Dio
Holy Diver Live

THE REVIEW

“And yes, those times are unique, they will never come back again!” These are the words of Ronnie James Dio in a recent interview regarding the setlist of his new double live album “Holy Diver Live” recorded last October at the well-known London venue “Astoria,” packed with metalheads gathered for this celebratory occasion to retrace the entire tracklist of one of the greatest metal albums ever, “Holy Diver”, in a concert. It almost seems like an anniversary, but that's not the case. Indeed, the choice to organize a concert that retraces the entire tracklist of an album (there is certainly no shortage of Rainbow and Sabbath classics during the Dio-era) is based on the belief, as mentioned before, that those times were unique and unforgettable.

But now enough chatter and let's talk about the album: the first CD opens with a fantastic introduction to all the songs of “Holy Diver” (even the order in which the songs are presented is the same as the previously mentioned album) followed immediately by the fast-paced “Stand Up And Shout”. It's time for the legendary title track, one of the best songs, in my opinion, ever written by the Italian-American sprite (that is, Ronnie James Dio). The third song is “Gypsy”, which features a drum solo that is fearsome for the high level of execution and experience of drummer Simon Wright. And how can we not mention the fifth track “Don't Talk To Strangers”? A track that has thrilled metalheads worldwide for years and, as far as I'm concerned, still does today! The eighth song is the much-criticized “Rainbow In The Dark”, a song I believe only Ronnie James Dio and I like (who in a recent interview said he loves this song), since everyone I know hates this fantastic track. The first CD closes with “Shame On The Night”, presented in a version almost 17 minutes long, featuring guitar solos by the legendary Craig Goldy and keyboard solos by Scott Warren, worthy of a band that has given and still gives so much to metal. The second CD features tracks from Rainbow and Black Sabbath during the so-called “Dio-era” with the addition of two classics from Dio's solo career taken from the album “The Last In Line” (the songs in question are “One Night In The City” and “We Rock”, which closes the album). The song that opens the second CD is “Tarot Woman” immediately followed by that track that was so criticized at the time, “The Sign Of The Southern Cross”, which fascinates me more every time I listen to it. This is followed by “One Night In The City” followed, in turn, by the deservedly famous “Gates Of Babylon” with a very “Oriental” style, as the name suggests. The fifth track is one of the masterpieces (both in lyrics and music) hard ’n’ heavy ever written and composed: “Heaven And Hell”. A song that speaks for itself and its undisputed beauty. Following is one of the "classics of the classics" of Rainbow… “Man On The Silver Mountain”, a track that opened the first album of “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow”. The penultimate track of the album (and the concert, since the album captures the entire concert in London in 2005) is “Long Live Rock ’n’ Roll”, which begins with the notes of “Catch The Rainbow” closing, indeed, with “Long Live Rock ’n’ Roll” and, to be precise, with this phrase pronounced by R. J. Dio: “Long live you and you and you and you and all of you and rock ’n’ roll!!!!!!!!! Rock ’n’ rock ’n’ rock ’n’ rock ’n’ rock ’n’ roll!” The last track of the album is “We Rock” which, in my taste, is one of the best tracks ever written in the entire history of hard ’n’ heavy. “Simon Wright, Scott Warren, Rudy Sarzo, Craig Goldy, we are: DIO!”: these are the words that close the concert…

In conclusion, “Holy Diver Live” is an album that certainly deserves a listen both for the quality of the setlist and for the experience and interpretative ability of the band and the charismatic Ronnie James Dio whose voice remains unchanged over the years.

The Setlist:

CD1: Stand Up And Shout / Holy Diver / Gypsy / Caught In The Middle / Don’t Talk To Strangers / Straight Through The Heart / Invisible / Rainbow In The Dark / Shame On The Night

CD2: Tarot Woman / The Sign Of The Southern Cross / One Night In The City / Gates Of Babylon / Heaven & Hell / Man On The Silver Mountain / Long Live Rock’ n’ Roll / We Rock

The Band:

Simon Wright: drums (formerly with AC/DC)

Scott Warren: keyboards

Rudy Sarzo: bass (formerly with Whitesnake, Malmsteen, Ozzy Osbourne)

Craig Goldy: guitar (debuted with Giuffria, then joined Dio, then Whitesnake, later hired by Ozzy Osbourne and, currently, again with Dio)

Ronnie James Dio: vocals (Ronnie And The Prophets; Ronnie Dio and The Red Caps; The Electric Elves; The Elves; The Elf; Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow; Black Sabbath; Dio)