Yesterday was ten years without Dio

[Nos]

Does it feel like it's been that long? It's amazing how with the music genres so fractured, and with streaming making it where old music never goes away, Dio seems as present now as he ever did.

So I've been listening to a lot of his work this week, and it still stands out how much better he was than all the people who want to be him. Jorn is great, but he can't sing the variety that Dio could. Ronnie Romero is good, but he sounds like he's forcing it. Dio could do it all without ever sounding like it was hard for him. Given the stories about how he never even warmed up before a show, that's probably the truth.

I'm tying to figure out how many other rock/metal guys have made legendary albums with three different bands. It has to be a very short list. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that song of Blackmore, Iommi, and Campbell's best work came when they were paired with Dio.

Now for some of those unusual opinions. 1)"Long Live Rock N Roll" is better than "Rising". I like the pacing better without two back-to-back epics, and I find "Gates Of Babylon" easier to re-listen to than "Stargazer", even though that is the more epic song. 2)"Holy Diver" is probably the best of his solo band's albums, but I put "Dream Evil" right behind it, not the other two albums with Vivian. 3)"Master Of The Moon" is the best album he made after that. Yes, it's slower, but it's got some great Dio melodies.