Best known for his work with Racer X and Mr. Big, there’s no denying that Paul Gilbert is a phenomenally talented guitarist. The Dio Album features 12 covers (plus Japanese bonus track) of some of the late legend Ronnie James Dio's most iconic works with a certain twist: Gilbert has replaced the would-be vocals with verbatim lead guitar parts. Forged out of love and admiration for Ronnie James Dio's music, Gilbert's inspiration for a Dio covers record came to him unexpectedly, but nonetheless transformed into a unique collection of songs worthy of a sea of metal horns.
Live album featuring Dio first appearance at Castle Donington during Holy Diver tour. Originally publised as a double album including his '87 concert as well, now it's released as a single edition with remastered sound.
Sacred Heart is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Dio. It was released on August 12, 1985, on Warner Bros. Records in North America, and Vertigo elsewhere. The record peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 chart. It includes the singles "Rock 'n' Roll Children" and "Hungry for Heaven".
After playing a major role in five positively classic heavy metal albums of the late '70s and early '80s (three with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and two with Black Sabbath), it seemed that singer Ronnie James Dio could truly do no wrong. So it wasn't all that surprising – impressive, but not surprising – when he struck gold yet again when launching his solo vehicle, Dio, via 1983's terrific Holy Diver album. Much like those two, hallowed Sabbath LPs, Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules, Holy Diver opened at full metallic throttle with the frenetic "Stand Up and Shout," before settling into a dark, deliberate, and hypnotic groove for the timelessly epic title track – a worthy successor to glorious triumphs past like Rainbow's "Stargazer" and the Sabs' "Sign of the Southern Cross."
Originally publised as a double album including his '83 concert as well, now it's released as a single edition with remastered sound. This is the album with '87 performance of Dio at Castle Donington. It was recorded when Dream Evil went out so almost all the songs are from Dio's band unlike the '83 release with a lot of material from Black Sabbath and Rainbow.
Following the extremely warm reception given his self-named band's well-deserving debut album, Holy Diver, Ronnie James Dio figured there was no point in messing with a winning formula, and decided to play it safe with 1984's sophomore effort, The Last in Line – with distinctly mixed results. Although technically cut from the same cloth as those first album nuggets, fist-pumping new songs like "We Rock," and "I Speed at Night" curiously went from good to tiresome after just a few spins (a sign that the songwriting clichés were starting to pile up…read on); and the otherwise awesome, seven-minute epic, "Egypt (The Chains Are On)," inexplicably lost it's strikingly sinister main riff halfway through, in what sounds like a mastering snafu of some kind.
It was pure chance that led Paul Gilbert to recording the music heard on latest release The Dio Album. The American guitar virtuoso was in his car when he saw something that made his heart start beating faster in a moment of unexpected, unadulterated joy. This was not a high value item of interest or even particularly rare, simply a baseball cap with the word ‘Dio’ emblazoned across the front. Sometimes, even for the biggest of guitar legends, it’s the little things that hit us in the most profound ways.
Evil or Divine – Live in New York City is a video album by the American heavy metal band Dio, recorded in New York City in 2002 and released on DVD in 2003.