Dio: Dio Great Box (4 CD Set) 1991

 

Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer and songwriter. He fronted or founded numerous groups throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hell. Dio

is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal vocalists of all time. He is known for popularizing the "devil horns" hand gesture in metal culture and his medieval-themed song lyrics. According to a version provided by the singer himself, the act derives directly from the classic Italian apotropaic gesture, which his grandmother often displayed. Dio had a powerful, versatile vocal range and was capable of singing both hard rock and lighter ballads.
                             

For a brief spell during the mid-'80s, the heavy metal quintet Dio were one of the top U.S. concert attractions, boasting one of the most over the top stage acts of its time loaded with props and special effects (lasers, explosions, a giant dragon, etc.). The group's leader was singer Ronnie James Dio, who had previously become acquainted with the metal masses as the frontman of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow from 1975-1978 and Black Sabbath from 1979-1982. Come the early '80s, Ronnie James was

ready to finally head out on his own, forming Dio and recruiting a stellar backing band, consisting of a few former bandmembers, ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain and ex-Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice (Carmine Appice's brother), in addition to ex-Sweet Savage guitar shredder Vivian Campbell. Lyrically, the group would retain the same subject matter that Ronnie James specialized in with his previous outfits (dungeons and dragons, swords and sorcery, damsels in distress, etc.), but musically, Dio were more melodically based than Rainbow or Sabbath. The group scored a hit right off the bat with its 1983 debut release, Holy Diver, which spawned such popular MTV videos as "Rainbow in the Dark," as well as its title track.
                             

Wanting to continue together as a band, Dio and Appice formed the eponymous heavy metal band Dio in 1982. Vivian Campbell played guitar and Jimmy Bain played bass, the latter of whom Dio had

known since his time with Rainbow. Their 1983 debut album, Holy Diver, included the hit singles "Rainbow in the Dark" and "Holy Diver", which have remained the band's signature songs.
Dio was awarded the "Metal Guru Award" by Classic Rock Magazine in 2006. He was also named the "Best Metal Singer" at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in 2010 and ranked as the genre's best vocalist in 2013 by music journalist Sacha Jenkins.
                      

For their sophomore effort, 1984's The Last in Line, the band expanded its lineup to include keyboardist Claude Schnell, as the album would become the biggest hit of Dio's career (on the strength of another MTV-approved video, for the album's anthemic title track) and the group became an arena headliner. Although Dio's next release, 1985's Sacred Heart, was commercially successful, Campbell had become

disillusioned by the group's direction and split from the group a year later. Just prior to Campbell's exit, the entire Dio band helped organize Hear n' Aid, an all-star assembly of heavy metal artists that recorded a track called "Stars," which helped fight world hunger (a subsequent album was issued as well, collecting previously unreleased live tracks from a few of the day's top hard rock acts). Former Giuffria guitarist Craig Goldy took Campbell's place, resulting in such releases as 1986's live EP Intermission and 1987's Dream Evil, which retained the group's headbanging audience, but failed to expand upon it as its previous releases had.
                           

By 1990's Lock Up the Wolves, Ronnie James Dio was the only original member of Dio left in attendance as the band's lineup continued to fluctuate throughout the '90s on such releases as 1994's Strange Highways, 1996's Angry Machines, and 1998's Inferno: Last in Live (Ronnie James took a

brief break from Dio in 1992 to rejoin Black Sabbath for a lone release, Dehumanizer). In 2000, a pair of Dio releases emerged; first was Dio's first new studio album in four years, the concept album Magica (which saw past members Bain and Goldy return to the group), as well as a 16-track compilation titled The Very Beast of Dio. His medieval-themed metal returned two years later, when the Killing the Dragon album arrived in the spring of 2002. The album was a serious endeavor, but Dio also learned to make fun of his image after years of defending it, inviting comedy duo Tenacious D to star in the video for "Push" and even including the clip on the fall re-release of Killing the Dragon.
                             

In the mid-2000s Dio the man and the band returned with the studio album Master of the Moon and the live Evil or Divine, but by 2006 the band had been sidelined upon the announcement that Ronnie James

would be joining Heaven & Hell, a group reuniting the singer with his late-era Sabbath brethren Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice and named after the first Sabbath recording (released in 1980) that featured him as frontman. Heaven & Hell toured in the late 2000s and released a live (Live from Radio City Music Hall) and a studio (Devil You Know) recording, but by November of 2009 it was announced that the singer was suffering from stomach cancer, and Heaven & Hell subsequently canceled their summer 2010 touring plans. Ronnie James Dio succumbed to the disease on May 16, 2010, in Houston, TX.
                            

On May 4, 2010, Heaven & Hell announced they were canceling all summer dates as a result of Dio's

health condition. His last live performance was with Heaven & Hell on August 29, 2009, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Dio died of the illness on May 16, 2010. Two weeks after his death, a public memorial service was held at The Hall of Liberty, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles. The hall was filled to capacity, with many more fans sitting outside the hall watching the memorial on multiple giant screens on both the east and south sides of the hall.

   

Dio – Dio Great Box
Label: Mercury – PHCR-3121~24, Vertigo – PHCR-3121~24
Series:    GREAT BOX 4CD SET
Format:    4 x CD Box Set, Compilation, Limited Edition
Country: Japan
Released: Jun 15, 1991
Genre: Rock
Style: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal

DISC 1.   HOLY DIVER  (PHCR-3121)  

   

TRACKS

                                 

  
01. Stand Up And Shout
02. Holy Diver
03. Gypsy
04. Caught In The Middle
05. Don't Talk To Strangers
06. Straight Through The Heart
07. Invisible
08. Rainbow In The Dark
09. Sham On The Night

MP3 @ 320 Size: 102 MB
Flac  Size: 261 MB

DISC 2.  THE LAST IN LINE  (PHCR-3122)

               

TRACKS

                                       

  
01. We Rock
02. The Last In Line
03. Breathless
04. I Speed At Night
05. One Night In The City
06. Evil Eyes
07. Mystery
08. Eat Your Heart Out
09. Egypt (The Chains Are On)

MP3 @ 320 Size: 102 MB
Flac  Size: 249 MB

DISC 3. SACRED HEART  (PHCR-3123   

         

TRACKS

                               

  
01. King Of Rock And Roll
02. Sacred Heart
03. Another Lie
04. Rock N Roll Children
05. Hungry For Heaven
06. Like The Beat Of A Heart
07. Just Another Day
08. Fallen Angels
09. Shoot Shoot

MP3 @ 320 Size: 97 MB
Flac  Size: 246 MB

DISC 4.  LIVE TRACKS   (PHCR-3124)

                 

TRACKS

                                

  
01. King Of Rock And Roll
02. Rainbow In The Dark
03. Sacred Heart
04a.Rock N Roll Children
04b.Long Live Rock N Roll
04c.Man On The Silver Mountain
05. We Rock
06. Stand Up And Shout
07. Straight Through THe Heart
08. Eat Your Heart Out
09. Don't Talk To Strangers
10. The Last In Line
11. We Rock

MP3 @ 320 Size: 145 MB
Flac  Size: 374 MB