF The charts vocals - miss that dude.

RIP RJD !

Oh no - here it comes again . . .

 
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HUGE DIo fan.........HUGE. Our crew had a mixed tape of the best of Holy Diver and Last In Line and every weekend when we would wreck havoc it was blasting from whomever's cassette deck depending who was the designated driver that weekend.  

He is the greatest heavy metal vocalist.......ever. 

I really liked Dream Evil but hated the mix.....I wish that would be remastered.

Sacred Heart fell victim to the glossy 1986 (mid late 80’s) production that plagues many very good albums of the era. The wet snare drums (gated way too much for you musicians who know what I mean) and artifical bombastic mic’s on the drum kits which made them sound so damn phony. But there were some very strong tracks to be had and yes the title track had to be seen live to be believed. I was able to see him twice on the Sacred Heart tour. Once with Vivian and then with Goldy. What was wild was the Vivian show was totally sold out.....and the Goldy show was half filled. Was really weird. I guess a lot of fans were really pissed he axed Vivian. 

The stage show was outrageous for that tour.

 
Tough for me to decide between Dio and Halford as best metal vocalist. Too close to call.
I loved Rainbow and was so psyched when Dio teamed up with Sabbath. Got to see them on the Mob Rules tour. Incredible.

Still kick myself for passing up the opportunity to talk with him. We were in the American Airlines lounge in Heathrow and he and his band come strolling in. He was just sitting there, reading a newspaper, going up to the buffet and grabbing some food, mostly apart from the rest of his bandmates and by himself. For about a half hour. I'm just not the type to approach celebrities, so I left him alone but I wish I had the nerve to even just say hi and thank him for years of great music. Probably around 2005.

RIP metal god. \m/

 
plinko said:
5. Dio / Black Sabbath (Dio Years)
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So last night I was looking through the top 100 so far, thinking of bands that didn’t make the cut, and realized Dio hadn’t made an appearance yet. I was floored, because I didn’t feel they were top 5, but not make the top 20, let alone top 100?!! I almost made a very angry post, but figured I’d let it play out. Thankfully I didn’t make myself look more foolish than I am, haha.

Great pick. My unpopular opinion- Sabbath with Dio is better than Sabbath with Ozzy. There, I said it.

 
jamny said:
Tough for me to decide between Dio and Halford as best metal vocalist. Too close to call.
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There's another yet to make an appearance who's got a claim to the title ... but among the three, there is no wrong answer, really.

 
plinko said:
5. Dio / Black Sabbath (Dio Years)

Roger Glover does a solo album, tied into a kids book I guess?  RJD does some guest vocals. 
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Holy. Period. ####. Period.

The Butterfly Ball stuff was RJD?  RJD?  Worlds are colliding. <boggle>

I can remember seeing clips of that thing on some kid's show once when I was pretty young.  (Maybe....the Great Space Coaster?)  No inkling when I became a Dio fan later that was something he was remotely involved with.  I think I need to go sit down. :)
 

=Smackdown= said:
Ronnie James Dio IMO had the best voice in the business - ever. Hands down.
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Can't agree more.  Dude was just nails. NAAAAILS.  

Got to see him live in the mid '00s, so we're talking old a$$ RJD....and his voice was still freaking fantastic (Scott Warren looked like a ####### vampire in serious need of blood, but RJD still looked like himself). Too bad I had to sit through Anthrax as the opener, but it was worth it.
 

Leroy Hoard said:
Ozzy was in no position to criticize Dio's vocals so instead he claimed he was replaced in Sabbath by a dwarf.
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ELF!  He was an evil eye blockin', angel voiced, heavy metal ELF, gaddamit!
 

Todem said:
He is the greatest heavy metal vocalist.......ever.
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+1. 

I've went on about him in other posts, so I'm trying to not do it again here, but my man-love for Dio knows no bounds.  He was awesome, but I never thought he took him self too seriously either.  Like, the videos were.....they hadda be camp, right?  "So, you're, like, the world's tiniest barbarian? Okay.  Cool. Coooool." or, "So, you're some kinda space...pharaoh....king of elevator mutants/morlocks?  Mmm hmm.  Mmm hmm. Sure, let's go with that."

The way he would just CHEW on the consonants in his lyrics ("Like a rrRRrrrrainbow in the DAAAAAHHHLLLLLKKK!", etc, etc), throwing the goat, cod pieces, goofy "demon" mascot with the same name as your dumb step-uncle, rad album art.  He/the band were everything that was awesome about that kinda metal at the time.  I came on board a little past their peak, but I love me the hell outta some Dio.

ETA: EFF CANCER!  The one dragon the world's tiniest barbarian couldn't slay. :(

 
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Doug B said:
There's another yet to make an appearance who's got a claim to the title ... but among the three, there is no wrong answer, really.
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Agree with all of this - dude not listed so far is my #1 band.

Halford was the best screamer. Dio had all sorts of range.

The last guy had a bit of both.

 
5-ish Finkle said:
Holy. Period. ####. Period.

The Butterfly Ball stuff was RJD?  RJD?  Worlds are colliding. <boggle>

I can remember seeing clips of that thing on some kid's show once when I was pretty young.  (Maybe....the Great Space Coaster?)  No inkling when I became a Dio fan later that was something he was remotely involved with.  I think I need to go sit down. :)
 

Can't agree more.  Dude was just nails. NAAAAILS.  

Got to see him live in the mid '00s, so we're talking old a$$ RJD....and his voice was still freaking fantastic (Scott Warren looked like a ####### vampire in serious need of blood, but RJD still looked like himself). Too bad I had to sit through Anthrax as the opener, but it was worth it.
 

ELF!  He was an evil eye blockin', angel voiced, heavy metal ELF, gaddamit!
 

+1. 

I've went on about him in other posts, so I'm trying to not do it again here, but my man-love for Dio knows no bounds.  He was awesome, but I never thought he took him self too seriously either.  Like, the videos were.....they hadda be camp, right?  "So, you're, like, the world's tiniest barbarian? Okay.  Cool. Coooool." or, "So, you're some kinda space...pharaoh....king of elevator mutants/morlocks?  Mmm hmm.  Mmm hmm. Sure, let's go with that."

The way he would just CHEW on the vowels in his lyrics ("Like a rrRRrrrrainbow in the DAAAAAHHHLLLLLKKK!", etc, etc), throwing the goat, cod pieces, goofy "demon" mascot with the same name as your dumb step-uncle, rad album art.  He/the band were everything that was awesome about that kinda metal at the time.  I came on board a little past their peak, but I love me the hell outta some Dio.

ETA: EFF CANCER!  The one dragon the world's tiniest barbarian couldn't slay. :(
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He totally did not take himself seriously.....except when he was belting out those fantastic vocal melodies. 

The guy is the definition of EPIC. Soaring vocals, incredibly visual fantasy rock music. His videos were such cheesy goodness. 

Stargazer......my god. 

I miss him terribly. RIP Ronnie James. The Godfather of heavy metal singers.

 
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Todem said:
He totally did not take himself seriously.....
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He seemed to have a great sense of humor. 

I remember an interview I saw with him many years ago. I've looked for it before and could never find it . He was walking around his house with the interviewer and sat down at a piano. He starts describing a song he was working on or something like that and was going to play a bit of it. He raises his hands, ready to come down on the keys and stops just short, saying, "just kidding. I don't know how to play the piano" and just laughs.  :lmao:

 
Huh - Dio would be around 50 for me. No hits, not really an MTV presence.  I never saw a Dio video following an MC Hammer video.

 
Todem said:
Queensryche

Huge fan. I first saw them in 1986 when they opened for Ozzy on the Ultimate Sin Tour. The Ryche were in support of their classic Rage For Order album. For me and my buddies they were in the Iron Maiden side of the ledger. 

Metal Progressive Rock.

And they nailed that genre to the highest order with their landmark release in 1988’s Operation Mindcrime. Produced by Peter Collins (who also produced Rush’s Power Windows, Hold Your Fire and then Counterparts and Test For Echo), he brought a sonic boom to their sound that took them to the next level. To this day that album rings strong for me. One of the 10 best hard rock albums ever made IMO. Not a weak track. 

I would see Queensryche many times (10 times now). They are a tremendous live band. 

Empire would follow and the album was also a monster. A few throwaway tracks (two total for me) but the rest of the album was a natural progression from Mindcrime. 

Unfortunately Promised Land came far too late. 1994. By then Crunge had taken over and this album was a failure. But it did have some outstanding music. It was a more pared down sound and the in fighting of the band started to take hold. Creative differences were abound but they stuck together for one more record the uneven Hear In The Now Frontier. Another record with some very good songs but more clunkers. Also sonically the band had lost it’s direction. 

Chris Degarmo who was one of the original lead guitarists and key songwriter would leave the band after the tour that supported this album. I remember going to the show and he had a broken leg but played the entire show on a stool. And he sounded great. 

QR2K was a flop and highly forgeable album and is best left alone. But they would come back in 2003 with a really underrated album called Tribe. Chris Degarmo would return in a songwriting capacity and it showed. Some real heavy rockers like:

Open

Desert Dance

Stand out as well as the passionate Great Divide and Tribe.

I would then see them on a great tour in which they played all their hits in the first set (An Evening With format with no opening act). And then Operation Mindcrime front to back. The tour was awesome.  At the end of the show they teased the crowd with a video and some snippets of the forth coming Operation Mindcrime II 

The fanbase was very excited. 

I had backstage passes for that tour and had an opportunity to meet the band and talk at length with Geoff Tate about the forth coming album. Geoff was a very gracious guy who was quite friendly and open about the recording process and the story behind the record. Let’s just say after my conversation with him I was really excited for the sequel.

2006 would bring in the much anticipated sequel to Mindcrime. I was pretty excited. Well the album fell flat in some spots but also had some really nice high moments. Was this in the same league as the original? Oh god no. Degarmo was sorely missed in the songwriting process here. 

But it did have some great songs and a big reveal in the live show when they would play both part 1 and 2 in their entirety and have an elaborate stage show to go along with it. 

Highlights from the album:

One Foot In Hell

Hostage

The Hands

Re-Arrange You

The Chase (featuring Ronnie James Dio as Doctor X)

If I Could Change It All

A Junkies Blues

All The Promises 

The band would take a much needed break after this exhausting tour. New Guitarist Mike Stone would then exit the band. Founding member guitarist Michael Wilton would hold down the fort on their next new concept album:

American Solider (released in 2009)

This was a project that lead singer Geoff Tate really wanted bad. He had a ton of interviews with Veterans from the middle east wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The album would have excerpts from these American Soldiers before many songs. I really loved this album. Dark, brooding and with relevant content. It went totally under the radar but not for die hard Ryche fans like myself. Some stand out tracks:

Unafraid

Hundred Mile Stare

At 30,000 Feet

A Dead Man’s Words

The Killer

Middle Of Hell

Home Again (featuring Geoffs Daughter on a vocal duet) This song really tugs at the heart strings and is a beautiful tragic ballad. 

Guitarist Parker Lungren would replace Stone and do a great job moving forward.

The tour for American Solider was broken up into a couple of sets. The first set featuring songs from Rage For Order. Most of the album was played and sizzled live. Then a host of songs from American Solider were performed along with their big hits from MIndcrime and Empire. Lita Ford was the opener.

And this would mark the true end of Geof Tate era as the lead vocalist for the band. 

The next album the disaster knows as “Dedicated to Chaos” would be released in 2011 and quite frankly is without a doubt the worst POS they ever released. Just dreadful, uninspired and the tour was a disaster. Tate and his wife were in full control of the band at this point they are doing their live show with a live cabaret theme....I mean incredibly embarrassing and misguided. 

Michael WIlston and Bass player Eddie Jackson had a enough and fired Tate after a show in support of Dedicated To Chaos. It was in 2012 down in Sao Paulo Brazil. Literally a fist fight broke out. 

Massive lawsuits ensued of course and Tate would win the right to perform Operation Mind-crime and use the name Queensryche until a judge ruled and then actually named his new band Operation Mindcrime after he lost the rights to the bands trademark name.. He would then go on to release a terrible album titled “Frequency Unknown” under the Queensryche name. Then under the Mindcrime name he released 3 terrible albums that were all part of one concept story.

The Key

Resurrection

The New Reality 

Just really bad stuff here. Laughable.

In the meantime Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rokenfeld soldiered on with new lead singer Todd La Torre.

Todd is a monster vocalist. And quite frankly.....as good as Tate ever was in his heyday. Not only is Todd a killer metal vocalist.....he is a fantastic drummer in his own right. He was a perfect fit to replace Tate and the band went on to make 3 albums together thus far.

The self titled debut was rough. Some great songs but sonically a very rough go of it as funds were limited to produce this. 

However Condition Human would arrive and this album marked the return of the Queensryche we all loved and knew in the 80’s. Raw aggressive tones filled this album but the songwriting was the best it had been in 20 years easy. 

Arrow of Time

Guardian

Hellfire (amazing song)

Toxic Remedy

Selfish Lives

Eye9

Bulletproof

Condition Human

All new classics for the band and strong hard rock songs.

They would follow up this with another powerhouse album titled The Verdict:

Blood of the Levent

Man the Machine

Light-Years (insane tune)

Inside Out

Dark Reverie

Bent

Inner Unrest

Launder The Conscience 

Portrait

All of these songs rip, roar and soar. If you have not heard these last two albums and are a fan.....you owe it to yourself to check them out. This is old school Hard Rock Prog Metal for a new generation. 

La Torre is incredible on the vox and he played all the drums on The Verdict as Scott Rockenfeld left the band before this album was recorded. 

(Parker Lundren left the band after the Verdict Tour and Mike Stone is now back again as the second guitarist)

Queensryche is alive and well and opening for Judas Priest on their worldwide tour in 2022.
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Tremendous write up! Along with VH & Dream Theater, Queensryche is one of the bands I've seen the most. First heard/saw them on USA Night Flight (for you old timers). 1:20 into the Japan concert video for Take Hold I was hooked! Tate's voice gave me chills. DeGarmo was a huge loss. Similar to Vito Bratta, he just left music scene (and became a pilot).

Going back at least 15 yrs I worked with a girl who's super hot friend 'dated' Eddie Jackson (he actually took her to the Grammy's one year). Buddy & I used that connection to get into meet & greet - everyone but Tate. Very good dudes. After that wrapped girls were heading backstage and another girl with them waved for us to follow but we didn't get same vibe from girls we knew.  Ah well..........

 
If you think of it, a lot of these bands and artists essentially came up following one of two kind of lines or traditions.  There's the glam rock (T-Rex, Sweet) kind of line where you essentially have bands singing about having a good time and looking to get laid.  And there's the Sabbath kind of line where you get (usually heavier) songs about all kinds of goofy theatrical mystic or gothic stuff.

At the time, I had a strong preference for that second line, but when I listen to a lot of it now, it's so hard to take seriously because the bands play silly subjects so straight.  I think Metallica is kind the prime example of that.  That's a band that just didn't have a sense of humor.  And Dio, as others have pointed out, wasn't like that.  He always saw the camp in what he was doing and embraced the idea of making his performance as far over the top as he could get.  And I just love it.  

 
plinko said:
5. Dio / Black Sabbath (Dio Years)

Wild One - Lock Up The Wolves, 1990
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I love Dio's voice, but was never really into him as a solo artist, despite how many great tunes they put out. And count me in the camp that prefers Ozzy Sabbath over Dio Sabbath, despite there being no comparison between the skills of the two singers. 

For whatever, reason, Lock Up the Wolves was the only Dio album I ever owned, and I really liked it, above song included. Can't remember why I never explored his catalog more...

 
DIO...  Love that dude, his music, and all of the bands he was part of (mostly Rainbow and Sabbath, though).

Saw Black Sabbath in the Summer of 1980 at the LA Coliseum with 75,000 of my closest friends with him on the Heaven and Hell tour.  Unbelievable.  Journey and Cheap Trick were there too. 

I saw Dio multiple times around Southern California during the 80s.  Once at the Pacific Amphitheater Dio opened for Aerosmith.   Aerosmith is terribly late getting on stage after Dio, then when they do Tyler is MESSED UP.  I don't know about Perry or the others, but they sounded fine.  After Tyler falls a couple of times he is carried off stage.  The crowd is pissed and making it know they are pissed.  The rest of Aerosmith goes off stage for maybe 10 minutes.  Then the band comes back and starts playing something.  I don't remember.  Then MR. Ronnie James Dio comes out and saves the night.  He sang for Aerosmith the entire show.  I don't know if he had done it before or ever did it again, but it really was amazing, seeing as how my friends and I were primarily there to see Dio.

He is the musician I've seen the most.  I wish I could see him today, but alas.

 
Dio had better pipes, no doubt, but to say Dio Sabbath was better than Ozzy Sabbath is just nuts.  I'm not sure what makes someone say things like that, but that's so far from being accurate that it falls outside of the realm of being a matter of taste.  It's just not true, and I love Dio.

Love you guys, but no.

 
plinko said:
5. Dio / Black Sabbath (Dio Years)

I love Ronnie James, but this is as high as I can get my eighties Dio, when looking at the top 4, (not to mention the subsequent 3) he doesn't quite get over the hump in the sales and impact departments..

I'm gonna reach all the way back for this one.  Not because I want to, but because I can!

1961 Ronnie Dio and the Red Caps
1963 Ronnie Dio and the Prophets
Love Potion #9   give em the business, Ronnie!

The Electric Elves

Just THE ELVES

Finally, ELF, you can start to hear it now

Never More
Do The Same Thing
Prentice Wood, this album cover, tattoo it on my face

Deep Purple is touring around with the band Elf.  They really like the band Elf.  Roger Glover does a solo album, tied into a kids book I guess?  RJD does some guest vocals.  

Ritchie Blackmore leaves Purple and hires the entire band Elf! except their guitarist is left in the lurch.  And that's early RAINBOW
"I left Deep Purple because I'd met up with Ronnie Dio, and he was so easy to work with. He was originally just going to do one track of a solo LP, but we ended up doing the whole LP in three weeks, which I was very excited about."

Man on the Silver Mountain

Stargazer

Rainbow Eyes

Tones change, a few years on.. 
"If they were good enough, they'd still be in the band. I'm not putting down the other members who were in the band, but no-one has ever left Rainbow. It's a fact. Not a confrontation just, well you didn't quite make it, you'll have to do other things."
"Ronnie is a very good singer- I still like him -but he was becoming very lackadaisical. I'm sure if he were here now he would argue the point, but the fact is, Ronnie was not contributing what he should have done, and he knows that. For the last two years I would put down the riff, the progressions, give him the basic melody and he would write the lyrics. I found that in the past year he wasn't really doing that. He was #####ing about the fact that it was Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. And I'm going, look, I've tried after three years to make it just Rainbow, not my Rainbow."
I'm sure if Ritchie Blackmore were here now he'd argue the point, but he sounds like an ax-hole to me.

Rainbow somehow coughs up a bona fide classic rock classic with the very non-Dioy Since You Been Gone.  Dio joins up with the freshly Ozzy-free Sabbath.

We're not even to 1980 yet.

Heaven and Hell

Neon Nights
Children of the Sea

Mob Rules was Stevie Nicks heavy metal, Heavy Metal??
 (I know, it wasn't a music mag)

Slipping Away

Things don't seem to end super great between Dio and Sabbath either, but they would kiss and make up a decade later for another decent effort.  Black Sabbath does Born Again with the old Purp singer. Small world.

Dio takes drummer Vinny Appice with him from Black Sabbath, and Dio is born.  At first his guitarist is Jake E. Lee, until he's hired away by Ozzy.  Small world.  Gets Vivian Campbell from a Northern Ireland group called Sweet Savage (this song is covered ten years later by .. somebody)

Anyway, Holy Diver is legitimately awesome
Rainbow In The Dark
Don't Talk To Strangers
Straight Through The Heart
Invisible
how are those remasters?

Last In Line is good too, just not as
The Last In Line
Evil Eyes

Sacred Heart, not even that good but the title track must be seen live

This is around the time they put together HEAR 'N AID - STARS also

But he'd dump Viv Campbell here, unceremoniously, after Sacred Heart didn't do much, brought in Craig Goldy from Giuffria, and Dream Evil was a nice recovery musically, anyway..

All The Fools Sailed Away
Sunset Superman

Wild One - Lock Up The Wolves, 1990

TV Crimes - Black Sabbath Dehumanizer, 1992

The public interest in these old farts had gotten pretty low at this particular point. But Dio kept at it, putting out Dio records and still another Sabbath record, this time as Heaven and Hell..

I saw Heaven and Hell, got pit tickets and it was crazy special to be that up close.

(Megadeth opened too)

####### cancer though, got him, RIP king we love ya
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Dio was one of my first into power metal. James Durbin who I talked about with QR earlier has a DIOesq album out that reminds of my Ronnie's albums a bit. 

 
I like the early Sabbath more, but not because of the singer. I just think the earlier albums of most bands have better songs than their later albums. That said, Heaven & Hell is a really good album. 🎸

 
Leroy Hoard said:
I like the early Sabbath more, but not because of the singer. I just think the earlier albums of most bands have better songs than their later albums. That said, Heaven & Hell is a really good album. 🎸
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Heaven & Hell is top 5 of my favorite albums of all time.  Probably top 2, actually.  

After further review it is #2, behind only UFO's Strangers in the Night, but they are thisclose... 

 
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jwb said:
Living 2 hrs north of Long Island, they definitely had an impact locally - played many clubs in the Hudson Valley. Probably saw them 10x. They always did some legit Zep covers too. 
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They played the The Chance in Poughkeepsie quite a bit IIRC. About an hour and a half north of me.

 
zamboni said:
As mentioned, definitely had mostly a cult following in the early-mid '80s. Their two "popular" tunes were:

Tell Me What You Want

Who's Behind The Door?
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Man I don't know how many hundreds of times I've listened to these 2 songs. Had a number of friends in college from Long Island so listened to a lot of their stuff. They played at a music fest at our small school in '89. Everyone was sitting on ground chilling so when they came on we ran right to the front & then met them as they came off stage.

 
Tick said:
Huh - Dio would be around 50 for me. No hits, not really an MTV presence.  I never saw a Dio video following an MC Hammer video.
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I remember Last In Line being in pretty heavy rotation on MTV, but that was a few years before M.C. Hammer's heyday. Also before there was any Star Trek Next Generation for the Borg to appear in.

 
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Whoa. Dios mio, man. Dios mio. 

I would ####ed you in the ### on Saturday, and I'm gonna #### you in the ### on Wednesday. 

Don't make no difference to me, man. Wooo! 

 
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plinko said:
5. Dio / Black Sabbath (Dio Years)

I love Ronnie James, but this is as high as I can get my eighties Dio, when looking at the top 4, (not to mention the subsequent 3) he doesn't quite get over the hump in the sales and impact departments..

I'm gonna reach all the way back for this one.  Not because I want to, but because I can!

1961 Ronnie Dio and the Red Caps
1963 Ronnie Dio and the Prophets
Love Potion #9   give em the business, Ronnie!

The Electric Elves

Just THE ELVES

Finally, ELF, you can start to hear it now

Never More
Do The Same Thing
Prentice Wood, this album cover, tattoo it on my face

Deep Purple is touring around with the band Elf.  They really like the band Elf.  Roger Glover does a solo album, tied into a kids book I guess?  RJD does some guest vocals.  

Ritchie Blackmore leaves Purple and hires the entire band Elf! except their guitarist is left in the lurch.  And that's early RAINBOW
"I left Deep Purple because I'd met up with Ronnie Dio, and he was so easy to work with. He was originally just going to do one track of a solo LP, but we ended up doing the whole LP in three weeks, which I was very excited about."

Man on the Silver Mountain

Stargazer

Rainbow Eyes

Tones change, a few years on.. 
"If they were good enough, they'd still be in the band. I'm not putting down the other members who were in the band, but no-one has ever left Rainbow. It's a fact. Not a confrontation just, well you didn't quite make it, you'll have to do other things."
"Ronnie is a very good singer- I still like him -but he was becoming very lackadaisical. I'm sure if he were here now he would argue the point, but the fact is, Ronnie was not contributing what he should have done, and he knows that. For the last two years I would put down the riff, the progressions, give him the basic melody and he would write the lyrics. I found that in the past year he wasn't really doing that. He was #####ing about the fact that it was Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. And I'm going, look, I've tried after three years to make it just Rainbow, not my Rainbow."
I'm sure if Ritchie Blackmore were here now he'd argue the point, but he sounds like an ax-hole to me.

Rainbow somehow coughs up a bona fide classic rock classic with the very non-Dioy Since You Been Gone.  Dio joins up with the freshly Ozzy-free Sabbath.

We're not even to 1980 yet.

Heaven and Hell

Neon Nights
Children of the Sea

Mob Rules was Stevie Nicks heavy metal, Heavy Metal??
 (I know, it wasn't a music mag)

Slipping Away

Things don't seem to end super great between Dio and Sabbath either, but they would kiss and make up a decade later for another decent effort.  Black Sabbath does Born Again with the old Purp singer. Small world.

Dio takes drummer Vinny Appice with him from Black Sabbath, and Dio is born.  At first his guitarist is Jake E. Lee, until he's hired away by Ozzy.  Small world.  Gets Vivian Campbell from a Northern Ireland group called Sweet Savage (this song is covered ten years later by .. somebody)

Anyway, Holy Diver is legitimately awesome
Rainbow In The Dark
Don't Talk To Strangers
Straight Through The Heart
Invisible
how are those remasters?

Last In Line is good too, just not as
The Last In Line
Evil Eyes

Sacred Heart, not even that good but the title track must be seen live

This is around the time they put together HEAR 'N AID - STARS also

But he'd dump Viv Campbell here, unceremoniously, after Sacred Heart didn't do much, brought in Craig Goldy from Giuffria, and Dream Evil was a nice recovery musically, anyway..

All The Fools Sailed Away
Sunset Superman

Wild One - Lock Up The Wolves, 1990

TV Crimes - Black Sabbath Dehumanizer, 1992

The public interest in these old farts had gotten pretty low at this particular point. But Dio kept at it, putting out Dio records and still another Sabbath record, this time as Heaven and Hell..

I saw Heaven and Hell, got pit tickets and it was crazy special to be that up close.

(Megadeth opened too)

####### cancer though, got him, RIP king we love ya
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Love Dio. One of the best nights of my young life in 1994 was when a buddy called me up and told me another friend of ours was opening for Dio and we were on the list. The show was incredible and to this day I have no idea how that much vocal power and stage command came out of such a small dude.  I towered over him in a comical way..almost child size..but frankly I was a little intimidated when we got to meet him.  But he was super cool and very engaging and disarming.  The world lost a legend. RIP.

 
Wow!   It takes balls to put Dio at number 5 on this list.  Is that correct?   Hell if I know but it sure makes me happy.   Dio did have a top 3 metal voice and deserves to be highly regarded.   It is simply awesome.   

Dio served up a ton of great tunes in multiple bands and his solo stuff.   It doesn’t get old to me and has aged extremely well.   GNR was a much bigger band with probably better songs but I would rather listen to audio theses days.  

I hate trying to choose sides in the Ozzy Sabbath or Dio Sabbath debate.   I probably listened to more Ozzy Sabbath in my life but I listen to more Dio Sabbath these days.   Neon Knights is outstanding.  Heaven and Hell?   Goosebumps.   Still.   We have been blessed to have Ozzy Sabbath, Dio Sabbath and the solo material from Ozzy and Dio.  

I never got to see Dio live and it still bugs me.  I think it was 1985 and Dio was opening for Crue.   I had a basketball game on the same night of the show.  Should have skipped the game.  

I have been super busy at work, traveling, and now dealing with snow and ice in NE Ohio which has made keeping up with this thread difficult.   I could reply to so many posts but can’t catch up,   I love this thread and all the stories and opinions.  Just awesome.  

 
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