Holy Dio: Tribute to Ronnie James Dio

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 25, 2000)
• Original Release Date: January 25, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Century Media
• ASIN: B000046Q1F
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,956 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Neon Knights

2. Man on the Silver Mountain

3. The Last in Line

4. Sign of the Southern Cross

5. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll

6. Egypt (The Chains Are On)

7. Children of the Sea

8. Don't Talk to Strangers

9. Still I'm Sad

10. Kill the King

11. Shame on the Night

12. Heaven and Hell

13. Temple of the King

14. Rainbow Eyes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars \m/, January 19, 2006

By 

Félszemű Farkaskutya (Call me Wolfie) (Lexington, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holy Dio: Tribute to Ronnie James Dio (Audio CD)

This is one of the best tribute albums I've ever heard; the caliber of the contributing artists is very high and the success rate is terriffic considering how inimitable Dio's voice is. It turns out that this is just a batch of well-written songs that can stand up to reinterpretation and sound all the better for it.

Highlights? Steel Prophet opens with a roar on Neon Knights, with great production value and enough energy to take you back to that feeling you had when you first popped Heaven & Hell in your tape deck. Hammerfall follows up with a great, uptempo rendition of Man on the Silver Mountain - I'm not a big Hammerfall fan, find their shtick a little silly, but they never sound more in their element than when they're ripping off Rainbow riffs, and so this is a natural fit for them. They really unleash the heaviness of the main riff.

Gamma Ray's LLR&R is amazing - opens with a glorious scream and tears it up, turned to 11 the whole way in one of the greatest ode-to-rock anthems ever. For my money, it's the best track on here, particularly since the production is so sharp and punchy.

Blind Guardian and Fate's Warning both do an excellent job bringing out the more progressive elements on their songs.

Doro's Egypt was a pleasant surprise; it has great, spacious atmosphere and her voice sounds beautiful throughout. It's one of the more impressive reinterpretations, and we gain new perspective on the song from hearing this version.

One last standout - Solitude Aeturnus takes Shame On the Night for a brilliantly doom-laden spin. Very, very heavy version of a song that I wasn't even that attracted to in its original incarnation.

Most of the other cuts are enjoyable and well above average in production and talent - the only outright flop for me was the weak Last In Line; and I didn't appreciate the speeded-up tempos for some of the Black Sabbath tunes. Nonetheless, outstanding album, sets the bar for tributes, it has had countless spins and still gets a lot of play.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fitting tribute to the Man on the Silver Mountain, May 24, 2000

By 

"irnmdn67" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holy Dio: Tribute to Ronnie James Dio (Audio CD)

When asked to think of great vocalists in rock, many alledged fans forget Ronnie James Dio; one of the first true "metal" frontmen. This tribute disc has some new twists on Dio, Sabbath and Rainbow staples. Steel Prophet's kick off of "Neon Knights" is explosive, followed by the quintessential Dio anthemn "Man On the Silver Mountain" by Hammerfall. The classics just keep coming..Jag Panzer, Primal Fear, Fates Warning and all just nail it with their renditions of Dio classics. The only dissapointment is why European guitarist Axel Rude Pell chose "Still I'm Sad", an old Yardbirds tune that is an "instrumental" on the first Rainbow album. Although Ronnie adds vocals to the song on the "Rainbow - Live On Stage" album, this is not a Dio song per se in the classic sense. It seems that Axel's main purpose to do this song was to show off his obviously finely crafted guitar virtuosity; but he would have been wise to select a more deserving track. Otherwise, the selections do not include any post-"Last In Line" numbers that are themselves Dio classics, such as "Rock n Roll Children" or "Sacred Heart" but thats nit-picking. This is a finely packaged, recorded and produced expose of Dio, any Dio fan should get this CD quickly.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Holy Dio:Tribute To Ronnie James Dio'-Various Artists(Century Media), September 2, 2005

By 

Mike Reed (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Holy Dio: Tribute to Ronnie James Dio (Audio CD)

Darn good,that is for a tribute release.But then again,I've always been a huge Dio fan anyway.I guess a lot of it has to do with maybe the contributing bands being an actual fan of the artist that is being paid homage to.Seems that tribute CD's really are all too common these days.Take it from me,'Holy Dio' is one of the better ones out there.Tracks I was quite impressed with were Steel Prophet's "Neon Knights"(one of my all-time metal favorites;I've even met Ronnie James Dio and told him about it),Primal Fear's "Kill The King",Solitude Aeturnus's "Shame On The Night" and Jag Panzer's "Children Of The Sea".Recommended if you're a Dio/Rainbow fan.