They say lightning doesn’t strike twice but, for the much-missed Ronne James Dio, it struck thrice – the diminutive singer having fronted Rainbow on Rising, Black Sabbath on Heaven And Hell and, finally, his own, eponymous outfit with Holy Diver. Having three such classics to your name can be both a blessing and a curse, given that they can have a tendency to overshadow everything else, but then Ronnie was an incomparable artist, imbued with no small amount of confidence, as this pair of rereleased performances (from Niji Entertainment / BMG) clearly show.
Just as Dio was a special artist, so Donnington is a special place for metal fans. Today, it is the home of Download festival, but in the 1980s it hosted the Monsters of Rock festival, a series of single day events which ran from 1980 – 1996, featuring headline slots from acts such as Kiss, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and AC/DC. It was also a pivotal festival for Dio, offering the band a major festival slot just three months after the release of Holy Diver. That appearance is represented by the first of these two reissues, while the second captures the Dream Evil line up four years later, in 1987. Both albums are available on both CD and vinyl, with the 2 LP sets featuring an etching on their fourth side and the CDs featuring a lenticular cover. They’re certainly attractive, although there’s absolutely nothing new here to invite a return purchase, but if you missed out the first time, these are impressive renderings of a hard rock icon in his prime.
1983
Dio could be forgiven some nerves in 1983. Taking to the stage just a few months of a release that was yet to attain the classic status it now holds, he was joined by Vivian Campbell (guitar), Jimmy Bain (bass), Vinny Appice (drums) and Claude Schnell (keyboards) for a twelve-track rampage featuring four songs from Holy Diver, six from his illustrious back catalogue and two solo spots. It’s a breathless performance, the band lean, hungry and with everything to prove, and it more or less sounds fantastic. The only caveat is that, on the review copy at least, the set is not faded together, resulting in various rather messy gaps between tracks. It’s not a release-killer, but it does serve to pull the listener from the moment, especially on the medley tracks.
From the moment Dio and his band hit the stage with a storming Stand Up And Shout, it’s clear that past glories are not immediately on the agenda. While Dio is not afraid to perform the classics, it’s clear that this is his show, and he is not going to let the opportunity to air his new material pass him by. Thus, the show opens with two Holy Diver belters, a rousing Stand Up And Shout, already getting the crowd singing along; and a chunky Straight Through The Heart. The roaring crowd only get one digression into Sabbath territory at this point, a lengthy Children Of The Sea, which sounds more monolithic than ever, before Dio plunges straight back into Holy Diver with both Rainbow In The Dark and the title track. With the benefit of hindsight, it was a genius move, with the new material sounding supercharged in the live environment, but at the time it was a hell of a risk, and no one could have predicted just how influential these blazing cuts would become.
The mid-point of the show wobbles a touch, thanks to the band delivering a massively foreshortened take on Stargazer, bookended by both drum and guitar solos. While no one could doubt the technical prowess of the band, such things never translate terribly well to a record, and it’s with some relief that things get back on track with a blistering ten-minute take on Heaven And Hell. The show then concludes with the Rainbow classic, Man On The Silver Mountain, interpolated with a brief Starstruck for good measure, before the band leave the baying crowd very much wanting more. It is one hell of a performance, and a key moment in Dio’s storied history. 7.5/10
1987
With Vivian Campbell having departed the ranks under something of a cloud during the recording of Sacred Heart, the Dream Evil tour saw Craig Goldy filling the six-string slot, with no small amount of skill. With four albums released under his own name by this point, Dio was in a much more confident position, delivering a fifteen-track set that truncated classics like Holy Diver (here only a minute and half in length) in favour of four lengthy tracks from his latest offering. An act of not inconsiderable bravado, given the notoriously fickle nature of a festival crowd, it pays off, as this blistering performance clearly demonstrates, and the result is a very different show from the 83 outing. Sadly, due to constraints on the disc, three tracks are left off the final mix – Stand Up And Shout (at least present on the 1983 set), Sunset Superman (from Dream Evil) and We Rock (from Last In Line). In all honesty, I’d have preferred to have these restored for a complete set (even if it meant paying more for a double CD), or at least swapped with some of the duplicates from the 1983 set, but alas, the powers that be clearly did not want the time or expense of a full reworking, when a simple reissue provided an easier path.
Nevertheless, for the uninitiated, it’s a hell of a show. Opening (on disc, at least) with an explosive Dream Evil, neither Dio nor his band are in the mood to take prisoners, the mid-tempo rocker setting the crowd ablaze, before a surging Neon Nights pours gasoline on the conflagration. Two back-to-back Dio belters follow – Naked In The Rain (“this applies to all of us here!”) and Rock ‘n’ Roll Children – both of which showcase the singer in his prime, belting out the words with a power that few have matched. Given the devastating Children Of The Sea from the previous set, it’s arguable that Dio thought it couldn’t be bettered here, teasing the track for just over a minute before plunging into a similarly brief Holy Diver. However, this only leaves more space for tracks not aired in ’83 – The Last In Line, for example, or an absolutely monstrous All The Fools Sailed Away – a highlight from Dream Evil, and a potent reminder of Dio’s power beyond the classics.
It’s not a perfect set, perhaps – the absence of Sunset Superman and We Rock serves to unbalance the second half, leaving it feeling somewhat medley heavy – but it’s wonderful to hear Dio flying the flag for Dream Evil and The Last In Line, and it’s impossible not to listen and not feel yourself misty-eyed at the singer’s absence. 8/10
Conclusion
Rereleased just in time for the Dio movie, there’s nothing new or particularly special about these reissues beyond some slightly spruced up packaging. In a perfect world, the 1983 set would have been fully overhauled to remove the fade outs, and the 1987 show would have been released in its entirety. Alas, these are simply the same discs that were put out in 2010 so, whatever you do, don’t rush out and purchase them again! However, for those who missed out the first time round and who would like to hear a masterclass in heavy metal from one of the world’s finest vocalists, these remain important, if flawed, albums.
